39

When Haru woke up the next morning, he found a maid already waiting outside his door. Before he could ask anything, she gave him a key and said, "Haru-sama, this is the key Kazuki-sama asked me to give you. It's for the small room in the back. She said you can use it from now on."

Haru just nodded at her, took the key, and headed back to his room. From his unfocused eyes, it seemed that his brain still wasn't working at its normal speed.

It took him a while to realize what she meant. He looked at the key in his hand and sighed, "Another task to do, huh?" he thought.

He went back to bed and lay down for a while, enjoying his rest, knowing that he wouldn't have much of it once he added research to his already full schedule.

After some time, he got up and went to visit his new workplace. He walked for several minutes until he found the place, located at the back of the clan and tucked away in a quiet area. 'It should be calm here,' he thought to himself.

Before entering, Haru looked around the area. The building was unassuming from the outside, but once he stepped inside, he was surprised at how well-maintained and clean the space was. The room wasn't very big, but it was cozy, with warm lighting and soft furnishings.

The most distinctive feature was the large wooden table in the corner, which looked like it had been handcrafted from a single piece of wood. After surveying the room, his gaze finally landed on the table. He ran his fingers across it and found the wood to be very smooth. Not only that, he also noticed a light, earthy scent emanating from it, like freshly cut timber.

Haru took a seat and said, "I like it,"

Thinking of something, he chuckled to himself and said, "Grandma really knows how to motivate people to work."

Since he didn't have a shift until the evening, Haru headed back to the clan, this time going to the archive room. He was looking for some reference material that might be helpful. While the Senju didn't cultivate tea, they had experience in cultivating some medical materials.

Once inside the archive room, he walked around the large shelves filled with scrolls and books, taking his time to look for what he needed. As Haru was standing and reading an introduction to a book, he noticed someone entering the room. But since he was familiar with their chakra, he didn't lift his head and continued reading.

It wasn't until he felt a tap on his shoulder that he took his attention away from what he was reading. He lifted his head and looked at Kazuki, saying, "Good morning."

Kazuki nodded in response to the greeting, then handed Haru a scroll. "This is what you wanted, Haru," she said.

Haru examined the scroll and noticed some seals on it. He turned his attention back to Kazuki, who was still standing there looking at him.

Without waiting for him to respond, Kazuki continued, "You can use the land at the back of your workplace to cultivate whatever you need. It's very fertile." She then handed him another key and said, "This is the key to the warehouse. You can find what you need there. If you can't find it, just let me know and I'll get it for you."

Haru chuckled and took the key. "Okay, but it seems like I'm collecting a lot of keys today."

Kazuki snorted and left. As she was closing the door, she added, "Do your best, Haru." He responded with a slight hum, already engrossed in his book. She shook her head and closed the door.

Haru spent almost the whole day in the archive room, looking through different books that might help him avoid starting from scratch. Finally, around noon, he finished and left with a dozen books and scrolls in his hands, all of them stacked together. He brought them all to his workplace and organized them on the bookshelf.

Haru looked around the room, now adjusted to his liking, and nodded, feeling refreshed.

Time passed quickly, and Haru was very busy between the hospital and his workplace, leaving him with no free time for anything else. But his time and hard work didn't go to waste. With multiple experiments, he had become very knowledgeable about tea and how to cultivate it.

While sitting at his desk, Haru wrote down his findings in his notes. He observed that the climate in Konoha was suitable for cultivating tea, and he also noted some tea types that he found in the area.

"Even this small work took almost two weeks," he thought, sighing at the amount of work that lay ahead of him.

He looked around the room, which was filled with tea from all over the ninja world.

He had been trying to find the one that had the desired effect. While some of them were already unique, their growth conditions were too harsh to be mass-produced, especially in the climate of the Land of Fire.

He then turned his head and looked at the smaller portions on the side, which were the result of his past two weeks of work. He had finally found tea leaves that were unique in taste and could be planted in Konoha.

Haru rubbed his hair, realizing that even harder work was waiting for him.

He closed his eyes and sensed the nature energy around him, smiling to himself. "At least now I can play with nature energy," he thought. "It's better than just testing different teas all day."

Suddenly, he turned his head as the door opened, and an energetic Tsunade entered. He sighed, knowing that her being here was surely for no good.

As expected, as soon as her eyes landed on the room, she said while looking around, "Well, you finally have an office of your own, Haru, even if it's not in the hospital."

Haru was already tired and didn't have the energy to argue with her, so he simply nodded, agreeing with whatever she said.

Tsunade sniffed around and complained, "The whole room smells of tea. You should open the window sometimes, you know."

Haru sat in his chair silently, not commenting. While Tsunade looked around the room, rummaging through everything, he simply moved his tea out of her way. He then closed his eyes and let her be.

But his peace didn't last long. He felt someone poking his forehead and opened his eyes to see Tsunade standing in front of him with all the confidence in the world.

Tsunade chuckled at Haru's tired face and sat on the table, saying, "Haru, stop lazing around. Let's discuss something."

Haru was offended by the lazy remark, but he just nodded at her and allowed her to speak. The sooner she left, the better.

Tsunade cleared her throat, attempting to sound serious. "I've heard about your idea from Grandma, and I've looked at your notes. I must say, you're incredibly talented in this area, and you should be able to succeed," she said.

"However, as your elder sister and a doctor, I have to say that you're overworking yourself, Haru. Grandma is getting older and she shouldn't let you work on this all alone. From now on, I will help you out. It's my duty to help my younger brother, so you don't need to thank me," she added, sounding like the most compassionate person in the world.

Despite Tsunade's efforts, Haru remained unfazed. He knew his sister well enough to understand that she had ulterior motives. He showed her his attitude and looked at her calmly, not responding at all.

Both of them maintained eye contact, while Haru remained calm, Tsunade's eyes became increasingly impatient as time passed. Finally, she slammed her hand on the table and yelled in anger, "You brat! Look how tired you are, and you still refuse my help!"

Haru gazed thoughtfully at his beloved table before turning to Tsunade and letting out a deep sigh. He wanted her help, but his experiments would now rely mostly on nature energy, a resource Tsunade lacked. As a result, she couldn't provide much support.

Despite this, Haru refrained from mentioning it and instead asked, "Why are you suddenly offering to help? You're busy at the hospital, and you shouldn't sacrifice your free time to assist me, no matter how tired I may be."

Tsunade squirmed slightly, and her expression betrayed a sense of guilt. Haru caught on and said, "Did you lose money gambling again?" He knew that nothing else could prompt his aggressive sister to work unprompted.

Tsunade weakly nodded her head and sighed, admitting, "Grandma is furious this time, Haru. You should really let me help. If I can offer support and your idea succeeds, I can receive a share. Then I can spend as much as I want without any financial burden," she added, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

Haru was almost blinded by Tsunade's intense gaze. In the end, he looked at her sad face and eyes that were almost teary and said, "Currently, there is really nothing you can help me with." Hearing this, Tsunade's mood deflated even more, it seemed as if dark clouds were almost hanging around her.

Haru took his time, enjoying the expression on her face, before continuing, "But when it comes to the testing period, you can really help me then. We won't need my tea to kill anything, will we?"

Her ears perked up at the end, and her mood did a 180-degree turn for the better. She ruffled Haru's hair and gave him a big hug. "You really are my little brother. Come on, I'm counting on you, my little hero," she said.

Haru weakly replied, his breath shortening as he was losing oxygen, "Just a hero."

Tsunade laughed and replied, "Once you succeed, you will be my hero. For now, your title can't change," and then released him from her arms.

While Haru was catching his breath, she continued, "Also, don't forget to mention to Grandma that I'm helping."

Tsunade then left with a satisfied smile, leaving poor Haru even more tired than before.