Chapter 126: Teaching My Little Brother-in-Law Rope Tree a Lesson

“You little brat, if I can handle your sister’s explosive temper, how could I not manage you...”

On the other side of the hot spring pool, Kato Gofu watched as his brother-in-law, Shigeki, choked on a couple of mouthfuls of hot spring water, his face flushed with anger as he glared at him.

Seeing that Shigeki had finally reacted, a triumphant smile spread across Kato Gofu’s face.

“What are you still standing there for? Why don’t you come over already?”

“If you don’t come, your brother-in-law really will have to come to you!”

As he spoke, Kato Gofu’s lazy eyes rolled playfully, following Shigeki’s furious gaze and deliberately shifting his glance underwater, making his meaning unmistakably clear.

Though angry, Shigeki, soaking on the opposite side of the pool, was determined not to go through what he had just experienced in the changing room again.

Under Kato Gofu’s smug grin, Shigeki hesitated but reluctantly edged closer.

Once beside Kato Gofu, Shigeki kept just the top of his head above the water, hiding everything below his chin beneath the surface; he even shielded his private parts underwater with both hands.

“What do you want to talk about?”

After hours of silent resistance since arriving at the gates of the Hidden Leaf Village and soaking in the hot spring, Shigeki finally spoke, his voice rough and awkward from adolescence—a distinctly unpleasant tone.

“You brat, you finally decided to speak!”

Relieved to hear him talk, Kato Gofu felt the tension ease. A rebellious boy in his youth—once he speaks, communication becomes easier.

Feeling more at ease, Kato Gofu reached out underwater to grab Shigeki’s hand.

“I’m already here; what are you waiting for, Wind Bro? Wind Bro, don’t—”

Startled by Kato Gofu’s movement, Shigeki thought he was about to grab his private parts again, his voice cracking in alarm as he tried to block and back away.

“Shut up, you little pest! What’s going on in that head of yours?”

“Come here now!”

Grabbing Shigeki’s arm, Kato Gofu pulled him closer and scooped up a handful of warm spring water to rub through Shigeki’s messy yellow hair, then wiped the water droplets from his face.

Shigeki struggled, keeping one hand firmly guarding his private area while moving the other to fend off Kato Gofu’s playful gestures, wriggling all over.

“Don’t move, I’m going to scrub you down!”

“I can wash myself! Don’t bother!” Shigeki snapped back.

Seeing him still struggling, Kato Gofu gave his head a playful but firm bop, scolding him.

“Stand still!”

The force was enough to silence Shigeki, who finally stopped moving and quieted his hoarse voice.

Perhaps the impact was enough to make Shigeki stop protecting himself, as he allowed Kato Gofu to wash away the grime on his body, both hands now cradling his head.

“You’ve been soaking in this hot spring for so long. You should be scrubbing properly.”

“Look at all this black mud under your elbows and behind your ears!”

Seeing Shigeki finally cooperate, Kato Gofu began to carefully wash those spots prone to dirt buildup.

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As Kato Gofu diligently scrubbed Shigeki clean, the latter’s attitude gradually softened, no longer as stubborn as before.

Still, perhaps out of embarrassment, youthful pride, or lingering resentment from the earlier teasing, Shigeki kept his lips tightly sealed.

“Weren’t you just calling me Wind Bro? Why so silent now?”

“It’s been over half a year since you graduated from being a ninja and became a Genin of Hidden Leaf, right? Didn’t you say you wanted to be the Hokage one day? Does the Hokage always avoid facing things?”

Hearing Kato Gofu mention his dream of becoming Hokage and realizing how he had been avoiding things, Shigeki felt some shame but stayed silent.

Though he had accepted Kato Gofu as his sister Tsunade’s boyfriend, Shigeki was still unwilling to acknowledge Kato Gofu as a mentor—no particular reason, just stubbornness.

At first, Shigeki was afraid Kato Gofu might take away his only family, his sister Tsunade.

Later, it became a habit to deliberately dislike Kato Gofu, constantly finding fault with him and causing trouble just to annoy him. As long as Kato Gofu was upset, Shigeki was happy—a simple child’s mindset.

After Tsunade officially accepted Kato Gofu’s courtship and they became a couple, Shigeki, as her brother, began to slowly soften his attitude, though mostly still out of opposition.

Habit became nature; Shigeki couldn’t quite let go of his last bit of resistance. Like this time, when Kato Gofu asked him to become his apprentice, Shigeki opposed simply for the sake of opposing.

Kato Gofu continued, “You little brat, do you have any manliness at all? You always say you’re a little man. Which man hides whenever problems come up?”

Seeing Shigeki’s attitude soften but still no response, Kato Gofu prodded him, hitting on what mattered most to Shigeki—his pride as a boy.

“You told me to shut up just now, didn’t you?”

“And anyway, mine’s not a little caterpillar. If yours is a caterpillar, what’s yours then?”

Shigeki muttered quietly, speaking the longest sentence yet.

Hearing Kato Gofu bring up manliness, Shigeki let go of his defense, no longer holding his hands protectively over his private parts.

From this, one could tell how deeply the earlier teasing had affected him—not just the physical sting but the emotional blow from the stark contrast. That hurt even more.

After all, when Kato Gofu teased Shigeki earlier, he was naked, and Kato Gofu’s own “little caterpillar” was hardly a caterpillar—it was more like a sleeping dragon...

“What did you say? Still talking back?”

Brushing aside Shigeki’s obstructing hands, Kato Gofu resumed scrubbing him.

“Take your hands away. Do you think I’m interested in your little caterpillar?”

Amused by Shigeki’s protective gesture, Kato Gofu chuckled.

“Wind Bro has one too, and mine’s a lot bigger. Yours is just smaller and cuter. What else? You haven’t even grown all the hair yet.”

Speaking playfully, Kato Gofu smirked and gestured toward the “sleeping dragon” beneath his own waist.

“...”

Shigeki was speechless, feeling utterly wounded once again.

He glanced at Kato Gofu’s waist, then his own, then back again, sinking into a deep disappointment.

Yet, despite the gloom, a hint of envy stirred within him. At twelve, he was entering puberty and understood the significance of this matter to his pride as a boy.

How could he not care about the difference between a little caterpillar and a sleeping dragon?

Then Shigeki finally spoke: “Wind Bro, why is yours so big and long? Is there a secret?”

His voice had lost its earlier hoarse, awkward quality and returned to a more normal tone.

Though he had been forced to speak earlier, he had deliberately used a rough voice to resist; now he no longer bothered to keep up the act.

“Heh, you little brat.”

Seeing Shigeki finally speak normally, Kato Gofu couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.

Especially noticing the envious and dejected look in Shigeki’s eyes as he glanced at Kato Gofu’s waist, Kato Gofu decided not to crush the boy’s pride further and prepared to comfort him.

“Alright, stop envying. Yours is still a little caterpillar.”

“It’ll grow longer, but whether it ever reaches my size? Most guys find that tricky...”

“Yours? Looks tough at your age—you’re already twelve...”

Kato Gofu tried to sound reassuring, but it hardly comforted Shigeki’s pride.

Especially as Kato Gofu spoke, he deliberately shifted his waist, waking the sleeping dragon beneath him...

Seeing Shigeki’s hopeful expression immediately collapse, Kato Gofu, satisfied with having dealt the blow, steered the conversation elsewhere.

“Enough scrubbing, go rinse off in the shower inside.”

“You little brat, look how dirty you are.”

“Soap and body wash—don’t expect me to do everything for you.”

“Okay,” Shigeki replied listlessly.

Kato Gofu pushed him out of the hot spring and toward the shower room, and Shigeki couldn’t resist glancing back with envious eyes at the sleeping dragon beneath Kato Gofu’s waist.

Kato Gofu laughed and finally revealed his trump card.

“Whether a little caterpillar can become a sleeping dragon depends partly on natural talent, but it’s not hopeless.”

“I happen to have a secret technique from the Kato clan.”

“The Kato family’s secret body art—interested?”

“For example, the Kato Hawk’s Grip. Your sister Tsunade knows its power well. You should ask her about it!”

As Kato Gofu’s voice trailed behind him, Shigeki turned slowly, eyes fixed on Kato Gofu’s smiling, lazy eyes, then glanced again at the sleeping dragon below.

“Really? You’re not lying? There really is a Kato family secret technique?”

Shigeki asked, full of admiration.

“Want to learn?”

Kato Gofu grinned mischievously, rolling his lazy eyes.

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