Twenty meters above the ground on the trunk of that giant tree, Haseo simply drilled holes directly into it and inserted two thick, fifty-meter-long cross-shaped beams. A little further up, another pair of beams were placed the same way… These formed the foundation for the "treehouse."
The original trunk of the tree remained right in the middle of the treehouse. The entire structure had two stories, each with a height of four to five meters.
"The lower level will be living space," Haseo explained, pointing at the blueprints laid out across a pile of square wooden beams. "And as for the upper level... How about setting it up as a Medical Support lab? It might actually end up saving my life when the time comes."
A spiral staircase snaked up the tree toward the treehouse, and the poor thing was already cluttered with all kinds of random stuff hanging off it.
"It's good, actually a pretty nice idea. But Haseo… can't you think more optimistically sometimes?"
"Prevention is better than cure."
Haseo replied with a smile. His words were grounded in reality—if one day he had to retreat to Shikkotsu Forest, having a professional medical room here would genuinely prove useful, potentially saving his life when needed.
Still, Haseo felt like such things probably wouldn't happen again anytime soon. After all, the Pendant around his neck was now just an ordinary gemstone—the First Hokage's Chakra within had vanished entirely.
However, just as Haseo was thinking this, he suddenly sensed an unusual danger. He swiftly sidestepped, moving two paces to his right.
Boom!
Right on cue, one of the crossbeams crashed straight down onto the spot where he had just been standing.
That beam came from the construction materials Haseo himself had stacked earlier.
"...Uh..."
He was at a loss for words.
His Chakra was gone, but apparently the "curse kill" still lingered. What was the logic behind that? Is there no justice in this world anymore?
"Are you alright, Haseo?" Tsunade quickly ran over, asking with concern.
Of course, Haseo was fine. As a speed-specialist ninja, if he got killed by falling debris, it'd certainly be dramatic… That was definitely a large piece of wood—large enough to kill someone unless Haseo had been in [Sage Mode], which could allow him to take such a hit head-on.
"I'm fine, just startled."
"You didn't stack the materials securely enough? At your age, how can you still be so careless?"
"I don't think it was an issue with stacking..."
Haseo's explanation sounded weak, yet… In a place like Shikkotsu Forest, it was better not to casually criticize the First Hokage—it somehow always felt like tempting fate.
All the trees around the giant one had already been cleared away. Even the tree stumps had been dug up and removed, and the holes filled in. Then Haseo transplanted a patch of low, dense, high-quality grass to create a spacious open area blending naturally into the surroundings, avoiding the appearance of being bare and unsightly.
Haseo looked at the area and suddenly spoke up, "Tsunade, you know... I used to have this ideal because I was too frustrated with people's lack of progress. That was, to literally give birth to an entire soccer team and raise them myself—just so they could escape the Land of Fire and take over the world."
"...What nonsense are you spouting now? If that happened, I'd have nothing else to do for the rest of my life."
"That's why I said it was *just* an ideal." Haseo thought to himself. I was just joking around—if I actually did that, long before you had nothing else to do, *I* would have absolutely nothing else to do either.
As he spoke, Haseo slid his arm around Tsunade's waist, naturally twisting his wrist and lifting his palm upward in his usual manner... then got smacked away.
"What are you doing? It's broad daylight, and the weather is already hot and humid enough as it is."
"Nothing really..." He replied casually. "Although speaking of humidity, I almost forgot—first thing I should do is set up a barrier here, similar to what I did in that cave. To block out the moisture and make the area around this treehouse dry, comfortable, and refreshing."
Pretending nothing had happened, Haseo reached into his ninja tool pouch behind him and pulled out five small scrolls.
Tsunade immediately became slightly alert. "This barrier... who helped prepare it?"
"...Ka-jin. I asked Ka-jin to help me make it," Haseo answered indifferently. This guy often misused public resources for private purposes—but Haseo had never asked Ka-jin to help with such personal tasks before. Yet moments like these always made it easy to simply pin things on someone else.
He wasn't really doing anything wrong—just stretching the truth a bit.
Following his personal philosophy that real men never read instruction manuals, Haseo buried four scrolls at the four corners of the lawn, and tucked the last one into the canopy of the big tree. With this, a pyramid-shaped barrier was formed.
The humid air of Shikkotsu Forest was thus blocked out completely.
Over the next few days, Haseo quickly finished building the large-scale treehouse, then spent a few more days refining details—installing equipment and daily necessities.
In fact, he even set up a water pipeline system. Considering how massive this tree was, he estimated it probably transpired at least several tons of water each day. By condensing and purifying this water vapor, usable water could be obtained.
As for the wastewater pipelines, Haseo diverted them far away.
Even though nature's water cycle was already clean enough, due to psychological discomfort, Haseo still overcomplicated things... Drawing fresh water from the canopy while draining waste water directly into the roots, then pumping it back up again—it created too direct a cycle. Wasn't that just equivalent to eating yesterday's leftovers every single day?
Anyway, after about a week's time, Haseo and Tsunade constructed a huge all-natural wooden treehouse together. Each plank had been polished smooth without a single splinter left.
Because it was built entirely by their own hands, in a certain sense, this place felt more beloved to Haseo than even Konoha.
Therefore, soon afterward, this treehouse naturally became their shared home... After building something, you naturally wanted to move in first and test how comfortable it actually was.
The night in Shikkotsu Forest was peaceful and deep. Since there were no apparent dangers around, sleeping here felt even better.
But in the dead of night, Tsunade still woke up.
She lifted her head and realized she was resting on Haseo's left arm. When she tried to sit up further, she found his other arm wrapped around her waist.
Just as she was about to push it away, she heard Haseo suddenly speak:
"Where are you going?"
His voice sounded drowsy, like someone half-awakened from sleep.
"What if I get beaten up the second you're gone? No, wait—getting beaten isn't the worst part. The worst is getting half-killed, where someone could save me but doesn't, so I bleed out slowly and painfully..."
The words sent a chill through Tsunade. Suddenly, she understood—he must have been waiting for this moment ever since they stayed together so long in Shikkotsu Forest.
She was equal parts amused and annoyed, but her eyes softened in the dark.
"What are you thinking? I just need to use the restroom."
Haseo repeated his earlier movement—yes, twist the wrist, lift upward. This time he succeeded... It felt like singlehandedly propping up a crashing stock market—an overwhelming sense of achievement.
"I don't believe you. You don't have that habit. You always sleep straight through the night.
Besides, I've heard cute girls don't need to use the restroom. Married women—at least can hold it forever.
So go back to sleep.
It's fine. You're still a child anyway, not bothering anyone. As long as you're willing, every bedsheet can be an extra-large diaper..."
Same bed, different dreams?
No, more like "mutual destruction."
This wording truly sounded horrifying, full of logical flaws and contradictions... Was Tsunade a little girl or a married woman?
And why would someone stop another from using the toilet?
What happened to mutual respect within the family? What godlike boundary-breaking mindset was this... In an instant, Tsunade felt this was obviously premeditated—to humiliate her forever, leaving certain people free to do as they pleased.
That was exactly how it seemed. Yet Tsunade couldn't pry Haseo's arm off; pulling forcibly might collapse the newly built house.
What started as a mix of laughter and irritation was almost bringing her to tears now. Helplessly, Tsunade tried falling asleep again, hoping unconsciousness might numb her physical discomfort.
But this self-deception proved useless. Right now, her level of embarrassment went far beyond simply "restless."
"Haseo..."
With no better options, Tsunade turned around, lightly pressing her forehead against Haseo's chin. Then, raising her head slightly, she bribed him with a long kiss.
To describe it succinctly—in one word… tongues slipped and lips went numb.
"Mm, definitely okay to go to the bathroom. Perfect timing—I need to go too. Together?"
Fact proved: bribery worked effectively. Soon after, Haseo loosened his arm.
Tsunade slipped away—"slipped away" didn't even begin to describe how fast she moved—while Haseo slowly got up. He walked down the hallway and noticed that tonight's moonlight appeared especially bright.
So instead of going to the bathroom, Haseo made his way out onto the treehouse's wraparound deck.
The weather was clear, so the night sky wasn't just lit up by moonlight but also surrounded by stars.
Haseo Yu secretly sighed in relief, thinking that everything should be fine from now on. It was kind of silly to act all stubborn, but if it helped Tsunade snap out of that mindset, such a small sacrifice wasn't worth worrying about.
Before long, Tsunade stepped out of the bathroom and caught sight of Haseo Yu waiting patiently outside. Without saying a word, she silently walked over.
"How 'bout the weather tonight?"
"Yeah, it really is... Want some milk before heading back to bed? I heard it helps you sleep better."
That comment completely shattered Tsunade's composure. She lunged onto Haseo Yu's back and bit his shoulder without hesitation.
"Ow, ow, ow! Can't we talk calmly? What are you, five? You can't just bite people like some wild animal! Where's your dignity? Your gracefulness?"
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>