Unlike Kiba and the others who were chatting, Hyuga Hinata activated her Byakugan, carefully observing the two combatants.
After a moment, she felt something was off.
Uzumaki Naruto seemed a little too experienced.
Normally, with a two-tomoe Sharingan, Uchiha Sasuke should be able to read Naruto's movements completely and reach a state of preemption.
But that wasn't the case—Sasuke instead fought as if his hands were tied.
Their roles had been reversed.
It felt as if the one who had awakened the two-tomoe Sharingan wasn't Uchiha Sasuke, but Uzumaki Naruto.
Undoubtedly, this was thanks to Namikaze Minato.
Forget two tomoe—even against the Mangekyo Sharingan's Uchiha Obito, he could seize the upper hand.
Sasuke was still too green, toyed with by three people in the palm of their hands.
Hinata suddenly startled.
She turned and found that the one who had just patted her shoulder was Natsume.
Natsume raised a finger to his lips, signaling her to keep quiet.
Hinata nodded, slipped out of the crowd, and stood with him at the edge of the field.
"How does it look? Could you beat them?"
Watching Sasuke's flashy shuriken manipulation, Natsume thought of Uchiha Itachi.
He wondered if Itachi had joined the Akatsuki yet.
After awakening the Sharingan, Sasuke's vision had greatly improved, allowing him to fully display his prowess with thrown tools.
Plus, it barely consumed chakra—definitely a must-have for genin and chunin.
"It would be hard."
Hinata thought carefully and said, "If I could get in close and strike their tenketsu, I might be able to win."
The Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist was actually very strong.
Combined with the Byakugan, injecting chakra into the enemy's body could damage their chakra nodes and internal organs, thus securing victory.
In the shinobi world, internal organs are very hard to train.
In theory, letting a Hyuga get close is extremely dangerous.
A slight mistake, and you lose fighting capability.
But there are too many endgame monsters.
There's simply no chance to get close.
"Why not try hitting their tenketsu from range?"
Natsume asked with a smile.
"Range?"
Hinata answered as if it were obvious, "Because Gentle Fist is a close-quarters taijutsu."
"But don't you think long-range would be more convenient?"
Natsume reached out and patted her hair. "If there were a long-range Gentle Fist, combined with the Byakugan's range, you could subdue enemies very safely."
"That… does make sense."
Hinata was a little convinced—it did seem right.
But why doesn't the Hyuga clan have a long-range offensive method?
With the Byakugan's absurd sight distance and scope, if they used ninjutsu or the like, they should be able to strike first, right?
The Hyuga can learn ninjutsu.
But because mastering Gentle Fist is already extremely difficult, no one wastes time learning ninjutsu outside of it.
"Hinata, you could try developing a new Gentle Fist in the future."
Natsume could help her too, say, with a bit of Fate Points.
But there was no rush—wait until she grew up.
"Eh?"
Hinata shook her head quickly. "I… I don't have that talent."
Developing ninjutsu is far harder than learning it.
Counting up Konoha's shinobi, very few have created multiple new techniques.
The most classic example is the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama.
If there was some unknown forbidden jutsu, just toss it to him.
Like making Shimura Danzō take the blame—it became a habit.
Natsume crouched down, looked at her; only after making Hinata's face flush to the roots did he say, "I believe in you."
"I… I…"
Hinata's brain went into a boil, steam practically rising as she started babbling nonsense.
After pinching her soft, warm cheeks, Natsume stopped teasing her lest she faint.
He turned to look at the fight in the field—it had reached a crucial moment.
Sasuke had planned to rely on his two-tomoe Sharingan to easily defeat Naruto and win back the Uchiha clan's honor.
But he found the situation was far beyond his expectations—he couldn't land a hit at all.
After a few probes, he began forming hand seals.
His first ninjutsu was the Uchiha's most representative: Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique.
In the past, Naruto would counter with Wind Style, but not today.
The fireball burned away Naruto's clones.
The original appeared behind Sasuke and swung a punch.
Thanks to the Sharingan, even though the punch was fast, he still sensed it.
Sasuke reflexively raised his arm to block.
A dull thunderous thud sounded.
His expression changed.
Such terrifying strength.
Sasuke hurriedly retreated.
Naruto formed seals.
Shadow Clone Technique!
Three Narutos rushed at Sasuke.
"All real?"
Sasuke's pupils constricted.
He didn't dare be careless; he raised a hand to his mouth, chakra turning into flame that blossomed like a flower.
Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!
The three Narutos were immediately struck by fire bullets and set ablaze.
Seeing this, Sasuke felt a surge of joy.
I finally beat this guy!
But the next instant, a vicious wind struck.
Leaf Whirlwind!
Naruto descended from above, smashing a high-speed whirlwind kick at Sasuke.
A miserable cry.
Sasuke was sent flying, crashed to the ground, and kicked up a cloud of dust.
Naruto quickly stepped forward and reached out to help him up.
"Don't touch me!"
Sasuke, a bit pale and displeased, brushed off his hand and struggled to stand.
"Sasuke, you were awesome today!"
Naruto gave a thumbs up, sincerely praising him.
If not for Minato's guidance, he really might not have won.
Unless he used Kurama.
But that would be bullying.
Both Kushina and Minato had told him: unless absolutely necessary, don't use Kurama's power to avoid forming dependence.
"Just wait. Next time I'll win."
Sasuke snorted, expressionless as he turned to leave.
But he had noticed changes in Naruto and learned something too.
Three words: use your brain.
Today's Naruto clearly fought smart.
Sasuke took a deep breath—he had to be smarter than him.
In fact, he realized this had been his easiest fight yet.
Though he lost to Naruto in the end, the pressure truly wasn't that great.
The Sharingan is indeed the best eyes.
With that thought, Sasuke went home.
He didn't even notice Haruno Sakura chasing behind him.
Natsume withdrew his gaze.
Hinata had returned to normal.
"I'll walk you home."
Natsume had barely reached the school gate with Hinata when they were intercepted by Hyuga Rinka.
"Natsume, sorry to trouble you again."
With gentle warmth, Rinka extended an invitation. "Come eat at our place?"
Her attitude almost made Natsume think he'd already married into the Hyuga ahead of schedule.
But he chose to decline.
He needed to go home to be with Tsunade.
They hadn't seen each other all day—they needed to pour their hearts out.
Rinka didn't mind; she tugged the reluctant Hinata away from the academy.
…
Hokage Building.
Standing before the Hokage's office, Natsume knocked.
He knocked because there was more than one person inside.
Otherwise, he'd have slipped right in.
After Tsunade responded, Natsume opened the door and saw Yamanaka Ino.
She had both hands on a dying rooster, performing resuscitation, trying to save it.
Natsume blinked—why not a fish?
He remembered in the original that Haruno Sakura used a fish to practice medical ninjutsu basics.
Why was it a rooster?
Good grief—did the chicken foot show?
Hearing the sound, Ino instinctively turned her head and slipped up.
The rooster spasmed twice and died completely.
"Sensei, I'm sorry…"
Ino's cheeks flushed as she hurriedly apologized.
"It's fine."
Tsunade waved a hand. "You're just starting. It's normal to be unskilled."
Ino let out a breath.
She didn't really know Tsunade's personality, so she acted overly polite.
After all, this was the Hokage.
Offend her and it would be a huge problem.
"That's it for today."
Tsunade glanced at the time. "It's already late. Continue tomorrow."
"Yes."
After a slight bow, Ino turned to leave and gave Natsume a greeting in passing.
Once she'd gone, Tsunade snorted softly. "You're good at charming little girls, huh."
Ino's mistake just now was clearly because she saw Natsume.
"Slander!"
Natsume smiled and closed in to hug her. "I haven't charmed anyone. Except you."
"Sweet talker!"
Tsunade flipped her grip and stuffed him against her chest, as if to smother him.
Fragrance filled his nose—Natsume almost passed out.
This is one torture I'd gladly endure every day.
"You!"
Tsunade pushed him away and rapped his head.
"Behave!"
Natsume knew when to stop.
Flirting was nice, but there had to be a limit.
"You're the Hokage's aide now. How do you plan to handle Root?"
Tsunade shifted to business. "We recently caught those Root members and removed their Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal, but it'll take them some time to walk out from under Shimura Danzō's shadow."
"It's fine—transfer them to regular shinobi."
Natsume didn't want shinobi trained by Danzō—who knew when they might stab him in the back.
"That's what I was thinking too."
Tsunade smiled. "Root is equivalent to ANBU. It requires absolute loyalty."
She was more concerned for Natsume's safety than her own.
Past tragedies would never happen again.
Not unless they stepped over her corpse.
"I don't need Root."
Natsume thought for a moment and shook his head. "For many clans and shinobi, Root is a thorn. No need to rebuild it."
Danzō chose Root members by two standards: geniuses, and those with a certain darkness in their hearts.
Leaving the latter aside, the former already offended many clans.
Like the Aburame, Yamanaka, etc.
No clan wants its prodigies used by another.
"No. You need protection."
Tsunade frowned. "The shinobi world isn't safe. You're the Hokage's aide—high-ranking, and nominally my disciple. Many will come after you."
The simplest being black market bounties.
Every named Konoha shinobi was listed.
Classic example: Sarutobi Asuma—35 million ryo.
Natsume hadn't checked the black market, but he figured once his post as aide was public, his bounty would be even higher.
"I—"
"Don't say you don't need it."
Tsunade cut him off preemptively. "If not, then pick two from these Wood Release shinobi."
"Wood Release shinobi?"
Natsume instinctively took the file and saw they were all Sarutobi clan members.
With Sarutobi Hiruzen merely retired, their loyalty wasn't much of a concern.
Plus Wood Release—indeed suitable candidates.
"I'm not used to having bodyguards."
Seeing her expression shift, Natsume quickly added, "I want to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique."
"The Flying Thunder God?"
Tsunade was taken aback—of course she knew it.
If Natsume could learn it, he really wouldn't need guards.
In the past, Namikaze Minato relied on that jutsu to flit across battlefields like no one else was there.
It's just extremely difficult.
"Since you're Hokage now, I should have permission to read the Scroll of Seals, right?"
Natsume grinned.
He could use this chance to stop hiding the Flying Thunder God and make things easier later.
And he could take a peek at the Scroll of Seals.
That scroll that stored all of Konoha's forbidden jutsu.
"Mm."
Tsunade nodded. "Try training it first. If it doesn't work, I'll assign two guards."
"By the way, Sis, have you considered getting Wood Release?"
Natsume waved the file. "Transplant techniques are quite safe now."
Tsunade fell silent for a moment, then shook her head.
She couldn't accept implanting her grandfather's cells.
Natsume thought, as expected.
Dropping his own Hashirama-cell transplant had been the right call.
The Wood Release serum didn't count—it was processed into a kind of medicine and wouldn't alter her own cells.
"But I think it's worth researching."
Natsume said half-idly, "Wood Release is a kekkei genkai. In theory, all of the Senju clan could awaken it—it's just dormant now. If we can stimulate it, maybe you could awaken it too, Sis."
He couldn't be sure if that was true.
But in the original, there was a shinobi called Moegi Kazamatsuri. If Wood Release purely came from the God Tree, her existence would be odd.
Maybe it really is the Senju clan's bloodline limit.
For Natsume, it was just a pretext.
If research could help Tsunade awaken Wood Release, great.
If not, he'd wait a few years and exchange Fate Points for it.
Tsunade was indeed tempted.
Wood Release was too special to her.
"Are you looking down on me?"
Tsunade suddenly smiled and kneaded his cheeks. "Think I'm weaker than you?"
"The stronger you are, the better you can protect me."
Natsume said righteously. "Then I can laze around with a clear conscience!"
In other words: rich lady, I'm hungry—feed me.
"Ha! Still dare to slack off?!"
Tsunade increased the pressure, kneading his face into various shapes, then couldn't help kissing him.
The flames of war were lit.
Natsume counterattacked immediately.
The Hokage's office, which should have been off duty, continued to serve its function, echoing with a heavenly melody.
Their kiss deepened, tongues wrestling in a heated battle as Natsume's hands roamed freely over Tsunade's voluptuous body. He cupped her massive breasts through her robe, squeezing them firmly, feeling her nipples harden under his palms.
Tsunade moaned into his mouth, her own hands yanking at his clothes, tearing them open with impatient strength. She pushed him back against the Hokage's desk, scattering scrolls and papers in a chaotic flurry.
Natsume's erection strained against his pants, and Tsunade wasted no time grinding her hips against it, her arousal evident in the wet heat he could feel through the fabric.
"You little tease," she growled, nipping at his neck as she stripped him bare. Her fingers wrapped around his thick cock, stroking it slowly at first, then faster, her thumb circling the sensitive head smeared with precum.
Not one to be outdone, Natsume flipped their positions, lifting Tsunade onto the desk with ease. He hiked up her robe, exposing her glistening pussy, shaved and dripping with need. He dove in without hesitation, his tongue lapping at her folds, sucking on her clit while his fingers plunged deep inside her, curling to hit that sweet spot that made her arch and cry out.
"Natsume~!" Tsunade gasped, her hands tangling in his hair, pulling him closer as she rode his face, her juices coating his chin.
When she was trembling on the edge, Natsume stood, aligning his throbbing cock with her entrance. He thrust in hard, burying himself to the hilt in one smooth motion.
Tsunade's walls clenched around him like a vice, hot and slick. He pounded into her relentlessly, the desk creaking under the force of their coupling. Her legs wrapped around his waist, heels digging into his back as she met every thrust with her own, her breasts bouncing wildly.
"Harder... give it to me," she demanded, her nails raking down his back, leaving red trails.
Natsume obliged, flipping her over so she was bent over the desk, ass up. He slapped her firm cheeks, watching them jiggle, before slamming back inside from behind. One hand reached around to rub her clit in furious circles, while the other pulled her hair, arching her back for deeper penetration.
Their rhythm built to a frenzy, sweat-slicked bodies slapping together.
Tsunade came first, her pussy spasming around his cock, a guttural moan escaping her lips as waves of pleasure crashed over her. Natsume followed soon after, groaning as he emptied himself deep inside her, pulse after pulse of hot cum filling her up until it leaked out around his shaft.
They collapsed together on the desk, panting and spent, the office filled with the musky scent of their passion. Tsunade chuckled breathlessly, pulling him in for a lazy kiss. "Now that's how you end a workday."