For a time, all the factions fell quiet. Uchiha Fugaku, the Young Clan Head of the Uchiha Clan, also came to check on Ye Feng, and the supply of medicinal herbs never stopped. Although Ye Feng no longer needed them, Might Duy and his son, as well as the others, still did. That was better than letting those foolish Uchiha clansmen use them.
When the Ninja Academy reopened, Ye Feng arrived early as usual, carrying a huge lunchbox. Over the past six months and more, it had become a habit: he had turned into the personal chef of the five foodies. Ever since their first taste of Ye Feng's cooking, none of the five had brought lunch from home again.
Before long, Inuzuka Clan Fengyu and Kurenai Yuhi arrived together. Unlike before, Inuzuka Clan Fengyu carried a little black dog in her arms, its head drooping and its eyes narrowed to slits.
When Inuzuka Clan Fengyu saw Ye Feng, she skipped over to his desk and held the little black dog up in front of his face. She told the dog, "Heimaru, this is your big brother Ye Feng."
The little black dog merely raised its eyelids slightly, glanced at Ye Feng, and closed them again.
Ye Feng rolled his eyes. How did I suddenly become a dog's big brother?
"Feng Yu, where did you pick up this stray?" Ye Feng asked.
"What stray? This is my ninja dog. Every ninja in our Inuzuka Clan has a ninja dog that grows up with them."
"How come I've never seen you bring it before?"
"Heimaru has a health problem. It eats a lot but keeps getting thinner. It spent all of last year recuperating, so I couldn't bear to bring it out," Inuzuka Clan Fengyu said, stroking Heimaru's fur.
"Oh? Let me take a look." As he spoke, Ye Feng reached out to touch Heimaru's head.
Suddenly, Heimaru sprang up and bit down on Ye Feng's little hand. It was so fast that the unprepared Ye Feng had no time to dodge. But with Ye Feng's tough physique, Heimaru's bite did not even break the skin.
"Heimaru, let go right now! You can't bite people!" Seeing Heimaru bite Ye Feng, she immediately scolded it.
Heimaru quickly let go and looked at Inuzuka Clan Fengyu with an aggrieved expression.
This was also Ye Feng's first time being bitten by a dog. He said angrily, "So vicious! You actually dared to bite me. Next time, I'll castrate you."
At Ye Feng's words, Heimaru's fur immediately stood on end, and it bared its teeth, growling at him.
"Heimaru!" Heimaru immediately caught the warning in Inuzuka Clan Fengyu's tone and looked at her with a pitiful expression again, as if to say, "You heartless wretch! How could you yell at me?" Then it glanced at Ye Feng again, its eyes fierce.
With gentle coaxing and threats from the side, Inuzuka Clan Fengyu finally got Heimaru to agree to let Ye Feng touch it.
Heimaru watched Ye Feng's approaching hand warily.
Ye Feng, meanwhile, wore an expression that said, I finally have you in my clutches. He gripped Heimaru by the scruff with his right hand while pretending to examine its body with his left, repeatedly touching its private parts. He even wanted to flick its little balls.
But the next moment, Ye Feng discovered that Heimaru was actually female!
By now, Heimaru had buried her head beneath her forelegs, too ashamed to face anyone.
No wonder she resisted boys touching her so much. Ye Feng immediately tossed Heimaru back to Inuzuka Clan Fengyu. Recalling how he had repeatedly touched her private parts, he felt like an utter beast and decided to treat her better next time.
However, while touching her earlier, Ye Feng really had gathered true qi and sent it through Heimaru's body, sensing her physical condition.
Heimaru's body was indeed extremely thin, but her bones were unusually strong and incredibly dense. Their hardness could even rival certain kinds of steel, and her muscles and tendons were extremely tough, comparable to those of ninja who specialized in Taijutsu. No wonder she had bitten him so quickly.
However, her bones seemed to be faintly absorbing all kinds of nutrients from her body. The nutrients she took in could not meet her bones' demands, so they absorbed nutrients from her body instead.
Now that he knew the cause, solving it would be easy.
"I know what's causing Heimaru's condition now, but it isn't a big problem. After school, come home with me to pick up some medicinal herbs. Give Heimaru an herbal bath every day, for at least an hour."
"Really? That's wonderful! Thank you so much!" Inuzuka Clan Fengyu was so happy that she planted a kiss right on Ye Feng's cheek.
Ye Feng froze. Did someone just force herself on me?
Even Kurenai Yuhi was surprised by Inuzuka Clan Fengyu's behavior. Then she angrily said to her:
"You're cheating! You launched a sneak attack! We agreed that we-you, I... I want to, too..."
Blushing, Kurenai Yuhi wanted to do the same as Inuzuka Clan Fengyu, but a girl had her pride, and she could not bring herself to do it. She could only run away in embarrassment.
Ye Feng silently rejoiced. Good thing Asuma Sarutobi isn't here, or another whole jar of jealousy would have been spilled.
The entire class started teasing them. Inuzuka Clan Fengyu could not withstand this tactic either, and she ran out of the classroom to hide.
Ye Feng, who had always been single, was still savoring the feeling of being kissed. It really did feel wonderful, leaving him reluctant to let it go. No wonder there were so many simps.
The reason Ye Feng was willing to use a precious body-strengthening medicinal bath on a ninja dog was that he had begun thinking of raising ninja beasts himself. He could use the little black dog to test the waters.
Ye Feng had actually sensed what made Heimaru unusual. Her bones were already so strong while she was still a juvenile. There was no telling what she would become as an adult.
This world lacked methods to strengthen and nourish the body; physical training was the only option. But training also consumed large amounts of nutrients. Without Ye Feng's intervention, Heimaru might die before reaching adulthood, which would be a great pity for such an unusual creature.
Ye Feng wanted to try raising Heimaru into a powerful ninja beast, to see whether she could surpass summoned beasts like Gamabunta and Manda, or even establish a new Sacred Land.
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