Chapter 38

"Yes. We'll decide the specific arrangements after Sen returns." Saitama lifted the tent flap. Dusk had already dyed the distant mountains red.

"The Hidden Mist hasn't officially begun fighting yet. They've been testing our limits all along. Any enemy who crosses the line—leave none alive!"

"Understood!" The brothers answered in unison, the grim atmosphere of the battlefield making their nerves tighten slightly.

"Go get some rest. You'll be called if anything comes up. Get plenty of sleep, and don't let tomorrow's mission fall apart."

"Yes!"

The two left Saitama's tent and headed toward their own quarters.

"Haa..." Saitama removed his sword and set it by the bed before falling backward onto it. The tent was sparsely furnished: one bed, one table, and one chair, after all, the space was less than ten square meters.

After several straight days of forced marching, even Saitama's physique, far beyond that of an ordinary person, felt somewhat tired. He stared at the yellowing tent roof, his gaze gradually growing heavy.

The Hidden Mist appeared to pose the smallest threat, yet it concealed the most dangerous player—Fourth Mizukage Yagura Karatachi, the Three-Tails' jinchuriki. Such a powerful man had actually been controlled by Madara Uchiha, and all of the Hidden Mist's unusual movements stemmed from that.

As an Uchiha himself, Saitama knew perfectly well that blood ties meant nothing in Madara's eyes. If he truly encountered that man, he could only accept his fate. Fortunately, Madara at this point in time was already at the end of his strength and had not even chosen a vessel yet—Uchiha Obito and the others were still in Konoha.

"Focus on what's in front of me first." Saitama closed his heavy eyelids.

In the middle of the night, his rumbling stomach woke him. By instinct, he reached for the ninja sword by his pillow—a habit formed over the past year or so. Only with his sword nearby did he feel safe.

Casually brushing the loose hair from his forehead back, Saitama suddenly caught sight of the ceramic bowl on the table: rice balls piled into a small mountain, half a jin of braised beef, and a jar of water.

"Someone seemed to have come in this afternoon?" He tapped his brow with a fingertip. "Must have been that reckless Huo." Carrying the bowl over, he sat down as the aroma of meat mingled with the scent of rice and spread through the tent.

"Not bad. Just a little cold." Saitama chewed his food, his legs swaying unconsciously.

Hunger made him eat quickly, and he finished the meal in less than fifteen minutes.

"Burp..."

"Seven-tenths full is enough. It's not good to eat too much at night." Rubbing his stomach, he stood up and planned to go outside for some air.

The Konoha camp was brightly lit, with patrol teams moving back and forth. These ninjas in the advance force had been shouldering heavy guard duties for days. Whenever Saitama passed them, he nodded in greeting—even if they were merely chunin or genin.

He looked toward the night sky in the direction of the Hidden Mist, then paced thoughtfully to the edge of the camp. This open stretch without any tents seemed to have been deliberately left as a rest area.

"Hey!"

The sound of metal cutting through the air suddenly tore through the silence.

"Ha!"

The muffled thuds of kunai embedding deeply into wooden posts came one after another.

"In the middle of the night..." Saitama frowned and walked toward the source. He was wide awake anyway, so he might as well see who was making such a fuss.

In the shadows woven by moonlight and campfire glow, a girl braced herself against a wooden post, gasping for breath. Beads of sweat slid down her taut jawline, while the black combat suit beneath her ninja vest had already been soaked through.

"What are you practicing?" Saitama strolled out of the darkness.

"Who?!" Shizune spun around sharply, her forehead protector reflecting a cold gleam. She recognized the youngest captain-level ninja. "You are... Uchiha Saitama?"

Saitama nodded. "I was taking a walk and happened to hear the noise."

"Sorry for disturbing your rest." The girl hurriedly gathered up the scattered ninja tools, her overworked arms trembling faintly. Beneath the moonlight, her flushed cheeks still carried a stubbornness that had yet to fade.

"Leaving already?" Saitama stepped sideways to block Shizune's path, a barely perceptible smile on his lips.

Shizune hugged the items in her arms tighter and bowed apologetically. "Sorry for disturbing your rest." The tips of her ears grew slightly hot.

"It has nothing to do with that." Saitama waved a hand. "I'm curious about something else."

Shizune raised her eyes, trying to find some clue in his expression.

"Those moves just now," Saitama said, pointing toward the training ground. "The way you combined shuriken with taijutsu doesn't look like required coursework for a medical ninja."

"Just basic training." Shizune straightened her back, her voice as steady as morning mist.

Saitama raised a brow. "As Lady Tsunade's direct disciple, I thought your curriculum would only include things like the Mystical Palm Technique..."

Silence spread between them.

"Are you a jonin?" Shizune suddenly asked.

"Unfortunately, no."

"Then why were you at the captain-level meeting?"

"For the same reason as you." Saitama shrugged. "An attendant."

Shizune seemed to understand. "So you're a chunin?"

"Genuine and certified." Saitama lightly tapped the scabbard with his fingers, making the metal ring with a clear tremor.

"Uchiha swordsmanship..." Shizune's gaze slid to the sword at his waist. "I've heard it's all quite impressive?"

"More or less." Saitama suddenly grew interested. "What, want to learn a few tricks?"

"How about an exchange?" Shizune looked straight into his eyes. "I'll teach you the Hemostasis Technique."

Saitama stepped half a pace forward, his sleeve stirring a faint current of air. "Tell me, what sort of fighting style do you want?"

"Techniques that can compensate for a medical ninja's weakness in close combat." Shizune paused. "There are some things... that aren't convenient to say outright."

In the dusk, she unexpectedly found the stranger's eyes reassuring, as though he were an old friend she had known for years.

"Forgive my rudeness," she suddenly came to herself. "I'm Shizune, a Konoha chunin."

"I'll remember that." Saitama took two steps back and pushed the guard of his sword open three inches with his thumb. "Come on. Show me your attack patterns."

The blade reflected the last sliver of evening light, drawing a golden streak between the two of them.

"Huh? We're fighting directly? All right." After confirming Saitama's intentions, Shizune immediately took a fighting stance. Her gaze became focused as she stared intently at the casually standing Saitama.

"Be careful!" Shizune warned him before charging toward Saitama in quick strides.

"Ha!" A palm strike shot straight for Saitama's face. Although Shizune had only recently become a chunin, as Tsunade's prized student, none of her abilities could be underestimated, including close-quarters combat.

"Whoosh!" Her palm sliced through the air, but Saitama merely tilted his head and easily avoided it.

Why does this girl keep aiming for my face? The corner of Saitama's mouth lifted, but seeing Shizune's serious expression, he ultimately kept the words to himself.

"Ha!" Shizune was not discouraged by her first missed strike. She knew her own strength and understood even better that she was facing an Uchiha skilled in taijutsu.

Twisting at the waist, Shizune followed with a fierce kick aimed directly at Saitama's midsection.

"Whoosh!" Saitama retreated half a step, effortlessly evading the attack.

Thud! The instant her kick missed, Shizune used the momentum of her forward lean to plant both hands on the ground and spring upward. Her legs followed like shadows, shooting straight toward Saitama's face.

"Interesting." Saitama secretly praised Shizune's combat instincts. Coming up with such a combination was no simple feat.

Smack!

His right hand knocked aside Shizune's left leg while his left precisely seized the right leg that followed.

Tap! Holding her right leg, Saitama retreated two steps in succession. Shizune's expression changed abruptly, and her knocked-aside left leg hurriedly touched down as she hopped on one foot to maintain her balance.

"Heh." Saitama chuckled, thinking the girl attacked far too aggressively, leaving herself no room at all.

"Hmph!" Shizune felt stifled. Her consecutive attacks had all been resolved with ease, and frustration welled up within her.

"Let go already!" Her voice was tinged with embarrassment and irritation. This near-split position was simply too humiliating.

Saitama calmly released her, not the slightest bit embarrassed.

"Well?" Having already recognized the gap between them in taijutsu, Shizune could not help asking.

"More or less." Saitama rolled his wrists as he gave his assessment. "But you lack actual combat experience. Every attack is too all-or-nothing. In close combat, you need to hold back thirty percent of your strength..."

And so, an impromptu taijutsu lesson began. While explaining the key points of close-quarters combat, Saitama had Shizune keep attacking and pointed out her mistakes in real time.

The night deepened, and more than two hours passed in the blink of an eye. Aside from the footsteps of the patrols, the camp grew increasingly quiet, while the bonfires gradually weakened as their firewood ran out.

As the night deepened, Saitama looked up at the sky and estimated that it was already past midnight. It was time to return and rest.

"Let's stop here for today. It's late, so go back and sleep first." Saitama turned to the girl beside him. Her eyes sparkled, and her little head still bobbed back and forth as though she were pondering his earlier explanations.

"?We're done already?" Shizune was immersed in her thirst for knowledge and had not noticed time flying by. Interrupted so suddenly by Saitama, she was momentarily dazed.

"What else? Come again tomorrow at eight in the evening. I'll keep teaching you, and you need to teach me a thing or two as well. We agreed on an equal exchange, so don't try to welch on it." Saitama rattled off a whole string of words, making Shizune blink.

"Oh, okay." Once she stopped studying, exhaustion gradually rose within her. She rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"Then we'll meet here again tomorrow night at around ten?" Shizune asked as she packed up her scrolls, not forgetting to confirm the time.

"Mm... that should be fine." Saitama thought it over briefly. Tomorrow was only a routine patrol, so it should not delay him.

"It's a deal?" A faint light glimmered in Shizune's eyes. She could not explain why she had taken such a liking to this Uchiha boy she had just met, but that was not important. Helping each other was always a good thing.

After saying goodbye, twelve-year-old Shizune walked slowly toward the tents beneath the moonlight. Nominally, she was Tsunade's personal guard, but in truth, it was that lady's way of looking after a little girl stepping onto the battlefield for the first time.

"Lady Tsunade should be asleep at this hour, right? I need to be quiet..." Shizune always thought of Tsunade in every respect. To her, Tsunade was both a strict teacher and a close friend, as well as the only family she had left in the world.

Saitama remained where he was, watching the petite figure disappear among the tents before turning to leave.

His encounter with Shizune was merely the work of fate. They were both in Konoha's camp, so meeting was nothing unusual. Though he had rather liked Shizune's sensible character when watching anime in his previous life, reality was ultimately different—those virtual feelings held no meaning.

His memories merely made him feel a little more familiar with Shizune. What concerned him more now was that a walk to aid digestion had somehow taken up so much time.

His figure flitted past the rows of tents like a ghost. He still had a mission tomorrow, so he needed to rest well and prepare for the unknown challenges ahead.

As he passed several bonfires, the crackling of burning wood sounded especially clear in the night. Upon returning to his tent, he set his sword beside the bed and lay down without removing his clothes.

Rustle!

Shizune gently lifted the tent flap and first poked half her head inside, her chin-length hair swaying slightly with the movement.

She looked around, and only after confirming that Lady Tsunade was already asleep did she breathe a sigh of relief and quietly slip inside.

The tent was dimly lit. It took Shizune a while to adjust before she could make out the way, and she felt her way toward the beds.

This tent was much roomier than an ordinary single-person tent, with two beds inside. Someone was already lying on one of them.

Shizune quietly walked to the empty bed, took off her shoes, and slowly climbed onto it.

"You're back?" Tsunade's voice suddenly sounded, not sleepy in the slightest.

"!Lady Tsunade!" Shizune trembled in fright, nearly slipping off the bed.

"Get some sleep. There's work tomorrow." Tsunade turned over to face Shizune.

"Yes!" Shizune hurriedly burrowed beneath the blanket and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.

"Lady Tsunade, are you asleep?"

After lying there for ten minutes, Shizune still could not sleep. The image of the boy holding her ankle kept surfacing in her mind, and the warmth of their skin touching seemed not to have faded.

"Lady Tsunade?" She lowered her voice and asked again tentatively.

"Mm." Tsunade answered lazily.

"What's wrong?" She had noticed that Shizune was acting somewhat strangely tonight.

"Nothing. Go to sleep." Shizune turned her back to Tsunade and faced the tent wall.

In the darkness, she seemed to see a pair of calm eyes and a composed face. It reminded her of her classmate Kakashi Hatake.

But Kakashi was cold, while Saitama gave her a feeling she could not describe, like speaking with a mature and steady elder.

Heavens, Shizune, what are you thinking? You've known him for less than three hours! Her cheeks burned. She felt as though she had done something wrong, with her mind full of that boy. Perhaps it was only curiosity. After all, it was rare to see someone her age with such skill in taijutsu.

"He's completely different from the other Uchiha..." The thought passed through her mind, and she finally gradually fell asleep.