A ninja village is the home of a ninja, and at the same time, their cage.
After leaving Konoha, Haseo and Tsunade had been traveling at an extremely slow pace, frequently pausing along the way. Surprisingly, this wasn't considered slacking off—because the nature of the mission itself required such a leisurely speed, there was no need to rush.
Previously, Haseo said he would be carrying out a mission to investigate the "local customs and culture" of nearby nations. Now he was indeed doing just that. Naturally, investigation couldn't be rushed.
Even more, he took on some extra investigative work as they traveled, studying the local customs within the Land of Fire itself—yes, this also counted as part of the mission; again, it wasn't laziness.
It wasn't until seven days later that they approached the border of the Land of Fire. This wasn't just slow—even a donkey would've gotten there faster than Haseo.
Moving forward lay the Land of Rivers.
"Just make a few subtle changes to our appearances before we enter the Land of Rivers," Haseo said to Tsunade before crossing the border.
"I've been ready for a while already."
Tsunade's Transformation Jutsu was unmatched. As she spoke, her hands formed Hand Seals simultaneously, immediately transforming her appearance entirely, suddenly making her appear far more "mature."
"Cough..."
For a moment, Haseo couldn't quite handle it—not because of anything else, but simply because the appearance Tsunade assumed through her technique closely resembled her most recognizable image.
Why not just act like his little sister? Why insist on becoming Lady Tsunade instead?
He placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Tsunade, you're going too far… We need to keep a low profile, not draw attention to ourselves."
Indeed, what he said made perfect sense.
Tsunade blushed slightly. Her vanity had made her forget the mission's requirements. She felt somewhat embarrassed, yet still muttered stubbornly under her breath, "I heard you guys actually prefer this look."
This remark instantly made Haseo's expression turn serious, as he began correcting Tsunade's thinking.
Could *Haseo* of all people really be that vulgar?
"You're mistaken. Unlike others, I wouldn't be that superficial. A healthy physique deserves admiration, while a beautiful soul is worth pursuing. The rest—the outer appearances—are nothing more than fleeting clouds obscuring vision."
"…"
Qualities like a "beautiful soul" were difficult to define internally, yet attractive individuals possessing such traits often shared similar external characteristics—they generally featured:
Skin so smooth it seemed ready to burst, a waist you could almost wrap your hands around, and those graceful curves.
Full yet elegant.
In short—what he meant by "a beautiful soul" was someone who looked slim but felt soft to the touch.
Needless to say, Haseo's view of women was remarkably deep, elegant—and almost celestial, like that of an immortal.
Anyway, after slightly altering their appearances, the two quickly entered an ordinary town near the Land of Fire's border within the Land of Rivers.
Ordinary towns differ from ninja villages, and the ordinary towns of the Land of Rivers are distinct from those of the Fire Country. These small countries caught between powerful nations were hit hardest during the previous war.
The war ended several years ago. Although Konoha played a major role in the Great Ninja War, the Land of Fire did not directly take part in the conflict. Today, the Land of Fire and the other Four Great Nations have regained their strength. In fact, the prosperous Land of Fire has fully recovered and is thriving.
As for places like the Land of Wind, poverty is nothing new—it's been that way for as long as anyone can remember. This is simply due to geographical factors.
Even ninja villages like Konoha, which suffered heavy losses, have already begun regaining their former power.
But this is not the case in the Land of Rivers.
Even the town where Haseo and Tsunade had arrived still bore visible signs of wartime destruction. Some people had energetic expressions on their faces—after all, life must go on—but when looking at the overall state of civilians, quite a few still wore expressions of numbness... They hadn't completely moved past the war yet.
The truth is, if the plight of civilians in this town could represent the overall situation in the Land of Rivers, then the actual condition of the Land of Rivers was truly worrisome.
Haseo couldn't help frowning. He knew that even this place was near the Land of Fire, considered one of the safer *inland* regions of the Land of Rivers with relatively lighter wartime damage.
Let's keep moving forward and see what conditions are like elsewhere.
Haseo and Tsunade didn't plan to stay in this town for long. Their visit here was solely to purchase some travel supplies. Although Haseo had packed rather comprehensively, his items were only for a single person. Since Tsunade had joined him unexpectedly, she came with practically nothing.
In fact, they had already made similar "supply stops" several times over the past few days. But there was an objective truth everyone had to accept... Women required far more items than men—even when the woman in question was a ninja.
Worse still, Tsunade hadn't even brought any money. So no matter what she needed to resupply, throughout the journey, she did the shopping while Haseo paid the bills... The only fortunate thing being that so far, they hadn't encountered any casinos along the way.
Or perhaps someone wisely chose their route to avoid such places entirely.
Resource scarcity and underdeveloped commerce were the general impressions travelers held about this impoverished town within the Land of Rivers. After wandering around for a while, Tsunade finally managed to find what she needed—though not everything was available.
Then the two left the town and continued on their westbound journey. However, after merely half a day's travel, darkness began falling.
They set up a campfire in a forest area, cooked simple meals, and after dinner leaned back against a large tree to rest overnight.
The night air still carried a chill leftover from late winter, so the dancing flames burned throughout the night.
Sitting side by side, Haseo spread a blanket over both of them, leaving only their heads exposed.
At times like this, Tsunade only needed to slightly turn her gaze to notice a small section of Haseo's collarbone peeking out from beneath his thin clothing, and just below it, half of a narrow black circle.
This was the seal on Haseo's body. Earlier, he had already explained this matter thoroughly to her. And in truth, it made Tsunade feel somewhat powerless—and even guilty.
It was precisely because her medical techniques couldn't resolve the hidden dangers within Haseo's body that he'd been forced to adopt this method of Self-Sealing.
Haseo himself didn't seem particularly bothered by this method, but Tsunade clearly had a completely different perspective.
As for Haseo's point of view… Well, this time he finally suffered due to height differences.
He stood about twenty centimeters taller than Tsunade, so right now all he could see were the golden strands of hair on one side of her head and the delicate little ears hidden beneath them.
Looking down, he could barely see anything but the blanket itself.
Still… Even comparing just their ears, Haseo's were visibly larger—easily a full size bigger than Tsunade's. A fascinating contrast indeed.
Such travel intensity wasn't much for two ninja who had participated in wartime conflicts. But after nightfall, everything around grew dim. With no extra activities available in the wilderness, the two began closing their eyes to rest. Soon enough, Tsunade seemed to drift into deep sleep.
Haseo, however, remained more alert—partly because he needed to keep watch, partly because he was pondering certain thoughts.
Right beside him, Tsunade's breathing flowed steadily and evenly.
Tsunade was a ninja, so she wouldn't act like an ordinary girl, wearing perfume or scented products—that would be practically suicidal. Yet, naturally radiating a healthy, vibrant youthfulness, she exuded a charm that was inherently captivating.
He breathed in sync with her.
Though the cold night air stung nose and lungs, some people still felt dryness—and thirst.
Nothing strange there; it simply proved Haseo was normal too, though he hadn't quite figured things out yet.
The crackling firewood sounds only deepened slumber, and by midnight, scattered snowflakes started drifting from the sky.
Yet neither had any need to move. Overhead, the ancient tree behind them spread its evergreen canopy like a giant umbrella, sheltering a small, clean circular area… Snow fell outside while warmth still clung to this spot.
Well… Actually, it was still somewhat chilly.
Haseo edged closer toward Tsunade until they leaned against each other—that counted as "huddling together for warmth." Then… he had to deliberately divert his attention.
Why did the girl's body temperature feel warmer than his own? Scientifically speaking, it should relate to body fat. Supposedly, the average male body fat percentage ranged from ten to twenty, while females averaged twenty to thirty. Even the pig-shaped guy often mocked as "fatter than a pig" barely reached fifteen.
Of course, ninja and couch potatoes belonged to special categories.
Ninjas maintained better physique standards, with lower fat ratios—but even then, they couldn't possibly defy the rule stating women generally possess higher fat levels than men.
Haseo's so-called "careful" approach was more like a textbook case of doing it wrong. At a moment like this, he should have just held her close. But as we've already seen, he had a bit of a timid streak.
What if he ended up getting beaten? Wouldn't that be terrible?
And if he *wasn't* hit, wouldn't that be even worse?
Haseo's shoulders tensed slightly. At that moment, a tiny Katsuyu slowly peeked out.
"Lord Haseo, your face is as cold as frost and snow, and your kiss is like frost upon snow…"
Was it implying something… no, wait—was it openly suggesting something?
Katsuyu truly was a creature with many years of life experience. After all, it was an intellectual slug. Or… did someone actually teach it to say that?!
This cold, slimy little creature sure knew how to stir the pot. So… was it interested in human behavior? Did it want to observe and study?
"Katsuyu, on such a cold day like this, why aren't you hibernating peacefully?"
Haseo reached out his hand, slightly annoyed, and simply pushed Katsuyu back down.
A breeze blew by, causing scattered snowflakes to land on Tsunade's flowing golden hair. Without thinking, she buried her face deeper into the blanket… She felt very safe sleeping beside Haseo.
But now, Haseo's heart was in even greater turmoil.
Far more tangled than Tsunade's hair entwined together with Rokka's.
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