Near 7 AM, Kakuzu woke up.
Exiting the tent, he was surprised to find himself alone.
Logically, both Haruki and Tsunade's perception shouldn't be worse than his; they couldn't have been unaware while sleeping.
The only explanation was that Haruki wanted him to handle this.
Kakuzu considered this possibility and frowned.
Why did he feel like he was more of a handyman than a teacher, doing everything himself?
And the most infuriating part was, he wasn't getting paid extra!
Kakuzu internally ranted but didn't dare wake Haruki, so he vented his frustration on the ninja from Takigakure.
A few minutes later, six ninjas appeared before him.
Three men and three women, with only one Jonin among them.
Kakuzu wasn't surprised. Outside the Five Great Villages, Jonin were extremely rare.
Moreover, the female ninja who stole the Hero Water was only a Chunin, and he had already wiped out the upper echelons of Takigakure.
The middle-aged man leading them, wearing a Takigakure forehead protector, paused upon seeing Kakuzu.
He looked familiar.
He felt like he'd seen him somewhere before.
Seeing this, Kakuzu knew he might have seen his wanted poster.
After all, Kakuzu was very famous in Takigakure, and a rogue ninja to boot.
But Kakuzu wasn't in the mood for chit-chat. He quickly formed hand signs, and numerous black tendrils emerged from the seams of his body.
Such a distinctive feature made the middle-aged man scream in terror.
"Kakuzu? You're Kakuzu! What are you doing here?!"
Desperation tinged his words.
Back then, Kakuzu could single-handedly annihilate Takigakure's upper echelons. What could a few of them do?
He didn't hesitate to shout, "Run! Run!"
Kakuzu snorted. With anyone else, they might have had a chance to escape, but he had five hearts, equivalent to five ninjas.
And he was in a foul mood today. They had no chance of running away.
Three minutes later, the battle was over.
Kakuzu felt much better.
I may not be able to deal with Haruki, but I can handle you all just fine, can't I?
Heh, six people in three minutes—I'm still in my prime.
At this moment, he saw Haruki coming out, looking refreshed and holding his waist.
With Kakuzu's experience, he naturally knew what had happened last night.
One word came to his mind: Damn!
It expressed his feelings and described Haruki's actions perfectly—a dual meaning.
"Morning."
Haruki looked around at the mess, full of traces of Kakuzu's jutsu.
He had sensed it earlier, but Tsunade was too captivating to leave and come out.
"Thanks for your hard work, Kakuzu," Haruki said with a smile.
"Just a small matter."
Kakuzu snorted. Given the words, he couldn't show weakness and had to indicate that this was no big deal.
"Then clean up the scene, burn the bodies to avoid Takigakure's pursuit. It's not a fear, but a hassle."
"..."
Kakuzu's face darkened. No doubt, this bastard did see him as a handyman.
Haruki returned to the tent.
Tsunade was dressing, her movements causing a fair expanse of white to bounce, her graceful curves swaying.
Haruki couldn't help but step forward and support her body.
"What are you doing? You're making it harder for me to get dressed."
Tsunade glared at him and pushed him away.
Haruki sighed. It was already 7 AM, and with Kakuzu and the others outside, doing it again would take too much time.
He could only watch Tsunade to satisfy his eyes.
After she finished dressing, Haruki summoned a storage scroll and took out a complete set of makeup products.
Tsunade's makeup from last night had been ruined by sweat and was a mess.
Even the lipstick was almost completely gone.
Haruki touched his chin, knowing it was his handiwork.
But that orange-flavored lipstick wasn't bad.
After Tsunade finished her makeup, another ten minutes had passed.
When Haruki left the tent, the outside had been cleaned up by Kakuzu.
The six bodies were gone, and the ground had been restored with earth jutsu.
Haruki glanced at Kakuzu, who was starting a fire, and couldn't help but marvel that someone who lived so long knew how to do everything.
He spread his senses and soon found a wild boar in the mountains.
Using the Flying Thunder God Technique, he made a round trip.
Kakashi, Obito, and Rin had also woken up and come to the campfire.
They were in two tents.
Obito and Kakashi in one.
But from Kakashi's appearance, he didn't sleep well.
Given Obito's personality, it was no surprise they fought, maybe even physically.
Haruki chuckled. Boys' friendships were sometimes forged through fights.
Kakuzu naturally gave up the campfire, knowing Haruki's grilled meat was exceptional.
Haruki looked at the struggling wild boar and suddenly thought of something.
"Kakashi, you give it a try."
"Me?"
Kakashi, waiting to eat, was stunned, looking at the boar, speechless.
Was he supposed to evolve from a fruit ninja to a beast ninja?
But the teacher's words couldn't be ignored, so he drew a samurai sword.
With his increased chakra capacity, Haruki had him start practicing Niten Ichi-ryu.
He was now making progress.
Kakashi stood in front of the boar, calming his mind, his sword aimed.
Swish, swish, swish—the blade flashed.
Haruki couldn't help but recall a phrase:
*The sword light is like me, slaying all the offal.*
It perfectly suited the situation.
But the boar was too large, its internal structure far more complex than fruit, so Kakashi wasn't as smooth, taking three or four minutes to finish.
"Not bad."
Haruki casually praised and started grilling the meat.
Kakashi sighed in relief, wiped the sweat, and couldn't help but smile.
Seeing this, Obito snorted, but Kakashi didn't hear. He snorted a few more times until Rin noticed.
"Obito, is your throat uncomfortable? Let me take a look."
"No...yes, please do, Rin."
Obito initially wanted to refuse awkwardly but quickly agreed.
Rin immediately approached, placing her right hand on his throat.
Obito stiffened with tension.
Kakashi glanced back, shaking his head.
He knew Obito liked Rin.
But unlike the original, he had no feelings for her now, considering her a friend and comrade.
Kakashi looked down at his sword, pondering the mistakes made while cutting the boar.
Haruki-sensei had told him that reflecting on and considering mistakes was key to improvement.
"Getting old, getting up is hard."
Yanagi Dasuke stretched as he approached the campfire.
He had become familiar with Haruki and the others over time.
Except for Kakuzu's cold demeanor, everyone else was easy to get along with.
His natural personality began to show.
Haruki smiled, handing him a kidney, and said, "Supplement yourself."
"...Master, you misunderstand me. Just last week, I battled several courtesans through the night, defeating them soundly, listening to their pleas for mercy all night long."
Yanagi Dasuke quickly defended himself.
"Do you want it or not?" Haruki raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Yes!"
Yanag Dasuke immediately took the pig kidney.