After being thoroughly doted on by Ryun, the little tomato was too shy to lift her head and could only cling to his arm the whole way while walking.
"What's there to be shy about? This isn't our first time kissing..." Ryun said amusedly as he looked at the girl beside him.
"You think everyone is as shameless as you? Big meanie..."
Kushina raised her head and glared at him fiercely. Right now, she felt her teeth itching, really wanting to bite his arm.
Being kissed by Ryun gave Kushina a particularly strange feeling. It wasn't bad, even quite interesting, but she couldn't help blushing, her face burning hot...
"Heh... What's there to be shy about? You'll get used to it after kissing a few more times..." Ryun chuckled.
"Kiss your head. From now on, you can't do that without my permission!"
Kushina was a relatively conservative girl. She was afraid that if she got used to it, someone would become even more presumptuous... Previously, she had only allowed the kiss because Ryun was going to the battlefield.
Now that he had returned safely, she couldn't easily break through her sense of shame anymore, especially since she was only 12 years old this year...
If she didn't restrain herself properly and things continued like this, it wouldn't be impossible to have a child by 14... Just thinking about it felt terrifying...
"Huh... Why not? What's wrong with kissing when dating?" Ryun tried to argue.
"No means no. Why do there have to be so many reasons?"
Kushina lowered her head, her expression serious and even a little unhappy.
"..."
Seeing this, Ryun had no choice but to compromise.
"Fine, fine. Whatever you say..."
You can't rush things with hot tofu. Since the little tomato already belonged to him, there was no need to hurry.
Seeing Ryun give in, Kushina immediately brightened up, hugging his arm and shaking it happily.
After sending the little tomato home, Ryun wanted to visit Mito Uzumaki, but Kushina said her grandmother usually went to bed early, so he didn't disturb her.
Back at home, after chatting with Asuka for a while, she grew sleepy and went to bed. After all, she had been too excited the night before because Ryun was returning and had stayed up late, then woke up early to wait for him at the village entrance for a long time, leaving her severely sleep-deprived.
Ryun himself had abundant mental energy and required very little sleep. Even late at night, he didn't feel drowsy, so he sat in his room and studied the experience scroll given to him by the Uchiha First Elder.
Early the next morning, Ryun got up early to keep his appointment. After a long run around the village with Might Dai, he engaged in an intense taijutsu spar with him.
Might Dai said his progress was remarkable. In terms of taijutsu alone, he was already almost as good as him (in his normal state without the Eight Gates).
In fact, taijutsu had always been a training focus for Ryun. After all, in the later stages of the ninja world, where gods battled, ninjutsu and genjutsu were far less effective than taijutsu. No matter how busy he was, he made sure to maintain a certain amount of physical training every day.
Even so, his age and physique still limited his growth in taijutsu. It remained a weak point for him, far inferior to his ninjutsu and even further behind his genjutsu.
Previously, when he faced a powerful ninja like Hanzō of the Salamander in taijutsu combat, he was completely outmatched. He couldn't even withstand a few moves before being forced into a desperate situation and having to switch to ninjutsu. This fully exposed his disadvantage of being young and physically weak.
Unfortunately, taijutsu training couldn't be assisted by shadow clones. Only techniques, learning experiences, or ninjutsu training could rely on shadow clones to significantly shorten overall training time.
Physical growth and taijutsu training still required step-by-step progress. There was no way to rush it.
At 9 a.m., Ryun arrived at the Hokage Building on time and attended the jonin assembly meeting.
In a large conference hall inside the building, he received monetary rewards and public recognition from the Hokage.
As the youngest jonin in Konoha, he made an appearance in front of the assembled jonin. After all, many of them had never seen him before, and there were also quite a few newly promoted elite jonin who had returned from the Land of Rain battlefield. It was necessary for Konoha's new and old jonin to familiarize themselves with each other.
The Konoha higher-ups were efficient. After distributing rewards based on merit, the Hokage's advisor spoke on behalf of the Hokage about the situation regarding the Land of Wind's warfront.
Currently, the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire were engaged in constant friction, with minor battles ongoing, but there had been no formal declaration of war.
The reason was that the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain were in conflict. Konoha had released Hanzō of the Salamander and the surrendered Rain ninja, and the two countries had signed a peace treaty, which even included a joint agreement to oppose the Land of Wind.
Konoha planned to let the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain exhaust each other first. The Land of Fire only needed to make the necessary war preparations.
Of course, taking advantage of this rare ceasefire, Konoha also intended to resolve its border issues.
The rock bandits from the Land of Earth had been crossing the nearly undefended borders of the Land of Grass to plunder the wealthiest country in the ninja world, the Land of Fire. Konoha had long wanted to deal with them properly.
The jonin meeting lasted the entire morning. After returning home to have lunch with his mother, Ryun began his physical training, while Asuka reopened the popular Yunkā Flower Shop.
It was also worth mentioning the "Dragon Ball" manga. Before leaving for the Land of Rain battlefield, Ryun had already handed over the first season's content to Yamazaki Akira in advance.
The first season of the manga had ended nearly four months ago, but Ryun currently had no intention of resuming updates for the second season.
The first season of "Dragon Ball" concluded at the end of the "World Martial Arts Tournament" arc. The second season would cover the more exciting "King Piccolo" arc. However, Ryun no longer needed money now... so the second season remained unwritten.
At this point, he resembled a certain "Hunter" author—when not in need of money, he showed no enthusiasm for updating his work...
In the afternoon, Ryun visited the Senju clan's territory to see Mito Uzumaki.
Over half a year had passed, and he felt Mito had visibly aged further, her energy and spirit declining more and more.
During Ryun's time on the Land of Rain battlefield, Mito had told Kushina about the Nine-Tails jinchūriki and clarified her role as the "Nine-Tails' container."
As a ninja, Kushina had the right to know the truth. Moreover, it was necessary to inform her in advance and prepare her mentally.
Mito told Kushina that as the Nine-Tails' container, she could still live happily like an ordinary person. As long as there was love in her heart, the Nine-Tails would not go out of control under the Uzumaki clan's powerful sealing techniques.
Mito knew Kushina, the future jinchūriki, understood what love was and that this "Nine-Tails' container" already held love within.
So far, Kushina hadn't dared to tell Ryun about this.
First, the Third Hokage and Mito had both instructed her to keep it absolutely secret.
Second, having a terrifying tailed beast sealed inside her, she was afraid Ryun wouldn't accept it. She was even more afraid that if Ryun learned about it, he might clash with Konoha's higher-ups or even oppose them.
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