Naruto: Becoming a master taijutsu using martial arts.

As we got closer to the camp, my muscles started to relax. The cool night air helped cool off the heat from the battle, but the atmosphere between us was still tense. Tokuma was even more arrogant than usual, and Jimei... well, Jimei was being Jimei.

For a second, I considered whether the other team was going to be alright left behind like that. After we snatched their flag, we basically just bounced, but hey, that wasn't really my problem. I wasn't about to stick around and babysit Daichi when he woke up.

Hiyomi was leaning against a tree with her half-closed eyes, practically half asleep. How did people from the Nara clan always look like they were one blink away from passing out? 

Seriously, what was it about Nara clan members and sleep? Was it some kind of secret technique? Were they all narcoleptic? Did their jutsu come with a side effect of always being tired?

Natori, the only one unaffected by anything, was calmly sharpening a kunai as if he were casually working on a sculpture. Dude had no chill. It was like he had a built-in "I don't care" button, and he was pressing it nonstop.

"Hey, everyone! We're back!" Jimei announced way too loudly for the mood, flinging his arms up like he was waiting for applause.

There was a long, awkward silence. Hiyomi was still looking at the sky like it was the most fascinating thing she'd ever seen, and Natori, of course, was still busy pretending he didn't exist. I rolled my eyes.

Jimei, clearly not one to be ignored, waved his flag around like he just won the lottery. 

"Look, guys! We got a flag!"

"'We'?" Tokuma scoffed, raising an eyebrow like Jimei was a bug he was about to squish. "The only thing you did was nearly get yourself killed while screaming like a five-year-old."

"That's not true!" Jimei protested, crossing his arms. "I was distracting him on purpose! Ninja strategy, duh! Something you wouldn't understand, Tokuma!"

"Oh yeah, because screaming 'No, please!' is such a winning strategy." Tokuma shot back, absolutely savage.

I sighed. This wasn't going to end anytime soon and as much as I was enjoying the comedic value of it, we were still in the middle of a survival exercise.

"Alright, alright, enough with you two." I cut in before Jimei could pull out the emotional violin. "We got the flag, we're still alive—barely—and that's what matters."

Jimei looked at me like I was some kind of award ceremony host. 

"Kenshin, tell them! I was so important!"

"Uh... yeah." I started, trying not to burst out laughing. "You did keep the enemy busy, in your own... special way."

"See? I told you!" Jimei beamed like he just solved world hunger.

"Yeah, 'cause nothing says 'elite ninja' like being a walking target." Tokuma said, rolling his eyes. "So helpful."

Natori had apparently gotten tired of standing like a statue, staring at the boar meat, and had come over to us with that serious expression on his face.

"Think we have enough for the night?" he asked, pointing to the remaining meat. "Time's ticking, and we still need to be careful. This survival exercise isn't just about fighting."

I looked at the remaining meat, thinking about how much we'd eaten and how much we might need later. One thing I'd learned since being reborn in this world was how much chakra could make you hungry.

The boar we'd killed was huge. Even though we'd eaten a lot, there was still plenty left. Honestly, my biggest worry wasn't running out of food but wasting it.

"Yeah, we're good for now. I'm just worried it'll spoil."

"Oh, I've got that covered." Natori said, looking like he'd just figured out the meaning of life. "I'll smoke some of it overnight. The smoke'll keep it from spoil."

I raised an eyebrow. I knew smoking meat helped preserve it, but I didn't expect a guy like Natori to know about it

"You know how to smoke meat?"

"My grandpa was a ninja cook."

Ah, that explained it. This was something I didn't know before being reborn in this world but learned at the academy. Ninja cooks were rare. These ninjas didn't belong to any hidden village but trained at a special cooking school where they learned how to use chakra to enhance their culinary skills.

Apparently, these ninja chefs were highly sought after, with some even working in the Daimyo's palace. It surprised me that Natori was the grandson of one, since it was uncommon for the family members of these cooks to join the active forces of a hidden village like Konoha.

"Oh, of course, totally normal." I said, trying not to look so surprised.

"Yeah," Natori said with a little grin, like he wasn't embarrassed by it at all. "He taught me a few tricks when I was younger. You can use chakra to preserve food, not just cook it."

"Damn!" I said, impressed. "That's some next-level survival stuff."

"Yeah, it's pretty handy." Natori said casually. "You can use it to smoke, dry, and even speed up cooking. Useful in the field."

"Okay, I'm officially impressed." I said, giving him a thumbs up. "Survival expert, huh?"

And then, the conversation was interrupted by a loud scream. Not a battle cry, but the unmistakable sound of Jimei trying to impress Hiyomi.

"Hiyomi-chan! Hiyomi-chan!"

Great. Here we go again.

"You won't believe it, Hiyomi-chan!" Jimei said, bouncing up and down in place like a ping-pong ball. "The battle with the other team was... it was... unbelievable! There was this guy loaded with kunai, and I was like... ZIP... ZUP... Dodged all of them!"

"Uh-huh." Hiyomi mumbled, still leaning against her backpack, one leg lazily stretched out. She cracked open one eye, clearly not giving a single care about what Jimei was saying. But did Jimei care? Nope. He kept talking anyway.

"But that Yamanaka couldn't handle me, I punched him right in the face!" Jimei went on, sounding way too proud of himself.

"Yamanaka? You fought against Inomatsu?" Hiyomi actually woke up for a second there. A little miracle happened.

"Yeah! We fought Inomatsu and Daichi. You know them, right, Hiyomi-chan?" Jimei looked like he had just won the lottery, realizing she was actually listening to him.

"Yeah... we used to play together when we were kids..."

Whoa, that was new info. I thought the whole Ino-Shika-Cho thing was just for the clan leaders' kids. But apparently, it was common for kids from those clans to hang out together.

"That guy... He's really troublesome." Hiyomi said, and I couldn't help but agree.

Honestly, if there was one thing I agreed with her on, it was that. Inomatsu was completely insane. If one of those kunai had hit a vital spot, we'd all be dead by now.

"And you know what else? He looked scared when he realized I was in control of the situation! I went straight for him, he threw more kunai, and I... BAM!" Jimei made an exaggerated punching gesture in the air.

"Control, huh?" Tokuma interrupted with his cold voice and sharp gaze. He was leaning against a nearby tree, arms crossed, with an air that screamed he didn't even care to hide his disdain. "You almost got hit about three times, if you want to know."

"Hey! That's a lie!" Jimei spun to face Tokuma, his face turning red and his fists clenched. "If anyone almost got hit, it was YOU! And for the record, you weren't even there during my fight with Inomatsu!"

"I don't know if your tiny brain can remember things, but I saved you twice today. First when you were the only one who couldn't beat your opponent, and second when me and Kenshin had to save your butt from Inomatsu. If it weren't for me, you'd be dead right now." Tokuma was on fire with that smug attitude.

"That wasn't saving me! I was in control of that situation too!" Jimei shouted back, like a kid who didn't want to admit he needed help.

"Sure, sure." Tokuma smirked, sarcastic as ever. "You looked so in control when you were lying on the ground trying to crawl away."

"I WASN'T CRAWLING!" Jimei shouted, clearly more annoyed than ever.

Hiyomi let out the world's most uninterested yawn, like she was in some sort of bored movie montage.

"You guys are so loud..." She closed her eyes again, sinking back into her backpack. "This is even tiring to listen to."

"See, Hiyomi-chan? Even you think Tokuma is annoying!" Jimei pointed at Tokuma, hoping for some sympathy from her.

"You're both annoying." Hiyomi answered, dragging her words. "And about Inomatsu... He's always been like that. When we were kids, he couldn't even hurt a butterfly."

Jimei's eyes widened, shaking his head and I felt my own surprise. That psycho?

"What?! That guy? He was all serious yesterday! Threw, like, fifty kunai at me!"

"He threw five." Tokuma corrected, with zero chill.

"Of course he looked serious." Hiyomi continued, ignoring the bickering. "He always does that 'I'm-dangerous' face, but deep down, he's a coward. He probably apologized to each kunai before he threw it."

"Coward?! He didn't apologize for anything!" Jimei exclaimed, gesturing wildly. "He was more like a psychopath with all those kunai!"

"Psychopath, coward... whatever." Hiyomi shrugged and went back to playing with a stick. "If you didn't die, it's fine."

Before Jimei could reply, Natori approached, holding a large leaf he was using as a tray, with chunks of smoked meat on it.

"Food's ready. Who wants some? Hiyomi-san, do you want meat?"

Hiyomi, who looked like she was about to fall asleep, slowly sat up. When Natori offered her a piece, her cheeks immediately turned red.

"T-thank you, Natori-kun..." She carefully took the meat, as if it were made of glass, avoiding looking directly into his eyes.

Jimei, who was mid-shout at Tokuma, suddenly froze. He looked at Hiyomi, then at Natori, then at the meat in his hands, and his face fell faster than a lead balloon. He mumbled something under his breath, looking like he just lost a game of chess to a toddler.

I sighed and looked at the sky. Seriously, I can't wait for these two days to be over.