"Kushina?"
Hiruzen first glanced at Kushina, whose appearance and outfit were exceptionally bold, then looked at Minato.
In that moment, they all understood why Minato had been so uncharacteristically brave just now.
His heart was with Konoha? Yes.
His concern was for the shinobi world? That too.
But under normal circumstances, Minato would absolutely not have said something like that at a time like this.
There was only one possible reason.
A fuse.
Just like how A had been the fuse for the alliance of the Four Kage, perhaps not the key factor, but the trigger that set everything in motion.
Kushina was the fuse that had caused Minato to lose his composure today.
"No wonder. I understand how you feel. But that still can't be your excuse for acting recklessly, can it?"
Jiraiya sighed inwardly.
He could understand Minato's feelings. Did Minato really think Jiraiya was happy seeing Tsunade shower Garp with so many 'benefits'?
Looking at Tsunade's outfit, at all that blatant exposure, his mood was even more complicated than Minato's.
It was just that, as someone who had been through it before, and being far older than Minato, he wasn't about to lose his composure the way Minato had earlier.
"My apologies, Lord Garp. I'll have someone take Minato away immediately."
After speaking, Hiruzen shot Jiraiya a look.
If they hadn't come this time with the intention of uncovering the mastermind behind the scenes from Garp, he would have personally dragged Minato away earlier instead of letting Jiraiya step in.
"There's no need for apologies. I'm not from Konoha. It's only natural for him to think that way.
Seeking benefits and avoiding harm is human nature.
And besides… men. Who hasn't been young and reckless?
A couple of words like that aren't enough for me to get angry.
If he weren't trying to tell me how to do things, then a bit of jealousy over women would even be amusing to watch."
Garp waved his hand dismissively.
Tsunade, who was standing on him, shot Kushina a teasing glance, as if to say: Settle your own affairs before you come to challenge me.
"What is Minato even doing?
Say what you want, but why drag me into it too?
Seriously… with this, my impression points are probably going to fall far behind Lady Tsunade's now."
Seeing this, Kushina felt rather helpless inside.
Her attitude had always been upright, every time, she was serious, polite, and left no room at all, firmly rejecting Minato without giving him the slightest hope.
But Minato refused to give up and even caused something like this. What was she supposed to do? She was helpless too.
"Thank you for being so understanding and for not holding this child Minato accountable."
Hiruzen finally let out a sigh of relief.
The thing he'd feared the most had, fortunately, not come to pass.
"Go on. I doubt he and I have much in common to talk about anyway."
Garp waved his hand again, directly dismissing them.
"Minato, come with me..."
Seeing this, Jiraiya felt an immense weight lift from his shoulders and quickly reached out to grab Minato.
But when his hand closed, he caught nothing but air.
The Minato who had been standing right in front of him vanished in a Body Flicker Technique, evading Jiraiya's grasp and reappearing in front of Garp.
"Minato!"
Seeing Minato's actions, Hiruzen's brows knitted tightly together.
Before this, he'd only felt regret, not much dissatisfaction toward Minato.
After all, his own thoughts were actually quite similar to Minato's, perhaps even more severe.
He too believed that it was precisely because Garp had refused the Third Raikage's proposal of trading one life for another.
And had directly nailed A to the Valley of the End, that the Four Kage Summit had been triggered, leading to Konoha facing a joint siege by the four great ninja villages.
He had even harbored the thought of asking Garp to release A. It was just that, with his deeply calculating nature, it had remained nothing more than a thought, he would never act on it.
Only now, with Minato repeatedly failing to know when to advance and when to retreat, did Hiruzen finally begin to feel truly irritated.
"Lord Garp, you're right.
Perhaps because of Kushina, I did indeed show some jealousy just now. If I made you angry, I sincerely apologize.
However, setting Kushina aside, these are still my true thoughts.
I've never believed that Konoha's current crisis was caused by you, nor have I harbored any resentment toward you because of it.
Regarding your actions, while there are aspects I cannot fully agree with, I feel far more gratitude than anything else.
If not for your emergence, Konoha would never have become the greatest victor of the Third Great Ninja War so easily.
I may not be some remarkable ninja, but I'm not so petty as to ignore the immense kindness you've shown Konoha just because of Kushina."
Minato knelt on one knee, speaking each word clearly and deliberately.
Jiraiya and Hiruzen, who had originally intended to stop him and forcibly drag him away, glanced at Garp's expression.
After confirming that he wasn't angry, they refrained from acting.
After all, with Minato's speed, if he truly intended to stay here, it would be difficult for them to forcibly remove him anyway.
Since Minato's behavior had already moved beyond mere jealousy, and Garp showed no signs of anger or furious dismissal, they could only suppress the worry in their hearts and quietly watch him.
"I hope you can, for the sake of the previous Hokage, grant me a chance to calmly and peacefully finish what I have to say."
Minato took a deep breath, forcing his mind, previously affected by matters of the heart, to regain clarity.
Although Kushina's situation had intervened, he knew very well that he hadn't come here today merely to act on jealousy. There were far more important matters at hand.
"You're also a Senju?"
Facing the half-kneeling Minato before him, a trace of amusement suddenly appeared on Garp's face.
...
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