The Chancellor's Spirit Lives On

Kabuto Yakushi had been taken in as Tsunade's apprentice, but his treatment was far inferior to Natsume's.

He still lived at the Orphanage and would not be moving here.

And most of the Medical Ninjutsu lessons were taught by Shizune.

As for Tsunade, she had returned to her old ways, spending every day at casinos and losing terribly.

This made Natsume extremely eager for Gunma Company to reopen.

If she kept losing like this, they would really end up on the streets.

Early morning.

Natsume sent a Wood Clone to class while his real body headed for Gunma Casino.

He had left Uzumaki Ena and Karin hanging for two days. It was time to see them.

Gunma Casino was currently being renovated.

According to Natsume's plans, it would become a six-story building, with different games and entry fees on every floor. Naturally, the service would improve with each level as well.

At the same time, in Tanzaku Street, where most buildings were two- or three-story wooden houses, a six-story structure would stand out like a crane among chickens and serve as excellent publicity.

After half a month of renovations, the casino's first three floors had been completed.

After disguising himself, Natsume entered the third floor and knocked on the door of a room.

Soon, Uzumaki Ena opened the door. The moment she saw him, her body trembled instinctively.

"Sir." She forced down her fear and greeted him.

Kakuzu and Sasori had left an impression on her that was far too deep. Coupled with her uncertainty about the future, her reaction was perfectly understandable.

"How have you been these past few days? Has anyone bullied you?"

Seeing her pitiful appearance, Natsume thought, She really makes people want to protect her... and bully her.

"No."

Uzumaki Ena shook her head. "Everyone has treated me with respect."

Natsume closed the door and locked it.

His actions made Uzumaki Ena's face fill with alarm.

Could it be that he wanted to...?

She pressed her lips together. For her daughter Karin's sake, she could make that sacrifice.

But the next moment, she froze.

Natsume had reverted to his original appearance, turning into an explosively adorable seven-year-old child.

Uzumaki Ena blinked, and much of the fear in her heart faded.

That face was simply too cute for her to be afraid of.

"Let's get acquainted again. My name is Natsume, and I'm seven years old."

Natsume did not mind revealing his true appearance before her. The reason was simple: he could control Uzumaki Ena whenever he wanted.

Setting aside the Uzumaki Clan's physique, she was just an ordinary person, and her daughter was also her weakness.

Besides, even if she exposed his identity, it would not matter much.

Gunma Company had originally been controlled through Tsunade.

Even if Hiruzen Sarutobi found out, he would only turn a blind eye to it. At most, he would sigh that Natsume was quite good at playing around.

Uzumaki Ena instinctively covered her mouth to keep herself from crying out in surprise.

She had never dreamed that Natsume was only a seven-year-old child.

But this seemed much better than that adult face.

And if he was seven years old, it would be difficult for him to do anything to her.

Natsume clearly noticed the change in Uzumaki Ena's expression.

The helpless, pitiable aura around her weakened somewhat as her panic receded.

He raised an eyebrow, took out paper and a pen, wrote several lines, and said, "Sign at the bottom."

"What is this?"

Uzumaki Ena took it and glanced over it, immediately freezing.

It said that Natsume had spent Two Million Ryo rescuing them, and that the debt would be placed on them for repayment.

In other words, she was now drowning in debt.

Two Million Ryo was undoubtedly an astronomical sum to her.

With grievance and panic in her eyes, Uzumaki Ena asked, "S-Sir, is... is this real?"

Seeing her eyes, which looked as though they were about to cry, Natsume nodded in satisfaction.

He liked it.

There had been a scientific theory in his previous life.

Cute aggression referred to how some people, upon seeing something adorable, felt an urge to destroy it.

For example, seeing cats or dogs and wanting to squeeze or pet them.

It was actually the brain's balancing mechanism.

When someone saw something cute, positive emotions were triggered, and negative emotions were needed to offset them.

Natsume had been passive in every respect around Tsunade. Now that he saw Uzumaki Ena, it stirred up a rebellious urge in him.

At last, there was someone he could manipulate however he pleased.

This feeling was truly great.

Seeing Natsume nod, Uzumaki Ena felt as if the world had gone dark before her eyes, and despair surged into her heart.

How could she possibly repay Two Million Ryo?

"I'm not used to looking up at people when I talk."

Natsume beckoned to her.

Uzumaki Ena immediately crouched down and pleaded, "Sir, I really don't have that much money."

Her tone was miserable and heartbreaking.

Natsume was currently one meter twenty tall. Once she crouched down, he was a head taller than her.

If it had been Tsunade, he would have been able to see steep, deep mountains from this angle.

But Uzumaki Ena... well, poor but generous.

Average, really.

Still, her body curves were quite impressive, making up for that shortcoming.

Natsume rested his head on her fragrant shoulder, leaned close to her ear, and whispered, "Look further down."

Uzumaki Ena's body trembled. She then looked at the promissory note and saw another line beneath it.

If repayment was temporarily impossible, she could work for the creditor.

She immediately let out a sigh of relief.

Uzumaki Ena gritted her teeth and extended her soft, boneless hand. "S-Sir, I'm useful. If you're injured, one bite can heal you."

She was displaying her value.

After all, she had no other abilities.

As a walking blood pack, she should be able to earn quite a bit of money.

With that thought in mind, Uzumaki Ena had once again stepped into the kind of life she had lived in Kusagakure.

Natsume looked at her arm, covered in bite marks, and felt somewhat dazed.

How pitiful and tragic.

He suddenly felt fortunate that he was in Konoha. At least he could maintain a relatively stable life here.

In other minor shinobi villages, his fate might not have been any better than Uzumaki Ena's.

Natsume gently stroked her arm.

With the Uzumaki Clan's physique, injuries like these were nothing to worry about and would heal quickly.

The marks at this moment proved that the Chakra in her body was being consumed too quickly, and her recovery ability could no longer keep up.

Uzumaki Ena's face reddened slightly.

Though he was only a child, that gentle touch made her feel a little shy.

And no one had ever treated her this way before.

Natsume lifted a lock of her bangs and tucked it behind her ear. Then he placed his right hand on her head, his fingers playing with her hair.

"I wouldn't do something so wasteful."

He planned to have Uzumaki Ena learn Sealing Jutsu.

Karin would do the same once she grew up.

The Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu was famous throughout the Shinobi World and extremely powerful. It could be considered the only effective method ordinary shinobi had for dealing with Tailed Beasts.

Wood Style and the Sharingan did not count. Those were special cases.

As for Medical Ninjas, Natsume already had Tsunade, Shizune, and Kabuto Yakushi around him. Adding another would be meaningless.

But having two more sealing shinobi could prove extremely useful at certain moments.

The only problem was that Sealing Jutsu, especially the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu, was a top secret of Konoha.

Ordinary people would find it difficult to obtain.

But for Natsume, it was manageable. He could make a deal with Orochimaru.

As one of the Sannin, he possessed extremely high authority. He could even read the Scroll of Seals, which recorded forbidden techniques.

Tsunade could do it too, but Natsume had no way to explain his reasons.

It was too troublesome, so he might as well go to Orochimaru.

Hearing this, confusion appeared in Uzumaki Ena's eyes.

Did she have some other use?

Natsume rubbed her fair, soft cheek, his index finger brushing across her lips.

Warm and moist.

He smiled and said, "The most important thing for you right now is to nurse your body back to health."

A blush spread from Naruto Uzumaki's mother's face to her ears. Her eyelashes trembled as she nodded.

Surprisingly, she did not feel repulsed by Natsume's actions.

Perhaps it was because he had saved her life, and because he was simply too cute.

Naruto Uzumaki's mother merely treated it as a child's mischief.

Though the mischief was a little excessive, it had not crossed the very worst line.

Natsume, on the other hand, felt as though he had obtained a life-sized figurine.

He could probably understand Chancellor Cao's spirit now. It truly was exciting, especially in front of her daughter.