Chapter 129: Sister, why are you blushing?

Under the table, one of Tsunade’s small feet was held firmly in the grasp of Kato Mifune. Coming to her senses, a blushing Tsunade immediately attempted to channel her chakra to unleash her super-strength ninjutsu and break free.

"That’s enough, you little brat! Listen to your sister; this isn't for kids. Did you forget what I told you this afternoon?"

Before Tsunade could muster her strength to escape his hold, Mifune spoke up, scolding her younger brother, Nawaki, right along with her. He deliberately put on a stern face, pointedly referencing what he had said to Nawaki earlier that day.

*Did he say he’d be ruthless if I upset my sister again? Did Big Brother Mifune get lightheaded from the hot springs this afternoon?*

Nawaki stared at Mifune with a head full of question marks, unable to fathom why the man who had been so kind and amiable just moments ago had suddenly changed his demeanor. He tried desperately to recall the conversation from earlier, but with Mifune’s sudden shift in attitude, he couldn't be sure if such a threat had actually been made. After all, he was still annoyed with his sister, and Mifune had said so much that afternoon that he couldn't quite remember—perhaps he had?

In reality, Mifune had never threatened to be "ruthless" to Nawaki; he had simply told him not to upset Tsunade. Acting stern now was merely a ruse—a way to remind Tsunade that her brother was sitting right there.

As Mifune scolded his apprentice, his eyes—usually lazy and fish-like—now held a smug, mischievous glint as he watched the blush on his girlfriend’s cheeks deepen. Beneath the table, he used his limbs to pin Tsunade’s foot firmly in place, successfully weathering her first surge of super-strength.

Mifune’s tactic worked. Tsunade remembered that she wasn't alone with him; her brother was right beside them. If she unleashed her full strength to break free, Nawaki would definitely notice. And if he did, how could she explain such a shameful position? Was she supposed to tell him she was tired from walking and asked her boyfriend to massage her acupoints to relieve the fatigue?

*Ugh, this scoundrel, he doesn't even care about the occasion...* Tsunade cursed her boyfriend silently. She realized she couldn't continue like this, so she mouthed silently, while Nawaki wasn't looking: "You jerk, let me go! Nawaki is still watching!"

Mifune only responded with an even more smug, wicked grin. He had just realized that this current situation with Tsunade was rather... interesting.

Tsunade gnashed her teeth in anger, but she dared not increase the force of her struggles. She kept her movements light, still trying to break free, but the posture was simply too embarrassing. Ironically, this played right into Mifune’s hands—instead of him massaging her, she was inadvertently massaging him. The pressure of her foot was neither too light nor too heavy, and the spot was just so... precise.

"Ahem, ahem."

Mifune was so comfortable he almost groaned aloud, so he coughed twice to divert his attention. Just then, the proprietress of the barbecue restaurant knocked and entered with a waiter to serve the dishes. Tsunade didn't dare struggle further, which prevented Mifune from making any embarrassing sounds on the spot.

Mifune, being thick-skinned, couldn't bear to let go of her foot. He maintained a serious expression while the waiter served the food, all the while keeping her foot under his control beneath the table. The proprietress, being quite thoughtful, placed the special "Towering Beef" dish right in front of Mifune, casting a knowing, suggestive smile at Tsunade before leaving.

"Alright, it's getting late. Let's eat! I'm starting!" Mifune began placing the ingredients on the grill.

"I'm starting too!" Nawaki, forgetting his earlier confusion, decided that food was far more important than trivial questions. His stomach was already growling.

Tsunade looked silently at the two men—one old, one young—eating in perfect synchronicity. One had short, light-blue hair, the other short, yellow hair. One was her boyfriend, the other her own brother. And that scoundrel with the blue hair hadn't even stopped controlling her foot while he ate.

Once the staff had left, Tsunade, unable to focus on her food, began to struggle gently again. Opposite her, Mifune’s eating rhythm faltered for a second, then he continued to shovel food into his mouth with gusto. The satisfied, comfortable expression on his face made the food on the table seem even more delicious.

"Nawaki, have more of their secret snow-beef steak. It's from the plateau of the Land of Snow—the taste of nature's white snow elves. It's excellent." Mifune enjoyed himself beneath the table while acting perfectly professional as he introduced the food.

"Mmm, Big Brother Mifune, you have some too. This steak is really something else." Nawaki spoke with his mouth full, praising the deliciousness of the secret steak. He was enjoying it so much that, in his delight, he wanted to share it with his sister.

"Huh? Sister, why are you blushing?" Nawaki, looking up to share the food, finally noticed that Tsunade wasn't eating and that her cheeks were flushed crimson. "Is the steak not to your liking?"

Blood is thicker than water; seeing his sister’s unusual state, Nawaki forgot his earlier annoyance and asked with genuine concern.

"Ahem, your sister isn't refusing to eat. She's waiting for this. Don't you remember what I said? It's for clearing the energy flow," Mifune said, picking up a piece of grilled beef and placing it on Tsunade’s plate with a mischievous smirk. "As for why she’s blushing, it’s probably because the grill in this room makes it a bit warm. She’s just hot..."

"Is that so?" Nawaki asked. Hearing that it wasn't a big deal, he went back to his meal.

*Ugh, this scoundrel!* Tsunade had realized by now that the more she struggled, the more Mifune enjoyed it, especially given where her foot was positioned. The sensation against her foot was becoming increasingly hard—it was starting to hurt!

"Eat? Yes, I'll eat now! If you like the food so much, Nawaki, you should have more too," Tsunade said, her voice warm toward her brother, though a dangerous smile played on her lips. She picked up the beef Mifune had placed on her plate and bit into it hard, as if she were biting into a certain someone. "Sister loves this part the most—it's great for clearing the energy flow, and it’s much better when you bite down hard! Isn't that right, Mifune~?"

She finished with a sweet, coquettish voice, casting a menacing look toward the area beneath the table.

*Danger! The tigress is about to lash out! I think I went too far...*

Mifune felt a shiver in a very sensitive area, nearly jumping out of his skin. The hardness he had been enjoying instantly went limp. He could no longer maintain his smug grin and didn't dare waste time talking. He switched his eyes from his lazy, fish-like state to a handsome, starry-blue gaze, blinking rapidly at Tsunade to project tenderness and love. At the same time, he quickly reached under the table to grab her foot.

This time, Mifune honestly refrained from any mischief, using his "Kato Hawk" hands to give his girlfriend a genuinely skilled and therapeutic foot massage.

"So mysterious. Even if it's effective, I can't eat it, right? Didn't you two say kids shouldn't have this?" Nawaki looked at them strangely, feeling as though they were hiding something from him. "Fine, I won't eat it then. The other food here is good enough."

Nawaki assumed they were just gatekeeping the secret dish. He then decided to use this moment of improved relations with his sister to ask her something. "By the way, Sister, I wanted to ask you about something." He took a big, satisfied bite of steak.

"Go ahead. What is it?" Tsunade ignored her boyfriend’s starry-eyed look and turned to her brother. She felt that her brother was much more pleasant than that lecherous scoundrel. As she felt Mifune’s hands working on her foot, she let out a silent, annoyed *Hmph!*

"It's about this afternoon. Big Brother Mifune said he wanted to teach me the Kato Clan’s secret taijutsu, the 'Kato Hawk Hand.' He said it was incredibly powerful and that you knew all about it. I wanted to ask, just how strong is it...?"

Nawaki asked the question innocently, unaware that it had been a load of nonsense Mifune had fed him earlier. He didn't notice his sister’s beautiful eyebrows twitching with rage, nor the imaginary sign floating over Mifune’s head: *CRITICAL DANGER!*

"KATO MIFUNE!!!"

"What exactly did you tell Nawaki this afternoon?"

Tsunade could no longer suppress her fury. She didn't care about the risk of being found out anymore. Finding her foot in the perfect position, she gathered all her strength and stomped down hard on a very specific place!

"Hiss!"

Mifune gasped, his starry eyes widening. He truly hadn't expected Tsunade to actually do it. Despite his years of physical training and conditioned reflexes, which minimized the damage, it was truly, deeply, and agonizingly painful.