Chapter 281: Morning, Kaede

Tsunade wore a dark blue short-sleeved top.

The neckline was open just enough to avoid looking stifling while still carrying her usual uninhibited confidence.

When she delivered the report, she might just happen to run into him at the Hokage Building.

If they met, she could naturally exchange a few words with him.

With that thought in mind, she rounded the street corner.

Two figures appeared at the far end of her vision.

They walked side by side, exceptionally close together.

The tall figure on the left was someone she could recognize instantly even among hundreds of people.

Kitahara Kaede.

Tsunade’s foot slipped.

Her body reacted ten thousand times faster than her mind.

With a sudden movement, she turned sideways and hid behind the enormous wooden sign outside a ninja tool shop.

The sign was large enough to conceal her completely.

Only after pressing her back against the wood did Tsunade realize what she had done.

She raised a hand and covered half her face.

’What am I hiding for?’

She had already prepared herself mentally and resolved to take the initiative.

Yet the instant he truly appeared before her, her first reaction was to hide.

Tsunade bit her lower lip in irritation.

After steadying her breathing, she cautiously leaned half her head past the sign.

Her gaze crossed the pedestrians moving along the street and locked onto the pair again.

Kaede was walking when his steps suddenly stopped.

His brows drew together slightly as he looked through the crowd ahead.

For an instant just now, he had caught a flash of unmistakable gold.

But it vanished in the blink of an eye.

"What is it, Kaede?"

Mei stopped beside him and followed his gaze.

An older woman pushed a vegetable cart around the corner.

Beside her stood a wooden sign advertising discounted shuriken.

Other than the passing crowd, there was nothing unusual.

Kaede withdrew his gaze and shook his head.

"Nothing. I must have imagined it."

He started walking again.

Mei responded with a simple "Oh," then quietly quickened her pace by half a step.

She tilted toward Kaede and naturally moved closer.

Her shoulder nearly pressed against his arm.

With her head slightly inclined, she focused entirely on his profile, her heated gaze completely undisguised.

Feeling the warmth beside his arm, Kaede sighed inwardly.

He deliberately shifted half a step outward.

"We’re in the middle of the street," he reminded her in a low voice. "Could you at least watch where you’re going?"

Mei smiled like a fox whose scheme had succeeded.

"Why would I need to watch the road when you’re beside me?"

Kaede’s headache worsened.

"Mind your image."

Mei laughed softly.

Rather than creating distance, she squeezed half an inch closer.

She had made it perfectly clear that she intended to walk pressed against him.

Behind the wooden sign, Tsunade saw everything.

The reddish-brown-haired woman clung to Kaede like an impossible-to-remove piece of sticky candy.

A powerful wave of jealousy surged straight into her chest.

Her fingers tightened slightly around the report.

For a moment, she wanted to storm out, point at the woman, and demand to know what she thought she was doing.

But just as her temper was about to erupt, Tsunade noticed a detail in their interaction.

Kaede had never moved closer on his own.

On the contrary, every time the woman pressed against him, he instinctively shifted away.

He was deliberately maintaining a boundary.

The woman was the only one attacking. Kaede remained entirely passive.

A sentence suddenly flashed through Tsunade’s mind.

"I’m only taking responsibility."

Kaede had said that to her before.

At the time, she had considered it nothing more than an excuse from a man trying to stand in three boats at once.

But after seeing this with her own eyes, she believed him.

The jealousy clouding her mind began to subside.

She looked at Mei’s openly radiant smile.

The woman completely ignored the eyes around her and acted so boldly that she was only a step away from grabbing Kaede outright.

Then Tsunade thought of herself.

Hadn’t she always occupied Kaede’s current position?

Mei carried none of her burdens.

She didn’t play the passive waiting game at all.

Mei had done what Tsunade had never dared to do.

She had taken the initiative.

Tsunade gradually calmed down.

Whether she was trying to accept the situation or learning to move first, she couldn’t continue watching from the sidelines.

She raised a hand and tucked a loose strand of blond hair behind her ear.

Then, carrying her natural pride, she stepped out from behind the sign and walked directly toward them.

Kaede was still suffering over how to peel Mei away from his side when the pedestrians ahead suddenly separated.

A woman walked straight toward him.

A dark blue top.

Long, pale-gold hair.

The striking diamond mark at the center of her forehead.

Kaede stopped so abruptly that he nearly bit his tongue.

’I’m finished!’

The exact thing he had feared had happened.

They had run directly into each other in the street.

What was this supposed to be?

Getting caught in the act?

A layer of sweat instantly formed across his back.

He looked at Tsunade, then turned toward Mei, who was standing almost against him.

He wanted to create distance immediately, but any movement now would only make him look guiltier.

The situation seemed moments away from spinning completely out of control.

"Why did you stop ag—"

Mei began to complain, but her words died halfway out.

Following Kaede’s rigid, horrified gaze, she slowly turned her head.

Under the sunlight, a blond woman approached them with calm, unhurried steps.

Her neckline was slightly open, and her figure was impressive enough to make even Mei feel pressured as another woman.

Mei recognized her immediately.

Princess Tsunade of Konoha.

Alarms began ringing inside her heart.

She hadn’t forgotten that Kaede had personally admitted he loved this woman.

Even if her intelligence indicated that the two were still in a cold war, Mei didn’t dare underestimate the overwhelming presence of someone with the aura of the "official wife."

The smile on her face didn’t fade. Instead, it grew even sweeter.

She resembled a cat encountering a powerful rival—outwardly relaxed while every muscle beneath the surface tightened, ready to reveal its claws at any moment.

The noise of the surrounding street seemed to vanish completely.

The small world between the three of them became suffocatingly silent.

Kaede’s throat moved with difficulty.

His mind raced, desperately searching for something that could break the deadly stalemate.

But he found himself completely speechless and had no idea which woman he should address first.

Tsunade reached them and stopped.

She didn’t ask who Mei was.

She didn’t even spare Mei’s obviously provocative posture a second glance.

Her eyes remained fixed on Kaede’s.

Her expression was as natural as though they had simply encountered each other on an ordinary morning.

Her lips parted slightly, and she spoke in a perfectly normal tone.

"Morning, Kaede."