From Student to Disciple

From Student to Disciple

The next day, the sun rose as usual.

Asuka was awakened, as always, by the Orange Cat's overly fat body pressing down on him.

Noticing that he was having a little trouble breathing, he opened his eyes, moved the Orange Cat from his chest to the other side of the pillow, yawned, and climbed out of bed.

"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle~"

Asuka brushed his teeth by the window while studying the book in his hand, titled Fashionable Beauty Body Limits.

Knock! Knock! Knock! Just as he finished brushing his teeth and was about to go back to sleep, someone knocked on his bedroom door.

Before he could answer, the door creaked open.

A small head with long purple hair slipped through the gap.

Uzuki Yugao clearly hadn't expected Asuka's door to be unlocked.

She was surprised at first, then curiously peered inside. Just in time, she saw Asuka standing in the middle of the living room, holding a toothbrush cup in one hand and a magazine that was obviously not for children in the other. Looking at the eight-pack abs and muscular thighs on its cover, Yugao blinked, and her face instantly turned bright red.

"Sorry to disturb you!"

Bang! The girl slammed the door shut and leaned against it, breathing out hot air in great gulps.

Konoha's mornings in February were still somewhat chilly, but she felt none of that coolness. All she could feel was hot sweat constantly beading on her forehead.

Was that really something to look at while brushing his teeth first thing in the morning?

But then Yu Yan suddenly realized that he was the one caught peeking at a dirty magazine. Shouldn't he be the embarrassed one? Why was she the one hiding? That was far too cowardly.

With that in mind, Yu Yan gathered her courage and opened the door again.

However, Asuka had already gotten dressed, and the magazine had been tossed aside.

If the Toad Sage could get rich by gathering material at bathhouses, there was no reason Asuka couldn't get rich by gathering material from books.

If the Make-Out Series hadn't sold so absurdly well throughout the ninja world, making Asuka so envious, he would have preferred to write something serious.

Seeing the complicated expression on Yu Yan's face, Asuka said irritably, "Hey, what's with that look? Didn't get enough?"

As he spoke, he opened the refrigerator, took out a carton of iced milk and a cup of pork-bone-flavored Instant Noodles, then continued, "Do you know the phrase 'leave doors unlocked at night'? The Uchiha Clan Grounds have great customs. I don't close my doors or windows at night. Remember to knock first next time."

"Got it!"

Yu Yan lowered her head slightly. Under her own mental persuasion, the sweat on her face became sweat from running too fast rather than embarrassment.

"Teacher?"

Seeing Asuka boil water for noodles, Yu Yan pointed at the icy milk beside him and asked hesitantly, "Are you going to eat hot and cold things together?"

"Yeah. It's a way to train your willpower."

"Um..."

Yu Yan poked her fingers together. Her cheeks reddened again as she said guiltily, "Actually, I can cook."

"You?"

After looking her up and down, Asuka raised an eyebrow and asked suspiciously, "You want something from me?"

"What? I just saw how Teacher eats in the morning and was worried you might upset your stomach."

Hearing the lack of confidence in her voice, Asuka dipped his hand into the water to test its temperature, then said, "Go on. What exactly do you want?"

"Um..."

After hesitating for a while, Uzuki Yugao gritted her teeth. "I'd better make breakfast first."

With that, she jogged into the kitchen, grabbed Asuka's sturdy arm, dragged him into the living room, pressed him onto the sofa, then tied on an apron and got busy in the kitchen.

Half an hour later.

Asuka looked at the neatly arranged egg slices, oil-fried bread, and ham on the plate, then looked up at Yu Yan differently.

Honestly, half an hour ago, he had thought he might get some kind of delicious Big Meal.

But this was it? "Not bad!"

After taking a bite of ham and finding that it tasted exactly the same as usual, Asuka gave her a thumbs-up and praised, "Really well done. There isn't even a hint of burnt flavor.

Your future boyfriend will be lucky."

"Hehe..."

After giggling foolishly for a while, Uzuki Yugao finally remembered why she had come. Her gaze fell on Asuka as he ate a fried egg, and she asked expectantly, "Teacher, I heard you studied swordsmanship before?"

"I did, but after learning it for a while, I realized it wasn't what I imagined, so I gave up."

He really had studied swordsmanship for a time. He had thought he could release slashes through the air like in the pirate world, but later discovered that it was just swinging a katana around and chopping. It was nowhere near as explosive as ninjutsu. After copying some sword techniques with his Sharingan, he turned to studying other things.

"Teacher, I have a request."

"Go ahead. I'm easy to talk to."

Hearing that, Uzuki Yugao took a deep breath, then bent over in a bow in one smooth motion. Closing her eyes, she shouted, "Teacher, please accept me as your disciple!"

Huh?? Asuka blinked, and the egg in his mouth instantly lost its flavor. He put down his chopsticks, turned to look at her, and asked, "You mean, as an apprentice?"

"Yes!"

Hearing her firm answer, Asuka felt as though someone had switched on a motor at his temples, making them throb wildly.

What got into her? Why does she suddenly want to become my disciple?

After he voiced the question in his heart, Uzuki Yugao brought her legs together and answered firmly, "Among sword-wielding ninja, you are the best Medical Ninja. Among Medical Ninja, you are also the best sword-wielding ninja. Grandpa Kosuke personally admitted that your mastery of swordsmanship is not inferior to his at all.

Tsunade once mentioned that assigning a Medical Ninja to every squad would increase its members' chances of survival.

I want to learn Medical Ninjutsu, but I don't want to give up swordsmanship either. Yu Yan can't take two people as teachers at once."

Kosuke? Wasn't he that old man who got blamed for everything, the eternal genin said to be on par with Might Duy? Once Asuka remembered who Kosuke was, the corner of his mouth twitched and his expression immediately fell. He had copied quite a few sword techniques from the old man back then. It seemed time to pay them back. After a moment of silence, he turned to Yu Yan and slowly asked, "What exactly happened that suddenly made you want to study medicine?"

Yu Yan smacked her lips. She put on an innocent expression and stared at the ceiling with wide, guileless eyes without saying anything.

During the clan sparring match yesterday, she had accidentally slashed her opponent. Then, that night, her mother had shut the door and given her a beating.

As she lay in bed last night, she realized why her teacher had learned Medical Ninjutsu in the first place.

Based on what she had learned about her teacher over this period, when he first studied Medical Ninjutsu, he must have at least partly wanted to injure an opponent and then personally heal them afterward.

Besides, she had heard that apart from Tsunade, her teacher's Medical Ninjutsu was stronger than anyone else currently in Konoha.

Her left hand could slash at the enemy with swordsmanship, while her right hand could use Medical Ninjutsu on herself. Wasn't that an eternal motion machine that could never be injured?

After realizing the importance of Medical Ninjutsu, Yu Yan had wanted to climb out of bed and ask to become his disciple last night, but unfortunately, her mother had stopped her. Thinking of this, Uzuki Yugao could no longer suppress her excitement. She stepped forward twice, her big eyes blinking brightly, but countless words caught in her throat, and she could not say a single one.

"Alright, alright, I get it."

Asuka looked at Yu Yan's hopeful eyes, then lowered his head to look at the remaining half slice of egg in his bowl and said solemnly, "Medical Ninja and combat ninja walk two different paths. Since you've made up your mind, you must be prepared to endure hardship."

"Yes!"

"Come make breakfast at five tomorrow morning. I don't want egg slices anymore."

"Yes!"

"Then let go of my arm. Stop shaking it."

"Yes!"

Seeing her agree so readily, Asuka stuck a finger in his nose and looked up at the ceiling.

Did I wake up too suddenly today? Am I still dreaming? In less than an hour... I actually took on a disciple.