Thanks for Warming My Bed

Toroi was a minor character. The forty-nine Destiny Points he contributed were practically the limit.

Although Shidō Akimichi had been saved by Natsume and the others, even without them, Konoha would have sent another rescue team.

Hiruko, on the other hand, was quite unexpected.

Natsume recalled his story.

He had been a ninja of the same generation as Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade, and could be considered their friend.

But because he lacked talent, he had watched the Sannin rise to fame and felt deeply resentful.

Under various circumstances, he developed the forbidden Chimera Technique.

A fusion ninjutsu.

It allowed him to fuse ninjas or summoned beasts into his own body, gaining their abilities and even assimilating Kekkei Genkai.

Toroi was the ninja Hiruko had fused with.

In other words, Toroi had died at his hands.

Now that Natsume had killed him, Hiruko would seek out a replacement, which was why he contributed so few Destiny Points.

"Natsume."

Seeing that the battle had ended, Tsunade hurried over and looked him over from head to toe. Only after confirming that he was uninjured did she relax.

Natsume was covered in quite a bit of blood.

She did not mind in the slightest. Pinching his cheek, she praised him, "You really surprised me this time."

She knew that Natsume possessed the strength of a jonin.

But she had not expected him to fight so cleanly.

She had thought she would see him panic, but she did not.

Thinking about it, that was a little regrettable.

After all, that face paired with such an expression would have made people feel protective of him.

Tsunade could have taken the chance to comfort him properly and fulfill her role as an older sister.

"There's nothing surprising about it, because my teacher is one of the legendary Sannin."

Natsume lifted his little face, his eyes filled with admiration.

Tsunade's heart trembled.

Stay rational. Keep your distance. Don't fall.

"You really know how to sweet-talk people."

Tsunade turned away and changed the subject. "Shizune and Kabuto have finished their battle too. Once we clean up the battlefield, we'll return immediately."

"Alright."

Natsume joined Shizune and Kabuto.

They first collected anything valuable, then destroyed the corpses.

It was not because they had some strange hobby. Corpses could talk in the ninja world.

The five great villages had many methods for invading the brain and extracting memories.

But once reduced to ashes, Natsume's Wood Style would not be exposed, the corpses could not be identified, and they certainly could not speak.

Unless Orochimaru or Kabuto Yakushi used the Impure World Reincarnation to bring them back to life.

Before long, the four of them began their journey back.

Oh, and Shidō Akimichi, whom Natsume and Kabuto Yakushi carried between them.

He was seriously injured, and Tsunade had interrupted his treatment midway. He was still unconscious.

It was getting late, and they could no longer make it back to the main camp in time.

The four of them had gone through a battle and needed to clean themselves up, so they set up camp near a river.

This time, Tsunade did not call Natsume over. Instead, she went with Shizune.

The two of them were going to bathe.

"Don't peek."

Tsunade suddenly turned around and looked at Natsume, her eyes shimmering as she reminded him.

"Teacher, don't worry. I'll keep an eye on Kabuto."

Natsume patted his chest and promised, "Of course, I won't let anyone else get close either."

"???"

Kabuto Yakushi, who had been sorting through the spoils nearby, looked up in confusion. After a few seconds, he said coldly, "I'm not interested in women."

Natsume hastily backed away in fright, a wary expression appearing on his face.

"I'm not interested in men either."

Kabuto Yakushi was somewhat speechless, then added, "My interest right now is Medical Ninjutsu."

"I was joking, brother."

Natsume smiled again. "You really plan to live alone for the rest of your life?"

It seemed that, in the original story, Kabuto Yakushi really had remained unmarried until the end.

Like Yakushi Nonō, he had become the director of an orphanage.

Natsume could not imagine what kind of girl Kabuto Yakushi would actually like.

That was why men had to be a little shallow.

Changing wives once a month was perfectly normal.

Of course, Natsume was talking about two-dimensional wives.

Now that he had transmigrated into the world of the Hokage, those two-dimensional characters had become real people. How exciting.

Since they were in a dangerous area, Tsunade and Shizune did not waste much time and returned quickly.

Natsume also ran to the riverbank and washed off the bloodstains.

After Kabuto Yakushi finished sorting through the spoils, Tsunade called the three of them over and summarized the day's battle.

"All three of you performed very well. Especially Natsume—you were able to fully bring out your strength. You can already be considered a qualified ninja. Keep working hard from here on."

At the end, she did not hesitate to praise them.

But all three reacted rather calmly, leaving Tsunade unable to experience the joy of being a teacher.

"I'll take the first watch tonight. Who will take the second?"

"Me." Natsume raised his hand.

Shizune and Kabuto Yakushi raised their hands at the same time, but after glancing at him, they lowered them again.

They were already grown enough to see that Tsunade favored Natsume more.

Fortunately, neither of them was narrow-minded. Compared to such feelings, they cared more about their own strength right now.

The battle during the day had made them realize that when danger struck, the two of them would only hold everyone back.

In truth, that was the role of Medical Ninja. No one expected them to be especially formidable in battle.

But under Tsunade's influence, Shizune and Kabuto Yakushi had both forgotten that original role and instead aimed to be able to heal and fight.

What a trial.

Tsunade sighed as she watched Natsume move his sleeping bag over again and fall asleep beside her.

She reached out and stroked his little face, and her heart quickly calmed.

When the latter half of the night arrived, she woke Natsume.

"Big sis, go inside and sleep."

Natsume said with a yawn.

"I'll sleep with you too."

Tsunade crawled into his sleeping bag and smiled. "Thanks for warming up the bed for me."

Natsume froze.

Damn it!

Why had he not thought of that?

He should have taken the first watch and slept during the second half.

"Good night."

Tsunade closed her eyes.

After fighting and treating injuries during the day, then keeping watch for half the night, she had long been exhausted and quickly fell asleep.

There was not much moonlight tonight.

To avoid being discovered, they had not lit a campfire either.

Fortunately, a ninja's eyesight was good, allowing Natsume to admire Tsunade's beautiful sleeping face.

After watching for a while, he focused on keeping guard.

Unlike Tsunade, he could not multitask. If an enemy attacked, that would be troublesome.

Morning.

Natsume glanced at the sky and was about to wake Tsunade, but she unexpectedly opened her eyes first. She was still groggy, though, with no focus in her eyes.

She had slept too little, and waking up so suddenly was indeed hard to bear.

Tsunade suddenly hugged him, pressing her warm cheek against his. With her eyes closed, she spoke as though she were not fully conscious.

"Is it... is it dawn? Or am I dreaming?"

As she spoke, she leaned close to Natsume's ear and blew on it.

Hey, what were you dreaming about?

"It's already the second day."

Natsume answered.

Tsunade immediately woke up. Realizing what she was doing, she quickly let go.

How had she ended up hugging him again without even noticing?

Tsunade, Tsunade—what happened to this being the last time?

After breakfast and another day of travel, they finally returned to the main camp.

Because so many jonin had been involved, their mission rating was upgraded from A-rank to S-rank.

Among genin, something like this was practically unheard of.

If word got out, Natsume, Shizune, and Kabuto Yakushi would definitely become famous.

But considering that Tsunade had been their team leader, the achievement was not quite so shocking.