"There seems to be too much sugar."
After finishing a slice of cake, Watanabe found it so sweet it was almost cloying. He felt he hadn't done a very good job.
"I think it's just right."
Tsunade was thoroughly enjoying it when she suddenly noticed something on Watanabe's face from the corner of her eye.
"Don't move."
Watanabe froze, watching in confusion as Tsunade reached out and wiped a bit of cream from the corner of his mouth.
Watanabe chuckled. "It's easy to get cake on your face..."
He stopped mid-sentence.
He'd seen Tsunade put the cream she'd wiped from the corner of his mouth into her own mouth. Her soft, pink tongue even licked her finger.
Watanabe was stunned. Then a fluttering sensation unlike anything he'd ever felt surged through him.
"Tsunade, what was that?"
An unnatural blush spread across Tsunade's pretty face. Realizing she'd been overly forward, she said with defiant confidence, "I was preventing food from going to waste. Is there a problem?"
Watanabe gave an awkward smile. "N-no problem."
Maybe he was reading too much into it. Whenever he'd invited Tsunade over for a meal before, he'd eaten plenty of her leftovers. A little closeness between friends was perfectly normal.
Even so, it felt strange. If he'd wiped cream from the corner of Tsunade's mouth and eaten it, would she have sent him flying with a Heavenly Guardian Kick?
"All right, you've had your cake. If you're going home, hurry up and go!"
The blush hadn't yet faded from Tsunade's face. Without giving him a chance to object, she ordered him to leave, then turned and parted ways with him.
Watanabe watched her graceful figure in her dress until Tsunade disappeared from view. Only then did he rub his cheek, trying to suppress the strange feeling in his heart.
For no particular reason, he suddenly thought of his earlier conversation with Nawaki. If he pursued Tsunade, would his chances be just a little better than Dan Katō's?
Tsunade was his most important friend. No matter what, he had to preserve their friendship. He absolutely couldn't let himself end up in some melodramatic situation where they could be neither lovers nor friends.
Back home, Watanabe washed up, then lay in bed and practiced the Spirit Transformation Technique. He was already used to staying up late. For him, staying up late was enjoyable in the short term—and even more enjoyable if he did it all the time.
[Staying up late: Kidney function +4, health +3, fatigue -5...] [His soul was injured: Soul strength (mental power) +2, +3, +2...]
Of the three scrolls Tsunade had given him, he'd only mastered the Spirit Transformation Technique and the Mutual Multiplication Paper Bomb Technique so far. He still hadn't managed to get started on the Flying Thunder God Technique.
There was no helping it. The Flying Thunder God Technique demanded a great deal of talent in space-time ninjutsu. Even Watanabe's Karma Reversal trait couldn't help him with it. He'd even started considering giving up on learning the technique.
The next morning, the weekend was over, and Watanabe left for school on time.
These days, he only went to school to graduate and earn the title of Genin, and to spar with Tsunade. The lessons at the Ninja Academy meant nothing to him.
In the blink of an eye, two months had passed since Tsunade's birthday.
Ever since the birthday party that night, Watanabe and Tsunade had grown noticeably closer.
Knowing Watanabe never ate breakfast, Tsunade brought him some every morning on her way to school. As soon as classes ended, she went with him to the woods to spar. She visited Watanabe's home more often than her own, and sometimes, when she got sleepy, she'd simply lie down on his bed and take a nap. She never acted like a guest around him.
Their close relationship was plain for the whole class to see. Everyone had already decided they were a couple, and many of the boys were so jealous of Watanabe they could hardly stand it. Jiraiya, in particular, couldn't figure out what Watanabe had that he didn't.
With Tsunade's help, Watanabe's strength had improved remarkably. His vitality had reached 32002, his Chakra had reached 21552, and even his defense had reached 9998.
Tsunade had long since stopped holding back against Watanabe. She went all out in every spar, but no matter how fierce her attacks were, she couldn't injure him. She was astonished, and couldn't help thinking that Watanabe was freakishly tough.
She'd never heard of anyone improving as rapidly as Watanabe had in just three months. Three months ago, he'd been the worst student in the class, and two punches from her would have made him cough up blood. Now he could withstand the full force of her attacks without a scratch. No matter how she looked at it, it was unbelievable.
Tsunade once asked Watanabe why he was improving so quickly. He told her that his body was special and could withstand injuries that an ordinary person couldn't. Much of his rapid progress, he said, was thanks to Tsunade sparring with him.
Tsunade accepted his explanation. After all, the Shinobi World was vast, and there was no end to its wonders. There were all kinds of strange Kekkei Genkai. It was certainly plausible that Watanabe had awakened a "Meat Release" Kekkei Genkai that made him tough to hurt.
Watanabe had repeatedly tried to injure himself with a Kunai in private, but even a sharp Kunai could only leave a white mark on his skin. It couldn't break through.
That had made Watanabe uneasy for a while. Fortunately, he wasn't a girl. Otherwise, if his defense kept improving, wouldn't he eventually be impossible to pierce?
After all those attempts, Watanabe still couldn't figure out the limits of his defense. All he knew was that he was really tough, and ordinary attacks could no longer threaten him.
The only disappointing thing was that Watanabe's attack power and speed still hadn't improved. During his regular spars with Tsunade, she couldn't break through his defense, while his sluggish Taijutsu couldn't hurt her either. They could only wear each other down over time, until Tsunade was panting and glistening with sweat.
Tsunade tried to give Watanabe special Taijutsu training, but it didn't work very well. Speed had become his greatest weakness. Even an ordinary Chunin could easily outpace him. Only when Watanabe used the Spirit Transformation Technique did he move several times faster than his physical body.
At first, Watanabe had been anxious, desperate to improve his Taijutsu. But gradually, he came to accept things. There was no point worrying; Taijutsu was destined to be his weak point, and all he could do was try to make up for it with ninjutsu.
The Shinobi World had been peaceful in recent years, without war or upheaval. So what if he had a weak point? It wasn't as if it could put his life in danger.
Watanabe had never imagined that he'd be proven wrong so soon.
In March of Year 16 of Konoha, news that Amegakure and the Land of Iron had gone to war spread through every street and alley in Konoha. Overnight, the people of Konoha grew anxious. The air was thick with the sense that a storm was coming, and villagers everywhere were talking about war.
"Amegakure and the Land of Iron?"
When Watanabe heard the news, his heart sank.
The Ninja Academy taught history, so he knew that although Amegakure and the Land of Iron weren't as powerful as the Five Great Nations, they were still far stronger than ordinary small countries. That was especially true of Amegakure's leader, Hanzō of the Salamander. The Academy teachers described him as an ambitious politician, and under his leadership, Amegakure had never been content to stay put. It had tried several times to invade and expand into neighboring countries.
"A war between these two isn't a good sign."
Watanabe had a bad feeling. The Shinobi World's current political situation was a delicate balance, with all kinds of forces intertwined. Any local conflict could become the spark that ignited the Second Shinobi World War.
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