Konoha's Hextech Ninja

"Hahahaha!"

"Congratulations, Yoruichi and Kurenai. You two are the first in our year to officially become a couple, right?"

"When are you getting married? Be sure to invite us!"

One by one, classmates offered their blessings, made jokes, and many joined in the teasing.

In the crowd, Sarutobi Asuma sat dejectedly in a corner.

As Obito Uchiha listened to the blessings and teasing from the crowd for Yoruichi Yagami and Kurenai Yuhi, his gaze involuntarily fell on a girl with face paint on her cheeks.

"If I could give Lin a birthday like that, she would be very happy, wouldn't she?"

Obito Uchiha was secretly plotting how to recreate this scene on Rin Nohara's birthday.

He didn't notice that when Nohara Rin looked at Yuhi Kurenai's smile, a barely perceptible hint of envy flashed in her eyes.

"That's wonderful, everyone is happy, and Yoruichi-kun is so kind..."

……

Akimichi Torifu, standing at the door, watched this harmonious scene with a smile, without interrupting.

Once everyone had quieted down a bit, she asked, "Yoruichi, shall I have the food served now?"

"Thank you for your help, Uncle Torifu." Yagami Yoruichi nodded to Akimichi Torifu, then turned to Kurenai Yuhi beside him and said, "Kurenai, Uncle Torifu specially imported a batch of top-quality beef from the Land of Lightning and seafood from the Land of Water to celebrate your birthday. This is a rare opportunity, so you should eat as much as you like today."

When Kurenai heard Yoruichi Yagami's words, her first reaction was not happiness, but a hesitant expression: "Isn't it too expensive? Uncle Torifu is taking such good care of us, but we can't just keep eating and drinking for free, can we?"

"Don't worry, I made quite a bit of money on my last mission, so paying for a meal is no problem at all," Yagami Yoruichi said with a smile. "With our teacher helping us arrange missions, we won't be short of money anymore."

In the last mission, including the 250,000 ryo that Tsunade 'returned', after the team was divided up, Yagami Yoruichi, as the team leader, took the lion's share, receiving more than 200,000 ryo by herself.

Although Yagami Yoruichi's expenses over the past few months have not been low, they have only amounted to less than half of her usual amount.

This dinner party is for the whole class, and with the added cost of various high-end ingredients, it's naturally very expensive.

Even after the discount, it wouldn't exceed 100,000 taels, and Yagami Yoruichi had more than enough funds left.

As for future expenses, we can find Tsunade to take on a few more missions after celebrating Kurenai's birthday.

At this stage, Yoruichi Yagami's biggest expenses are nothing more than her daily living and training expenses, and at most, the expenses for her dates with Kurenai Yuhi.

The income from a single B-level bandit suppression mission, plus any extra income, can sustain them for several months.

"Compared to this, I seem petty. I didn't do any of these things for you on your birthday last time..." Kurenai suddenly felt a little dejected.

Yagami Yoruichi's birthday is in March, shortly after the last bandit-suppression mission ended.

The two simply ate a deluxe meal together as a celebration.

"How could that be? I think red is great." Yagami Yoruichi held Kurenai's small hand, changing the subject to try and divert her attention: "Today is your birthday, don't think too much, just celebrate happily."

While it's not entirely impossible for Yagami Yoruichi to make a girl happy, it takes a lot of effort.

Yagami Yoruichi felt that it was much more time-consuming and laborious than delving into a ninjutsu.

However, Kurenai Yuhi isn't the troublesome type. Even if she's occasionally unhappy, it's easy to cheer her up if you just distract her.

As expected, Yagami Yoruichi only mentioned it briefly, and as the waiters brought in plates of prepared meat dishes to the private room, Yuhi Kurenai's attention was quickly diverted.

"Thank you everyone for coming to celebrate my birthday. I'm very happy today, and I hope we can always be good friends." Kurenai Yuhi gave a simple thank you speech according to etiquette. "Please have dinner first. Please forgive me if the hospitality is lacking."

After exchanging pleasantries, the students picked up their chopsticks and placed the marinated meats, seafood, and vegetables onto the baking tray.

It must be said that this semi-self-service model is indeed very suitable for large group meals, as it is very convenient and not too chaotic.

Yagami Yoruichi sat next to Yuhi Kurenai, intently watching the grill pan in front of them, occasionally flipping the food on the pan to check the doneness, and placing the cooked food one by one into Yuhi Kurenai's plate.

"Try this octopus, your favorite. It's a live fish that was just brought in from the Land of Water today. It's much fresher than frozen ones." Yagami Yoruichi picked up an octopus, skillfully cut it into small pieces with a knife, and placed it on Kurenai Yuhi's plate.

Kurenai picked up a piece, dipped it in the sauce, and popped it into her mouth. She immediately showed a delighted expression: "Delicious! Yoruichi-kun, you should try some too, it's super delicious!"

As she spoke, Kurenai picked up a piece of octopus and held it to Yoruichi Yagami's mouth.

Without thinking twice, Yagami Yoruichi instinctively opened his mouth and bit the octopus.

Seeing Yagami Yoruichi bite the chopsticks, Kurenai Yuhi blushed slightly, as if she had thought of something.

"Sharing a pair of chopsticks, does that count as an indirect kiss?" Kurenai felt as if she had a fever, her cheeks were burning, and her head was starting to spin.

"It tastes really good," Yagami Yoruichi exclaimed, picking up a piece of freshly grilled beef, dipping it in the sauce, and bringing it to Yuhi Kurenai's lips: "Ah~ open your mouth~"

Kurenai numbly accepted Yoruichi Yagami's constant feeding, her attention drifting away unconsciously, her mind already wandering off somewhere else.

Chapter 83 Kurenai Wants to Become Stronger

The banquet ended late at night.

The other students all said goodbye one after another, leaving only Yagami Yoruichi and Yuhi Kurenai in the restaurant.

Looking at the gift boxes piled up in the room, Kurenai Yuhi hesitated and said, "How am I going to take all these gifts home?"

The classmates who came to the birthday party all brought gifts.

Dozens of gifts, some big and some small, were piled up together like a small mountain.

"It's nothing." Yagami Yoruichi called over Akimichi Torifu and said, "Uncle Torifu, could you lend me a sealing scroll? My classmates gave me too many gifts, and it's not easy to take them back. I'll return it as soon as I'm done using it."

A sealing scroll is quite valuable, but Akimichi Torifu didn't say anything. He simply took out a scroll and handed it to Yagami Yoruichi, asking, "Do you know how to use it?"

"Uncle Kosuke taught me," Yagami Yoruichi said, beginning to form hand seals.

"Wait a minute." Kurenai suddenly interrupted Yoruichi Yagami, her face slightly flushed, and asked, "Yoruichi-kun, which one did you prepare? I want to open it and take a look first."

The gifts weren't opened, and Kurenai Yuhi had no interest in opening them either.

However, Kurenai couldn't wait to open the gift from Yoruichi Yagami and see what it was.

"This is it." Yagami Yoruichi took a box out of the pile of gifts and handed it to Yuhi Kurenai, saying with a smile, "Open it and take a look."

Kurenai eagerly opened the box, and upon seeing what was inside, a look of surprise crossed her face: "A necklace?"

"Shall I put it on for you?" Yagami Yoichi said, sniffing the necklace, but he had already picked it up from the box, walked behind Kurenai Yuhi, and put the necklace around her neck.

A perfectly cut red gemstone dangled from the silver necklace, hanging on the snow-white neck of the evening sun, looking perfectly matched with her ruby-like eyes.

"Look, do you like it?" Yagami Yoruichi pulled Yuhi Kurenai to the mirror.

Kurenai looked up and saw herself in the mirror. Seeing the happy and shy expression on her face, she couldn't help but be slightly lost in thought for a moment before turning her attention back to the necklace.

"This necklace... must be very valuable?" Kurenai Yuhi hesitated.

"It's not expensive," Yagami Yoruichi said honestly. "Nothing more expensive than you is more precious."

The most expensive part of this necklace is the gemstone, but it's only of ordinary quality and not a rare gem. It's only worth a little over ten thousand taels of silver.

It would be incredibly expensive for an ordinary person, but with Yagami Yoruichi's current income, it's something she can easily afford.

As for those rare items that even nobles would scramble for, their prices would skyrocket, something Yagami Yoruichi can't even dream of now.

Upon hearing Yagami Yoruichi's words, Kurenai Yuhi seemed startled, lowered her head shyly, and muttered, "Smooth talker! All she does is say nice things to flatter me!"

Yagami Yoruichi took the sealing scroll to the side, formed a few hand seals, put away the mountain of gifts, took Kurenai Yuhi's little hand, and said, "You've had enough fun, it's time to go home. If it gets any later, Uncle Shinku will be getting impatient."

Yoruichi Yagami and Kurenai Yuhi had made a promise that no matter what happened, whether it was training or a date, Yoruichi had to take Kurenai home before 10 p.m.

It's already past nine o'clock; we can't delay any longer.

Kurenai Yuhi, dragged along by Yoruichi Yagami, left the yakiniku restaurant in a daze.

Only after stepping out of the store did he come to his senses and look up, saying, "Yoruichi-kun, did we forget to pay?"

Seeing Kurenai's dazed expression, Yoruichi Yagami couldn't help but smile: "I already paid for it, you fool."

"You must have spent a lot of money, right?" Kurenai Yuhi pulled a small wallet from her pocket and handed it to Yoruichi Yagami: "I've saved up a lot of pocket money, take this first."

"No need, Uncle Torifu gave us a discount, we only paid the cost price, it didn't cost us much." Yagami Yoruichi stuffed the wallet back into Kurenai Yuhi's hand and said with a smile, "Kurenai, keep your allowance to buy things you like. Don't worry about money, Teacher can let me take on ninja missions early, so I can earn money very quickly. In a few years, when I can take on more difficult missions, I might earn money even faster than Uncle Shinku."

"My dad's a Jonin! He's carried out S-rank missions so many times!" Kurenai Yuhi couldn't help but say, "Yoruichi-kun is a genius, but isn't it too dangerous for him to take on S-rank missions right now?"

She didn't think that Yoruichi Yagami couldn't surpass Shinku Yuhi, but rather that she was worried that the missions Yoruichi Yagami was undertaking were too dangerous.

"Don't worry, I definitely won't touch S-rank missions. I'll just take on some simple C-rank and B-rank missions." Yagami Yoruichi knew very well that at this stage, all she needed was time and to speed up her development by killing enemies and getting gold coins during missions.

As for the 'resume' of high-difficulty missions, it is very important to ordinary ninjas, but it is not so significant to Yagami Yoruichi.

Once she has accumulated enough equipment, Yagami Yoruichi will have enough strength to easily complete various high-difficulty tasks and create a perfect 'ninja resume'.

"What I told you during the day wasn't all a lie. I really will be leaving the village for a while to carry out a mission," Yagami Yoichi said to Kurenai Yuhi. "It depends on what kind of mission you assign me, but it shouldn't be too long."

Yoruichi Yagami had already mentioned to Tsunade her desire to go on another mission, but she had to postpone it for a while because she wanted to celebrate Kurenai Yuhi's birthday.

We'll see what kind of task Tsunade assigns herself at that time.

"Yoruichi-kun..." Kurenai hesitated, then looked up at Yoruichi Yagami and said, "Could I go on a mission with Yoruichi-kun?"

"Hmm?" Yagami Yoruichi turned to look at Yuhi Kurenai without speaking, feeling somewhat hesitant.

"I just don't want to be separated from Yoruichi-kun." Kurenai turned her face away, saying somewhat awkwardly, "If Yoruichi-kun doesn't want to go on missions with me, then forget it!"

"It's not that I'm unwilling." Seeing the little girl start to sulk, Yagami Yoruichi quickly said, "It's just that your strength is still a bit weak right now, and I'm not confident that I can protect you well."

Insufficient strength is, of course, just an excuse.

In any case, Kurenai Yuhi's overall strength has barely reached the level of a Chunin, so she is more than capable of carrying out this kind of bandit suppression mission, which is not very intense.

The main reason is that Yoruichi Yagami doesn't want Kurenai Yuhi to be exposed to things like bloodshed and killing too early.

The real ninja world is still too cruel for Kurenai Yuhi right now.

It's best to wait until she's older, has a more sound set of values, and a stronger will before she gets involved in these things, so that she's less likely to develop mental health issues.

"You just despise me!" Kurenai Yuhi accused, but she knew in her heart that Yoruichi Yagami was right.

Compared to Kakashi Hatake and Inaho Uchiha, her strength is indeed much weaker.

If they encounter a powerful enemy while on a mission together, she might become a liability to the team, putting the entire team in danger.

"Hmph, I'll get my dad to give me special training when I get back! When Yoruichi-kun comes back, I'll make sure you look at me in a completely different light!" Kurenai Yuhi said angrily.

"I believe that your Yin Release talent is very strong, Kurenai. As long as you train hard, you will definitely become stronger quickly." Yagami Yoruichi comforted him with a smile, "As long as your strength can catch up with Kakashi, and Uncle Kurenai agrees, I will talk to the teacher and ask him to take you with me on missions in the future. How about that?"

Although she had already made up her mind not to let Kurenai Yuhi come into contact with killing and bloodshed too early, Yoruichi Yagami still deliberately proposed a seemingly achievable goal to motivate Kurenai to train hard.

As for whether he can really catch up with Kakashi Hatake?