Analyzing the Ninja World Starting from Konoha

Konoha Village, the Akimichi family's barbecue restaurant.

The restaurant was warmly lit, and the aroma of grilled meat filled the air.

Aoba, Akimichi Choza, and Aburame Shimi were already seated in the private room, where the table was laden with various meats and vegetables.

The meat sizzled as it grilled, its fat dripping onto the charcoal fire and sending up plumes of fragrant white smoke.

Ding stared at the grilled meat with his small eyes, swallowing hard.

"Why hasn't Minato-senpai arrived yet?"

Aoba leaned back in his chair, looking at Choza, thinking about how he could hold out until Minato's time. "If he doesn't come soon, I'm afraid even Choza-senpai will lose his temper soon."

"Don't worry, we should be there soon. Minato has already left the Hokage Building."

A parasite flew onto Zhiwei's finger.

Sure enough, not long after, the door to the private room was pushed open, and Shuimen walked in.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Minato took off his coat and sat down in the empty seat next to Aoba. "I was delayed for a while by the Hokage."

"Haha, Minato-senpai, if you hadn't come soon, Choza-senpai would have been drooling all the time."

Aoba spoke with a smile.

Minato smiled upon hearing this and gestured for Choza to begin.

"I'm going to start eating!"

Akimichi Choza clasped his hands together, then his chopsticks moved like a blur, and half of the meat slices that had just changed color on the grill disappeared instantly.

You Nu Zhiwei remained silent, but her hands moved quickly, and there was plenty of meat on the plate in front of her, clearly indicating her extensive experience.

"Hey! Leave some for me!"

Aoba's eyes twitched wildly. He quickly snatched two pieces of beef tongue from the glutton's chopsticks, stuffed them into his mouth, and the scalding meat juices exploded in his mouth, making him squint his eyes in satisfaction.

This is what it feels like to be alive.

Compared to eating sand and dry rations in the desert of the Land of Wind, this barbecue is a royal treat.

Seeing that the group was enjoying their meal, Minato poured them some sake.

Of course, Aoba also has it.

The idea that you can't drink alcohol before you're old enough is something that only appears in anime.

In the ninja world, even children are on the battlefield killing people; what's a little drinking?

Tsunade even frequented casinos with the First Hokage from a very young age.

"Come on, let's toast to the successful completion of the mission!"

Ding raised his glass and said loudly.

"Cheers!"

The four men's glasses clinked together, making a crisp sound.

Over the next few hours, the four of them ate barbecue and chatted about the interesting things that happened during the mission.

Minato took the initiative to suggest that the Hokage raise the mission's level to S.

Everyone's faces lit up with joy.

After all, an S-rank mission means a higher reward.

Who doesn't like money?

After a satisfying meal, the group parted ways and returned home late at night.

Aoba threw herself onto the not-so-soft bed and fell asleep almost immediately upon hitting the pillow.

He was exhausted after those two weeks, exposed to the wind and sun, sleeping either against rocks or against trees, and not eating well.

Not to mention the constant mental strain, the physical fatigue was also very real.

He's still just a child...

I slept soundly until late the next day.

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, illuminating Qingye's face and waking him up.

He rolled around in bed twice, then pulled the blanket over his head and stayed in bed.

It's been so long since he's had a chance to sleep in.

After the mission was completed, he was given three days to rest. If no new missions were assigned, he would return to Konoha Hospital to continue working as a Konoha doctor.

Aoba slowly washed up, and soon after, her stomach started growling in protest.

He was too lazy to cook for himself, and since it was lunchtime anyway, he figured he might as well go and freeload a meal.

"Excuse me—"

As soon as Aoba pushed open the gate to Shinku's house, she saw a red figure sitting on the veranda practicing flower arranging.

Huh? !

Kurenai was also there. After checking the time given by the chip, I realized that today was a rest day for the Ninja Academy.

Looking into the inner room, Uncle Zhenhong was sitting at the coffee table drinking tea.

Aoba gave a slight bow to Uncle Shinku and then went into the inner room.

As I passed by Hong, the little girl seemed not to notice me at all, not even glancing at me.

Seeing that Hong's hand holding the flower had stiffened, Qingye suddenly had a mischievous thought and pointed at the flower in her hand, saying urgently, "Watch out! There's a caterpillar on the flower!"

"what!"

Hong was shocked and immediately threw the flower away.

"Hahaha!"

Aoba laughed, then forced a smile and explained, "Oh, I must have been mistaken, there are no bugs."

Her face flushed red, she got up and chased after Qingye, looking like she was determined to beat him to death. Her previous image as a well-behaved girl was completely gone.

The two chased each other around the house, while Shinku sat quietly by the coffee table, drinking tea and ignoring the noise around her.

Lunch was plentiful; Aunt Nadeshiko even added a few extra dishes when she knew Aoba was coming.

At the dinner table, Hong sat opposite Qingye, glaring at him angrily, her teeth grinding together as if she wanted to bite Qingye to vent her anger.

Shinku poured Aoba a cup of tea. "When did you get back? Did the mission go smoothly?"

"Yesterday evening."

Aoba took the tea and drank a sip. "Although the process was a bit tortuous, the mission was successfully completed in the end, and the Hokage even upgraded the mission level from A-rank to S-rank."

"Successful completion" here means that the mission is completed without any casualties.

"S-rank?"

Shinku paused for a moment, her brows furrowing slightly.

As a seasoned Jonin, he understood better than anyone what an S-rank mission meant.

"Minato Namikaze is leading the team?"

"Yes."

Aoba nodded. "Akimichi Choza-senpai and Aburame Shimi-senpai are also traveling with us."

Shinku nodded secretly; this lineup was indeed fine.

He had personally experienced Aoba's skill level, which was stronger than that of an average Chunin.

Both Dingza and Zhiwei are from ninja clans and possess the strength of special Jonin.

Although Minato Namikaze came from a commoner background, he was taken in as a disciple by Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha, and was promoted to Jonin at a young age.

He had collaborated with Minato several times, and what impressed him most was Minato's incredibly fast Body Flicker Technique.

He was told it was some kind of secret technique, and even he was somewhat wary of it.

This level of skill is among the best of the Jonin.

It can be said that Minato Namikaze is one of the best among the younger generation.

They possess great strength without being arrogant, are very tactful in their dealings with others, and have a gentle personality.

Shinku didn't ask about the mission details; only the Hokage knows about S-rank missions.

He violated the rules by asking the question.

Although he knew that Aoba would tell him if he asked, there was no need for it.

Shinku simply asked Aoba about her feelings toward Minato during this mission.

Aoba then gave Minato a thorough evaluation.

After all, he is the future Fourth Hokage, and Aoba also hopes that Uncle Shinku will have more goodwill towards Minato.

In order to gain more favorability, Aoba even revealed that he had asked Minato for advice on sealing techniques.

"Oh? A sealing technique?"

Shinku was initially surprised, but then she said with relief, "Fine, if you want to learn, then learn."

If it were someone else, Shinku might have advised that more ninjutsu is not necessarily better; the key to ninjutsu is quality, not quantity.

Of course, this applies to ordinary people; geniuses are an exception, because geniuses all have their own learning methods.

Aoba is that genius.

So he stopped interfering and just encouraged Aoba to consult with Minato more often, meaning to get closer to him.

In his view, Minato was a genius, and Aoba was also a genius. He couldn't teach them, but Minato should be able to.

……