Kushina still wasn't completely at ease just throwing Tsunade, who was under a genjutsu, into the courtyard.
Out of kindness, she moved her back to the guest room and set up a simple protective barrier before finally leaving with Kei.
As for undoing the genjutsu?
No way. If she did, how would they enjoy their time alone together?
Hand in hand, Kei and Kushina walked toward the Senju residence.
Despite the distant and wary gazes from the villagers around them, some still filled with disgust and fear, Kushina no longer paid them any attention.
Mito once said that when her heart was filled with love, she would no longer feel lonely or afraid because of being a jinchūriki.
Look, I'm not lonely or afraid anymore! Standing in front of the Senju residence, Kushina murmured softly.
The next moment, her face lit up with a bright smile as she pulled Kei along and ran inside.
"Oh, right. During this mission, Minato and I brought back someone from your clan—a girl around your age."
While helping Kushina organize her things, Kei casually mentioned the mission.
"Huh?! R-Really? What's her name? She must be struggling to adjust after just arriving in Konoha. Should I go check on her? Does she have a place to stay? She must have been through a lot, right? Kei, I…"
"Relax. No need to rush. I'll tell you everything. Her name is Honoka, and before this…"
Kei patted Kushina's head. Under her eager, sparkling gaze, he began explaining Honoka's situation.
Compared to Kushina's childhood, Honoka had actually been quite lucky.
When the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed, she managed to escape safely thanks to her parents' protection. Although she lived as a refugee for a while, she soon settled in the Land of the Sea.
Since both of her parents were ninjas, even though they later worked as simple hunters, they managed to live a decent life.
Later, by chance, her parents got involved with an underground bounty exchange and somehow ended up on Summoning Island, helping researchers control unruly summoning beasts.
Due to old injuries from their ninja days, her parents both passed away three years ago. Since then, she had taken over their work, assisting the research efforts on the island.
It wasn't until Kei and Minato arrived that she learned the island was secretly backed by Kiri.
After being rescued by Minato, the survivors from the research facility were taken to Konoha.
Having nowhere else to go, Honoka naturally followed them here.
"Ew—so he actually pulled a 'hero saving the damsel' move to trick an innocent girl! And he even brought her straight home!"
Kushina made a face full of disdain, but deep down, most of her worries had already eased.
Because Kei and Minato were close, she was also quite familiar with Minato. Even though she always thought he was a bit too soft and gentle, she knew he was a reliable person when it came to his comrades.
If Minato was looking after Honoka, then there was no way she'd be as lost, confused, and lonely as Kushina had been when she first arrived in Konoha.
"Hahaha! Exactly! He is definitely no good! Haha!" Kei wholeheartedly agreed, without a hint of guilt.
On the way back, he had already complained to Minato multiple times, telling him to tone down his lovey-dovey behavior.
But that guy? One ear in, one ear out. One second, he'd promise to behave. The next second, he was lying in his girlfriend's lap!
Even meals had to be, "You feed me a bite, I feed you a bite." And when traveling, if they weren't holding each other, they were hugging.
How could that guy possibly be a "good person"?
"You're no good either."
Kushina stuck out her tongue playfully.
She happily labeled Kei as just as "bad" as Minato.
Don't think she didn't know. Out of all the Konoha ninjas in their generation, Kei had the worst personality.
He looked bright and handsome on the outside, but when it came to pranks? Absolutely ruthless.
All those self-invented and modified genjutsu—
"Here's a D for You," "Ecstatic Tentacle Games," "Glory Mole," "I am your Father", "Golden Shower"…
Just from the names alone, who in their right mind would believe he was a good guy?
"So, you finally said what you really think?"
Kei gently pinched Kushina's nose.
Looking at her radiant, mischievous smile, he suddenly felt a little hungry… for something else.
"W-We should finish packing! If we're too late, Tsunade might just tear the house down."
Under Kei's intense, wolf-like gaze, Kushina immediately chickened out.
"Tch, weren't you really bold before?"
"No matter how bold I was before, it was it the past. But now? It's the present."
"And you're actually proud of that?"
"Mm-hmm~"
After a busy while, Kushina had packed up a whole five large boxes of belongings.
And that was only her personal items—she hadn't even touched the furniture and decorations in the Senju residence.
Otherwise, forget five boxes, even fifty might not be enough.
"Looks like I'll need to use shadow clones."
Kushina clapped the dust off her hands and was just about to form a seal when Kei grabbed her hand to stop her.
"Let me show you something cool."
Kei took Kushina's right hand, focused for a moment, then pressed his palm against her wrist.
Chakra and spatial energy converged.
In the blink of an eye, a ping-pong ball-sized marking appeared on her wrist—its outer ring forming a circle, with two small arrows spinning clockwise inside.
"What kind of sealing jutsu is this? Hmm... looks like it's meant to stabilize some kind of spatial energy?"
Kushina blinked her big eyes, studying the mark curiously.
The Flying Thunder God mark was essentially a spatial coordinate, created by manipulating chakra to mark a location in space. By integrating special sealing techniques, the coordinate could be stored and preserved within a seal.
Even though Kushina didn't recognize Kei's specific Flying Thunder God mark, she immediately understood its fundamental nature.
"Wait, let's add a lock to it."
Kei swiftly formed hand seals and lightly pressed his palm against Kushina's right wrist again.
A ring of intricate sealing runes formed around it.
"A locking seal? And you even wrote your name on it? What, afraid people won't know I'm your girlfriend?"
Kushina's ears turned slightly red.
Her words carried a bit of playful complaint, but her tone was full of delight. This kind of gesture, wanting to let the whole world know they were together... mm, she liked it a lot!
"This is my exclusive Flying Thunder God mark."
Kei had no resistance to Kushina's playful pout. He tapped her forehead with a smile and explained.
The Locking Seal was a high-level sealing technique that could be cleverly integrated with other seals to form compound seals. A seal enhanced with a Locking Seal could only be unlocked by the original user's chakra.
Unless someone forcefully broke it with overwhelming chakra, only Kei himself could use his chakra to access the deeper layers of the seal.
In other words, even if Minato sensed the Flying Thunder God mark left by Kei, he wouldn't be able to teleport to it. Because the mark was locked, and his chakra didn't match.
So, no access.
"You're such a possessive guy~" Kushina chuckled.
"Alright, alright! Tomorrow, when I report to the jonin standby station, I'll make sure to tell them—this is your exclusive Flying Thunder God mark. Your... wait, Flying Thunder God?!"
"Yep."
"The same Flying Thunder God Technique as Tobirama-sama?!"
"Mm-hmm."
"... So, no matter how far away we are, you can instantly appear by my side?"
"That's right!"
"AAAAH—Kei, you're amazing!!"
Kushina threw her arms around his neck, showering him with endless praise without holding back.