Natsume had eaten too many meatballs and was already full, so he didn't have a meal with Tsunade and Shizune.
Taking advantage of the free time, he continued to practice the Flying Thunder God Technique[b]Flying Thunder God Technique[/b] in the courtyard.
When it was late at night, he took a shower to get rid of the sweat and then went to his room.
Tsunade had already lain down and fallen asleep.
Natsume tiptoed into the quilt, went beside her, and reached out to hug her.
Holding this fleshy pillow, he closed his eyes in satisfaction.
In the early morning.
The sunlight passed through the window and fell on the bed.
Tsunade opened her bright brown eyes.
She had slept well.
During the time she was on missions in the Land of Fire, she often didn't sleep well and frequently had dreams.
So much so that Asuma Sarutobi thought Natsume owed her several hundred million.
It was quite funny.
Natsume was quite well - behaved when sleeping.
He didn't move around or snore.
Just listening to his steady breathing made Tsunade feel extremely at ease.
She herself moved around a lot in her sleep.
At this moment, she had one arm around Natsume and the other hand resting on his abdomen.
Tsunade carefully pulled herself out of his embrace. Seeing that she didn't wake him up, she let out a sigh of relief.
She put on her coat and headed to the kitchen.
Not long after, Natsume woke up.
Mainly because the warm touch was gone.
He sighed.
What used to be a pleasure had now become torture.
After all, he had really grown up.
Well, the courtship process was like this; it had to be done step by step.
He had noticed the change in Tsunade since she returned.
But it was still not enough.
Because she still doted on him as if he were a child, which was not conducive to a romantic relationship.
The day when she showed her irritable side would be about right.
"Smells so good."
As Natsume passed by the kitchen, he became quite curious.
For Tsunade, who was bad at cooking, it was really strange to have such a fragrant smell.
"Sister, what are you making?"
Natsume stood at the bathroom door next to the kitchen and asked, "Why does it smell so good?"
"Pork bone ramen."
Tsunade lifted her chin and said proudly, "I guarantee it will taste great."
"..."
Natsume immediately felt that something might go wrong.
But he was used to it. After washing up, he went back to the hall to wait.
Shizune was already sitting at the table before him.
She looked relaxed and said, "Don't worry. I specially went to Ichiraku Ramen shop to buy the seasonings yesterday."
Well done! Sister Shizune, you're the best!
It was just that Natsume knew that Tsunade's cooking skills were just awful.
Natsume thought to himself that he shouldn't let his guard down because of this.
Not long after, three bowls of pork bone ramen were placed on the table.
"Let's eat."
Tsunade picked up the chopsticks and said.
Natsume was panicking inside, but he obediently nodded on the surface.
He took a bite of the ramen.
He raised his eyebrows.
There was no strange taste, but why was it completely different from Ichiraku Ramen?
Natsume glanced at Shizune. Did you buy fake seasonings?
Shizune also had a confused look on her face and couldn't figure it out.
Finally, the breakfast ended safely.
In the morning, Natsume went to Shikkotsu Forest to suffer again.
But it was necessary.
One reason was to shape his image as a mature man.
The second was to strengthen his body.
In the afternoon, Tsunade rushed to the Hokage Building.
Since she wants to be the Hokage, she can't be so slack. At her own request, she is now working part - time as a Hokage advisor.
She often quarrels with Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane and almost staged a fight among the Konoha high - ups.
Hiruzen Sarutobi has always let these two Hokage advisors have their own way. But Tsunade is different. She confronts them whenever necessary.
Natsume quite approves of her actions. Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane were still meddling in Konoha's affairs when Naruto Uzumaki became the Hokage.
If they really had good ideas, that would be fine, but they were just two fence - sitters, clinging to power.
Natsume was practicing the Flying Thunder God Technique[b]Flying Thunder God Technique[/b]. At dusk, he sneaked into the Hyuga clan.
But Hinata Hyuga wasn't in her room. In the past, he would definitely have left, afraid of being discovered.
Now, confident in his skills, he wasn't afraid. He ran into the courtyard where Hinata Hyuga was training and immediately came across an interesting thing.
She was sparring with Neji Hyuga. But the latter's face was full of shock and disbelief.
Because this was the first time he was at a disadvantage. In the past, Hinata Hyuga was timid when sparring with him, but for some reason, her style had changed drastically after just half a month.
Every move of hers was well - structured, with a continuous and flowing feeling like water. Neji Hyuga wasn't used to her change, so he lost the initiative.
Natsume nodded in satisfaction. The training in the Genjutsu was quite simple. He created a strengthened version of Neji Hyuga for Hinata Hyuga.
Kakashi Hatake could become the No.1 technician in Konoha with his Sharingan. It's not a big deal for Natsume to copy the Byakugan and the Gentle Fist with his Mangekyo Sharingan.
Coupled with the effect of the Genjutsu, it was quite easy to create a strengthened version of Neji Hyuga.
Hinata Hyuga ended the battle ahead of time yesterday, which proved that she had made great progress.
Maybe it was a kind of epiphany. Moreover, Neji Hyuga was only seven years old now, far from the Neji in the original story who participated in the Chunin Exams.
It was normal for him to lose to Hinata Hyuga, who had an advantage.
"This is impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Neji Hyuga's body stiffened, and he couldn't mobilize his Chakra anymore.
Unknowingly, he had actually lost to this weak young miss of the main family. How absurd!
At this moment, his expression became distorted.
Previously, one of the important reasons he hated his status as a branch - family member was that he thought he was extremely talented and shouldn't be restricted by the Caged Bird Seal.
Hinata Hyuga was timid, yet she could be a part of the main family. Fate was really unfair.
"I've already figured out your fighting style," Hinata Hyuga took a deep breath and said. "Unless you learn new Gentle Fist techniques, you won't be able to defeat me."
In the Genjutsu, she was repeatedly defeated. After much thought, she came up with a simple yet effective method: to memorize all his attack patterns.
"I said I'd deal with the Caged Bird Seal one day," Hinata Hyuga clenched her fists, with a firm tone, and continued. "This is just the start, mark my words!"
Neji Hyuga stared blankly at her. After a moment, he regained his senses.
"Anyone can talk big. You're from the main family. Why do you want to remove the [Caged Bird Seal]? And how do you plan to go about it?"
"Because I don't like your self - pitying look."
Hinata Hyuga hesitated before giving the reason.
Actually, there was another one: Hiashi Hyuga.
He didn't like the [Caged Bird Seal] either. He had sighed many times about the change in Hizashi Hyuga's attitude. But due to the rules, he was too conventional.
Compared with Natsume, these two didn't have that free - spirited air at all.
Moreover, Hinata Hyuga didn't want Hanabi Hyuga to be branded with the [Caged Bird Seal].
It was just too awful.
"…"
Neji Hyuga learned for the first time what kind of image he had in her mind.
It was true to say that he was self - pitying.
Having his fate in someone else's hands while being given such talent, wasn't it a huge joke?
"As for how to go about it?"
Hinata Hyuga held up three fingers. "First, allow the [branch family] to learn advanced secret [jutsu], like [Rotation][b][Rotation][/b]. Second, even though the [Caged Bird Seal] is meant to protect the [Byakugan], hand over its control to the [branch family]. Third, improve the [Caged Bird Seal] to eliminate its blind - spot flaws."
"Do you know what you're saying?!"
Neji Hyuga widened his eyes, looking even more shocked than when he was defeated just now.
This was a complete uprooting, stripping the [main family] of all its privileges.
Hinata Hyuga was stunned and didn't quite understand why he had such a big reaction.
Actually, these three points were suggestions from Natsume.
Obviously, she wasn't as mature as Neji Hyuga to grasp the deeper meaning behind these proposals.
"I... I really thought so."
Hinata Hyuga immediately reverted to her usual self, looking a bit unconfident.
Neji Hyuga was in an extremely complicated mood.
In his opinion, Hinata definitely hadn't considered the other [main family] members and came up with these ideas out of sheer kindness.
But these three proposals were really too tempting.
"Naive."
Neji Hyuga took a deep breath and turned to leave.
Hinata Hyuga was immediately at a loss.
Did I say something wrong?
Natsume suddenly appeared in the distance.
She was about to run over when she saw him pointing at the room. She immediately understood what he meant.
It was easy to be discovered outside.
"Are you confused?"
Natsume picked her up and let her sit on the chair. "I'll talk to you about what happened just now tonight."
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