Natsume had eaten too many dumplings and was full, so he didn't join Tsunade and Shizune for dinner.
With time to spare, he continued practicing the Flying Thunder God Technique in the courtyard.
By late night, after showering off the sweat, he returned to the room.
Tsunade was already asleep.
Natsume tiptoed into the bed, snuggled up to her, and wrapped his arm around her.
Holding this pleasantly plush pillow, he closed his eyes in satisfaction.
Morning.
Sunlight streamed through the window and fell across the bed.
Tsunade opened her bright brown eyes.
She had slept well.
During their mission in the Land of Fire, she hardly slept properly and often dreamed,
to the point that Asuma jokingly assumed Natsume owed her hundreds of millions.
Kind of funny.
Natsume, when sleeping, is quite well-behaved.
He doesn't toss around, nor does he snore.
Just listening to his steady breathing gave Tsunade a deep sense of peace.
She, on the other hand, tends to move a lot in her sleep.
Right now, one of her hands was around Natsume, while the other rested on his abdomen.
Tsunade carefully slipped herself free, and when she saw she hadn't woken him, she breathed out in relief.
She put on her coat and headed to the kitchen.
Before long, Natsume woke up.
Mainly because that warm, soft sensation was gone.
He sighed.
If before it was pure enjoyment, now it was torture.
After all, he really had grown up.
Still, courtship is like this—you take it step by step.
He could already feel the changes in Tsunade since she'd come back.
But it still wasn't enough.
She still treated him like a child to be doted on, which wasn't exactly conducive to romance.
The day she lets her fiery side show, then they'll be about there.
"Smells great."
Passing by the kitchen, Natsume grew curious.
For someone as hopeless at cooking as Tsunade, a smell this good was downright suspicious.
"Sis, what are you making?"
Standing at the bathroom door, he asked, "Why does it smell so good?"
"Tonkotsu ramen,"
Tsunade lifted her chin proudly. "I guarantee it'll taste amazing."
"…"
Natsume immediately felt something was going to go wrong.
But he was used to it; after washing up he returned to the living room to wait.
Shizune was already seated at the table.
Relaxed, she said, "Don't worry. I went to Ichiraku Ramen yesterday and bought their ingredients."
Beautifully done!
Sister Shizune, you're my goddess!
It's just that Tsunade's cooking is a natural disaster.
Natsume told himself not to drop his guard because of this.
Soon, three bowls of tonkotsu ramen hit the table.
"Eat."
Tsunade picked up her chopsticks.
Natsume panicked inside, but outwardly nodded obediently.
He took a bite.
He raised an eyebrow.
No weird taste, but why is it completely different from Ichiraku's?
Natsume shot Shizune a look—did you buy a counterfeit?
Shizune looked equally puzzled, utterly baffled.
In the end, breakfast concluded safely.
In the morning, Natsume went to Shikkotsu Forest to suffer again.
But it was necessary.
First, to cultivate the image of a mature man.
Second, to strengthen his body.
Afternoon.
Tsunade headed to the Hokage building.
If she wanted to become Hokage, she couldn't remain so lax.
At her request, she was now moonlighting as a Hokage advisor.
She often quarreled with Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane—almost to the point of turning the Konoha high council into a martial arts brawl.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had always let those two advisors do as they pleased.
But Tsunade was different—if they needed to be smacked down, she smacked them down.
Natsume wholeheartedly approved.
Even when Naruto became Hokage, Mitokado and Koharu were still meddling in village affairs.
If they truly had wise counsel, no problem—but they were just smoothing things over.
Clinging to power for dear life.
Natsume trained the Flying Thunder God Technique until dusk, then slipped into the Hyuga compound.
But Hinata wasn't in her room.
In the past, he would've left immediately, worried about being discovered.
Now, with greater skill, he had greater nerve.
He went to the courtyard where Hinata trained and stumbled upon something interesting.
She was sparring with Neji.
Only Neji's face was full of shock and disbelief.
Because it was the first time he'd been on the back foot.
Previously, Hinata had always been timid when sparring with him, but for some reason, in just half a month, her style had changed dramatically.
Each move was measured and methodical, with a flowing, unbroken softness like water.
Neji wasn't used to her change, and thus lost the initiative.
Natsume nodded in satisfaction.
Training in the genjutsu space had been simple—he gave Hinata an enhanced version of Neji.
If Kakashi could rely on the Sharingan to become Konoha's top technician,
then Natsume using his Mangekyo Sharingan to copy the Byakugan and Gentle Fist wasn't much of a problem.
Add the effects of genjutsu, and creating a buffed-up Neji was easy.
Hinata's early finish in yesterday's fight proved she'd made significant progress.
Perhaps it was the chance for a breakthrough—an enlightenment of sorts.
Besides, Neji was only seven now, far from the version who entered the Chunin Exams in the original story.
Losing to a Hinata was normal.
"This is impossible!"
Neji's body went rigid; he couldn't circulate chakra anymore.
Without realizing it, he had lost to this timid heiress?
How absurd!
In that instant, his expression twisted.
One of the big reasons he resented being branch family,
was that he believed himself exceptionally gifted and should not be bound by the Caged Bird seal.
Hinata, meek and hesitant, could be main family.
Fate was simply unfair.
"I've already figured out your fighting style."
Hinata took a deep breath. "Unless you learn new Gentle Fist techniques, you won't be able to defeat me."
In the illusion, she had been defeated over and over.
After much thought, she came up with a clumsy method: memorize his entire attack pattern.
"I said that one day I would deal with the Caged Bird."
Hinata clenched her fists, her tone firm. "This is just the beginning."
Neji stared blankly at her, then regained his composure.
"Talk is cheap. You're main family—why would you undo the Caged Bird? And how do you plan to do it?"
"Because I don't like seeing you give up on yourself."
Hinata hesitated but voiced her reason.
There was another: Hiashi Hyuga.
He didn't like the Caged Bird either and had sighed many times over Hizashi's change of heart, but bound by tradition, he was too conservative.
Compared to Natsume, both of them lacked that sense of unrestrained freedom.
And Hinata didn't want Hanabi to be branded with the Caged Bird seal.
It was simply too awful.
"…"
For the first time, Neji learned how she saw him.
Calling it self-destructive was fair.
His fate was controlled by others, yet he was granted such talent—what a cosmic joke.
"As for how to do it?"
Hinata raised three fingers. "First, allow the branch family to learn advanced secret techniques, like Rotation. Second, the Caged Bird does protect the Byakugan, but return control to the branch family. Third, improve the seal and fix its blind-spot flaws."
"Do you have any idea what you're saying?!"
Neji's eyes widened, more shocked than by his defeat moments ago.
This was severing the root—cutting off all the main family's privileges.
Hinata blinked, not understanding why his reaction was so strong.
In truth, these three points were Natsume's suggestions.
She clearly didn't grasp the deeper implications the way Neji did.
"I…I really do think that."
Hinata reverted to her old self, looking a bit unsure.
Neji's feelings were a tangle.
In his view, Hinata obviously hadn't considered the other main family members and was acting purely out of kindness.
But these three proposals were far too tempting.
"Naive."
Neji took a deep breath and turned to leave.
Hinata suddenly felt at a loss.
Did I say something wrong?
Natsume appeared at the edge of her vision.
She was about to run over when he pointed toward her room, and she immediately understood.
Out here, they could be easily noticed.
"Confused, aren't you?"
Natsume picked her up and set her on a chair. "I'll talk to you tonight about the issues you just brought up."