Leaving the Land of Whirlpools! Heading to Konoha

Tsunade glared at Uzumaki Shin in annoyance; the brat clearly held her in contempt, yet he still dared to deny it.

However, there was little Tsunade could do to him. She couldn't just beat him up over something like that; though Tsunade was violent, she wasn't the type to lay hands on a child.

Suddenly, Tsunade chuckled twice.

"It seems your mindset is quite impressive, brat. To think you've already moved past the shadow of your clan's destruction so quickly."

Tsunade placed her hand on Uzumaki Shin's head and began to ruffle his hair with force, as if in retaliation.

As she kept at it, Tsunade found the texture rather pleasant and grew somewhat addicted to it.

Looking at Uzumaki Shin's handsome little face, Tsunade couldn't resist reaching out to pinch his cheeks. They were so soft and adorable!

Seeing Tsunade manhandling Uzumaki Shin from the side, Kushina grew angry and shouted at her in displeasure, "How can you act like this?"

Uzumaki Shin was also feeling quite annoyed. Tsunade might be enjoying pinching his face, but he found it incredibly uncomfortable.

Being pinched like this by a woman was nothing short of a humiliation.

"Could you please let go? I don't like being touched by men," Uzumaki Shin said to Tsunade, his tone sour.

"Men?"

Tsunade froze instantly.

I'm so beautiful, where on earth do you see a man? I am a woman!

"You're just a child and your eyesight is already failing? I am a woman, not a man," Tsunade snapped viciously.

"Heh! Even though I'm young, I know the difference between a man and a woman. What part of you looks like a woman?"

Uzumaki Shin's gaze drifted toward a certain area that lacked even the slightest curve, his eyes filled with disdain.

Tsunade's face flushed red with rage. She was furious at Uzumaki Shin. By now, she realized this brat was intentionally looking down on her.

"Princess Tsunade, we've found two survivors."

Tsunade, who had been on the verge of teaching Uzumaki Shin a lesson, shot him a glare before turning her attention to the two survivors.

They were both male—one was the same age as Uzumaki Shin, and the other was around twenty. Both were survivors of the Uzumaki Clan.

Uzumaki Shin recognized the one his own age.

"Uzumaki Kai, long time no see. Your leg is better now, right?"

Uzumaki Shin offered Uzumaki Kai a faint smile, which only made the boy glare back in fury, though a trace of fear lingered in his angry eyes.

Uzumaki Kai was the son of Uzumaki Yan, the Taijutsu Jōnin whose constitution Uzumaki Shin had copied. They had clashed before, and Uzumaki Shin had broken one of his legs.

He hadn't expected Uzumaki Kai to survive the destruction of the Uzumaki Clan; he certainly had a tenacious life!

Tsunade's gaze flickered between Uzumaki Shin and Uzumaki Kai. It seemed there was bad blood between these two brats.

However, Tsunade had no interest in meddling in the squabbles of children, so she turned her gaze to the man in his twenties.

"What is your name?"

"I... I am Uzumaki Hikari, a Chūnin of the Uzumaki Clan."

"Do you know who attacked the Uzumaki Clan?" Tsunade asked Uzumaki Hikari.

"I don't know. I was so scared that I hid the moment it started. I have no idea what happened afterward."

Uzumaki Hikari lowered his head in shame, drawing a look of contempt from Tsunade.

This guy was older than her, yet he was such a coward. When his clan was in danger, he had actually hidden like a ninja.

Tsunade was actually younger than Uzumaki Hikari. Despite calling Uzumaki Shin a "brat" earlier, Tsunade herself was only sixteen.

Still, in the world of Naruto, sixteen wasn't exactly young; back in the Warring States period, she would have been married with children by now.

Tsunade ordered her subordinates to continue searching for survivors while she investigated which ninja village had attacked the Uzumaki Clan.

Looking at the erosion marks from water currents and the damage left by Lightning Release, Tsunade already had her suspicions.

If her guesses proved true, there was nothing Tsunade could do about it.

"Brat, what is your name?" Tsunade asked Uzumaki Shin.

Being called a brat repeatedly made Uzumaki Shin feel quite sour, but unfortunately, he couldn't beat Tsunade.

He estimated that Tsunade's current strength was at the Elite Jōnin level, which was definitely stronger than his own.

"My name is Uzumaki Shin. And stop calling me a brat. Be careful, or I might take revenge once I get stronger."

"Revenge on me? Heh, I'll be waiting for that day," Tsunade said, looking at Uzumaki Shin with amusement.

Uzumaki Shin let out a soft huff. You look down on my strength now, just don't regret it when you're the one getting beaten later.

"Shin, I'm hungry," Kushina said, tugging at Uzumaki Shin's sleeve.

Shin immediately took out some dry rations and jerky; although it was a bit parched and tough, it was good enough to fill his stomach for now.

Three days later, the bodies of the Uzumaki Clan members were all buried, including the grandfather of Shin's current life, the Grand Elder of the Uzumaki Clan.

Seeing his corpse, Shin felt a complex mix of emotions; he couldn't say he felt a deep bond, after all, they hadn't met more than a few times.

Nevertheless, Shin still felt a sense of melancholy in his heart.

After burying all the bodies, Shin and the others followed Tsunade toward Konoha.

Strapped to Shin's back was a new katana, its blade over three feet long with golden patterns on the hilt, looking rather understated.

He had found it in the ancestral hall of the Uzumaki Clan, and after testing it earlier, he found it to be incredibly sharp; it could slice through hard stone with a single stroke, leaving a perfectly smooth cut.

As for whether it could cut through steel, Shin didn't know, as he hadn't tested it yet.

Traveling by boat toward the Land of Fire, Shin stood at the stern, his gaze fixed on the receding Land of Whirlpools.

Kushina stood beside Shin; they didn't know when they would return after leaving this time.

"Are you feeling reluctant to leave?"

Hearing the voice from behind, Shin and Kushina turned around to see it was Tsunade.

Upon seeing Tsunade, Kushina puffed out her cheeks, wearing an expression of pure dissatisfaction.

Shin also kept his distance from Tsunade nowadays; he had no idea what was wrong with this woman, but she would ruffle his hair and pinch his cheeks every single day.

This made Shin very unhappy, but unfortunately, he couldn't overpower her, and since he didn't want to expose his true strength, he didn't put up much of a fight.

Shin suspected that this woman might have awakened some strange fetish.

As for the reason for Kushina's dissatisfaction, it was simple: she hadn't even ruffled Shin's hair or pinched his cheeks yet.

This woman had done everything she hadn't, which naturally made Kushina unhappy, feeling as though her Shin had been snatched away.

"Once you arrive in Konoha, just treat it as your own home. In time, you will naturally forget all those unpleasant memories."

"Tch, we don't need your comfort. Shin, let's go." Kushina glared at Tsunade with hostility, then pulled Shin into the cabin; the woman before her was the source of her greatest unhappiness.

"What a hateful little girl."

Tsunade had also noticed that this little girl held a great deal of hostility toward her.

"Could it be that this little girl likes that brat Shin?" Tsunade mused.

"Kids these days are really precocious, aren't they? That little girl is only five, right?"