27 Training grounds

After training for the rest of the morning, team 146 halted for a while and decided to go to a ramen restaurant. 

A good thing about transmigrating was the culinary experiences

[Common Ramen Plate]

No matter how he looked at it, Kaito had a common plate filled with ramen in front of him. However, the odor, the taste, the heat...and more importantly, the company made it quite heartwarming.

"You really like ramen, huh?", Aki said in a surprised tone

Eiji started to laugh: "Ramen is pretty much the only thing that destroyed my theory of him being a robot incapable of emotion"

Kaito's mood instantly plummeted: "You had such a theory?"

Eiji nodded, not knowing to stop: "Yeah! Remember, back in the academy, you were always listening to classes and never playing with the other kids, saying that we would regret it later if we weren't studying! Insults do not faze you, and more importantly, you never read the ero book-"

*BONK*

The loud sound of a spoon resonating on a skull reverberated in the whole ramen restaurant managed by the old Muto Takumi. Aki had, after all, perfected her spoon-manship.

"Don't listen to idiots like him", Aki said while pouting

Kaito smiled. These two were really idiots.

"You know? We were the genin team that contributed the most to the operation this time around. And there were 40 genin teams involved!", Kaito broke the news down to them. 

"Really?", Eiji said while massaging his skull, the pain replaced by a huge dumb smile

*CLAP*

Obviously, the two boys high fived. 

"We really became stronger, huh?", Eiji then asked himself, "I will double my efforts and become even stronger, then! At some point, the village will recognize that I am a genius and I will be able to contend for the Kazekage position!"

"Since when do you have the time and resource to train even more? I thought you gave your all?", Kaito asked with a devil's smile

"Heeeeee...", Eiji scratched the back of his head, "It was all done to protect your honor, captain!"

Kaito sighed, Eiji truly was a dumb friend.

However, a group of genin interrupted their meal. Three middle-aged adults, well-known in the genin corps for being veterans and one of the few teams that managed to survive without casualties during the Third World War of Shinobi. 

One of them was Kaito's father: Yaito. 

[Yaito Bosu - Lv. 17 Sunagakure Genin]

[Hideko - Lv. 19 Sunagakure Genin]

[Sakuma - Lv. 21 Sunagakure Genin]

"Oy, look! It's your son, Yaito!", Hideko said

Unlike team 146, Yaito's team was made of three puppeteers. They had no medical nin, kenjutsu specialist or ninjutu specialist. They fought from a distance through their puppets. As much as Kaito disliked his father, there was no denying that the man worked hard. He had his flaws, one of them being alcohol, but he was the man who taught Kaito the basics of puppetry.

His puppet designs, accumulated throughout decades of research, were responsible for Kaito's strength and rise over the past few years. The [Shuriken Launcher Puppet] he was using might be an original, but it was based on Yaito's first attempts at making one. 

Yaito used a different puppet. It was a humanoid swordsman puppet with a round shield on his left arm. It was a pretty strong one, as Yaito knew the basics of swordsmanship, enabling him to use the innate strength of his puppet to its fullest.

Hideko was different. Although he was a puppeteer, his primary role was not combat, but information gathering. He might not look like it, but behind his small frame and his glasses, he was actually the captain of their team. In a world where people died young, the fact that he survived until now along with his team did not make him a good person, but it was proof that he was a strong and resilient ninja. He could control up to 10 rat puppets. Each one of them possessed a sound conduit that allowed him to hear through them, although he could only hear one input at the time. He could make them explode too, which , in terms of explosive tags, represented an investment numbering in the hundreds of thousands of Ryô.

Sakuma was the strongest. Although she was definitely not as beautiful as she was in her younger days, she was undoubtedly much stronger. The huge scar on her face was like a trophy of experience. She also happened to be the only puppeteer capable of using two puppets at the same time in their team, a skill that required someone to have at least C-rank chakra control. She also happened to be the one who taught Kaito the sand counting technique to improve chakra control. Her puppet was quite interesting, as it was integrated on her body. She solved the greatest flaw of puppeteer (it being the puppeteer himself) by adding modifications to her arms and additional limbs. 

Yaito looked at Kaito, and sighed.

Their relationship had turned for the worst, it was true. However, the man couldn't help but feel proud when he heard that his team had been the one with the most contribution in the last operation. Not wanting to destroy the mood, he helplessly said: 

"Well, they must be celebrating then! Let's look for another restaurant!"

Kaito could not believe his ears.

'So even this alcoholic of a man is capable of being proud of his son?'