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The sun shone brightly.
Shin lay on a lounge chair in the courtyard, Mei Terumī nestled in his arms, eating watermelon slices Mikoto had prepared, while looking sympathetically at Konan.
Konan had been “captured” by Tsunade and was currently being forced to teach her how to cook.
Unable to learn from Mikoto, Tsunade had turned to Konan, whose culinary skills were only slightly better than Tsunade’s.
“Poor Konan. Teaching someone with zero culinary talent has to be torture.”
Shin sighed. It was like teaching a first-grader advanced calculus—the difficulty was immense.
“Shin, I just made tomato and egg soup. Come try it.”
Tsunade’s words struck Shin like a death knell. He shivered, his hair standing on end.
“Ahem, I need to go check on Karin, Hinata, and Hanabi’s training. Let Mei try it.” Shin tossed Mei Terumī to the wolves—er, Tsunade—and fled.
Mei Terumī gritted her teeth. If Shin were still here, she’d bite a chunk out of him. She’d even change her name if she didn’t.
It wasn’t that Shin was overreacting. Tsunade’s tomato and egg soup was purple and constantly bubbling.
It reminded Shin of Some evil sorcerer’s potion.
Shin definitely didn’t want to taste that…
He had no choice but to run. As for throwing Mei to the wolves… well, that just showed Shin had no shame.
———
Fleeing to the training grounds, Shin saw Karin, Hinata, and Hanabi sitting there, happily sipping watermelon juice.
“Well, well. You said you were coming to train, but you’re slacking off here? Busted!”
Shin placed his hands on Hinata and Hanabi’s heads.
“Ah! It was Big Sister who taught me to slack off! It has nothing to do with me!”
Hanabi quickly tried to shift the blame to her older sister, Hinata. Having such a sister was truly Hinata’s misfortune.
“Heh, you think I’d believe that? Hinata is well-behaved—she would never teach you to slack off.”
Shin stroked Hinata’s smooth, long hair.
Long-haired Hinata was truly beautiful. And now that Hinata had fully matured, she was a stunning beauty.
Hearing Shin say that, Hinata felt a sweetness in her heart. She couldn’t help but lean back against Shin. Her face flushed red. Though still shy, she no longer fainted from embarrassment.
“Shin-sama, I’m a little dizzy. I think I have heatstroke.”
Karin swayed, then collapsed into Shin’s arms.
“Heatstroke??” Shin asked, looking at the feigning-unconsciousness Karin.
Karin didn’t speak, just nuzzled her head against Shin’s chest.
“Oh no! My glasses fell off! I can’t see! Where are my glasses?”
Karin suddenly exclaimed, her small hands fumbling around.
“Your glasses are on the ground. Why are you groping Shin-nii? You pervert!”
Hanabi glared at Karin, then “kindly” picked up the glasses and handed them to Karin.
Karin gritted her teeth. Is Hanabi deliberately trying to ruin her plan?
Karin was right. Hanabi was deliberately sabotaging her. Who asked her to be so theatrical?
“Alright, Hanabi, that’s enough rest. Time to train—” Hinata gently pulled away from Shin’s embrace. Hmm, leaving his embrace felt a little empty.
“Train now? Can’t we rest a little longer?” Hanabi looked pitifully at Hinata.
“No! You little bum, All you do is slack off!” Karin smacked Hanabi’s shoulder. If Hanabi was going to ruin her plans, Karin would return the favor.
“Hinata, you rest for a bit. I’ll guide Hanabi.”
After saying that, Karin dragged Hanabi off to train, supervising her with the strictest methods.
“You’re just getting back at me!” Hanabi complained.
“Yes, I am.” Karin nodded, not denying it at all. She was getting revenge; there was no need to deny it.
“Hmph! Just you wait!” Hanabi conceded defeat this time, but she wouldn’t forget. She’d get revenge later when she had the chance.
“I’ll be waiting. You don’t scare me,” Karin scoffed dismissively.
Could Hanabi really do anything to get back at her? Karin didn’t believe it. But Hanabi was a cunning little imp; she’d have to be careful.
Karin strictly supervised Hanabi’s training.
Though harsh, she didn’t hold back on teaching Hanabi what she needed to know, including sealing techniques.
Unfortunately, Hanabi couldn’t learn them.
Without the talent, even the best instruction was useless. It was like Tsunade’s talent for cooking.
Mikoto’s cooking skills were arguably the best in the entire Shinobi world, yet she still couldn’t teach Tsunade.
Shin sat to the side, chatting with Hinata.
Hinata wasn’t training—they had primarily come out to guide Hanabi’s training.
Hinata’s strength had likely reached its limit. Even with diligent training, she wouldn’t see much improvement.
———
It wasn’t until evening that Shin stood up, taking Karin, Hinata, and Hanabi back home.
As soon as he returned, Shin saw Mei’s demonic, scary expression.
“Uh, Mei, you actually drank it?” Shin couldn’t help but ask. Did she really drink Tsunade’s tomato and egg soup?
“Guess…” Mei Terumī grimaced.
Seeing her expression, Shin already had a good idea. She really had drunk it. But Shin guessed she’d probably been forced to. Otherwise, he didn’t think Mei would willingly drink it.
“What do you think I should do to you?”
Mei Terumī took out a kunai and gestured threateningly at Shin, feeling an increasingly uncontrollable urge to stab him.
“Don’t get excited! Look, I’ll compensate you with myself, alright?” Shin said, putting on an expression of great sacrifice.
“If Mei-neechan doesn’t want you, I’ll take you,” Karin couldn’t help but interject.
“Hmph, he’s already mine.” Mei Terumī huffed lightly.
However, her words immediately drew dissatisfaction from Kushina, Mikoto, Tsunade and the others.
Had she claimed Shin for herself?
So, Mei immediately faced a barrage of criticism from the other women, and it was precisely their attack that allowed Shin to escape this predicament.
Shin felt a little bad for Mei Terumī, who’d made such a sacrifice…
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