Chapter 11: B-Rank Ninja Commissioned Mission [Apprehend the Spies]!

Chapter 11: B-Rank Ninja Commissioned Mission [Apprehend the Spies]!

"No, no. Stop the medicine? Can't stop it."

Nara Keisuke licked his lips, looking much like a starving person who has just seen food, a grasping light flashing in his eyes.

"The [Lacquer Eye] jutsu I developed only solves the problem of [Shadow Secret Arts] consuming extra physical energy. For now, I still need that Nara Secret Medicine to continue nourishing my body."

"And don't think I don't know, the Nara Secret Medicine you prepare is basically just you notifying the pharmacy to brew it in advance and have it sent to our house. It doesn't take you much time at all."

If it weren't for the need to maintain appearances, Nara Keisuke would have wanted Nara Shūsuke to increase the intensity—no, increase the dosage!

"But it does interfere with the quality time I spend with my wife."

Nara Shūsuke said with great conviction.

"Little Kaku, you're already an adult—ahem, I mean, you're already a ninja. You can't rely on your parents for everything."

"That's right, Little Kaku," Nara Keiko chimed in. "Also, about moving, Shūsuke and I discussed it last night. We are definitely moving, but you don't have to come with us. When we move in, you can move out. When you have time later, you can buy a house for yourself! Anywhere is fine. If you want to continue living at the Kikyo Orphanage, that's no problem either."

Nara Keisuke mechanically shoved a mouthful of egg-fried rice into his mouth, his jaw muscles twitching as the food tasted like wax.

[Stamina +1]

[Stamina: E+ → D-]

The sumptuous meal at the orphanage, the luxurious ramen after coming home, the Nara Secret Medicine before training, and today's dog food... breakfast. All this had directly raised Nara Keisuke's [Stamina] attribute by a major rank! But the improvement in his [Stamina] attribute didn't bring him much joy at this moment.

Nara Keisuke scraped the rice grains on his plate. "Am I being kicked out of the house?"

"Don't make us sound like those irresponsible parents who don't care about their child's growth."

Nara Shūsuke took his wife's hand, scooped up some omurice, and fed it to her, saying casually, "Little Kaku, this is called 'striking out on your own.' When a child grows up, they don't need their parents to worry so much... Anyway, you get it."

Then I must be someone else's child!

Nara Keisuke put down his clean plate. The breakfast finally came to an end amidst Nara Shūsuke and Nara Keiko feeding each other.

"Oh, right, one more thing."

Nara Shūsuke held up a shiny spoon and looked at his son, who was resting with his eyes closed (out of sight, out of mind).

"Since your black-eye ninjutsu is complete, when do you plan to hand it over to Clan Head Shikano?"

Nara Shikano, the current head of the Nara clan, was Nara Shikaku's father.

"It's [Lacquer Eye], not black-eye," Nara Keisuke said calmly, opening his eyes. "I'll submit it to the clan head after I've finished compiling the final practical usage data... in three days at the latest."

The development of the [Lacquer Eye] jutsu was not solely his achievement. If he could have completely and independently developed an A-rank ninjutsu from scratch, then Hiruzen Sarutobi should step down from his position as the "Professor of Ninjutsu" and let him take it!

Besides his own efforts, the two most important sources of support for Nara Keisuke's development of [Lacquer Eye] came from Nara Shūsuke and Nara Shikano. As the director of the Nara Pharmaceutical Research Institute, Nara Shūsuke had sponsored a large amount of research material on the ninja nervous system, especially the visual nervous system, during the research process. And as the current head of the Nara clan, Nara Shikano had also provided a lot of "senior experience" during the development process, which we will not elaborate on for now. These two could be considered the "angel investors" of the [Lacquer Eye] research project.

Logically, since Nara Keisuke had successfully developed the [Lacquer Eye] jutsu, he indeed needed to share the research results with these two "angel investors."

"So soon..."

Nara Shūsuke shrugged, and his lazy, carefree posture earned him a passionate kiss from Nara Keiko.

"Looks like I won't be able to keep up."

"Your research results are almost ready too?" Nara Keisuke's eyes shifted slightly. He knew the general direction of Nara Shūsuke's research: the combination of the "nervous system" and "shadow secret arts." It might sound profound, but Nara Keisuke already had some speculative ideas. Times are changing. Is the [Shadow Paralysis Jutsu] also about to get an upgrade...?

"Almost there."

Nara Shūsuke kissed his wife back, not caring at all about the small third wheel next to them.

"Although I really don't want to admit it, Keiko's medical ninjutsu level is indeed not as high as I imagined. Of course, this isn't Keiko's fault; it's my fault. If only I had chosen a simpler topic back then."

Hearing these self-blaming words, Nara Keiko's eyes instantly filled with hearts.

"Ooh... darling..."

Nara Keisuke shot up from his seat, moving away from the cringey couple who were about to go crazy at top speed. He quickly walked to the door, took out a special short whistle from his equipment pouch, and blew it.

Whee—

A clear, long whistle traveled far, spreading into the forest outside Kikyo Castle. Countless deer raised their heads in alarm.

Not long after, a tall, sturdy stag appeared in Nara Keisuke's line of sight, galloping towards him.

"Ōkaku."

Nara Keisuke expertly leaped onto the stag's back and squeezed his legs lightly. "To the village."

"Yip!"

Ōkaku nimbly turned his body and headed towards Konoha Village with steady steps.

Riding on Ōkaku's back, Nara Keisuke gripped the pair of imposing, powerful antlers on Ōkaku's head, his mind racing. Nara Shūsuke's words just now had clearly mentioned one point—his research was forced to a halt due to the lack of a sufficiently skilled medical-nin.

The Nara clan was indeed responsible for the general operation of the Konoha medical system. However, the "medical methods" the Nara clan specialized in were completely different from those of normal medical-nin. An example would make it clear: the Nara clan was like pharmacists, prescribing medicine to treat illnesses; medical-nin were like priests, using "healing magic (medical ninjutsu)"!

Furthermore, as a secret art clan specializing in Yin Release, very few members of the Nara clan could learn medical ninjutsu, let alone master it.

'So, to continue advancing Shūsuke's research, I need the help of a professional medical-nin, especially a high-level one who is proficient in the human nervous system.'

Nara Keisuke quickly sorted out his thoughts.

'And the elite medical-nin I know... just happen to be two of them!'

"Good morning, Nara-kun!"

Hearing the pleasant voice, Nara Keisuke looked up and his vision was suddenly filled by a certain blonde sucker. He subconsciously nodded.

"Mhm, Tsunade."

Speaking of which, Tsunade was indeed Konoha's top—

"I don't think our relationship is that close yet, is it?"

Tsunade slapped a hand on Ōkaku's head and at the same time extended her index finger, lightly tapping Nara Keisuke's forehead a few times.

"Call me Lady Tsunade!"

'So unlucky, so unlucky, so unlucky!'

Nara Keisuke signaled Ōkaku to take a few steps back.

'I must break this bad habit of zoning out as soon as possible!'

He looked at "Lady Tsunade," whose attire was slightly more formal than yesterday's. Why "slightly"? Because Tsunade had only added one new "garment" under her short-sleeved top and hot pants—a black, full-body fishnet suit!

The thin, tight black threads contrasted against her soft, jade-like skin. Square-shaped patches of soft flesh bulged slightly from the diamond-shaped gaps in the fishnet, making one's mouth water for some reason.

"Lady Tsunade!"

Nara Keisuke shouted this with exceptional clarity. But his decisiveness, in turn, made Tsunade feel a little unhappy.

"And our relationship isn't so distant either, is it?"

The golden-haired sucker reached out and snatched Nara Keisuke directly off Ōkaku's back.

"Just call me... Big Sis Tsunade!"

This time, it was Nara Keisuke's turn to want to ask the question from before. Lady Tsunade, is our relationship really that close?

"Yiiip~"

Ōkaku gave a powerful cry of support, his wet black eyes fixed on Tsunade, his head lowered. It looked as if he would use his sharp antlers to pierce this sparsely-haired monkey if she didn't let go!

"Nara, your deer is quite interesting!"

Tsunade looked at Ōkaku with a grin.

"It's actually bowing to me~"

It wants to gore you!

Nara Keisuke waved at Ōkaku, signaling that he could go play with the does. He wasn't worried that Ōkaku would hurt Tsunade, who didn't understand the attack posture of deer. He was worried that Tsunade would send Ōkaku to meet his great-grandmother with a single punch...

"Big—Big Sis Tsunade."

Under the intimidating gaze of the big sucker, Nara Keisuke obediently changed his form of address.

"I didn't expect you to actually ride a deer to school, haha!"

Finally satisfied, Tsunade let out a laugh.

"I was originally going to your house to find you, but I didn't expect to run into you on the way. Let's go together then, to do a mission!"

Hearing Tsunade's words, Nara Keisuke was completely clueless.

"Do a mission?"

"That's right, a B-rank mission just issued by the Hokage's Office."

Tsunade took the lead and strode towards Konoha.

"The Iwagakure spy we met yesterday... the Analysis Team dug up a lot of useful intelligence from his brain, including the locations of some Iwagakure spies scattered throughout Konoha. Our mission today is to continue capturing these spies! But don't worry, the strength of these spies is far inferior to the one from yesterday. At most, they're only Chūnin."

As Tsunade's voice fell, a mission notification popped up on Nara Keisuke's panel.

[Detected that a B-Rank Ninja Commissioned Mission has been triggered!]

[B-Rank Mission: Apprehend the Spies]

Mission Content: Pursue, apprehend, or kill the low-level Iwagakure spies.

Mission Reward: One B-Rank Shinobi Secret Scroll.

(End of Chapter)