Indeed, the Ninjutsu Shop Owner also smiled upon hearing this: "Yes, with Tsunade-sama here, how could anything happen? Tsunade-sama stabilized the Village as soon as she returned. How could those petty people dare to cause trouble!"
See? Tsunade was still more trusted by the villagers.
Whether it was her reputation or her ability, she could make the villagers feel at ease.
Convincing the villagers didn't require complicated reasons. As long as they knew Tsunade was here, they could feel at ease.
Next, Natsuki continued to help out in the shop, chatting intermittently. Unexpectedly, the Ninjutsu Shop Owner knew a lot of news, seemingly from chatting and gossiping with others during his free time.
For example, during the two months Natsuki was on his mission, quite a few things happened in the Village.
One time, it seemed a lot of Exploding Tags were discovered in the Village, and then Konoha's Ninja were all busy looking for Exploding Tags. Another time was in the middle of the night, there seemed to be some kind of attack, making the villagers think it was the Fox Demon causing trouble again. Fortunately, it was all resolved in the end. There was also a time when the Hokage Building was struck by lightning, and so on.
Natsuki was quite curious, so he asked a lot of questions indirectly.
He quickly understood. It seemed that quite a few original plot points had already occurred while he was on his mission.
For example, the discovery of a large number of Exploding Tags in the Village seemed to be retaliation from the survivors of the Village Hidden in the Haze, which was destroyed many years ago. The enemy attack in the middle of the night seemed to be related to Asuma, one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja. As for the Hokage Building being struck by lightning, it seemed to be part of the Kurenai Yuhi and Kurama Yakumo storyline.
Speaking of which, can't the Hokage Building install a lightning rod? It keeps getting struck by lightning and causing fires.
The Konoha Hospital seems to be the same. Why don't they install a lightning rod?
And that Kurama Yakumo, her Genjutsu seems very powerful. It looks like the problem has been resolved and she's made up with Kurenai Yuhi. Should this promising talent also become a Ninja?
Natsuki yawned and let his mind wander, because he was only somewhat interested, but none of these matters concerned him.
There was no need to truly care.
At this moment, Tenten, with her double bun hairstyle, suddenly walked into the shop.
Today's Tenten was wearing a white long robe and dark red long pants, full of the original story's flavor. She looked heroic and valiant, making people's eyes light up.
"Dad, I won't be back for dinner... Oh! Natsuki, you're back!"
Tenten's words took a turn in the middle. She used the Body Flicker Technique and crashed into Natsuki's arms, not caring about her own father and the other customers present. She pulled Natsuki and darted into the back room.
Having not seen each other for over two months, the feeling of longing overflowed wildly for a moment, almost drowning Natsuki.
Natsuki didn't even have a chance to speak and could only respond affectionately. After quite some time, the two finally separated.
Tenten rubbed her head against him, her voice like a cat scratching: "Husband, when did you come back? Why didn't you tell me first?"
Natsuki said tenderly: "Wasn't I planning to give you a surprise? How about it? Having not seen each other for over two months, wasn't seeing your beloved person suddenly a huge surprise?"
"Mm. It was a big surprise. But I'd rather you told me earlier."
"Okay, next time for sure. Let's continue, let's make up for everything we missed in the past two months!"
"Wait, I still have work later, mmm mmm mmm..."
After quite some time, the two came out with swollen lips, ignoring the Ninjutsu Shop Owner's glare and the customers' curious stares. Tenten glared at the man and quickly left the Ninja Tools Shop.
Natsuki knew that Tenten was assigned as one of the examiners and would be busy later.
Going there now with swollen lips would definitely lead to teasing from her colleagues.
However, Natsuki didn't mind. Those guys who would tease were just jealous single dogs. Whose family with a significant other doesn't kiss? Are they afraid of others knowing?
Natsuki wasn't idle either. When the shop wasn't so busy, he immediately arranged to meet his companions.
However, Neji, Sasuke, and Shino seemed to have been assigned work, mainly patrolling the Village. It seems Tsunade is very serious about this Chunin Exams, fearing the same situation as last time, which would ruin Konoha's reputation.
So, assigning more people to patrol is definitely the right move.
Fortunately, it doesn't affect the dinner gathering tonight.
Afterward, it was the other young Ninja. The three members of Aoba Team readily agreed as usual. However, Team Asuma and Team Kurenai seemed quite nervous about this Chunin Exams. When Natsuki went to find them, the two teams were still very busy training, giving a feeling of last-minute cramming.
Natsuki didn't interfere further, just extended the invitation. Both teams also agreed to attend the dinner tonight.
The Chunin Exams is a hurdle they must overcome on their own. There's not much Natsuki can do to help. Treating them to dinner tonight can be considered cheering them on.
Time quickly reached evening. The fifteen young Ninja rarely gathered together, and the conversation was lively for a while. Everyone also asked about Natsuki's mission status, but the mission content couldn't be revealed casually, so Natsuki talked about the customs and culture of Earth Country.
Then, as they chatted, the conversation naturally turned to this Chunin Exams.
Kiba said glumly, "You who were in the same class as us are now our examiners. Just thinking about it makes me unhappy."
Ino also said, "Who says it isn't? And we happen to have no confidence in this exam. Even if we passed the mock exam before, we're still afraid of failing this one."
Natsuki couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this.
He could very well understand this feeling, just like high school students who get good grades in three mock exams, but if asked if they are confident about the college entrance exam, they probably feel uncertain.
After all, who knows what questions will be on the college entrance exam? Who knows if there will be any accidents?
There are even some top students who forget to bring their admission ticket on the day of the college entrance exam!
The reason Ino lacked confidence was simply that her small team's strength wasn't strong enough, and their coordination wasn't very good. If it were the previous Ino-Shika-Cho, with Shikamaru's brains, there would be no problem, but now it's Sakura-Shika-Cho.
"Natsuki, your laughter, isn't it schadenfreude, huh?"
Naruto squinted at Natsuki, like a yellow-haired fox, "That's great, you're already a Jonin, so you don't have to worry about any exams. Unlike us, who are still worried about failing the exam and being a Genin for life. Alas, if I'm not even a Chunin, how can I become Hokage in the future?"
The little yellow-haired guy's words made everyone roll their eyes.
Having dreams is a good thing, but at least be down-to-earth. Leave becoming Hokage for last. You should first get promoted to Chunin!
But everyone didn't know that this little yellow-haired guy really leaped from Genin to Hokage, only compared to being Hokage, his identity as the savior and Six Paths' child was more speechless.
After the meal, everyone parted ways with laughter and chatter, knowing they would be busy again tomorrow.
Natsuki, on the other hand, held Tenten's hand, taking a rare walk under the night sky, as if returning to the time of their first love.
Tenten smiled and said, "Natsuki, I really like this time. It feels like the whole world is just you and me. Holding hands like this, it feels like we could walk together for a lifetime."
Natsuki also smiled and said, "I like this time too, but I like being at home even more. Wife, it's late. We should rest."
Tenten's face turned red, but she also nodded, "Okay, okay, but I still have work tomorrow, don't go too far...".