Chapter 57: Nawaki's Ambitious Dreams

"Is there something behind this?" Minato instinctively reached out to pull it back, but Takuya shouted, "Stop!" Unfortunately, it was too late—Minato had already lifted the white cloth.

Upon seeing what lay behind it, Minato shuddered, dropping the cloth as if he'd been shocked. He turned back to the medical ninja who had tricked them with an exasperated look.

“Hahaha...” The medical ninja laughed heartily. “It's been a while since I've come across such amusing kids like you. Just messing with you a bit. But since you're here to help, you’ll need to get used to all of this. By the way, who brought you here?”

“Tsunade,” Takuya replied, feeling somewhat irritated.

“Oh, Tsunade, huh?” The medical ninja continued to treat the patient’s wounds, applying a layer of ointment to the poor man’s body. The patient would undoubtedly be left with pockmarked skin, resembling a honeycomb once he was fully healed.

It was then that the medical ninja suddenly paused, his hands frozen in place as he processed the name. He looked up in surprise. “Who?”

“Tsunade,” Takuya repeated, shrugging as if it was no big deal.

“Did Tsunade-sama bring you here?” The medical ninja asked again, wanting to be sure.

“Yes, Senpai. We came to the camp with Tsunade-sama,” Minato replied politely.

“Hahaha, that's great!” After standing there stunned for a few seconds, the medical ninja suddenly jumped up like an excited child, nearly hitting the tent’s roof. “This is fantastic!”

Has this guy lost his mind? Minato instinctively moved closer to Takuya, whispering, “What’s wrong with this senpai?”

“How would I know?” Takuya shot him a look. We both came here together—how am I supposed to know why he’s acting like this?

Takuya guessed that the medical ninja was so happy because Tsunade was back and the medical unit's backbone had returned. But was it really necessary to get this excited? Tsunade had only been gone for about ten days.

Even before, Tsunade rarely stayed in camp. Most of the time, she was on the battlefield with Orochimaru and Jiraiya, fighting the enemy. She only came back to help make antidotes or treat severely injured shinobi.

After laughing for a while, the medical ninja realized he had lost his composure. He coughed awkwardly, trying to cover up his excitement. With a somewhat unnatural expression, he asked, “So, did Tsunade-sama ask you to do anything specific, or are you just here to help out in the medical unit?”

Takuya and Minato exchanged glances. Minato gave his trademark sunny smile and scratched his head. “Senpai, Tsunade-sama asked us to find Nawaki-senpai—Tsunade-sama’s younger brother.”

“Nawaki? Are you sure?” The medical ninja’s previously awkward expression turned strange upon hearing this.

Something’s off! Takuya could sense that something was wrong. They might be walking into a trap.

“Senpai, is there an issue with finding Nawaki?” Even Minato was starting to feel uneasy.

“No, no,” the medical ninja quickly shook his head and helpfully pointed outside the tent to where Nawaki was working. “You’ll find him there. But be warned, the work might be tough. Good luck, you two. Hard work is better than losing your life on the battlefield.”

As they left the tent, Minato whispered, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

“You don’t need to have a bad feeling—it’s definitely going to be rough,” Takuya replied, his tone resigned.

When the two finally found Nawaki, Minato understood exactly what Takuya had meant earlier.

“Takuya, Minato?” Nawaki looked surprised when he saw them. “What are you two doing on the front lines?”

“We came with your sister. She told us to find you,” Takuya explained, spreading his hands. They were in unfamiliar territory, so sticking with Nawaki wasn’t too bad. At least they wouldn’t be randomly targeted, even if the work turned out to be hard.

They were on the front lines now—did they really expect an easy life? That was out of the question.

“That’s great!” Nawaki exclaimed, pulling them into the tent. Embarrassed, he quickly tidied up the messy space. “It’s a bit chaotic since I’ve been living here alone. You guys can stay with me from now on. This is one of the safest spots in the camp, so there’s no risk of enemy attacks. You can rest easy here.”

I finally understand why Tsunade is such a slob. It must run in the Senju family. Takuya thought to himself. The sister is a mess, and so is the brother.

“It’s fine; we’ll help clean up. Right, Takuya?” Minato nudged Takuya, signaling him to start helping.

On the way here, Takuya and Tsunade had been constantly teasing each other, leaving Minato with frayed nerves. But while Tsunade and Takuya were close, Nawaki’s relationship with them was just average.

Now wasn’t the time to embarrass Nawaki.

Takuya wasn’t clueless, nor did he intend to make things difficult for Nawaki. Just as Minato thought, even though they weren’t particularly close to Nawaki, they still had to maintain a certain level of respect. It wasn’t like with Tsunade, where Takuya could tease her without worry.

The three of them quickly got to work, and it wasn’t long before they had the tent cleaned up. Both Takuya and Minato were handy with their hands, and neither wanted to live in a dirty, smelly space.

In this terrible environment, getting a good night's sleep was already a luxury. The least they could do was make themselves as comfortable as possible.

After some hard work, they finally finished cleaning up. As they took a break, Takuya casually asked, “By the way, what exactly are we supposed to be doing? Didn’t Orochimaru take you to the battlefield?”

“Sensei said I should stay in camp to gain some experience first. He’ll take me to the battlefield later,” Nawaki explained, his face filled with admiration as he mentioned Orochimaru. Clenching his fists, he confidently declared, “I’ll study hard under Orochimaru-sensei and become a powerful shinobi like my grandfather, to protect Konoha, my family, and the villagers.”

“Ahaha...” Minato scratched his head awkwardly. Nawaki’s ambition seemed even more unrealistic than his own. Minato only wanted to become Hokage, but Nawaki? He wanted to stand shoulder to shoulder with Hashirama Senju, something most people wouldn’t even dream of.

It helped that Nawaki’s grandfather was Hashirama. If anyone else had such lofty ambitions, they’d be laughed at.

At the very least, Minato was too shy to go around saying he wanted to be Hokage, to bring peace to the ninja world, and end all wars.

Minato had stopped openly talking about his dreams, all thanks to Takuya. Since they were kids, whenever Minato talked about his ideals and aspirations, Takuya would just laugh at him.

Over time, Minato started keeping these thoughts to himself. He realized that constantly talking about dreams and ideals felt kind of embarrassing.

Your ambition is really grand, Takuya thought. It might not come true in this lifetime.

“By the way, you still haven’t told us what kind of work we’ll be doing,” Takuya said.

“Work?” Nawaki paused, and the confidence on his face faded. “Uh
 It’s hard to explain. You’ll see tonight. For now, let’s just rest. Our work starts in the evening. Oh, and don’t wander around the camp. You might be mistaken for a spy.”

“What about food?” Takuya asked. The rain was still pouring, and the ground was a muddy mess. Who would be wandering around for no reason?

All Takuya cared about was staying comfortable and not going hungry. As for everything else, it could wait.

Takuya didn’t mind fighting on the battlefield. After all, killing was part of a ninja’s life—as long as he wasn’t being sent on a suicide mission.

“Are you hungry?” Nawaki pulled out two black, rock-hard ration bars and a handful of soldier pills.

“...”

Takuya and Minato stared at the food Nawaki offered them in silence.

“What’s wrong?” Nawaki asked, puzzled by their reaction. “Didn’t you say you were hungry?”

Minato glanced at Takuya before asking hesitantly, “Is there anything else?”

“Nope,” Nawaki shook his head. “There’s cooked food at mealtimes, but it doesn’t taste great. Honestly, the dry rations are better, even if they’re a bit hard. As for the soldier pills, I wouldn’t recommend eating them unless you have to.”

Step aside! Takuya nudged Minato out of the way and seriously said to Nawaki, “Go to the logistics department and get some ingredients. Don’t forget the firewood. We’ll cook for ourselves. If anyone asks, just say your sister wants to practice her cooking skills, so she needs the supplies.”