Chapter 898

"Naruto just got back, and you're going to flop on the bed while you're that filthy? Go take a bath, I'll have dinner ready in a bit!" Faintly, Kushina's nagging voice traveled straight from downstairs into Naruto's ears.

"I know~!" the dirty little fox answered weakly. Being so thoroughly wrapped around someone's finger made even her expression turn pitiful, but she obediently dug out a clean change of clothes from the wardrobe and headed for the bathroom — she really didn't want to be punished by being forbidden from dinner later.

Dinner time.

Perhaps because it was Naruto's first mission outside the village, Kushina, as a mother, had prepared an especially lavish spread.

"Any gains? How did things go with the teacher?"

"Don't even mention it. The teacher leading me was Dead-Fish-Eyes Kakashi, and as for teammates…" The little fox was locked in an all-out battle with the soy-braised egg in front of her. After going outside, Naruto, who had bought them once before, finally understood — compared with Kushina's handmade braised eggs, those things weren't braised eggs at all, they were clearly dark cuisine.

"One was Sanai, but unfortunately the other wasn't Lin Cheng."

That's right. In Naruto's expectations, this outside mission should have been her, Sanai, and Lin Cheng, but in the final grouping it turned out to be another female classmate from the same class.

"That's all fine, it's just Dead-Fish-Eyes Kakashi!"

Naruto seemed to treat the braised egg as Kakashi, took a vicious bite, and began recounting her mission in a muffled voice.

"When we arrived at Tang Zhiguo, we only then found out that the mission's content was actually — as inspectors — to experience every single hot spring in Tang Zhiguo! And we even had to write an evaluation report 〃〃!" Saying this, the little fox snuggled up to Kushina like she was acting cute, pitifully rolled up her sleeve, and showed off her fair, tender arm.

"I feel like my whole body's been soaked till it's swollen, and even my bones have gone soft. Now my skin's all saggy, I've lost all purpose in life — I bet I'll turn into a good-for-nothing just like Dead-Fish-Eyes Kakashi."

"You silly child. Kakashi is your Kasan's proudest student. Although he does look a bit… uh, gloomy, he's actually a very excellent shinobi, you know."

Before Mizuki left, the decision ordering Kakashi to leave Leaf Anbu and return to a normal jonin life — it wasn't too late, was it? Kushina pinched Naruto's cheek, which seemed so tender it might burst with water. Her thoughts drifted off to Mizuki, who at this very moment was still far away in Water Country carrying out a mission. After this return, Lin Cheng's change was very obvious.

As her father, Hyuga Hiashi, while surprised, also began to revise his view of Lin Cheng. If, when Lin Cheng had insisted on taking part in that extremely dangerous mission back then, the feeling she gave Hiashi had only been a single spark, then looking again now, he felt that Lin Cheng, inside and out, was brimming with something different.

He watched with satisfaction as Lin Cheng sparred with several branch-family members, and nodded.

In the mission report Jiraiya brought back, he had mentioned just how dangerous the journey had been. And Lin Cheng had not only used her Byakugan to complete her duties as a sensor-type shinobi excellently — most crucially, for her first time killing as a shinobi, Lin Cheng hadn't shown too much resistance. Hiashi had always worried that Lin Cheng's temperament was too reserved, that she wouldn't be able to strike a fatal blow against an enemy. But looking at it now, as the future head of the Hyuga clan, she was finally starting to look a little more presentable.

It wasn't only Hyuga Hiashi — soon, everyone noticed Lin Cheng's change, as if a shy, silent ugly duckling had turned into a dazzling white swan.

One week later, the ninja academy students who had experienced the outside mission all safely returned to the village and went back to the classroom. Everyone gathered together excitedly to share their experiences, and only after the warning bell rang did they all reluctantly return to their seats. Clearly, on this mission everyone had, without realizing it, learned to obey orders. If it had been before, it probably would have taken the teachers scolding them many times before they finally quieted down completely.

The Jiaoshide Sect door was flung open with a "Shwaa—", and the one who came in wasn't the familiar Iruka-sensei, but Hyuga Lin Cheng. From the heated discussion just now, many people hadn't even noticed that this young lady of the Hyuga family hadn't arrived yet.

Facing a group of children, Lin Cheng didn't really have anything to say. She walked straight over and sat down next to Naruto, who was fast asleep, and Sanai, who was likewise resting with her eyes closed. The door was pulled open once more — this time it really was Iruka-sensei, no doubt about it.

(So greedy~)

"Hahaha, sorry about that, I forgot my lesson plan… Well then, next, as the first roll call before class after the outside-village experience mission ends, we'll begin."

"Ahaha… compared to sitting in the classroom listening to Iruka-sensei drone on about those old, musty ninja history stories, I'd rather soak myself into a hot spring in Tang Zhiguo. Don't you agree, Sanai?"

During the lunch break, Naruto and the others, who had taken over the rooftop of the school building, had finally all gathered.

For some unknown reason, Sanai simply turned her head away and refused to look at Naruto, but judging from the side of her face that was already red to the tips of her ears, compared to 'ordinary hot-spring soaking,' something indescribable must have happened between them.