Gathering (Bonus Chapter for Reader 20171022213613800)

"Eh? Teacher Yamada, what happened to your eyes? Why are you blinking so hard?"

Yamada: MMP. This was exactly why he couldn't rest easy.

Yamada's wife turned around again and shot him a look. Having lived with her for so many years, Yamada naturally understood what it meant: She would settle the score with him when they got home.

"Your teacher is fine. Go on, big sister's listening."

Shiro nearly failed to hold it in when he saw Yamada's cowardly appearance. Fortunately, after acting cute for so long, he could still suppress that little bit of laughter. So Shiro continued,

"Oh, Teacher Yamada didn't do anything. He just exchanged some information and left."

"Oh? How did they exchange information?"

Hearing that, Yamada's heart, which had only just settled, rose again! He had a feeling Shiro hadn't unleashed his ultimate move yet.

"Mouth to mouth. How else could they exchange information?" Shiro said with an innocent expression.

"Oh? Is that so? Shiro, why don't you go play with the others first? I have something to discuss with your teacher." Then she narrowed her eyes at Yamada. "Isn't that right, my dear?"

Yamada hadn't expected the brat to be so ruthless! He closed his eyes in despair and answered bitterly, "Yes." Yamada swore that he would never show off his affection in front of this brat again! Never! After saying that, he followed his wife back inside.

Seiyu and Chosuke, who had witnessed the entire thing, looked at Shiro as though he were a demon. When Shiro finally came down from the thrill of avenging himself for Yamada's lovey-dovey displays, he noticed their strange expressions.

"What's wrong with you two? Why are you making those faces?"

"Nothing, nothing. Seiyu and I have something to do, so we'll be going first." With that, Chosuke and Seiyu quickly fled as if they were escaping.

"Tch, how boring."

Of course, Shiro hadn't just said it carelessly. He wasn't trying to ruin someone else's family harmony. Yamada and his wife were deeply in love, having been together for many years and knowing each other inside out. Something like this wouldn't affect their relationship, so Shiro wasn't worried about damaging it. Still, Yamada definitely wouldn't have an easy time for a while.

"I'm back." Before long, Shiro returned home.

"How was it? Are you tired?" Shiro's mother asked with concern.

"I'm fine, Mom. Where's Dad?"

"Your father went to visit a friend. Are you hungry? If you are, I'll heat something up for you. I didn't know you'd be back, Shiro, so I didn't prepare any food for you."

"No need, Mom. I'm going to see Sister Kushina later. I brought a few things for them."

After washing up and changing clothes, Shiro headed out with the gifts he had prepared for Kushina and the others. He didn't dare wait until the next day to see her—he'd die!

Shiro's home wasn't far from Kushina's. Otherwise, they wouldn't have run into each other while wandering around back then. When Shiro arrived, Minato happened to be at Kushina's place too, which made Shiro miserable. If he went in, there would be dog food. If he didn't go in, his life would be in danger.

Unfortunately, just as Shiro was struggling with himself, Minato spotted him first.

"Eh, Shiro? Why are you standing outside after coming here? Get in."

Forget it. At worst, he would get used to it one more time. Thinking that, Shiro adjusted his mindset and went inside.

"Boss, this is your gift. Big Brother Minato, this is yours."

"Mm, little Shiro is so thoughtful. Perfect timing—Minato and I are going out to eat later, so come with us. Then we won't have to go to your house to get you."

"Uh, wouldn't it be a little inappropriate for you two to go eat with me tagging along?"

"Brat, what are you thinking? It's a gathering this time. We'll also introduce you to a few people."

"Oh, then that's fine. But who are you introducing me to?"

"People you know very well—the Sannin who once 'fought against' Demigod Hanzo with you." Kushina smiled teasingly at Shiro.

"..."

Heaven could bear witness: Shiro had only been bragging to Kushina back then. He had gotten carried away and completely forgotten that she knew the Sannin. The more enthusiastically he had bragged back then, the more awkward he felt now.

"All right, Kushina. Shiro is still young. That's normal, so stop making fun of him."

In the end, Minato stepped in to stop Kushina. Otherwise, Shiro might have broken through his limits again.

"Hmph, that's for lying to me back then!"

"Uh, Boss, I already admitted I was wrong. You still haven't calmed down?"

"I had calmed down, but now I'm mad again. What? Do you have a problem with that?"

"Mhm, mhm, no, no." How would Shiro dare have an objection? Bloody Habanero's reputation was no empty boast! He immediately shook his head rapidly.

Seeing that they had messed around enough, Minato smiled and said, "That's enough. We should get going. Don't make Teacher Jiraiya and the others wait too long."

"Hmph, it's all because Shiro was wasting time!"

"All right, all right. Shiro is still a child, so be a little more forgiving toward her." After saying that, he gave Kushina a head pat. K.O.!

Shiro watched from the side in a daze. As expected, one thing always subdued another. The famous Bloody Habanero had no ability to resist Minato at all.

Still, Shiro had to admit that someone like Minato—handsome and gentle, with talent to boot—was hard for most girls to resist. On top of that, he handled people and situations exceptionally well. He was practically born to be Hokage.

The facts proved that Minato truly countered Kushina. On the way to the gathering place, Kushina remained quiet the entire time.

By the time Shiro and the others arrived at the gathering place, Jiraiya and the others were already waiting. Minato stepped forward and said apologetically, "Sorry, Teacher Jiraiya, for making you wait so long."

"It's fine, we only just arrived too. Sit down. This is the Emiya Shiro Kushina mentioned, right?" Jiraiya looked at Shiro.

"Yes, Teacher Jiraiya." Then Minato introduced him to Shiro. "This is my teacher, Jiraiya."

"Hello, Senior Jiraiya!"

"This is Senior Orochimaru."

"Hello, Senior Orochimaru!"

"This is Senior Tsunade."

"Hello, Sister Tsunade!"

"Why are Orochimaru and I seniors, but Tsunade is sister?"

"Because Tsunade is a sister."

"..." Did that count as an answer?

"All right, Jiraiya. Do you have some objection to my age?"

"..." Seeing Tsunade's tightly clenched fist, Jiraiya decisively backed down. "No."

"Hmph, good that you know better!"

Seeing that they had finished talking, Shiro seized the chance to say, "Senior Jiraiya, these are gifts I picked up for you on the way here. This one is yours, this is for Senior Orochimaru, and this is for Sister Tsunade. I didn't know what you liked, so I just bought a few things. I hope you like them."

At the same time, he handed out the gifts in his hands one by one.

"The brat may be young, but he certainly knows how to handle people."

"Hmph, Teacher Jiraiya, look whose little brother he is."

"Yeah, what a good child. Too bad he ended up following you. Sigh."

"Hmph! Teacher Jiraiya, you're just jealous!"

After they fooled around for a while, the dishes arrived. Once they had eaten for some time, Orochimaru, who had barely spoken, said, "I heard Shiro-kun developed a ninjutsu?"

"Uh, yes, but it's a very crude ninjutsu with many limitations. Also, because I drew upon an incomplete copy of a secret technique left behind by my clan, it currently works best when only I use it."

Shiro hadn't made that up on the spot. He had originally found that incomplete copy, which was why he had considered turning over Reinforcement Magecraft. But how incomplete was it? It was incomplete to the point of containing only one sentence: Use Chakra to reinforce the body and increase strength. That was it.

At the time, Shiro's father hadn't told him about their ancestors yet. So he had assumed it was junk Shiro had picked up somewhere when he was little and hadn't looked into it further. Since no one else knew just how incomplete this so-called clan secret technique was anyway, he used it as an excuse.

"Then what does Shiro-kun plan to focus on training in the future?"

"Now that you mention it, Shiro, you really haven't told us." Kushina spoke as though she had just remembered.

"There's nothing much to say. I'll just continue training Reinforcement Ninjutsu. It's enough for me, and I don't have much talent for ninjutsu." He gave a self-deprecating smile after saying that.

"Shiro-kun, there is no need to belittle yourself. Shiro-kun, who developed a ninjutsu at such a young age, is hardly ordinary."

"You flatter me, Senior Orochimaru. I only managed it because of my clan's incomplete secret technique. In fact, I still haven't mastered even C-rank Wind Release proficiently."

That was indeed true. Shiro had discovered it long ago. Even though Projection Magecraft allowed him to understand every crucial point of the ninjutsu, he still barely managed to grasp it. That was normal, really. It was like a math problem: even if the teacher clearly explained every difficult point, if you still couldn't do it, you still couldn't do it.

In summary, he understood it at a glance but made mistakes whenever he tried it himself.

As for the two types of Magecraft, because he had fused with the Heroic Spirit Card, he had mastered them fairly smoothly. But there was nothing he could do about ninjutsu. A lack of talent was a lack of talent. He was only slightly better off than Might Guy and Rock Lee, but that was all.

"Then that truly is regrettable, Shiro-kun. But if Shiro-kun continues to persevere, perhaps you may one day be like your ancestors and master powerful ninjutsu."

"Hm? Senior Orochimaru, do you know about my ancestors?" Shiro was very curious. After all, as everyone knew, the world of Hokage was a world where one relied on one's father.

"What? Orochimaru, you know about the Emiya Clan's ancestors? Tell us about it." Perhaps noticing that the atmosphere had become somewhat heavy, Jiraiya said with a smile, secretly signaling Orochimaru to lighten the mood.

As teammates for many years, Orochimaru naturally understood what Jiraiya meant. He immediately said, "I do not know the specific details of Shiro-kun's ancestors, since it happened so long ago. I only know that the Emiya Clan's Nintaijutsu was extremely powerful. Unfortunately, for certain reasons, the Emiya Clan suffered a great calamity, and this Nintaijutsu was lost. Shiro-kun, you may try to perfect this technique. In the future, you may not be without hope of restoring the Emiya Clan's glory."

"Glory? I don't have such grand ambitions. I only want to protect the people around me."

"Protection? That is not simple at all. It is a very great ambition." At that moment, a white-haired young man walked in.

Thank you to reader 20171022213613800 for the recommendation ticket. An extra chapter is specially added.