Tsunade put down her wine glass.

Her beautiful eyes held a hint of sorrow.

Transferring a Tailed Beast meant certain death for the Jinchūriki.

The very day the Tailed Beast transfer succeeded...

Was the day Tsunade's grandmother, Uzumaki Mito, passed away.

Qianye looked at Tsunade, stood up, and sat down beside her.

He gently pulled Tsunade into an embrace around her shoulders.

Tsunade looked at Qianye with a complex gaze, hesitated for a moment, and then buried herself in Qianye's arms.

Qianye could feel the clothes on his chest being dampened by Tsunade's tears.

Tsunade, someone who looked strong on the surface, still had many vulnerable spots behind closed doors.

Suddenly, Tsunade grabbed Qianye's hand out from the clothes on her chest.

Then, a soft and gentle reproach came from Tsunade in his arms.

"Behave!"

Qianye's fingers twitched slightly, interlocking with the slender fingers holding his own.

"Well..."

"If you just want to make the Tailed Beast behave for a little while, I can help you!~"

The leakage of Tailed Beast Chakra was naturally because Uzumaki Mito was getting older, and the Nine-Tails felt it had found an opportunity.

If it was just controlling the Nine-Tails, Qianye's current Ocular Power was fully capable of it.

Tsunade pushed Qianye away and looked at him seriously.

"You're willing to help?"

As far as Konoha was concerned, there were two major elements for dealing with Tailed Beasts.

First was the Uchiha's Sharingan, and second was Senju Hashirama's Wood Style.

When Tsunade invited Qianye for a drink today, deep down, she actually wanted Qianye to help her grandmother...

Growing old, sickness, and death were all normal parts of life.

But who would refuse to let the grandmother who cherished her live a few more days!

"That depends on Lady Tsunade's sincerity!"

Qianye lowered his gaze to look at her current attire.

She truly was a stunner!

He smiled slightly and whispered close to Tsunade's ear.

"Tsunade, you look gorgeous."

Tsunade's face blushed slightly, a flash of shyness crossing her eyes.

"You only know how to say sweet things."

Qianye's voice grew deeper.

"Lady Tsunade, the night is so beautiful tonight. Why don't we exchange pointers and learn a new taijutsu for the development of Konoha?"

Tsunade's facial expression stiffened slightly.

"Lady Tsunade, just once!~"

Qianye held up a finger, looking at Tsunade seriously.

Tsunade's complexion grew even more flushed.

Her expression also became somewhat unnatural. Looking at Qianye, her heart ultimately softened.

"Just this once! If there's a next time, don't blame me for being unpolite to you!"

A wave of joy washed over Qianye, and he completely ignored Tsunade's fist-clenched threatening gesture.

With a first time, there would be countless times after!

Developing new taijutsu was something his generation was duty-bound to do!

Besides, before coming here, he had already gone through a round of training.

He needed to replenish his physical strength first!

Qianye stood up.

Tsunade watched Qianye's sudden movement in slight a daze.

"This isn't enough to eat, I'll go order some more!~"

Qianye explained and walked outside.

"Boss, give me a table of oysters!"

"..."

At this moment.

The central area of Konoha's entire Barrier.

Was precisely the residence where Uzumaki Mito lived.

In front of the bed, Uzumaki Kushina buried herself in Uzumaki Mito's arms.

Mito stroked Uzumaki Kushina's hair with a kindly expression.

"We must seek out love and place it inside this vessel..."

"In that way, even as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, we can still attain happiness..."

Kushina raised her head and looked at Mito blankly.

"Love?"

"Yes!~"

Mito said with emotion, raising her head to look outside the window.

"That is something you can never obtain by simply waiting blindly!~"

Seeing the increasing confusion on Kushina's face.

"Kushina, come with me for a moment!~"

Mito gently patted her shoulder.

Leaning on a cane with one hand and holding Kushina with the other.

Mito led her out of the room.

The Anbu ninja outside the room saw the two come out and couldn't help stepping forward quickly.

"Lady Mito!"

"Please rest well!~"

The Medical Ninja on the side also stepped forward with concern.

Mito nodded.

"I have something I want this child to see!~"

Mito took Kushina by the hand and walked forward.

The Anbu and Medical Ninja nearby exchanged glances.

Then they followed from afar, keeping some distance without coming forward to disturb.

"We of the Uzumaki Clan regard that swirling sealing power as our pride."

Mito coughed and spoke of the "Uzumaki".

"We utilize that power, and we are likewise utilized by others.

In the current swirling tides of the era, I might indeed be at the center of the vortex, drowning in it and unable to break free!~"

The Jinchūriki existed because of the village's need for the power of Tailed Beasts.

However, Jinchūriki, especially those of the Uzumaki Clan, were "chosen" because of their extremely special Physique.

Especially Kushina, whose country was destroyed, coming to Konoha, and being chosen to become the next Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

She completely lost the right to self-choice and self-determination.

Just like the Tailed Beast, she was merely a used party.

"Kushina!~"

Mito suddenly stopped in her tracks and looked at Kushina.

"However, if we proactively climb upward, we will surely find love!~"

Unknowingly, the two had arrived at the very bottom of the spiral staircase.

Mito paused, her gaze resting on the "Uzumaki" symbol at the very center.

Her clouded eyes held a hint of complexity.

"The Uzumaki Clan has now scattered to various places and lost everything..."

Mito turned her head and gently stroked Uzumaki Kushina's hair.

"But we assimilate with air currents like vortices in nature..."

Uzumaki Kushina nodded as if she understood half of it.

Just like Kushina herself, at least she was a person of the Uzumaki Clan.

And she was still alive now.

After undergoing major upheavals, many clansmen of the Uzumaki Clan still survived scattered across the Shinobi World.

Allowing the Uzumaki Clan to continue existing in another form.

After finishing, Mito raised her head again through the high window and looked into the distance.

Nowadays, the core members of the Senju Clan could be counted on one hand, in Mito's view.

In just a few years, the Senju Clan would truly vanish from Konoha.

Among this lay even deeper reasons.

Aside from the Senju Clan fighting on the front lines of Konoha's external battlefields.

More importantly, there was the plan previously advocated by the Senju Clan to "integrate" into Konoha.

There were hardly any people left in the Senju Clan.

Yet the descendants of the Senju Clan's bloodline existed in Konoha in another form.

"What I want to show you is up here!"

"A spiral staircase?"

Kushina looked up and was momentarily stunned.

Kushina.

"A vortex is an exquisite painting on a plane, but a spiral is three-dimensional."

Mito pulled Kushina and walked toward the stairs.

Almost every few steps up the stairs, one could look through the window and see the village outside.

"Although they both look like rotating things, as the stairs continuously change, the scenery is constantly changing as well!~"

Kushina nodded earnestly.

This time she understood.

A hint of firmness appeared in her eyes.

The rotation of a vortex sucked people into the center and made them drown in it, whereas the spiral "staircase" offered different scenery every few steps walked.

She did not want to drown in the "vortex", but instead wanted to walk upward in a spiral.

She had to work hard to change!

Forge her own future and make herself stronger.

If Qianye heard these words, he would undoubtedly interpret them even more clearly.

Because this was the Shinobi World version of subjective initiative.

"We've arrived!"

Unknowingly, the two had reached the very top.

"The storage up here serves as the vessel for my love!~"

A vessel?

Following Mito's gaze, looking over.

Kushina's eyes widened.

So this love was First Hokage Senju Hashirama...

Mito gazed at Senju Hashirama on the Hokage Rock for a long time, then turned back with a smile.

"Kushina, is there someone you like?"

Kushina's heart seemed to skip a beat.

"Someone I like?"

The figure of Uchiha Chiye popped into her mind.