This Is Research

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura took the teacups and had a sip.

They also felt that too many tea leaves had been used.

But they did not put their cups down because of the bitterness.

They had been up all night, and a cup of bitter tea was just what they needed to wake themselves up.

Besides, they could tell from the aroma alone that it was good tea; there was just a little too much of it.

The Third Hokage took another sip and realized something was wrong.

"Hinata, this tea..." The Third Hokage's voice trembled slightly.

"Oh, I took it from the cabinet."

Hinata took out the tea tin and pointed at the cabinet.

The Third Hokage snatched the tea tin from her, trembling as he opened it, only to find that the tea leaves inside had visibly dropped by a whole layer.

"Little Hinata, just how much tea did you use?"

Hinata held up two fingers. "Two scoops."

The Third Hokage's vision went dark. Who used scoops to measure tea leaves?

His heart ached terribly. This was tea with an extremely limited yield!

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura neither looked nor listened, acting as though they knew nothing as they drank their tea.

"I saw that you and the others looked tired, Teacher, so I brewed a strong cup of tea to help you wake up."

The Third Hokage was instantly speechless. His disciple had meant well, and these tea leaves had been a gift from her father in the first place.

"I'm sorry, Hinata. I was so busy reading documents that I forgot to look after you."

The Third Hokage put the tea leaves into a drawer in his desk and locked it.

"It's nothing. But Teacher, what exactly are you looking at?"

Hinata only needed one glance at those documents to know they had come from the Root. Was there really anything in the Root worth paying attention to?

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura exchanged glances. In theory, Hinata was the Hokage's disciple, so she could be allowed to know certain secrets. The problem was that she was still far too young.

"Oh, this? It's Danzo." The Third Hokage rubbed his sore eyes. "The Root conducted a deadly experiment. Fortunately, it failed. But there are some materials in the Root that are extremely important to the village."

Then, the Third Hokage told Hinata some things about the First Hokage.

At the same time, he told her about the First Hokage's Cells.

"So, Teacher, you're looking for experimental records concerning the First Hokage's Cells?"

"That's right." The Third Hokage nodded.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura looked at each other. Anything related to the First Hokage's Cells was an absolute secret within the Hidden Leaf Village.

Even if Hinata was the Hokage's disciple, the Third Hokage should not have answered simply because she asked.

Could it be that the Third Hokage truly intended to train Hinata as the next Hokage?

They could no longer make sense of his thoughts.

Once Hinata heard that they were searching for experimental records on the First Hokage's Cells, she lost interest.

"Hinata, you came at just the right time. Go drag your Senior Disciple Brother over here. I had wanted to let him rest a little longer, but it seems that won't be possible."

"Yes, Teacher."

After Hinata left, the Third Hokage and the others continued to immerse themselves in the sea of documents.

They had only gone through half of those materials.

Walking through the streets of the Hidden Leaf Village, Hinata suddenly stopped. She had forgotten to ask where her Senior Disciple Brother Jiraiya lived.

But...

"Could he be there...?"

Thinking of her Senior Disciple Brother's hobby, Hinata's mouth twitched. She knew where to find him.

The Hidden Leaf Village Hot Springs were one of the village's distinctive features.

Since the test a few days ago, Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Shino, Sakura, and Kiba had often gathered together.

Aside from gradually becoming friends after the test,

the more important reason was that they were discussing how to pass the monthly tests together.

Sasuke had originally not wanted to be with them, but his family strongly supported him discussing things with his classmates.

Yet his family had not taught him how to pass the tests. He did not know whether it was just his imagination, but when they heard that he had failed, his mother seemed faintly relieved.

"Sasuke, I strongly approve of the school's tests. I'm not disappointed that you failed. On the contrary, I'm very happy. Even if you fail a hundred or a thousand times at school, your life will not be in danger. Instead, those failures will become nourishment for your growth. But once you graduate, you will only have one chance to fail, and the price will be your life."

When he went to ask his older brother for advice, his brother had taught him nothing either.

But he had his own ideas!

He wanted to graduate!

"If you won't teach me, then I'll discuss how to graduate with my friends... Ahem, classmates... classmates!"

One day, for some unknown reason, Naruto seemed to have gotten a screw loose and suggested they go soak in the hot springs.

"Woof, woof, woof~"

The moment he heard "hot springs," the little white dog Akainu on Kiba Inuzuka's head immediately agreed.

"Akainu agrees, and I have no objections."

Sasuke was tempted as well. He had not soaked in a hot spring in a long time.

"Awesome, let's go soak in the hot springs."

"Naruto, you occasionally come up with a good idea." Naturally, the two girls did not object.

"What a drag~"

Shikamaru found it troublesome and did not want to go.

"Choji should come too. It'll be a good chance to lose some weight."

The moment he heard the words "lose weight," Choji stopped bringing a potato chip to his mouth.

His eyes gleamed.

Every fat person had a heart that wanted to lose weight.

"We're going too."

A bad feeling rose in Shikamaru's heart. Who was "we"? Choji, there was only one of you! Who exactly was included in this "we"?!

After inviting the older students Neji, Rock, and Tenten as well, they headed to the Hidden Leaf Village Hot Springs the next day.

Rock had originally not wanted to go. He wanted to continue training with Might Guy, but then he heard Guy say,

"Hot springs are also a form of training!"

He immediately became filled with fighting spirit.

The next day, everyone looked at Rock, who was brimming with fighting spirit. Anyone who did not know better would have thought he was about to duel someone.

Naturally, they were not using mixed baths.

The ones most disappointed that it was not mixed bathing were not the boys, but Sakura and Ino.

"Damn it, such a perfect opportunity."

The two bit their handkerchiefs, gazing reluctantly at Sasuke as they walked into the women's hot spring, turning back every three steps.

Sasuke broke out in cold sweat under their stares.

He had nearly thought they were going to eat him.

When the boys entered the hot spring, they saw a sneaky figure lying atop the wooden partition separating the men's and women's baths, seemingly peeping.

"Ah, we found a... Mmph!"

Naruto immediately shouted, but before he could finish, someone covered his mouth.

"Hey, brat, don't spout nonsense when you don't understand. This isn't peeping. It's research."

Jiraiya removed his hand from Naruto's mouth.

"Isn't this still peeping?"

Jiraiya covered Naruto's mouth again.

"Don't be so loud! I told you, it's research, not peeping!"

Perhaps Naruto only thought that the person covering his mouth was some lecherous guy, but the others were not as oblivious as Naruto.

They exchanged glances, then, taking advantage of Naruto arguing with him, swarmed forward at once.