Successor After 32 Years of Mortgage

When Shin-chan opened the House Door, Miya was sitting on the sofa folding clothes, Hiroshi was lying next to her reading the newspaper.

"Why are you back?" Miya looked at him. "Shouldn't you be staying at school until tomorrow?"

"I'm not going." Shin-chan put Shiro down.

Shiro shook its fur and ran towards the backyard.

"Not going?" Hiroshi peeked out from behind the newspaper. "What do you mean?"

"It means we don't have to go anymore." Shin-chan climbed onto the sofa and plopped down on Miya's neatly folded clothes.

Miya paused, looked at the wrinkled shirt, took a deep breath, and pulled the shirt out.

"Why don't you need to go anymore? You got fired?"

"No." Shin-chan shook his head. "Grandpa Hokage said I don't have to go to school anymore, and I don't have to do homework anymore."

Hiroshi put down his newspaper and sat up straight. "Tell me slowly, what exactly happened?"

Shin-chan recounted what happened today.

The Genjutsu test, the Hokage Office, the Grandpa Hokage saying he'd be conducting some kind of experiment, and that there would be someone to teach them, so they wouldn't need to go to school anymore.

After hearing this, Hiroshi was stunned for a long time.

"You mean, the Hokage-sama personally called you into his office and said that your talent surpasses that of your peers, and that he wants to give you special tutoring?"

"More or less," Shin-chan thought for a moment. "He also promised to give me a box of Chocolate Stick."

Hiroshi opened his mouth and turned to look at Mei.

"Our Shin-chan has been chosen by the Hokage-sama!" Miya stopped what she was doing, her voice tinged with barely concealed pride.

"He said I'm a genius." Shin-chan- chan nodded.

Hiroshi paused for a moment. "You? A genius?"

Doesn't it look like it?

Hiroshi looked him up and down, then shook his head. "Doesn't seem like it."

Miya put the folded clothes aside and patted the sofa. "Don't listen to his nonsense, Shin-chan. Mom is proud of you."

Shin-chan blinked. "Could I have another box of Chocolate Stick?"

"No."

What's the use of pride?

Miya's smile froze for a moment.

Hiroshi asked, "Was there any instruction on who you should learn from?"

"It seems to be a teacher named Yuhi Shinku," Shin-chan thought hard. "It sounds a lot like Kurenai Yuhi's name."

Hiroshi opened his mouth. "Yuhi Shinku? That headmaster who teaches Genin and Chunin?"

"Dad, do you know him?"

"I've heard of him; many people in Konoha know him," Hiroshi said seriously, "But ordinary people simply can't get him to come."

So he's really that good?

"Isn't he amazing?" Hiroshi took a deep breath. "Many of those were people you saw during the Chunin Ninja Exams. He mentored a lot of them, and only those who passed the exams were qualified to continue being taught by him."

Shin-chan thought for a moment and said, "If we let him teach us, will we be able to become Ninja very quickly?"

Hiroshi paused for a moment, then his eyes slowly brightened. "Ninja can take on missions now. D-rank missions can earn a good amount, C-rank missions even more—"

He got more and more excited as he talked, and threw the newspaper aside. "Shin-chan, if you become Ninja, you can make money."

Shin-chan tilted his head. "What's the point of making money?"

"Shin-chan, do you know how much of your dad's mortgage payment is each month?"

Shin-chan shook his head.

"A lot." Hiroshi gestured with his hands, "You don't need to know the exact amount. Just know that Dad has thirty-two years left to pay it back."

"Thirty-two years?" Shin-chan blinked. "How old will Dad be then?"

"It's very, very big." Hiroshi paused, then leaned forward. "If you became Ninja and took on missions, wouldn't you get paid?"

Shin-chan thought for a moment, "There probably is."

"Then if we, father and son, pay off the mortgage together, wouldn't it be much faster?" Hiroshi's eyes brightened. "Think about it, you can do a lot of work each month, and with me, we might be able to pay it off in twenty or fifteen years."

He got more and more excited as he talked, and started counting on his fingers. "In a few years, I'll Chunin, and the rewards for Chunin missions are much higher than for Genin. In a few more years, I'll be promoted to Jonin..."

"Hiroshi," Miya called out from the side.

Hiroshi didn't hear him and continued calculating, "The rewards for Jonin missions are higher, and an S-rank mission is..."

"Hiroshi!"

Hiroshi suddenly looked up. "What's wrong?"

What are you planning?

"I had no intention of doing that." Hiroshi's tone immediately softened.

Shin-chan blinked. "Dad means I should help you pay your mortgage?"

"I was just joking," Hiroshi scratched his head. "It was just a casual remark, a casual remark."

Shin-chan slid off the sofa and headed towards the backyard.

I'm going to go play with Shiro.

"Wait a minute," Hiroshi called out to him, "I haven't finished speaking yet."

"I've finished listening."

How did you hear the whole thing before I finished speaking?

"Because I don't want to hear what you're saying." Shin-chan didn't even turn his head. "What mortgage? I'm only five years old."

"That kid—" Hiroshi muttered to himself as he watched his figure disappear down the corridor.

Miya shook her head with a laugh beside her, "Really, making jokes like that with Shin-chan."

"I was just trying to give him some motivation." Hiroshi lay back down on the sofa, picked up the newspaper, and flipped through a couple of pages.

Miya folded the last piece of clothing and stacked it aside. "The way you were acting just now, you seemed to want to use all of Shin-chan's future earnings to pay off the mortgage. He's only five years old."

"So what if you're five? Ambition knows no age."

Miya looked at Hiroshi with a smile, "What were you doing when you were five?"

Hiroshi paused for a moment, then thought for a moment, "Fishing in the river?"

Miya couldn't help but laugh again.

Hiroshi blushed slightly. "That's different. I didn't have Yuhi Shinku to teach me back then."

"So," Miya stood up, picked up the folded clothes, and walked towards the bedroom, "Let Shin-chan handle things on his own. Don't rush him to earn money to pay the mortgage."

"I'm not in a rush, I just feel—"

What do you think?

Hiroshi paused for a moment, then lowered his voice. "I think this kid is much better than me."

Miya stopped at the bedroom door and glanced back at him.

"Isn't that a good thing?"

Hiroshi thought for a moment, then smiled.

"Too."

He lay back down on the sofa, picked up the newspaper, flipped through a couple of pages, and then put it down again.

"Thirty-two years," he sighed, staring at the ceiling. "If only I could get rich—"

Shin-chan's voice came from the hallway.

"Shiro, did you understand? My dad wants me to pay off the mortgage."

Woof woof!

"Right, you think it won't work either?"

Hiroshi's lips twitched slightly. "I can hear you."

The corridor fell silent for a second.

"Shiro, let's whisper."

Woof woof!

Hiroshi sighed and covered his face with the newspaper.

Forget it, I'll just pay it back slowly myself.