I, Konoha’s Sage of Life-Chapter 405: A World Where Only Yahiko Gets Hurt

Chapter 405: Chapter 405: A World Where Only Yahiko Gets Hurt
"Why don’t I take you around Amegakure for a bit? Especially you, Tsunade-hime—you probably haven’t been to Amegakure in a long time, right?"
Konan’s smile was bright, her expression gentle and warm.
But...
For some reason, Kyoichi felt that something about the atmosphere was a little off. Almost like...
There was a faint smell of gunpowder in the air.
He carefully glanced at Tsunade.
Her expression was mild, her smile sweet—she looked like a virtuous, tender wife, completely different from her usual self.
Women are terrifying!
Kyoichi grumbled inwardly.
He walked along the street with Konan and Tsunade. Up ahead, the two of them—whether out of rivalry or genuine appetite—kept stopping to buy food whenever they saw something tasty.
Tsunade was one thing, but even Konan too...
Kyoichi sighed silently.
Three women make a drama. Fortunately, he’d had the good sense not to bring Yūhi Kurenai along this time—otherwise, the atmosphere would probably be even more delicate right now.
Of course...
It was also possible that Kurenai, as a mediator, might actually have eased things instead. Hard to say. But no matter what, the current atmosphere was really not something he could endure for long.
"Hey, do you two like eating that much? You’ve eaten quite a bit already—how about we find a place to sit down?"
"No, this is nothing."
They answered in unison, perfectly in sync.
They’re competing over this too?
Kyoichi fell silent.
It seemed...
This situation was already beyond his ability to intervene. He even began to consider whether he should find a chance later to use Flying Thunder God to drag Yahiko over.
In a situation this subtle, adding just one more person would be enough to break the balance.
But...
Now wasn’t the right moment.
He quietly followed behind them. At first, Konan was the one paying, but later she became so focused on the silent rivalry that Kyoichi ended up footing the bill.
Of course...
He ate some himself too.
To be fair, as trade caravans to Amegakure increased, snack stalls had become far more diverse. You could now find specialty foods from many different countries here, and they tasted quite good.
A few years ago, Ame ninja wouldn’t even have dared to imagine something like this.
The streets gradually grew more crowded.
"Let’s stop here. There’s an izakaya up ahead—let’s go sit down."
"An izakaya? Great. I want to try Amegakure’s alcohol."
Tsunade’s eyes lit up.
Mention an izakaya and she was wide awake.
When it came to drinking, she was unbeatable.
At least...
Konan—who had stayed in Kyoichi’s house for a while—was definitely no match for her.
Tsunade was full of confidence.
Konan’s mouth twitched.
Just eating all that food already made her uncomfortable. Drinking too?
Heavens!
Does this woman have a bottomless stomach?
She hesitated, wanting to back out.
But...
It had been Kyoichi who suggested the izakaya, and she herself had said she’d show Kyoichi and Tsunade around Amegakure. If she backed down now, it would look terrible.
Gritting her teeth, she walked in.
Without drawing attention, Kyoichi secretly sent Yahiko a slip of paper, chakra forming two words on it:
"Help me."
Yahiko received it immediately.
He was completely confused, but rushed over at once—whatever had happened to make Kyoichi send an SOS couldn’t be trivial.
Kyoichi’s chakra signature was faint; Yahiko couldn’t sense exactly who he was with, though Konan seemed to be there too.
"Did Konan put Kyoichi in a difficult spot?"
Yahiko pondered silently.
As someone who’d grown up with her, he could sense some of Konan’s emotions. Toward Kyoichi...
Ever since returning from Konoha, she’d mentioned him more than once—how he’d transformed Konoha, eliminated Danzō, hated injustice, loved peace.
Every sentence somehow circled back to him.
It might not have reached the level of love yet, but liking him—having strong feelings—was undeniable.
So...
In Yahiko’s mind, maybe Konan was pulling Kyoichi aside to talk about something.
After hesitating a few seconds, he decided to go in and see.
No matter what, Kyoichi had asked for help. He needed to figure out what was going on—and if he could persuade them, he would. After all, he was friends with both of them.
With that thought, Yahiko no longer hesitated and strode inside confidently.
However...
At the entrance of the izakaya, when Yahiko saw who was sitting inside, his first instinct was to turn around and leave—but the moment he did, he found he couldn’t move.
Looking down, he saw a shadow stretching out from inside, wrapping around him, dragging him step by step inward against his will.
Once inside, he had no choice anymore.
Kyoichi feigned surprise.
"Yahiko? What are you doing here—looking for Konan?"
"...Yeah."
Yahiko felt utterly speechless.
He’d clearly been about to leave the moment he saw Tsunade, yet this guy had forcibly dragged him back. That technique looked an awful lot like the Nara clan’s Shadow Imitation Jutsu—but when did Kyoichi learn that?
What a trap!
He cursed inwardly.
Konan’s face instantly turned red as she stood up.
"Y-Yahiko... do you need something?"
"No, I was just out walking around. I saw you in the izakaya and came in to check on you."
Yahiko lied without the slightest hint of embarrassment, showing no sign that he’d just been forcibly dragged back by Kyoichi.
Tsunade, already somewhat drunk, squinted at him but didn’t notice the shadow silently retracting along the floor.
Still...
She instinctively felt something was off.
Yahiko’s timing was far too perfect. Could Konan have called him over?
As Tsunade sobered up a bit, she glanced at Konan and quickly ruled that out.
With that girl’s demeanor, calling Yahiko over behind her back would be impossible. So there was only one culprit—
Kyoichi, obviously.
The corners of Tsunade’s lips curled upward as she lifted a bottle.
"Well then—care to sit down and have a drink?"
"Uh... maybe that’s not necessary?"
Yahiko’s mouth twitched.
He couldn’t drink. Nor did he want to.
But at that moment, Kyoichi’s hand reached out again.
"You’re already here—don’t be shy. Sit down and drink!"
He was slammed into a seat by an overwhelming force, completely unable to move. The chakra in his body was quickly disrupted by Kyoichi’s chakra, leaving him unable to muster any strength at all.
...So be it.
That’s life. If you can’t resist, you might as well accept it.
It was Yahiko’s first time drinking. He didn’t know his limit, but surely one bottle would be fine.
Tsunade smiled as she handed him the alcohol.
Once Yahiko arrived, the tension in the room vanished—but Yahiko himself suffered miserably.
The alcohol that Konan was supposed to drink was all passed on to him.
And so...
An hour later, Yahiko was sprawled across the izakaya table, fast asleep. Tsunade’s hearty laughter echoed through the room, Konan scratched her head awkwardly, and Kyoichi simply smiled without saying a word.
"Sorry about that. I’ll take Yahiko home first and come back later."
"Sure, go ahead. I didn’t expect Yahiko to have such a low tolerance—if I’d known, I wouldn’t have dragged him into drinking."
"I didn’t expect it either."
Konan wrapped Yahiko up in paper, bowed lightly to Kyoichi and Tsunade, and carried him home.
And thus, the world where only Yahiko got hurt was complete.