"You guys aren't even old enough to drink," Mikoto Uchiha's gentle demeanor vanished, her face stern as she scolded Nawaki.
"I'm not here, I'm not here," Minato thought, trying to hide behind the couch, hoping that the anger of Kushina and Mikoto would be directed at Nawaki and Takuya instead of him.
But of course, Nawaki wasn't having it.
"Minato, what are you hiding for? You drank plenty last night too," he said, throwing Minato under the bus. "You're not getting out of this that easily!"
"Seriously, dude?" Minato thought, cursing under his breath. "You just had to drag me into this, didn't you?"
Under the deadly glares of Kushina and Mikoto, Minato slowly raised his hand. "It was... Takuya who convinced me to drink."
Takuya's smile froze. "You traitor!"
"Alright, so what? What's the big deal? Next time, we'll just invite you two to join us," Takuya said, rolling his eyes and smacking the table. He couldn't stand the judgmental stares from the girls anymore. "I'm not just gonna sit here and take it."
Kushina and Mikoto were caught off guard, speechless for a moment. It seemed like he had a point. Drinking a bit wasn't that big of a deal. Plus, Takuya promised to bring them along next time... Drinking with Takuya could actually be fun.
Kushina's eyes sparkled with interest, and Mikoto raised an eyebrow, pondering the idea.
"Alright, it's settled then," Kushina smiled.
"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it," Takuya waved it off.
"We'll go make lunch," Mikoto said, smiling as she dragged Kushina into the kitchen.
Nawaki and Minato stood there, mouths hanging open. "Wait… what? Did that really just happen?"
The two of them stared in disbelief as Kushina and Mikoto, who had been so angry just a second ago, happily went off to make lunch. They then glanced at Takuya, who was lounging on the couch like a king.
"This doesn't make any sense!" Nawaki thought, feeling frustrated. "They were so strict with us, but when Takuya talked back, they just gave up and even agreed to drink with him next time!"
Minato could only chuckle, while Nawaki's mind started racing with ideas. "So... talking back confidently makes girls listen to you? Maybe I should try that."
After making plans to drink together next time, the whole ordeal was smoothed over. Sometimes, dealing with problems doesn't require a perfect solution. You just need to drag everyone else down with you, and things tend to work themselves out.
After lunch, Takuya and Minato took Nawaki down to the riverbank where they usually trained. Meanwhile, Kushina and Mikoto went out shopping. With her good mood, Kushina had the itch to spend some money, and she pulled Mikoto along to help her pick out some clothes and carry the bags.
"Nawaki, have you really thought this through?" Takuya asked as they stood by the river. "Whether it's taijutsu or kenjutsu, you'll need a ton of practice and real fights to get better."
Nawaki had decent talent for ninjutsu, so Takuya wasn't sure why he wanted to shift his focus to physical techniques. But since Nawaki insisted, Takuya was willing to go along with it.
"C'mon, man, I've been injured in real combat before! Bring it on!" Nawaki said, striking a cocky pose with his hands on his hips. Minato, who was sitting nearby reading a scroll, rolled his eyes. "This guy's about to get wrecked."
And sure enough, a split second later, Takuya's fist was flying straight at Nawaki's face.
Nawaki's instincts kicked in, and every hair on his body stood on end. His brain screamed, "You can dodge this!" but his body just couldn't keep up.
WHAM!
With a loud crash, Nawaki was sent flying into a tree, leaving a huge dent in the trunk. Leaves shook loose and fluttered down around him.
Takuya, still holding his punching stance, sighed. "You idiot. On a battlefield, that cocky stance of yours would get you killed ten times over."
"Ow!" Nawaki groaned, holding his face. He barely had time to stand up before Takuya's leg whipped around, sending him flying again. Like a kicked soccer ball, Nawaki rolled across the ground for several meters before finally coming to a stop.
"Wait, I wasn't ready!" he yelled, spitting out dirt.
"Too late," Takuya replied, not cutting him any slack. "The moment we got here, the fight began."
Takuya wasn't going to hold back just because Nawaki wasn't ready. On the battlefield, enemies don't wait for you to prepare. Battles can erupt at any moment, and even a one-second delay can be the difference between life and death.
While Tsunade and Orochimaru might coddle Nawaki and give him time to grow, Takuya wouldn't.
If Nawaki didn't have time to prepare, then he'd have to learn to adapt through experience. After all, that's how Takuya and Minato had done it—getting stronger by constantly fighting.
Though, to be fair, Minato usually ended up being on the receiving end of the beatings.
"Ah, dammit!" Nawaki groaned, spitting out blood as Takuya's figure appeared like a ghost, sending him flying once again.
Takuya glanced at the tooth Nawaki had lost on impact. "That can probably be reattached at the hospital… poor guy."
Sparring with Takuya to train taijutsu and kenjutsu was a brutal path full of pain and suffering.
Minato shook his head in sympathy and returned to his scroll. His focus now was mastering sealing techniques as a foundation for learning the Flying Thunder God technique.
He wasn't about to challenge Takuya until he'd mastered it. Otherwise, he'd get pummeled just like Nawaki.
Watching Takuya's lightning-fast movements, Minato mumbled to himself, "He's a total freak."
To be honest, Minato was envious of Takuya's insane physical abilities. But he knew better than to try and imitate him. Keeping chakra constantly focused in your feet to boost speed like Takuya did might work a couple of times, but overdoing it would destroy your body.
Takuya was just built differently.
Then again, Takuya was probably jealous of Minato's lightning-quick reflexes too.
It had been a while since Takuya had trained like this, and he had to admit it was a lot of fun. Of course, it was less fun for Nawaki, who was now bruised and bloodied with several missing teeth.
At least they could get those fixed at the hospital.
Though medical care wasn't cheap, thankfully Nawaki had enough battlefield merit to exchange for cash at the Hokage's office. He wouldn't have to worry about covering his hospital bills.
"Maybe you went a little too hard on him?" Minato asked, watching Nawaki limp toward the hospital. He elbowed Takuya as if to say, "Was that really necessary?"
Takuya just grinned. "Too hard? Count how many mistakes he made that would've gotten him killed on the battlefield. If it weren't for you and me covering him, do you really think he'd have made it out alive?"
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Note: If you're interested, you can read up to chapter 230+ at patreon.com/ Emik01. Don't forget to give a power stone for many bonus chapters