A Complex Relationship Between a Great-Great-Grandfather and His Descendant

"Oh, Grandpa, you liked to eat barbecue when you were young?"

"It's not that I particularly like eating, but this is the place where the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, first treated me to something. I remember I was only ten years old at the time. I was training under the Third Hokage, and to get revenge on the tough lessons he arranged for me, I ate all the money in his purse here for the first time. Thinking about it now, it's truly an unforgettable memory, hahaha..." Tianqi laughed out loud as he thought of those times.

"Oh, I see. I didn't know you and the Third Hokage had such a past. So, you and the Third Hokage were master and disciple?"

"Heh, how could we be master and disciple? When Madara defected from Konoha, as his son, I was deeply affected. With my special status, no one dared to be my master. The Third Hokage was merely my instructor, Jonin!"

Thinking back to his childhood encounter with Tianqi, he couldn't help but shake his head. Perhaps it was because of that experience that he never felt a sense of belonging to Konoha.

"It's just training Jonin. Since we're already here, let's eat here!" Seeing that Tianqi seemed a little off, Mikoto decided to eat here directly.

Tianqi and the others didn't say much, and followed Mikoto into the barbecue restaurant. After sitting down, they ordered a large amount of barbecue.

Feeling a bit down, Tianqi ate a couple of bites and then stopped. Mikoto wasn't very hungry either, so she just ate a couple of bites. Only Karura and Itachi ate one bite after another.

"This meat tastes amazing! I never imagined that after so much time, the food in this world would become so delicious. It's fantastic!"

"Yeah, the barbecue here is really delicious!"

Karura and Itachi ate one bite after another, and even the grill could hardly keep up with their eating speed.

Seeing the two of them enjoying their meal, Tianqi gave an explanation with a wry smile.

"Of course this is different from the era you live in. Back then, grilling meat was really grilling it over a fire. But the meat here is specially marinated, infused with various spices, and even the charcoal used for grilling is smokeless. How could it not taste good!"

"Oh, I didn't know you knew about these things, Father."

Seeing that Tianqi explained it so clearly, Mikoto was a little surprised. Logically speaking, a strong person like Tianqi should not know anything about kitchen matters, but the fact that he knew a lot about it was unexpected.

"Your grandmother passed away when I was young. I was always alone at home growing up, and I cooked for myself all by myself. How could I not understand these things?"

"Is that so? But that doesn't make sense either. I heard from Sen'u that Tsunade's mother seemed to spend money very lavishly. Thinking about it that way, her family must have been quite wealthy before, so there was no need for her to cook for herself, right?"

"Hehehe, wealth is something that happened after I grew up. When I was a child, my family's wealth was barely enough for me to make ends meet. Madara's wealth and Ninjutsu scrolls were all taken by the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama, leaving me with almost nothing."

"How could the Second Hokage do this? Those are our family's things! He's a robber! This is robbery!" Mikoto and Karura didn't say anything, but Itachi, that little guy, stood up and loudly accused Tobirama Senju.

Itachi's loud words attracted the attention of people at other tables, who all pointed and whispered about Tianqi's table.

"Hurry up and eat your food! What are you doing, kid interrupting adults? Eat!" Seeing everyone pointing and whispering about them, Mikoto quickly stopped Itachi from speaking.

"I never imagined you, Tianqi, had such a poor childhood. This Tobirama Senju really went too far!"

"Being poor isn't so bad; I don't have high demands for life. But what I hate most is the lack of freedom. A hard life is fine, but the lack of freedom is really unbearable..."

"No freedom? Father, what makes you say that? I remember you were quite free back in Konoha!"

"Freedom is something for when I grow up. Before I was ten, because of Madara's defection, I lived under the surveillance of the Anbu. I had absolutely no secrets. Even going to the toilet was under their watch. That kind of life, being watched every moment, was too uncomfortable!"

Upon hearing this Karura frowned deeply and said with great displeasure, "This guy has gone too far! How could the descendant of my second brother Asura be like this? He's so annoying!"

"Forget it, he's already dead, and I forgave him a long time ago. The dead deserve the most respect, so let's not rub salt in his wounds!" Tianqi shook his head, stopping Karura's words. Then he looked at Itachi, who looked very displeased, and said, "And you, Itachi, we can criticize the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama, but you can't say you know that?"

"Why? Why can't people say what he did wrong?"

"You child, whatever Grandpa says goes. Who gave you the right to ask questions?" Mikoto smacked Itachi on the head and scolded him.

"Hmph, you can say whatever you want but I can't? That's so unfair!"

"You child, you still have..."

Just as Mikoto was about to scold Itachi, Tianqi raised his hand to stop him.

"Grandpa Itachi will tell you today why you can't say it. It has nothing to do with fairness. Tobirama Senju is your Tsunade's great-uncle, and as your Tsunade Tsunade's grandson, you are also Tobirama Senju's junior. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, I understand!"

"It's good that you understand. Let's sort out the relationships carefully. The Second Hokage Senju Tobirama, is your great-great-grandfather, and you are his great-great-grandson. As a descendant, no matter how wrong your ancestors were, you have no right to say anything. If you do, that would be unfilial. Do you understand now?"

"Hmm... I understand, Grandpa. I will never speak ill of my great-grandfather again."

Although somewhat confused by these convoluted relationships, Itachi understood one thing: the Second Hokage was his ancestor and relative, and he couldn't speak ill of this ancestor.

"Yes, very good. Grandpa is very pleased that You're so sensible, Itachi!" Tianqi nodded in satisfaction, picked up his chopsticks, and placed a piece of meat on Itachi's plate.

"Wait, Tianqi, after listening to what you've said, I think I understand something. According to you, your wife seems to be from the Senju Clan, and the Senju are descendants of Asura's second brother, while you are a direct descendant of Indra's eldest brother. So, things seem a bit..."

Karura looked at Tianqi with a sly grin. This relationship was, to say the least, quite complicated and subtle.