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"Kushina really invited you to go on a picnic with her?"
Takeshi's movements paused. Recalling yesterday's scene, he had impulsively agreed without considering the consequences.
Three Uchiha people and a Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki candidate—this combination just didn't feel right!
Hiruzen Sarutobi must be in a frenzy of suspicion by now.
But there was nothing he could do. Since he had already promised, he would never go back on his word, so he was definitely going to that picnic.
As for Hiruzen Sarutobi? Who cared about him?
As long as he didn't send too many Anbu members to interfere with their outing, it would be fine.
"Yeah, as you can see, aren't I preparing for the picnic right now?"
Saying that, Takeshi casually grabbed a few more bags of snacks.
"Wow, I knew you two could make it work!"
Minato followed behind, his eyes lighting up with excitement.
"Make what work, you Bastard!"
Takeshi suddenly stopped, turned around, and delivered a swift slap to the back of Minato's head.
"Don't overthink it. We're just pure friends."
Minato grimaced in pain, rolling his Byakugan: "Heh heh, just friends… only a ghost would believe that!"
"It's not just me, Sister Mikoto is coming too. Didn't I bring you along as well?"
Takeshi arrived at a dessert shop and had all the desserts inside packaged up.
"That's true, but didn't you say last time that you would never have too much contact with Kushina? How did it develop to the point of going on a picnic together in the blink of an eye?"
"…"
Takeshi fell silent. He really couldn't refute this point.
Before, he thought he and Kushina would only be ordinary classmates, so he made a big boast.
But who would have thought Kushina would be so proactive, and they accidentally became good friends.
So, between good friends, going out to play and organizing a picnic isn't too much, right?
Therefore… Takeshi chose to ignore Minato. This guy usually loved to gossip about his relationship with Kushina, going on and on. He suddenly found him quite annoying.
"Teuchi, twenty bowls of ramen, to go!"
Takeshi, arriving at Ichiraku Ramen, called out with practiced ease.
"Oh, right, make them salty."
He remembered that Kushina's favorite food was salty ramen.
Minato looked at Takeshi with contempt, thinking, *You even know what flavor food she likes clearly, and you still say there's no relationship?*
Sure enough, all Uchiha are a bunch of tsundere Bastards!
"Damn it, why isn't Takeshi here yet!"
Kushina, who had already arrived at the meeting spot, complained irritably.
"Maybe… he got lost."
Mikoto, standing nearby, tried to make excuses for Takeshi.
"How is that possible? This is clearly the path we take to school every day!"
Hearing that, Mikoto fell silent.
She couldn't refute it and couldn't make any more excuses for Takeshi's lateness, because what the other party said was true.
Under normal circumstances, he should have arrived long ago, but now not even a shadow could be seen.
Mikoto also felt very anxious, wondering what had happened to Takeshi.
Did he forget? Or did he oversleep?
Another ten minutes passed, and seeing no one still, Kushina could no longer hold back. Her fiery red hair fluttered, and a terrifying low pressure emanated from her body.
"Ahhh, that damned Bastard! This is my first time inviting a friend out to play, and he dares to stand me up! He really should just die!"
Kushina's anger had soared to its critical point, and she planned to head to the Uchiha Clan Grounds right now to drag Takeshi out and beat him up.
However, just as she was about to move, Mikoto suddenly tugged on her sleeve.
Kushina stumbled. Mikoto gestured for her to look the other way. Following the direction, she saw two figures appear in the distance.
One blond-haired person, wearing black sunglasses and swaggering… that one could be ignored.
Upon seeing the other figure, Kushina's eyes immediately widened, her watery gaze fixed firmly on him.
"Bastard, what took you so long!"
Hearing someone call him, Takeshi subconsciously looked up, and his gaze met Kushina's angry eyes.
The scorching summer heat made her a little sweaty, some strands of hair were damp and stuck to the sides of her face, and her small face looked incredibly rosy from the heat.
Adding to that, perhaps from being angry, her breathing was a little quick, causing her youthful chest to constantly rise and fall.
She was wearing a short, beige kimono with black patterns, her two slender white legs wrapped in black stockings, and a hairpin clipped to the left side of her red hair. In such a summer, she exuded an indescribable liveliness and youth.
Of course, if one excluded the fierce glare directed at him, it would be even more perfect.
"Uh…"
Seeing this, Takeshi was instantly stunned.
He was both amazed by Kushina's attire and guilty about his lateness.
Just now, his mind had been entirely focused on shopping, and he had forgotten to check the time.
For this, he also felt very apologetic.
Facing Kushina, who was standing right in front of him, head tilted up, glaring angrily, Takeshi silently turned his head away.
"Of course, we went to buy delicious food for you!"
But thankfully, Minato suddenly jumped in at this moment.
He was now the type who particularly loved to show off, especially when it came to matters concerning Takeshi, which made him even more excited.
So when Kushina questioned them, Minato stepped forward and immediately explained everything they had bought, why they bought it, and for whom, with words full of pride, as if it were something very worthy of boasting about.
In fact, it was true.
Because the amount Takeshi bought was not just a lot.
He almost bought out every single shop, taking all the items in the stores.
Such financial power was not something an ordinary civilian could achieve.
It was only because Takeshi was a member of the Uchiha Clan and also the Clan Leader's son.
Otherwise, such lavish spending would have been deadly.
Kushina had no friends before, so she barely ate out, always having meals at home.
And at home, Tsunade and Nawaki usually did the cooking.
Nawaki's cooking skills weren't great, but edible.
However, Tsunade's cooking could only be described as terrible; what she made was practically poison.
The kind that would kill a dog if it ate it.
So when Kushina heard Minato vividly describe those foods, she immediately started drooling.
She no longer thought about whether Takeshi was late or not; now, only delicious food remained in her mind.
Even Takeshi's image in her heart grew taller.
She was easily swayed by treats.
Seeing Kushina staring at him with eager eyes like a cute little cat, Takeshi was startled.
He thought, *That's it? It's solved?*
He really hadn't expected that he could easily win Kushina over with just food.
He had thought she would scold him for a while.
For the first time, he felt that bringing Minato was absolutely brilliant!