Labour Dispute

As the night fell, Natsuhiko, as usual, headed home after solving the hunger disputes with his tummy at the Shuangxi Ramen shop.

On his way, he was still pondering the events that had taken place in the Sealing Jutsu office.

Although Kushina's words initially led his thoughts astray, as she continued speaking, Natsuhiko understood her meaning.

In fact, she simply wanted Natsuhiko to spar with her from time to time, assisting in her training.

While she usually sparred with Grandma Mito or Tsunade elder sister, the vast strength gap made it challenging for her to assess her own capabilities accurately.

As Natsuhiko, with his experience and knowledge of the Ninja World, was an excellent benchmark, Kushina hoped to understand her own strength better through his assistance.

However, inviting someone to spar in the Ninja World was a sensitive matter. Information played a crucial role in ninja battles, and such requests were not casually extended to anyone other than close friends or family.

Kushina, despite being thick-skinned, was aware of this sensitivity. Therefore, Natsuhiko felt a bit pleased that Kushina had approached him with such a request, as it indicated a high level of friendliness.

It seemed like he could continue teasing her in the future without worrying about her suddenly becoming hostile.

Natsuhiko couldn't help but think this way.

As for Kushina's spar invitation, Natsuhiko eventually agreed. After all, it was a special event indicating a certain level of fondness, and he intended to fulfil it.

Moreover, since he hadn't been on missions lately, Natsuhiko realised his lack of actual combat training. His body had become somewhat stiff, and his newly developed fighting style hadn't been tested. He had been planning to find a sensei to be his lucky audience for testing the style.

However, since a beautiful young lady volunteered to be the test subject willingly, Natsuhiko naturally didn't choose the option of being a greasy uncle.

...

Soon, Natsuhiko returned home.

Unlike usual, when he entered, he didn't hear the pitter-patter of little feet running towards him. The entire house was unusually quiet.

However, Natsuhiko wasn't surprised. He changed his shoes, put down his belongings, and walked down the stairs to his basement.

The basement wasn't large, or filled with various materials, tools for processing, and miscellaneous items. Natsuhiko walked directly to an empty wall, swiftly performed a hand seal, and intricate rune techniques began to appear on the wall, forming a circular array.

A chakra fluctuation emanated from the centre of the array, silently covering the entire basement as it passed through Natsuhiko's body.

After a brief moment, Natsuhiko heard the clanking sound of machinery.

Subsequently, the floor in front of him began to separate, revealing a staircase leading to a lower level.

Once he descended, the floor automatically returned to normal.

The basement returned to its normal quiet state.

Walking along the passage, Natsuhiko reached a secret basement deeper beneath his house.

It was evident that the basement had been created using Earth-Style jutsu to excavate space underground. It was not small in size, brightly lit, but filled with various odd devices and instruments. Clearly, it was not yet fully developed.

The walls of the basement were adorned with numerous rune technique formulas, forming a common shielding array. This array was essential for every ninja family in Konoha's Hidden Villages. Even ordinary ninjas, with some savings, would grit their teeth and buy a set of those.

To be honest, without this equipment, no ninja family would willingly have the Hyuga Clan as neighbours. After all, no one liked the idea of living a life where they could be spied on at any moment.

However, the Hyuga Clan didn't worry about this equipment, as a result turning their Byakugan into a decoration on the battlefield.

Aside from the high cost and troublesome setup of this shielding array, in the eyes of the Byakugan, the area affected by the array would appear completely dark. Although it prevented seeing through, it drew attention as if fireflies were in the darkness, making it ineffective for sneak attacks.

In the centre of the room, a large and peculiar machine was operating, with various indicator lights flashing continuously.

It was assembled from rare computer materials and engraved with rune technique formulas. This punk-style chakra device was the original form of Natsuhiko's Chakra SmartBrain, the prototype he had initially created.

Every time Natsuhiko came here and saw his old partner, he remembered sealing it in a scroll and carrying it with him during missions, upgrading it with various materials collected from different places.

As people age, they tend to reminisce about the past.

Sixteen-year-old Natsuhiko sighed deeply.

Although Natsuhiko now possessed a more advanced Chakra SmartBrain crafted from chakra metal, this machine continued to glow and emit heat in the basement, assisting his clones in various research tasks.

It was his important partner.

Thinking about the time he spent with it during his Power of Youth years, Natsuhiko couldn't help but feel a bit moved.

So he reached out, patting his old partner vigorously to express his condolences.

As soon as he finished patting, his old partner unexpectedly ejected a screw from somewhere, and several connection points started emitting white smoke, accompanied by sharp whistling noises. It almost kicked the bucket right then and there.

Natsuhiko's raised hand instantly froze, not daring to move.

Picking up a massive wrench and two rolls of duct tape, skillfully applying emergency measures to his old partner, Natsuhiko finally sighed in relief.

"I reckon it shouldn't be a major issue."

He comforted himself.

Could it be possible that it might blow up the entire Konoha?

He decided to leave it for his clones to solve when they had the time.

Natsuhiko cleaned his hands, walked around the machine, and reached the other end of the basement.

Here, Natsuhiko finally saw his three infant clones.

The three little ones were gathered around an unfinished machine, holding hammers, wrenches, and drills in their hands, frantically performing installation work.

The scene, like children playing with a big car, looked alarming enough to consider calling the authorities.

Hearing Natsuhiko approaching, the three little ones weren't as enthusiastic as usual. They just gave him a fleeting glance and then lowered their heads to continue their busy work.

Natsuhiko scratched his head.

Surprisingly, the three little fellows weren't joking about him being a father today, which made him feel a bit uneasy.

It seemed like every guy liked being called a father, regardless of whether the other person was male or female.

Including himself.

However, from the brief glance the three little ones gave him, he sensed a brewing resentment in their eyes.

Resentment from labourers.

But there was no other way. In order to manufacture various machines needed for the tavern's opening, Natsuhiko had even halted the research missions for the three little ones. He urged them to focus on rushing the production of these machines.

Working day and night in this basement, it was no wonder they harboured such deep resentment.

Although the three little ones were essentially his Shadow Clones, Natsuhiko still felt somewhat guilty.

After all, the three little ones were directly experiencing the hardships of this work, while he only received memories during sleep, as if he had a dream.

It was much more comfortable that way.

The only thing that worried him a bit was that lately, he had been dreaming of himself being hanged from a street lamp...

(End of this chapter)

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