Su Zheng's Weakness

Su Zheng returned home to find Konan practicing origami—the paper she had specifically asked to buy before. It seemed she was still inextricably drawn to paper flowers. Haruna, meanwhile, was quietly reading.

"Brother Zheng, look at the paper crane I folded. Is it nice?" Konan held up the folded paper crane for Su Zheng to admire.

"It's very nice. You two play here for now. I'm going to train for a while first, then we'll go barbecue at 11:00, okay?" Su Zheng gently ruffled Konan's hair.

"Okay!" Konan broke into a happy smile.

"Brother Zheng, I'll pour you a glass of water. You can come drink it if you get thirsty," Haruna said softly.

"Okay!" Su Zheng gently ruffled her hair as well.

Konan was optimistic and strong. After a little more than a day, she had become much livelier and was gradually emerging from the shadow of war.

Haruna was somewhat different. She possessed a peculiar maturity, like when she had shielded Konan behind her. Su Zheng could see that she had deep defenses, that she was sensitive and somewhat afraid—afraid that all this was fake. Perhaps she had witnessed too much ugliness in the war. It would take time to ease it away.

In the small courtyard, Su Zheng took out the Ninjutsu Scroll he had just borrowed. After thinking it over, he decided to use the Shadow Clone Jutsu Teacher Maki had taught him. That would make training ninjutsu much faster.

Poof! A cloud of smoke rose, and Su Zheng created six Shadow Clones.

"Ah! There are so many Brother Zhengs!" Konan cried out.

"Konan, Brother Zheng is training. Don't make noise!"

Konan hurriedly covered her mouth.

"It's fine."

Su Zheng smiled. Something like that would not affect his training.

The first thing he needed to train was Chakra nature transformation and shape transformation. Chidori, his current "ultimate move," was still unstable.

As for other Earth Style and Water Style ninjutsu, he only needed to become proficient with hand seals, which would come quickly. He was quite confident in that, after all—he was something of a "little genius"!

Crackle, crackle!

Blue-white currents of electricity sprang from the hands of all seven Su Zhengs, leaping and dancing.

When the currents faded and the clones dispelled, all their insights into Lightning Style nature transformation returned to the original body, which carefully absorbed them.

A gentle breeze blew by. Konan looked at Su Zheng training seriously and Haruna reading quietly, and her heart filled with sweetness.

Amegakure, the leader's office.

"Hanzo's forces have dealt Sunagakure a crushing defeat. Sunagakure has retreated to the Land of Wind!" Kaiyu Rui looked at the intelligence delivered by a trusted subordinate, his heart seized by fear.

After Hanzo came of age and gradually gained great power, he had steadily stripped Amegakure's ninja of their dependence on the Gray Rain Clan. Once Hanzo had completely seized power, he had begun suppressing the Gray Rain Clan's strength.

Though Kaiyu Rui could manage Amegakure's affairs large and small after Hanzo left, in a small village, strength was the foundation of everything. He did not dare defy Hanzo's wishes and could only carry out his plans in secret. To a small village like Amegakure, the Demigod of the Shinobi World was a devastating weapon, like a nuclear bomb!

"No, there's still a chance. As long as Hanzo can be eliminated, the rest are nothing to worry about. And Su Zheng can be taken out along with him. So what if he's a genius? If he chose the wrong side, he'll still die!"

Kaiyu Rui calculated his plan in his heart. This time, he absolutely could not fail.

Su Zheng had no idea that beneath Amegakure's calm surface, undercurrents were surging. Even if he had known, he would not have cared. His cheat had arrived!

"Come on, tell me, what are your dreams?"

After finishing his training, Su Zheng took the two girls to barbecue. This was what he had agreed on with Shota and the others yesterday.

"My dream is for us to always stay together and never be apart!" Konan was the first to speak.

"Konan, that isn't a dream. A dream is what you want to do or what kind of person you want to become when you grow up," Haruna corrected her.

"Is that so?" Konan bit her tongue as she thought anxiously. She did not know what she would be like in the future. She already felt very happy now. Wouldn't it be nice if the three of them could stay together forever?

Mm! Konan suddenly remembered what Haruna had said last night about "repaying Brother Su Zheng in the future." She secretly glanced at Brother Zheng, her face flushing red, and said nothing more.

Haruna casually asked, "What is Brother Zheng's dream?"

"Mine? My dream is to end the wars between shinobi and let the people of every nation and village live together in peace."

Su Zheng had thought about this question more than once, so the words came out without hesitation.

Konan was still immersed in her own thoughts and did not hear him.

Haruna, however, heard every word clearly. She was stunned by what he had said, and light shimmered in her beautiful eyes.

"Haruna, you still haven't said what your dream is," Su Zheng asked.

Haruna turned her head away and stopped looking at him. No one knew that at that moment, Haruna had secretly given him her heart.

"My dream is to stand behind you and help you fulfill that dream!"

Haruna had come from a wealthy family, but because of this damned war, her family had been destroyed. Her father, mother, younger brother—all her relatives were gone. That was also why she cherished Konan. She treasured her bond with Konan deeply and did not want it to disappear too.

Until one day, someone named Su Zheng found them and brought them salvation.

When they arrived at the riverside where they usually barbecued, Maki and Shota were already there.

"You're so slow! Konan, Haruna, come over here to your big sister!" Maki waved to them.

"Big Sister Maki, this flower is for you." Konan happily held out a flower she had folded herself.

"Thank you for the flower, Konan!" Maki took out a scroll and brought out some snacks for them to eat.

The three girls sat together, eating snacks, basking in the sun, and watching Su Zheng and the others work.

Konan asked a little embarrassedly, "Big Sister Maki, don't we need to help?"

"Don't worry about it. Let them keep busy. Your Brother Su Zheng is really good at barbecuing!"

"It's fine. There will be plenty of chances later!" Haruna smiled and stopped Konan from trying to help.

Maki was slightly surprised. Haruna had always been the most polite one before, always carefully watching others' expressions and weighing her words, but today she was different.

After opening her heart, Haruna had found her direction. She no longer needed to cater to others, and her overly cautious nature naturally faded, leaving her much more cheerful.

With the two of them persuading her, Konan stopped being so reserved. She comfortably basked in the sunlight and watched the two boys work.

Before long, the grill, firewood, seasonings, and everything else were ready. Su Zheng and Shota had caught two small wild boars in the forest. That should be enough food.

Su Zheng skillfully used a kunai to prepare the prey. Before long, the aroma of roasting meat spread through the air.

Konan and the others perked up as well, sitting in a circle and waiting for the meat to cook.

"It smells so good!"

The moment they tasted it, Konan and Haruna praised Su Zheng's cooking, filling him with immense pride.

"They're eating way too fast, aren't they?"

The two small wild boars had originally been enough. Perhaps the two little girls had stirred up their competitive spirits, because Shota and Maki were eating with remarkable enthusiasm today as well.

Watching the food steadily disappear, Su Zheng did not want to fight them for it and shared his portion with everyone.

As for Su Zheng's own meal, he could only use Water Style to blast fish out of the river.

After quite a while, by the time Su Zheng's fish was cooked, everyone else had already divided up all the food and was lounging around comfortably as they digested.

After eating and drinking their fill and resting for a while, Su Zheng called Shota into the woods to train, leaving Maki to keep Konan and Haruna company.

"Big Sister Maki, why aren't you training?" Konan asked curiously.

Maki lazily leaned against a tree trunk and explained, "I'm different from them. This ability of mine depends heavily on talent, so training isn't emphasized as much."

Konan's imagination ran wild. "Is it that ability to take things out? It's so amazing!"

Just as Maki was about to show off, Haruna answered first, "That's called Scroll Summoning. It's a type of Space-Time Ninjutsu!"

Both of them froze. Maki did not know where Haruna had learned about that ninjutsu, while Konan was wondering, Did my best friend secretly get extra lessons from Brother Zheng without telling me?

Seeing their strange expressions, Haruna admitted, "I read it in a book."

Maki no longer dared to act overly confident, lest she get exposed while showing off. That would be far too embarrassing!

Konan patted her little chest in relief. It seemed her good friend had not kept anything from her. That was good.

At that moment, Konan asked curiously, "Big Sister Maki, do you know what Brother Zheng's weakness is?"

This was where Maki excelled. She knew these inside details best. Narrowing her eyes, she thought for a moment before saying, "A weakness? Being afraid of women—does that count?"

Konan tilted her head in confusion. "What does that mean?"

Maki grinned mischievously. "This happened back when we were at the Ninja Academy. A Zheng was handsome, and he could be considered a genius, so girls liked him a lot. But he rarely interacted with girls."

"Until one day, a group of girls cornered him and forcibly kissed him. After that day, he skipped grades one after another and interacted with people even less."

Seeing the two girls' flushed faces, Maki smiled smugly.

Su Zheng had no idea that Maki was spilling all his old embarrassing stories. She was practically stripping him bare.