Konoha: I'm an Uchiha, and I started by proposing to Rin Nohara.

Chapter 17 Uchiha Ike's relentless pursuit and killing

Tsunade is indeed out of money right now.

Three hours earlier, when she had just left the Thousand Hands Clan's territory, she still had two thousand taels left.

It came from Shizune's ninja academy graduation subsidy, which she hadn't even had a chance to warm up yet.

And within just half an hour, the two thousand taels were given away to the Konoha Casino free of charge.

That's why she came here to drink.

Anyway, this izakaya is run by the Akimichi family. The Ino-Shika-Cho family and the old man are so close, she has no qualms about eating and dashing.

As for why the kid with the ramen noodle hair in front of me was asked to pay the bill, the reason is actually quite simple.

It's simply that Tsunade disliked him and wanted to see him suffer.

This dislike wasn't because she disliked him as a person; on the contrary, she had a pretty good impression of this ramen-haired brat from the Uchiha clan.

Not only did he lack the arrogant and disdainful attitude typical of the Uchiha clan, but he also spoke with humility and politeness, and even his ideal was to become Hokage. He was simply the quintessential Konoha ninja.

But this is exactly what Tsunade dislikes.

Is the position of Hokage really that good?

Everyone she cares about says she wants to become Hokage...

Now she is all alone, chasing their lingering shadows in her dreams.

Perhaps it was the alcohol, but an inexplicable destructive urge quietly fermented in Tsunade's heart.

Just like now, Tsunade felt her breathing become shallow and rapid simply by looking at Uchiha Ike's gradually stiffening expression.

She chuckled and waved her hand, saying, "Don't worry, I won't freeload off you. If your family member needs medical treatment in the future, you can mention my name at Konoha Hospital, and I can help out once..."

Just then, Uchiha Ike spoke up.

"I have no family."

His voice was so soft it was almost inaudible, but Tsunade's words abruptly stopped.

Tsunade stared blankly at Uchiha Ike: "You're an orphan?"

"I don't know if it counts or not," Uchiha Ike said, "but my parents did die when I was young."

"Oh..." Tsunade didn't know what to say for a moment, so she could only nod.

Stroking the chopsticks in his hand, Uchiha Ike continued speaking to himself:

"I remember it was summer, the weather was extremely hot, and the cicadas outside were incredibly noisy. I was wearing shorts and waiting at the door, thinking that when my parents came back, I would stick glue to the mouths of all the cicadas..."

"A few days later," he paused, as if remembering something, his eyes visibly dimming, "the Second Elder found me and stuffed two bloodstained headbands into my clothes."

Upon hearing this, Tsunade instinctively looked up.

The dim light divided the table in two, and the shadow obscured the boy's face, but his unusually calm voice could be heard.

"Hey, actually I didn't understand what it meant at the time, I just felt that these two pieces of broken iron were a bit heavy."

Tsunade let out a deep breath. She seemed to see the scene before her: young children clinging to their clansmen, asking when their parents would return home, while the clansmen pulled out two ninja headbands from their robes...

Uchiha Ike's tone was quite casual, but as a listener, she felt increasingly heavy-hearted.

She knew all too well the pain of losing a loved one.

Tsunade wanted to offer comfort but didn't know how to start, so she could only toy with the wine glass in her hand, pretending to be nonchalant as she said, "Look ahead, kid, at least you're alive and well now!"

"That's right." Uchiha Ike nodded with a light laugh: "Since then, I've been living alone. At first, I found it difficult, but now I've come to like this kind of life."

"In addition, my ninja skills are rather average, and the elders in my clan don't care about me, so I'm usually very free. I can eat whatever I want and go wherever I want."

"..." Looking at the smile on Uchiha Ike's face, Tsunade felt a lump in her throat.

The early death of parents and being neglected by others are such heavy topics, yet they are described as light and carefree.

This boy's aptitude is already better than many Chunin...

Just as she was about to say something, Uchiha Ike's voice rang out again.

"I just graduated from the Ninja Academy last week."

"Perhaps for a ninja like you, becoming a genin is a small matter, but I am really happy."

"Of course I want to share this joy, but..." Uchiha Ike lowered his eyes, spread his hands and smiled bitterly, "I have no family, no friends, no one to share it with."

[Guilt detected from Tsunade!]

[Gain 15 points and increase defense by 3%!]

Looking at the system's rewards, Uchiha Ike couldn't help but smile.

What are you feeling guilty about? Didn't you want to dine and dash?

He turned his gaze to Tsunade, only to see that the blonde woman didn't say anything, but simply lowered her head, silently filled her glass, and then downed it in one gulp.

However, even so, Uchiha Ike was still not prepared to let Tsunade go.

After all, you don't encounter a golden fat sheep every day.

If you can squeeze as much as possible, squeeze as much as you can.

"For this little bit of ritual, I chose to treat myself to a meal here."

"Because..." Uchiha Ike looked at the fried rice on the table with gentle eyes and said softly, "The fried rice at this restaurant tastes a lot like the one my mother makes."

Tsunade silently put down her wine glass.

For the first time, she found shochu so difficult to swallow.

Interrupting someone's dinner and then demanding they pay for their drinks... what have you done?

On the other side, Uchiha Ike started talking to himself again.

"When I'm not practicing meditation, I go to bookstores to read novels to pass the time."

"I often see the term 'older sister,' which seems to represent a warm and caring character. Even if the protagonist and the older sister constantly dislike each other, the other will always be the first to lend a helping hand when one of them encounters a problem..."

"Perhaps it's because I've never experienced the dark side of family relationships and can only understand the beautiful side from books that I've always admired this character."

"So..." He picked up the cup on one side, looked up at Tsunade, and his eyes gradually brightened: "When you questioned me about whether I had been drinking, I subconsciously thought of you as the 'older sister' in the book."

Tsunade looked at Uchiha Ike with a puzzled expression: "Huh?"

"No one used to care what I did. Even if I drank alcohol, my elders would probably just say something like, 'You're old enough to drink now.'"

Uchiha Ike scratched his cheek shyly: "You're the first person who cares whether I've been secretly drinking."

Tsunade's gaze towards Uchiha Ike suddenly became incredibly complex: "You..."

Uchiha Ike smiled, said nothing, but simply put down the cup in his hand and pushed it in front of Tsunade.

Tsunade looked down and saw that the orange liquid in the cup was gently swaying along with the fruit pulp.

"It's just orange juice... Big sister, I really didn't drink any alcohol."