Starting From Being Adopted by the Second Hokage!

Senju Tobirama's residence.

"Brat, you're just in time. Go cook for me."

Senju Tobirama walked out of his study, looking utterly exhausted.

This past year, he had been devoting himself to researching a jutsu that could return the dead to the Shinobi world.

Despite hundreds—if not thousands—of experiments, he still hadn't made any progress.

The key to this technique lay in summoning the soul of the deceased, and that step was the hardest part.

To gain control over the soul, he planned to develop a jutsu that could restrain it—tentatively named [Soul Restraint].

As long as he succeeded in creating the Soul Restraint technique, he would be able to control the soul of the dead and thus complete the process of summoning them.

Senju Tobirama was so obsessed with researching Soul Restraint that he neglected food and sleep.

During this period, aside from his sister-in-law occasionally bringing him food, he relied solely on soldier pills to get by.

His mouth was so bland he could hardly taste anything anymore.

So when he saw Renya return, he immediately ordered him to make food.

During the days when Renya wasn't around, Tobirama would grumble,

"That brat's always out on missions and never comes home..."

Hearing Tobirama's words, Renya's eyelid twitched violently, and he silently cursed,

"This old man's using me as a cook again."

The worst part? He had just walked in and hadn't even had a sip of water.

"I'm injured," Renya said helplessly.

Only then did Senju Tobirama notice the bandages wrapped around Renya's abdomen.

"It's just a minor wound. Bear with it for now. I haven't eaten in days."

Renya: "???"

Wait, what does you not eating for days have to do with me?

"I really don't want to say this, but... You're in your thirties already. Can't you cook for yourself when you're hungry?" Renya gave him a complicated look.

That expression was like he was staring at an idiot...

Tobirama's old face flushed slightly with embarrassment. He explained,

"I've been busy developing jutsu. Where would I find the time to cook?"

"You've been secretly researching forbidden jutsu behind Hashirama-sama's back again," Renya sighed.

In his earlier impression, Tobirama had always worked on prestigious and noble ninjutsu.

Until Renya personally saw the jutsu scrolls in Tobirama's study—and realized the techniques were extremely abstract.

Some were downright morally repugnant...

No wonder Hashirama-sama had forbidden him from researching further.

Who knew what kind of world-breaking jutsu he'd come up with if left unchecked?

Though Tobirama had been strictly prohibited by Hashirama-sama, this old man still continued researching in secret.

After Renya caught him, Tobirama even threatened him not to tell his brother.

In the end, Renya could only turn a blind eye and pretend not to know anything.

"The jutsu I'm developing isn't forbidden. It's the legacy I want to leave for the village," Tobirama said solemnly.

In his mind, yes, the jutsu he developed were indeed dangerous—but if properly mastered, they could unleash tremendous power.

Even if he and his brother were no longer around in the future, the village could use these jutsu to fend off invasions from other nations.

Renya made no comment.

Tobirama's jutsu were undeniably powerful.

If one could master just one of them, it would result in a massive strength boost.

Just like the [Multiple Shadow Clone Technique] and [Flying Thunder God Technique].

After Naruto and Minato learned them, they practically became their signature skills.

But the problem with Tobirama's jutsu was that although they were powerful, they had incredibly high requirements for the user.

The [Multiple Shadow Clone Technique] demanded an enormous amount of chakra.

If the user lacked sufficient chakra reserves, it could lead to chakra exhaustion—and even death.

As for the [Flying Thunder God Technique], it required mastery over the complex principles of space-time ninjutsu, along with extremely high talent.

In short, it was extremely difficult for the average person to learn…

Renya had long wanted to learn the Flying Thunder God, but he never found the right moment to ask.

Since Tobirama never offered, Renya didn't feel it was appropriate to bring it up.

Even if the old man did teach him, there was no guarantee he'd be able to learn it.

"Alright, brat. Go make food already," Tobirama urged.

Renya sighed helplessly and reluctantly walked into the kitchen.

"Compared to being a ninja, I really feel more like a cook."

Ever since he had been taken in by Senju Tobirama, he had become the family's personal chef.

Every time he came back from a mission, the first thing he did wasn't rest—it was cook.

At first, it wasn't so bad—he only had to cook and didn't have to deal with anything else.

But now it was different. Not only did he have to cook, but also shop for groceries and wash the dishes.

This old man always claimed he was "busy" and shoved all the dirty and tiring work onto him.

Tobirama watched Renya head into the kitchen with a complicated expression and muttered softly to himself:

"Brat… I actually wish more than anything that you'd just become a cook..."

The ninja world was far too dangerous—a life where you were always one step away from death.

He would rather Renya had no ninja talent and opened a small restaurant in the village.

As long as Konoha wasn't destroyed, Renya could live his life peacefully as an ordinary person.

After all, having lived with him for so many years—hell, even raising a dog that long would make you feel attached, let alone a living, breathing person.

Naturally, Tobirama didn't want to see Renya die on the battlefield.

But there was no choice. Since Renya had become a ninja, there were things he would inevitably have to face...

Tobirama couldn't protect this brat for a lifetime, could he?

...

At the dinner table.

The delicious meal made Tobirama forget all his exhaustion and worries.

As expected, no one could beat this brat's cooking!

After downing two bowls of rice, he still wasn't satisfied and helped himself to a third.

This brat often went out on missions and sometimes wouldn't return for weeks.

If he didn't eat more now, it'd be back to choking down soldier pills in the lab later.

Just as Tobirama was enjoying his food, Renya asked,

"Is Sakurako-neesan about to give birth?"

The "Sakurako" Renya referred to was the wife of Senju Hashirama's son—in other words, Tsunade's mother.

"She should be... It's probably going to happen in the next few days," Tobirama said, putting down his chopsticks.

"Got it. I'll make sure to visit Sakurako-neesan when the time comes."

"Mm. Remember to bring your blessings to Fujikage and Sakurako."

"Don't worry."

Fujikage was Senju Hashirama's son, and thus Tobirama's nephew.

At first, Renya had been curious where Hashirama's son had gone.

Later, he learned that Hashirama had sent his son off to the Daimyō's court for a political marriage.

Senju Fujikage had been living with his wife in the capital of the Land of Fire and had never returned to Konoha.

So it was perfectly normal for Renya not to know him.

If not for his wife's upcoming childbirth, Fujikage probably wouldn't have returned this time either...

From what Tobirama had told him, Renya learned that Hashirama and his son had a poor relationship and hadn't spoken in a long time.

The root cause? The political marriage.

They said it nicely—it was a diplomatic alliance.

But to put it bluntly, it was marrying into the other family.

Renya still couldn't figure out what Hashirama-sama was thinking, actually sending his own son to be a live-in husband.

That was what started the rift between father and son.

As for why Fujikage came back this time?

Renya suspected it was the classic case of "reality hits different"...

After all, Sakurako-neesan was pretty darn good-looking.

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Pls Drop some Power Stones

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