Could I really be a pervert?
Watching Kushina's departing figure, Tsunade fell deep into self-doubt.
At this moment, two little figures, one black and one white, seemed to appear in her mind.
The white figure had a look of disdain: "To actually shove your feet into your Disciple's arms, Tsunade, do you have no shame?"
The black figure snorted: "So what? Is it not okay for a Disciple to help warm his teacher's feet?"
An argument broke out instantly. The white figure pointed at the black one, filled with righteous indignation: "Is that warming feet? You're clearly... anyway, you're just low!"
"It's just warming feet, what is there to understand? At most, I just didn't let him leave. Were there any out-of-line actions?"
The black figure shrugged: "As expected, people with dirty hearts see everything as dirty~"
"You, you, you..."
The white figure was fuming, pointing at the black one with her chest heaving violently: "Self-deception! This is self-deception!!"
Saying that, she exploded in a fit of rage.
The black figure disappeared as well, leaving only Tsunade lying motionless under the Kotatsu.
After a long while, she gently touched her burning cheeks, a hint of daze flashing in her eyes.
"I'm back!"
Soon, Nawaki returned home carrying various bags.
"Thanks for the hard work."
Minato put down his teacup and whispered to himself, "Then, I should also start preparing lunch."
As he spoke, the pair of white snakes in his arms moved reluctantly.
Minato reached his hand under the Kotatsu and gently held them; the feel was like a peeled egg, delicate and smooth.
He calmly squeezed those round and cute toes, and then his fingertips lightly traced the curve of the arch. The two little white snakes immediately seemed startled and hurriedly crawled away from his lap.
Stinky brat!
Seeing Minato stand up, Tsunade quickly buried her head in the crook of her arm, unable to stop grumbling in her heart.
The mutton hotpot was delicious.
Nawaki and Kushina turned into bandits, their chopsticks sweeping frantically through the pot, but Tsunade ate absentmindedly, her mind filled with that subtle sensation that seemed to touch the depths of her Soul.
No, I can't go on like this!
Quietly glancing at Minato's youthful face, Tsunade forced herself to cheer up and put down her chopsticks.
"I have something to say."
She suddenly spoke up, interrupting the eating atmosphere at the table: "I've been perfecting a relatively important Ninjutsu lately, so I'm going out for a while to find some inspiration."
"Eh? For how long?" Nawaki asked, somewhat reluctant to see her go.
"I'm not sure."
Tsunade pursed her lips, secretly observing Minato's reaction.
Seeing that Minato didn't have much of a reaction, she couldn't help but feel a wave of disappointment.
"Are you leaving the Village?" Kushina asked.
"Yeah, probably," Tsunade nodded.
"Then Teacher should take these with you."
Minato held out his hand, revealing a handful of seeds: "These are seeds from my cell mutation. As long as you inject Chakra into them, they can sprout my Wood Clone, making it convenient to stay in touch with home."
"Stay in touch..."
Tsunade's tone was unreadable.
She was precisely planning to leave the Village and Cultivate for a while to cut off contact.
However, just in case, she still took the seeds and put them in her ninja tool pouch.
After thinking for a moment, she stood up and went back to her room, bringing out a giant scroll.
"Is this... the Ninjutsu you're going to Cultivate, Big Sister?"
"No, this is the Summoning Scroll for the Slug Sage of Shikkotsu Forest, one of the Three Great Holy Lands."
Tsunade unrolled the scroll and pointed to her name: "I plan to have you all form a Summoning Contract with the Slugs. By writing your names in blood, you'll be able to summon a part of the Slug Sage's Clones."
(The claim that the Slug's original name is Katsuyu is actually incorrect; it's just a translation issue. In Japanese, 'Katsu' and 'Namekuji' use the same character. No hate, please, and thank you.)
"Slugs..."
Nawaki's lips twitched; as Tsunade's brother, he had naturally seen the Slugs before.
"Slugs?"
Kushina's eyelid twitched. Thinking of the wet and slimy appearance of Slugs, she found it a bit hard to accept.
"This is an ability you must master."
Tsunade was also worried that Minato might encounter danger while she was away.
Although she knew that with Minato's current strength, it was basically impossible for him to encounter danger in the Village, she still couldn't help but worry.
"All the Slugs you summon are Clones of the Slug Sage. In case of danger, you can summon a Slug—even a tiny one can help you pass along information."
Hearing this, the three didn't hesitate and bit their fingers one after another to sign their names on the scroll.
"Eh... what were the hand signs for the Summoning Jutsu again?"
Nawaki tilted his head, trying to remember; he recalled it being mentioned in class.
"It's Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram!"
While the blood was still wet, Kushina performed the Summoning Jutsu.
With a poof, a palm-sized Slug appeared before everyone.
"Eh?"
As soon as the Slug appeared, it tilted its head in a human-like manner: "You are..."
"She is Uzumaki Kushina, this is Minato Namikaze, and this is my brother Nawaki—you've met him."
Tsunade introduced them: "I have something to do and need to leave the Village for a while, so I had them sign the Summoning Contract for Shikkotsu Forest."
"Ah, so that's how it is~"
The Slug's antennae bobbed: "I understand, little Tsunade. I'll take good care of them! If you need help, feel free to summon me~"
With that, it disappeared with a poof.
Nawaki looked at Kushina in astonishment: "How can you, a first-year student, use the Summoning Jutsu so skillfully?"
"Kushina is from the Uzumaki Clan."
Minato explained: "This clan excels at Sealing Jutsu, and the related Summoning Jutsu is right up their alley."
"In that case, I'll be going now."
Tsunade said, standing up to leave.
"Eh? So soon?"
"Isn't it too sudden? Can't you leave after finishing the meal?"
"No, there's no time to lose. The sooner I perfect it, the sooner I can return. Don't worry, I won't be gone for too long."
Tsunade waved her hand and, ignoring the three's attempts to make her stay, took her ninja tool pouch and left.
Having finally built up her mental resolve, she was afraid that if she stayed any longer, she wouldn't want to leave again.
"Big Sister... has been a bit strange lately."
After Tsunade left, the three returned to the table, and Nawaki said worriedly: "I don't know why, but her mood swings have been huge."
"Could she be in love?"
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Nawaki waved his hand: "My sister has very high standards. I've never seen her look twice at any guy—well, except for Minato; this guy's talent is indeed explosive."
Kushina looked at Minato: "Minato, do you know what's going on?"
"I don't know."
Minato shook his head, a faint, imperceptible smile flashing in his eyes; he had sensed the presence of the clone seeds in the courtyard.
"The Wood clone seeds have a positioning function, but looking at it, Tsunade clearly didn't know that..."