Nawaki, Are You Here to Disgust Us?

After training all day, Shin rubbed his stomach. He was getting hungry.

"That's enough training for today. I'm getting hungry."

Shin said to the girls sitting on the ground.

"Looks like there's a reason you're so strong," Tsunade said, gazing at Shin wearily.

She was exhausted—utterly exhausted. They'd trained at high intensity for half a day, following Shin's example, and couldn't keep going. Shin, on the other hand, looked like he could do it all day.

"Don't compare yourselves to me. I have an advantage over you," Shin said.

The Perfect Sage Body's recovery was almost beyond belief. Unless the training was extremely intense, Shin didn't get tired at all. He was practically a perpetual-motion machine.

Just as Shin and the others were getting ready to head back, they spotted someone approaching in the distance.

"Nawaki's here."

Even from far away, Shin had sharp eyes. He recognized Nawaki at a glance.

"Shin, Sis, so you really are here."

Nawaki beamed as if he'd just found a pile of money.

"Nawaki, you look awfully happy. Did you find some money?" Shin asked.

"I didn't find any, but I earned some—and quite a bit, too. So I'm treating you all to dinner tonight."

As Nawaki came closer, he spoke to Shin with delight. Judging by his grin, he really had earned a fair amount.

But when Tsunade, Kushina, and Mikoto saw Nawaki, they backed away to put some distance between them. Even Shin instinctively took a step back.

"Nawaki, why do you smell so awful?" Tsunade asked.

"Do I?" Nawaki sniffed himself carefully, but couldn't smell anything.

It wasn't that Nawaki's sense of smell had stopped working. He'd simply gotten used to it. He'd been surrounded by so much stink that day that he no longer noticed it.

"Hey, Nawaki, did you fall into an outhouse or something?" Kushina asked suspiciously, backing away even farther.

"No. I just spent the whole afternoon hauling manure."

As soon as Nawaki said that, the three women walked away. Even Shin moved out of range. That was just how it was.

"Nawaki, what's wrong with you? Why would you go hauling manure?" Shin couldn't help asking.

"I didn't want to, either, but Orochimaru-sensei took a job cleaning out a ranch. The main task was clearing away all the manure. There wasn't much I could do."

Nawaki explained with a long face. He didn't want to fail the first mission of his life, so he'd done the dirty work. And the reward was generous. Though it was a D-rank mission, it paid as much as a C-rank one.

Shin gave Nawaki a sympathetic look. He hadn't expected Orochimaru to take on such a bizarre mission.

"I earned some money, so I wanted to celebrate with you all. I'm treating you to barbecue tonight," Nawaki said proudly.

Tsunade's expression darkened.

"Nawaki, before you came here, did you not think to take a bath and change your clothes? I don't think you came to treat us to dinner. You came to disgust us."

Nawaki was baffled. He'd come to treat them to barbecue out of the goodness of his heart, after agonizing over spending the money. Why were they treating him like this?

But the stench coming off Nawaki had killed everyone's appetite. Even Shin, who'd been hungry, no longer felt like eating.

"Shin, why are they looking at me like that?"

Nawaki couldn't understand why Tsunade and the others were glaring at him as if they wanted to kill him.

Shin shook his head, then said, "Maybe next time. We'll pass tonight."

Shin turned down Nawaki's offer. Nawaki looked disappointed, but also a little relieved. He was sorry they'd refused, but at least he'd get to keep his money.

Nawaki left after Tsunade ruthlessly chased him away. As he went, he still looked dejected.

"Orochimaru really has no sense of disgust. Who else would take a job like that?" Tsunade couldn't help saying.

"By the way, are we still eating dinner tonight? I've lost my appetite," Kushina said.

"We're eating, of course. We'd starve if we didn't."

Shin didn't think he was so disgusted that he couldn't eat.

Besides, Shin still thought a full stomach was the most important thing. How else would he have the strength to train? Even with the Perfect Sage Body, he still needed to eat.

As it turned out, Shin was the only one who ate dinner that night. Kushina and the others all said they'd skip it.

"Mikoto, since you're staying here now, won't the Uchiha Clan have anything to say about it?" Shin suddenly asked.

Mikoto shook her head.

"I'm just a nobody in the Uchiha Clan. I doubt anyone will say anything."

Mikoto was pretty, but in the world of shinobi, looks didn't put food on the table. Since she was quiet by nature, she wasn't well known in the Uchiha Clan.

"Don't worry. I'm Tsunade's student. No one would dare gossip," Tsunade said confidently.

Shin gave her a sideways look. She made it sound as if she were so important.

"Hey, brat, are you looking down on me?"

Tsunade had noticed Shin's subtle expression. She stood up at once and glared at him.

"Heh, you've got it wrong. I was thinking how impressive you are," Shin said, brushing her off.

"Impressive? Shin's way more impressive than you," Kushina said.

Shin glanced at Kushina. Was she deliberately trying to make Tsunade hate him?

"Kushina, want to try my fist?" Tsunade asked, raising it and giving Kushina a dangerous look.

"What are you going to do?"

Kushina warily ducked behind Shin and watched Tsunade.

"Come on, try it. Let's see if one punch will have you crying under your blanket," Tsunade said, clenching her fist at Kushina.

"Don't threaten me. You're not all that. Give me three years, and I'll surpass you," Kushina said indignantly.

Wuyou's mouth twitched. Kushina, were you challenging Tsunade to a three-year showdown? Were you going to say, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west"?

Even after three years, Kushina still wouldn't stand a chance against Tsunade.

Unless Kushina became the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and learned to use the Nine-Tails' power perfectly, she might be able to defeat Tsunade within three years.

But Kushina could no longer become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. That position had already been filled, and the chosen one was Uzumaki Akiko.

And even if she did become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, controlling the Nine-Tails' power would be impossible. Why would the Nine-Tails lend her its strength? She'd be lucky if it didn't cause trouble.

"Heh, fine. I'll see how you manage to surpass me in three years. But that doesn't stop me from beating you up right now."

Tsunade clearly hadn't given up on beating Kushina. She walked toward her with a strange smile.

"Shin, help me."

At the sight of Tsunade's eerie smile, Kushina grew frightened and hurried closer to Shin.

"Even Shin can't help you, brat. I'm going to teach you a proper lesson."

As Tsunade spoke, she reached out to grab Kushina.

"Enough, Tsunade. Why pick on Kushina? She's weak, so beating her up wouldn't be much of an achievement," Shin said, stopping her.

"Hmph. I knew you'd protect her." Tsunade gave a quiet snort. She let Kushina off, for Shin's sake.

Kushina lightly bit Shin's arm. What did he mean, she was weak and beating her wouldn't be much of an achievement? Was that any way to talk?