Chapter 27: Chunin Exams Recommendation? But I Refuse.
"Almost steamed to death?"
Yui Iwashiro strode over in a few steps and looked Haruko up and down. Seeing that the kid, aside from his tattered clothes and a few red marks on his body, wasn't missing any limbs, he finally let out a long sigh of relief.
"You're one tough kid."
Iwashiro slapped Haruko on the shoulder, nearly shattering the bones he had just set.
"The opponent was the famous 'Double Kekkei Genkai' user of the Hidden Mist, Mei Terumi. Even I have to be careful dealing with her. To think you managed to hold out until we arrived completely unscathed?"
"Ugh, don't mention it. That woman probably thought I was handsome, so she didn't try to kill me right away. Plus, I'm not good at much else, but I'm really fast at digging holes, so I just burrowed underground and played Whac-A-Mole with her. I hid in the dirt and threw tools to wear her down."
Haruko pointed to the tattered clothes he had discarded.
"But then that woman didn't play fair and started pouring high-temperature acid mist directly into the hole. Not only did she burn my clothes, but she almost steamed me to death. In the end, I just played dead underground, and that's how I managed to escape."
"Hmph, grandstanding."
An ill-timed cold snort came from nearby.
Shigaraki Tanuki walked over with a gloomy face, looking somewhat disheveled.
He glanced at Haruko, then turned to Iwashiro and said, "Commander, although Haruko didn't die this time, he left the team without authorization, causing the scout squad's formation to fall into chaos. This is a serious disciplinary violation. If it weren't for him running off, the other teammate might have..."
Haruko scanned the area and realized that someone was indeed missing; the Genin from his team was gone.
'Starting to shift the blame already?"
"Captain, you can eat anything, but you can't say just anything."
Haruko put away his grinning expression.
"When we were attacked, it was obvious the enemy was aiming to wipe us all out. If I hadn't lured that woman away, do you think you could have escaped?"
"You—" Shigaraki Tanuki's face stiffened.
"And," Haruko didn't give him a chance to interrupt, "I held off the enemy's strongest Jonin until reinforcements arrived. And as the captain, besides running away, did you even turn back to use a single Ninjutsu to support? Or did you bring back any valuable intelligence?"
Shigaraki Tanuki opened his mouth, his face turning liver-colored, unable to squeeze out a word for a long time.
Intelligence? He was too busy running for his life; he hadn't even seen the opponent's face clearly.
"Enough!"
Yui Iwashiro waved his hand, interrupting the farce.
He had a fiery temper, but he wasn't a fool. The large acid pits and battle traces left at the scene couldn't lie; it was clear who was fighting for their life and who was slacking off.
He looked coldly at Shigaraki Tanuki: "Bringing back intelligence is the primary mission. Haruko did a great job as bait. As for you, go back and write a report, and reflect on why you have less responsibility than a Genin!"
Shigaraki Tanuki shut his mouth sheepishly, glared at Haruko with resentment, and turned to leave.
Haruko shrugged, feeling nothing in his heart.
Someone like that wasn't even worth him getting angry over.
Following this encounter, the Hidden Mist's probing activities at the border visibly decreased.
The oppressive feeling before a storm seemed to dissipate, and the border outpost returned to peace once again.
Haruko wasn't idle either; taking advantage of this incident, he logically applied for a transfer—the reason was "needing to digest the gains from the life-and-death battle," but in reality, it was to hide back in logistics and slack off from time to time.
After a few more days, the rotation order finally came down, and Haruko could return to Konoha.
The people accompanying him were the same as when he arrived, just one person fewer—Haruko couldn't even remember his name.
The moment he returned to Konoha, looking at the small shop with the red "ramen" lantern, Haruko felt his heart, which had been tightened by slaughter and schemes, finally soften.
"I'm home—"
Lifting the door curtain, that familiar aroma of bone broth rushed towards him, more healing than any aromatherapy.
"Brother Haruko!"
Kin, who was wiping the table, lit up. She threw down the rag and pounced over like a small black cannonball.
"Whoa, slow down, slow down."
Haruko laughed and held down the little girl's head, "Haven't seen you in a month, have you gotten heavier?"
"I have not!" Kin puffed out her cheeks angrily.
Teuchi was cooking noodles and looked up at the sound; that signature gentle smile on his face made Haruko feel incredibly at ease.
"Welcome back, Haruko. You were out for quite a while this time. Were you injured?"
"Not a scratch, I just missed this bite like crazy."
Haruko skillfully went behind the counter, took off that damn Konoha forehead protector and stuffed it into his pocket, then casually tied on that gray apron.
The decisive Ninja went offline; the current Haruko was just an Ichiraku ramen employee who wanted to slack off.
Ayame poked her head out from the kitchen, her eyes curving into crescents with a smile, "Dad was just talking about you earlier. He specifically saved a big bone for you; I'll go heat it up."
This feeling of being cared about was really not bad.
Just as Haruko was preparing to slump into the rocking chair and enjoy this hard-won peace, a rush of hurried footsteps broke the comfort.
The door curtain was lifted, and Anko Mitarashi swept in like a gust of wind.
"Brat, you're back?!"
Anko was still wearing that revealing fishnet outfit today, with a khaki trench coat over it, the astonishing curves on her chest heaving violently with her breathing.
She strode up to Haruko, completely at ease, and with a "slap," slammed a crumpled piece of paper onto the table.
"Look at what this is! Surprised? Unexpected?"
"Chunin Selection Exam Recommendation Form."
"Oh, very surprised, very unexpected." Haruko expressionlessly pushed the paper back. "But, I refuse."
"Huh?!"
Anko widened her eyes, looking at him as if he were an alien.
"Did you get water in your brain? This was specially approved by the Third Hokage! Given your excellent performance at the border, you are allowed to participate in this Chunin Exam as an exception! As long as you pass, you'll be a Chunin!"
"And then?"
Haruko yawned and grabbed a cup of tea from the side.
"Once I become a Chunin, the mission difficulty will double, the mortality rate will double, the responsibilities will double, and the salary will only go up by peanuts. This is a losing business; whoever wants to do it can do it."
Anko was choked and unable to speak for a long time.
In this Ninja World where everyone was racking their brains to climb up and fighting tooth and nail for a title, this kid's train of thought was simply a mudslide.
"But... but this is an honor!"
Anko tried to influence him with spiritual sustenance, "And once you become a Chunin, you won't have to do D-rank chores, your status will be higher, and in the future..."
"Anko-sensei."
Haruko sighed and interrupted her earnestly, "Do you know what my dream is?"
"To become Hokage?"
"No, it's to slack off and wait for death."
Haruko pointed outside: "The world is big, and I am very lazy. Instead of fighting to the death in the exam hall, I would rather stay here and research how to make mung bean soup taste better."
As he spoke, he scooped out some semi-finished mung bean soup from under the counter, added some seasonings, stirred it for a while using Chakra, and pushed it in front of Anko.
"Mung bean soup made with the new " Stirring Technique " should have a smoother texture than before. Want to try it?"
The persuasion that was on the tip of Anko's tongue was swallowed back into her stomach.
Her throat bobbed, and her eyes instantly became clear and foolish.
"Tch... this is something you voluntarily gave up, don't regret it later."
Anko grabbed the bowl, a happy, somewhat silly expression appearing on her face.
"Mmm! It's really not bad... I'll let you off this time, but remember to add more sugar next time!"
'Of course it's good, this is mung bean soup made with the Rasengan. Although the Rasengan isn't difficult for me, controlling the power to be this low is quite troublesome."
Haruko complained inwardly.
Although this woman was loud and boisterous, as long as you catered to her preferences, she was quite easy to fool.
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