Feeding Lollipops

Kushina Uzumaki's face flushed with shame as she answered awkwardly.

"No injuries, thank you for saving me again."

Uchiha Kurohane bent down, extended a hand toward Kushina Uzumaki, and pulled her up.

Kushina Uzumaki sighed helplessly in her heart.

Sigh, she had wanted to prove herself to Kurohane-kun, yet she had been frightened by a real kunai and had not helped at all.

She was truly useless!

Fortunately Kurohane-kun was strong enough to win alone; she also wanted to become as powerful as him.

Uchiha Kurohane saw her downcast expression and guessed she was blaming herself for her earlier performance. After thinking for a moment, he took a lollipop from his pants pocket, tore open the wrapper, and stuffed it into Kushina Uzumaki's mouth.

Mmm--

"Hmm?"

Kushina Uzumaki suddenly had something sweet stuffed into her mouth. Not understanding the situation, she looked at Uchiha Kurohane with a blank face.

"This is a lollipop. Eat it and calm down."

Uchiha Kurohane quite liked the feeling of forcibly feeding little girls. He had always carried a lollipop on him, but had never had the chance to use it.

Now he had finally succeeded in feeding her.

Kushina Uzumaki held the lollipop stick with her small hand and licked it with her tongue. A rich sweetness spread through her mouth.

A wave of warmth rose in her heart, and her downcast mood improved greatly.

Kurohane-kun is so gentle!

She sighed from the bottom of her heart.

Uchiha Kurohane watched Kushina Uzumaki's puffed cheeks and the cute way she licked the lollipop, feeling a sense of satisfaction inside.

[Ji ya~ Host stuffed a lollipop into Kushina Uzumaki's cherry lips, achieving the accomplishment "Feeding Kushina" and obtaining the entry "Kushina Uzumaki's Little White Socks B".]

(Kushina Uzumaki's Little White Socks B: The little white socks Kushina wore have been sent to the host's pants pocket.)

What is going on?

Uchiha Kurohane looked at the system's reward, somewhat confused.

He had fought so hard just now, ruining five kidneys to achieve an accomplishment.

Now simply feeding Kushina a lollipop could achieve one; this accomplishment system was too strange.

And the reward was even stranger.

What was the situation with rewarding Kushina Uzumaki's worn little white socks?

What use was holding a girl's smelly socks?

Uchiha Kurohane was not a girl and did not wear girls' socks.

Besides, Kushina Uzumaki had thin arms and legs; her jade feet must be very small, and Uchiha Kurohane could not fit into her socks at all.

Uchiha Kurohane lowered his head to look at the open-toed ninja shoes beneath Kushina Uzumaki's beautiful legs.

Ten toes, round and very small and delicate, like exquisite little rice cakes.

Although very cute, Uchiha Kurohane still did not understand what use Kushina's little white socks could have.

Compared to Kushina Uzumaki's little feet, Uchiha Kurohane saw something more useful.

That was the shuriken scattered all over the ground!

It was wartime now, and the price of combat ninja tools was very high.

One shuriken cost as much as 500 ryo, equivalent to six bowls of Ichiraku Ramen.

Pumpkin Head had just thrown eight hundred shuriken, worth 400,000 ryo.

The ground was covered in money!

"...Medical ninja, quickly find a medical ninja!"

At this moment Pumpkin Head climbed to his feet, his mind filled with thoughts of his injured kidneys. He only wanted to find a medical ninja for treatment immediately and paid no attention to the shuriken on the ground. Dragging his legs, he fled together with several companions.

Uchiha Kurohane regarded their behavior as discarding trash and immediately picked up all the shuriken and ninja tool scrolls.

He had learned Shuriken Barrage through the entry. After collecting these shuriken, he would also be able to throw out eight hundred shuriken in an instant.

Compared to ordinary shuriken, the large Fuma Shuriken was far more valuable.

Since it was wartime now, one large Fuma Shuriken cost as much as 10,000 ryo!

Equal to 125 bowls of Ichiraku Ramen!

Uchiha Kurohane had picked up two; he had struck it rich!

Kushina Uzumaki sucked on the lollipop in her mouth and blinked her large eyes blankly. Seeing Uchiha Kurohane frantically picking up shuriken, she asked in confusion.

"Kurohane-kun, why are you helping those guys pick up shuriken? They are all bad guys. Just let them come back and pick them up themselves later."

Uchiha Kurohane heard this, smiled, and patted her head.

"Who said I picked these up for them? I picked them up because I wanted them."

Kushina Uzumaki tilted her head in surprise.

"Even if they are bad people, these are their things. Isn't it a bit wrong for you to take them?"

Uchiha Kurohane glanced at her and said solemnly.

"Defeating the enemy and taking the spoils of war is the justice of a ninja. You're my underling, so learn from this."

Kushina Uzumaki said uneasily.

"...Alright, I'm just worried they'll come looking for trouble with you again."

"Do you think they wouldn't come looking for me if I didn't pick up these shuriken?"

Kushina Uzumaki felt that made sense, and she became even more worried.

"Sigh~ You only got into trouble because you helped me. What are you going to do in the future?"

Uchiha Kurohane could see that Kushina Uzumaki was worried about him, and looking into her sincere, watery eyes, he felt a wave of sweetness in his heart.

This was the first time a girl had cared about him, and he was a little moved.

He stood up and ruffled her small head.

"Don't you worry. I'm a member of the Uchiha clan. The Uchiha are the number one clan in Konoha and run the Konoha Military Police Force. They wouldn't dare do anything to me."

Although Uchiha Kurohane was seen as the Disgrace of the Uchiha, he was still a clansman and had backing.

The future Uchiha clan head, Fugaku, might be spineless, but the current head, Setsuna, was different.

He was a man who dared to challenge even the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama. With him around, Konoha wouldn't dare lay a hand on anyone from the Uchiha clan.

Besides, it was three genin bullying one student. With Kushina as a witness, his self-defense was reasonable and justified.

Even if they reported him to that old man, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Uchiha Kurohane wasn't afraid.

It was just that Konoha was being ganged up on by several major ninja villages, and the recent war situation had become increasingly dire.

There were rumors in the streets that Konoha was going to send newly graduated young genin to the battlefield.

Knowing the plot where Nawaki died in battle at the age of 12, he knew this rumor was true.

Soon, twelve-year-old children would be heading to the front lines.

The three people from earlier were thirteen or fourteen years old. Their strength wasn't weak, so they were likely meant for the battlefield as well.

Uchiha Kurohane worried that by injuring them and preventing them from going to the battlefield, the old man might make him take their place in the Land of Rain.

The current Land of Rain was home to Hanzo, the God of Shinobi.

In the final battle against Konoha, Hanzo had wiped out Konoha's entire army.

Only Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru had survived, and it was because they lived that they were bestowed the title of Sannin by Hanzo.

If Uchiha Kurohane also had to head to the Land of Rain to fight, his future would be grim...

In the evening, at the Hokage's office.

Sarutobi Hiruzen finished his work for the day, stretched wearily, and prepared to go home for dinner made by his wife.

Just then, the wooden door to the office was suddenly pushed open.

A middle-aged man wearing a black bodysuit and a white vest hurried in.

"Hiruzen, something big has happened!"

It was Shimura Danzo.

Shimura Danzo claimed something big happened every day, but it always turned out to be some trivial matter. Sarutobi Hiruzen was already used to it.

His expression didn't change as he asked indifferently.

"What is it?"

"The Ninja Tool Squad that was supposed to go to the Land of Rain battlefield next week has run into trouble. All three of them have been injured by someone!"

When Sarutobi Hiruzen heard this, his eyebrows immediately furrowed.

This was indeed a big deal.

The three members of the Ninja Tool Squad were among the most outstanding genin in Konoha this year. The leader, Pineapple Head, was a shuriken genius, known for being able to throw a shuriken eight hundred meters, earning him the title of the Little Prince of Eight Hundred Li.

Sarutobi Hiruzen admired his talent and had personally taught him the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique. He had lived up to expectations and mastered it in a short time.

Sarutobi Hiruzen believed Pineapple Head was the future of Konoha and thought very highly of him.

Pineapple Head had already promised to repay his kindness by going to the Land of Rain to fight for Konoha.

If they couldn't make it to the battlefield because of their injuries at a time like this, who would take their place?