第34章 一屁股坐在石墩上,开口就道

In the end, she shook her head firmly. "No eating them! Let's take them home! We'll raise them until they're bigger, then eat them—there'll be more meat! How about that?"

"Hahahaha!" Hibari laughed out loud. "If you want to keep them, just say so. 'Raise them until they're bigger'? I'd be surprised if you could bring yourself to eat them by then!"

With her little scheme exposed, young Tsunade blushed. She hugged Hibari's leg and started swinging back and forth. "Is it okay? Is it okay, big brother?"

What could Hibari do when his little sister pestered him like that? And so, the trio turned into a group of three plus two bear cubs, heading all the way back to Konoha.

Just as they reached the entrance of the Senju Clan estate, Hibari held young Tsunade's hand and turned to Sarutobi Hiruzen. "Since you're already here and it's just in time for a meal, why not come in and have a bite?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled, just about to offer a polite refusal, when he heard footsteps behind him.

He turned to look and—well, well—the Hokage, Tobirama, and his own father, Sarutobi Sasuke, were walking toward them side by side.

Hibari saw them too, and his expression changed instantly. He quickly lowered his voice and whispered to Sarutobi Hiruzen, "If you see the Second Master and the others, just say you haven't seen me..."

He turned to bolt through the gate, but before he could even take a step, Tobirama's chilling voice caught up to him.

"Hibari!" Tobirama barked. "You brat, stand right there!"

So much for escaping.

Hibari had no choice but to stop and turn around, a brilliant, beaming smile instantly plastered on his face. "Yo! Isn't it the Second Master! What brings you out for a stroll today?

I went to look for you this morning, but you weren't there, so I took Tsunade to the back mountains for a bit. Look, I got her a couple of little trinkets."

As he spoke, he gently nudged the bear cubs at his feet with his toe, causing the two little creatures to bare their teeth at him.

"Oh? Looking for me?" Tobirama pulled a tight, insincere smile. "That's truly unfortunate; I happened to be hosting a guest all morning."

"No worries, no worries, we're family, aren't we?" Hibari felt a slight sense of relief and quickly replied. But looking at Tobirama's smile, he felt a chill run down the back of his neck.

"Aren't you curious who I was hosting?" Tobirama walked slowly to Hibari's side, raised a hand, and clamped it firmly onto his shoulder, lowering his voice. "He said... his name is Moji."

At these words, Hibari's expression froze instantly, and beads of sweat became visible on his temple. He gave a dry laugh. "S-Second Master, what are you talking about? I don't understand. You don't need to report to me about hosting guests..."

"Hmph!" Tobirama snorted, his grip tightening until he practically lifted Hibari off the ground. "Getting bold, are we? Using a shadow clone to try and fool me? Get inside!"

"Ouch, ouch, ouch! Second Master! I'll walk myself! Please, listen to my explanation!" Hibari wailed as he struggled, being dragged through the gates of the Senju estate by Tobirama without his feet ever touching the ground.

Sarutobi Hiruzen watched from the side, stunned, and scratched his head as he looked at his father. "Dad, what's going on now? How did that brat Hibari manage to tick off Master Tobirama again?"

Sarutobi Sasuke glanced at his son and spoke indifferently.

"Why do you worry so much? It's definitely just some new trouble that brat Hibari cooked up." Sarutobi Sasuke waved his hand, then changed the subject. "By the way, where did you run off to earlier?"

As soon as his father asked, Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes lit up, and he leaned in closer. "Father, you have no idea—that kid Hibari is a true genius!

He actually created that S-rank composite ninjutsu. It has low consumption, massive power, and the barrier to entry isn't even that high! I've already suggested he just classify it as a forbidden jutsu!"

"A forbidden jutsu?" Sarutobi Sasuke was taken aback for a moment, but before his son could elaborate, he waved him off. "This isn't the place to talk. It's been a while since I've been here, and since it's mealtime, let's go in, sit down, and talk while we eat."

On the other side, Senju Hashirama was happily helping young Tsunade play with the two bear cubs. Hearing this, he looked up and called out, "What a coincidence, little monkey is here too? Perfect, come in and have a simple meal with us."

As he spoke, he reached out and scooped up one of the bear cubs into his arms. Tsunade followed suit and quickly hugged the other, but she wasn't much bigger than the cub herself, and she struggled so hard to hold it that the little bear nearly rolled its eyes back.

Seeing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had intended to leave, nodded. "That works too. I can report the matter of the jutsu to Master Tobirama while I'm at it."

At the dinner table, young Tsunade's eyes went wide as she looked left and right—two identical "Big Brother Hibaris" were sitting there. One was burying his face in his food, while the other was rubbing his shoulder and bickering with Grandpa Tobirama beside him.

It wasn't that she hadn't seen shadow clones before, but this was the first time she'd seen one sitting at the table eating with the original.

"Oh, anyway, that's how it is, it doesn't matter if you don't get it," Hibari said to Tobirama while rubbing his shoulder. "This guy is super useful, way better than a regular clone."

Tobirama picked up some vegetables with his chopsticks and asked slowly, "But aren't the drawbacks just as obvious? How do you plan to solve them?"

"Second Master, if you ask me, this isn't actually that hard..." Hibari's eyes darted around, his face full of cunning.

The moment Tobirama saw that expression, he knew nothing good was coming. He chuckled. "And how is it 'not hard'?"

Hibari first stole a glance at Uzumaki Mito and Senju Hashirama, who were talking to Moji, then lowered his voice. "When you get down to it, it's just a matter of chakra!

I think there's a method that would work perfectly... Why don't you go talk to Grandma Mito and have her teach me the Yin Seal? Once I master that, will those little drawbacks even be an issue anymore?"

Tobirama looked at him with a hint of amusement. "With your current level, you want to learn an S-rank sealing jutsu?

Isn't that a bit too hasty? You know yourself that sealing jutsus are harder to crack than ordinary ninjutsu, let alone an S-rank one. And one that acts upon your own body? Can you just learn that whenever you want?"

"So what if it's S-rank?" Hibari puffed out his chest, unconvinced. "I even created an S-rank composite ninjutsu, isn't that enough? Second Master, even family has to settle accounts clearly, right?

How about I trade this S-rank composite ninjutsu for Grandma Mito's S-rank sealing jutsu? I'm telling you, even Uncle Hiruzen thinks my jutsu is worthy of being a forbidden jutsu!" He slapped his thigh, looking quite proud of himself.

Tobirama hadn't actually heard that Hibari had cooked up some S-rank composite ninjutsu. Hearing this, he turned his head and looked at his disciple, Sarutobi Hiruzen, with a hint of surprise.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was busy shoveling food into his mouth, immediately put down his bowl. "Master, he's not bragging. He really did create it. The power is enough to be S-rank, and I also think it's appropriate to classify it as a forbidden jutsu. I just mastered the technique in the back mountains today..."

If it had just been Hibari talking, Tobirama might have thought the kid was just blowing smoke, but with Sarutobi Hiruzen nodding in confirmation, he had to take it seriously.

He couldn't even be bothered to eat anymore. He asked with genuine interest, "You mean to tell me this kid, without a sound, really created a composite ninjutsu with S-rank power? And it needs to be a forbidden jutsu? Interesting. Tell me about it in detail."

And so, Sarutobi Hiruzen explained the principles and effects of the "S-rank Composite Ninjutsu: Annihilation" to Tobirama, point by point.

After a long while, Tobirama stared at Hibari with black lines on his forehead. He pondered to himself: isn't the core principle of this thing the same trick this kid used to trap me last time?

Good grief, he actually tinkered with it until it became such a formidable ninjutsu?

"How about it? I've even brought out a forbidden jutsu; that's enough sincerity, right?" Hibari raised an eyebrow at Tobirama.

Tobirama looked at him, pondered for a moment, and finally tapped the table. "...Let me think about it some more. Let's put this aside for now."

"Fine, but don't take too long." Hibari didn't push him further, nodding to show he accepted it.

After lunch, Hashirama accompanied Uzumaki Mito out for a stroll. Sarutobi Sasuke and Hiruzen didn't leave; instead, they stayed in the courtyard to enjoy the shade and chat with Tobirama.

Hibari was busy teaching young Tsunade how to feed fish to the two new bear cubs, and the novelty of it had her giggling with delight.

Once the cubs were full, Tobirama beckoned them over from the pavilion.

Hibari pulled young Tsunade over, sat down on a stone stool, and immediately said, "Moji, pour some tea for me and Tsunade."

Moji, who was brewing tea for Tobirama and the others nearby, turned dark. "I'll emphasize this one more time: we are one and the same. Any suffering I endure now will eventually be paid back by you. Have you no shame?"

"But it hasn't been paid back yet, has it? Let's enjoy it while we can... I'm not worried, why are you?" Hibari waved his hand dismissively.

After they joked around for a bit, Moji poured the tea. Hibari then asked, "Second Master, what are your orders? Are you sending me on a mission? You can count on me!"

Tobirama smiled, exchanged a glance with Sarutobi Sasuke, and said, "Didn't you mention a couple of days ago about buying books for the village children? And that... system thing?"

Hibari paused, then nodded. "That did come up. Wait, don't tell me you want to dump that work on me? You guys think way too highly of me."

Sarutobi Sasuke laughed. "At least you have some self-awareness, kid."

"Haha," Tobirama took over. "We discussed it today, and we really do need to make some changes. The first step must start with the children. We plan to establish a Ninja Academy to teach the village kids the basics."

This caught Hibari off guard. If he remembered correctly, the Ninja Academy was supposed to be founded when Tobirama became the Second Hokage, with Tsunade, Orochimaru, and the others as the first batch of students. How did Tobirama decide to do it now?

On second thought, perhaps his arrival and the trouble he'd caused had influenced these things.

In any case, Hibari never expected that his buying books for Orochimaru, combined with that "massive theft of silver," would actually get Hashirama involved and accelerate the process of establishing the school.

Coming back to his senses, Hibari said, "That's a good thing. But why tell me this... don't tell me you want me to be a teacher? Sigh, although I don't think I have the talent or virtue for it, if you're really short on people, I suppose I could reluctantly agree..."

Seeing his "humble" act, Tobirama and the Sarutobi father and son all laughed.

"You do have self-awareness," Tobirama smiled, "which is why we aren't planning that. We've already agreed with Hiruzen that he will be a teacher for a while."

"Then why tell me about it...?" Hibari felt a bit disappointed that he wasn't involved.

Tobirama looked at Hibari, then at young Tsunade, who was squatting beside him playing with the bear cubs.

He lowered his voice. "I was thinking that once the school is established, you and Tsunade should enroll as students."

Hibari raised an eyebrow, and just as he was about to speak, Tobirama raised a hand to stop him.

"Listen to me first. For one, you two are representatives of the Senju Clan. There's a lot behind the establishment of this school, and it needs the Senju Clan to take the lead. Your Grandpa Sarutobi is also on our side, which is why Hiruzen is going to be a teacher."