Chapter 34: 034: A Visit from the Hokage
Evening, Yuhi Residence:
A sumptuous dinner was spread out on the dining table.
"Here, Natsuki, this cod fillet is your favorite."
Kurenai placed a piece of fish in Natsuki's bowl.
"Thank you, Sister, I can do it myself."
"By the way, Sister, your cooking is getting better and better. Before, the food was either too salty or too bland, or just burnt.
"Now the heat is just right, preserving the cod's natural sweetness and smooth texture. It even melts in your mouth and leaves a lingering aftertaste."
Natsuki commented while eating the fish.
"You're just sweet-talking. Hurry up and eat."
After saying that, Kurenai also put a piece in her mouth.
Mmm, it really is delicious.
The soft and smooth cod deeply stimulated her taste buds, bringing an incredibly wonderful enjoyment to the tip of her tongue.
Then she glanced at Natsuki from time to time.
"What's wrong? Is there something on my face? You're staring at me instead of the food."
Natsuki also picked up a three-color dango, his sisters favorite.
"Hmph, don't you have anything to tell me about today?"
"What's there to talk about? Every day is pretty much the same to me."
"I heard you used a new jutsu today and blew up the Academy, is that true?"
"Ah? You heard about that already?"
"The whole of Konoha was talking about it this afternoon. Tell me, when did you secretly develop a jutsu? Don't you know that's dangerous?
"So many predecessors have lost arms and legs developing jutsu, don't you know that? If you wanted to learn jutsu, wouldn't your sister have teach you?"
Uh, faced with Kurenai's concerned questioning,
Natsuki found it difficult to answer.
Could he tell her that it wasn't dangerous at all, that it was just a chuuni ability activated by his Evil King's Eye System?
And then he would have to explain to her what the Evil King's Eye System was.
It was such a hassle.
"Uh, it was luck, pure luck I mean. And It wasn't dangerous at all."
Knock, knock, knock!
Kurenai's eyes widened, just as she was about to take this opportunity to lecture her brother.
A knock came from outside the courtyard.
"Who is it? Don't they have no manners to bother someone so late into the night? I'll go see."
Natsuki quickly made an excuse to escape his sister's gaze.
He went to the courtyard and opened the door.
Standing before him was an old man in casual clothes. Behind him, several masked figures could vaguely be seen.
It was the Third Hokage, Hiruzen!
"Lord Hokage,"
Natsuki widened his eyes in a textbook display of a child seeing their idol.
"Haha, little Natsuki. You've grown taller. I thought you were a bright young man at the opening ceremony."
Hiruzen greeted him kindly.
Tch, I was late for the opening ceremony and only arrived when it was almost over. I bet you didn't even notice me.
Of course, these were his inner thoughts and couldn't be spoken aloud.
Instead, he welcomed the Hokage in with an equally warm smile.
"Lord Hokage!"
Entering the living room, Kurenai had already cleared most of the dishes.
She knew who it was from Natsuki's first shout and had thoughtfully tidied up the table.
She greeted Hiruzen with a smile.
For a Konoha ninja, a visit from the Hokage was a very happy occasion.
"Kurenai, there's no need for such formalities. When your father was still around, I often came here as a guest.
"Back then, you were just a little tyke like Natsuki. In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed.
"There's no Hokage here today, only an old friend of the Yuhi family."
Hiruzen looked at the neat and tidy home and sighed.
"Yes, Lord Hokage. Back then, Father's favorite thing to talk about was your deeds..."
The Yuhi Clan used to be considered part of the Hokage faction, diligently carrying out the tasks assigned by successive Hokages.
Otherwise, during the Nine-Tails' Rampage, they wouldn't have all gone to battle and suffered such heavy losses.
Unfortunately, since the older generation, like Shinku, had given their all, the Yuhi Clan's connection with the Hokage faction had weakened.
Recently, the Hokage's son, Asuma, seemed to have taken an interest in her.
But besides her work, she only wanted to take care of her younger brother and didn't want to consider other things for the time being.
As for the Hokage's sudden visit, it certainly couldn't be for such trivial matters; nothing was even set in stone yet.
As for continuing her father's relationship, honestly, although her father was a famous elite Jonin in Konoha, he was mostly just a capable assistant to the Hokage.
She was only a Chunin now, even less likely to attract attention.
Then there was only one reason for Hiruzen to come here, and that was her brother...
Countless thoughts flashed through Kurenai's mind.
Sure enough, after a few polite remarks and some small talk, the Hokage subtly steered the conversation towards Natsuki.
He asked about his daily life.
"I also heard about the Academy exam today. Natsuki must train very hard usually, right? To be able to develop jutsu at such a young age. His future prospects are limitless."
Hiruzen asked seemingly casually.
"Indeed, Natsuki studies very hard. Sometimes he even trains in his sleep. I was also surprised that he got first place in the exam. But as for developing jutsu, I still find it hard to believe."
Kurenai quickly responded.
"Little Natsuki did develop quite the remarkable jutsu, even blowing up the Academy's lab building."
Hiruzen turned to Natsuki and praised him with a smile.
"What? Natsuki blew up the lab building? Wasn't that caused by the Uchiha's Great Fireball Jutsu?"
"How much do you think we will have to pay as compensation?"
Kurenai stood up with an exaggerated expression, as if she had just heard the news. Influenced by her brother, her acting skills were becoming more and more skillful.
She grabbed the shoulders of Natsuki, who was pretending to be a well-behaved child, and shook him vigorously.
"Natsuki, how could you be so reckless? What if someone got hurt? And our family is so poor, how can we afford to compensate for a whole building?"
"Sister, stop shaking, I know I was wrong, rua~~"
Natsuki, with swirling eyes, collapsed beside the table. A white soul could vaguely be seen floating out of his mouth.
"Wh-what's happening? Natsuki, don't die~~"
Tears welled up in Kurenai's eyes as she hugged Natsuki.
She turned to Hiruzen apologetically:
"Lord Hokage, my brother is unwell. I need to take him to see a doctor now. We will visit you another day."
"..."
Hiruzen wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
Your acting is too fake, child.
"I didn't come here to talk about compensation. The village will take care of the incident..."
"Oh, why didn't you say so earlier!"
Hearing this, the siblings immediately returned to normal and sat quietly.
Hiruzen's face was covered in black lines, his rhythm disrupted, forgetting what he was going to say next: "Uh... where were we? Old age makes me forgetful. Hehe."
"We were talking about Sasuke blowing up the Academy lab building with a Great Fireball Jutsu."
"Right, the Uchiha's Fire Style is too strong."
...
An hour later, Hiruzen bid farewell to the siblings with a smile.
He walked out of the Yuhi residence.
Several figures flashed towards him from the side.
"Lord Hokage, is this little Natsuki truly a genius? Should we have someone test that jutsu?"
Hearing this, Hiruzen's eyes widened, and he slapped his forehead:
"Oh no, I got distracted by those siblings. I went on a tangent, talking about Konoha's prominent clans and encouraging Natsuki's future.
"I forgot the important thing!"