It was the first time he had ever gone on a mission with so little information and no idea how to determine if it was successful. When he got home, he found Minato sitting on the front steps. Seeing Torifu return, he immediately stood up with a smile.
"Nii-san, you're back."
Torifu nodded. "Yeah, I just went to Sensei's place to ask about some things. Were you waiting for me?"
Minato scratched his head. "Yeah... I was a little worried since you hadn't come home so late."
Torifu patted Minato's shoulder. "That's very touching. Come on, let's go inside the courtyard."
"Okay!"
The two of them went and sat down in the courtyard gazebo. Torifu then asked, "Did you have dinner?"
"I did. Amado Nii-san took me to eat in town."
Torifu hadn't expected Amado to have taken Minato out to eat. It seemed the two of them were getting along well. Torifu took the opportunity to test Minato on his schoolwork, and Minato answered everything easily.
"Minato, I'm going on a long-distance mission in two days. Amado is usually pretty busy and might not have time to look after you, so if you need anything, you can go directly to your Great-Sensei."
Minato was visibly a little disappointed to hear this. After all, they had only been together for a little over a week, and his Nii-san was already going on a mission. He didn't know when he would return.
"Okay, Nii-san. I understand. You're going on a mission, so please be careful."
Torifu stroked Minato's head. He could see Minato's sadness, but he was pretending everything was fine so it wouldn't affect Torifu's mood.
"Don't worry. I'll try to come back quickly. My strength is great; I won't be in any danger."
Minato nodded. In the week he had been in the Hidden Leaf Village, he had already learned about the shinobi way of life. Missions were the most important thing for a shinobi. Some shinobi would even sacrifice their lives for a mission. So, his Nii-san couldn't possibly stay home all the time, and he, too, would have to go on missions in the future. He would just have to get used to it sooner.
Torifu stretched. "Ah, once I get back from this mission, there won't be any more annoying missions. It's finally my turn to be a singing peasant!"
Minato didn't quite understand what Torifu meant by that, but he seemed happy. Then, he suddenly remembered that his brother was going to become Hokage, wasn't he? The person named Tobirama had said so in the Hokage's Office. Once his brother became Hokage, he wouldn't have to leave the village anymore, right? He would just sit in the office all day.
With that thought, Minato smiled again. Torifu was a little confused by his reaction. Why was this child sad one moment and happy the next? But it didn't matter. As long as he was happy, that was all that counted.
"Alright, Minato, you should go to bed now. You have school tomorrow."
Minato nodded and went to his room to sleep after saying goodbye to Torifu. Torifu sat in the gazebo, watching the stars and the moon. After drinking a cup of tea, he went back to his room to rest.
The next day, as soon as the sun rose, Torifu was woken up by the system's punctual notification sound. Torifu got up and went to the window. He pushed it open to reveal a beautiful, sunny morning. A ray of morning light shone through the window onto Torifu, feeling warm with a hint of the morning chill. After taking a deep breath, Torifu went to get ready. Although he had told them to come early, they probably weren't even awake yet. Torifu didn't have to rush. He put on a loose-fitting robe, grabbed a cup of tea, and headed to the lounge chair in front of the door. Just as he was about to sit down, he saw that it was covered in morning dew. With a wave of his hand, a gentle breeze dried the chair.
He sat down comfortably, holding the teacup with both hands. It was a very relaxing feeling. This kind of life was just too wonderful for Torifu. It would be even better if he didn't have to go on missions.
A short while later, Minato also got up. He opened his door and rubbed his eyes, looking like he hadn't fully woken up yet. Seeing Torifu lying in the rocking chair, Minato quickly got ready and then came to sit next to Torifu. He also brought a lounge chair and lay down comfortably.
"Nii-san, you wake up so early every day. Don't you get sleepy?"
Torifu took a sip of his tea. "If you only wake up early for one day, you'll definitely be sleepy. But if you wake up early every day and make it a habit, you won't be."
Minato nodded. It seemed he had to work even harder to overcome his difficulty getting up in the morning!
"Children don't need to wake up early every day. Just sleep until you wake up naturally, or you'll get sleepy in class every day."
Minato was confused. "I heard from Amado Nii-san that you made him wake up early when he was little and said that only with this kind of discipline could he become strong."
Torifu was a little uncertain. "Did I? I don't think so."
"You did. He just told me yesterday."
Torifu waved his hand indifferently. "Then I must have lied to him." The truth was, back then, Torifu was woken up by the system every morning. Seeing Amado still sleeping soundly, he felt a little unbalanced, so he just made up a rule on the spot. He never expected that Amado would remember it until now.
"Anyway, you don't have to force yourself to wake up early tomorrow. Just sleep until you wake up naturally."
Minato was naturally happy to hear this. He had thought that waking up early was a hard rule in the family, which was why he set an alarm so early every day to wake himself up. Since his Nii-san said he didn't need to, it was great.
"Are you hungry?"
"A little..."
"Then just endure it. That's what a shinobi is, enduring hunger that a normal person can't."
This was one of the drawbacks of waking up early. There was no food to eat, and he would have to be hungry until mealtime. About half an hour later, the hot tea in Torifu's cup had turned cold. He gulped down the rest of the tea and then left the house with Minato. The time the morning market opened was ingrained in Torifu's mind. He didn't even need to look at a clock to know when to leave.
The two of them strolled through the morning market and bought a bunch of delicious food. They brought it back to the clan grounds, thinking they would see if Amado would get up to eat with them. But even after they finished eating, there was no sign of Amado. He probably slept in his lab again last night. Amado was truly unpredictable now. If you didn't specifically go looking for him, it was very hard to run into him. This made Torifu a little worried about his love life.
About an hour after breakfast, Minato left to get ready for school. He waved at Torifu before he left, and Torifu smiled. Taking on Minato as a disciple was just like raising a child, but the feeling wasn't bad.
He cleaned up the leftover food. They should be arriving soon. It wouldn't look good if it was a mess.
...
chapter end
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My inner goblin has emerged. It sees you haven't left a power stone. It's now staring at you from the dark corner of your screen. 👁️👄👁️ Please appease it.