Chapter 332: Master or Girlfriend?
“I’m back.”
The door to the Hamano mansion was slowly opened, and a sound filled with vitality came from the entrance. A blond young man, with a face radiating the sour smell of romance, walked in from the doorway, smiling foolishly at the chat content on his phone screen as he walked.
“Shinichi kid, come here for a moment.”
Shun Muto, who was sitting in the living room smoking, naturally heard the boy’s boisterous commotion. He pressed the cigarette butt in his hand into the ashtray on the table, waved his right hand gently, and several sword energies shot out from his palm, clearing the dense smoke in the living room.
He beckoned to Sato Shinichi, who walked past covering his nose, and said,
“What is it, Uncle Gen?”
With a somewhat strange yet vigilant expression, Sato Shinichi carefully walked over.
Although Shun Muto, as an elder, was someone he should respect, his years of experience being tricked told the young man that nothing good generally happened when he interacted with him.
“Speaking of which, do I seem that unwelcome? I haven’t led you astray since Hamano disciplined me.”
He touched the back of his head with some awkwardness. Even Shun Muto, whose face was as thick as a city wall, felt somewhat embarrassed when he saw the boy’s vigilance, which was as natural as a physiological instinct.
Sigh, kids don’t grow up to be easily fooled. The sensible and straightforward little Shinichi of the past has also become shrewd.
“Ahem, let’s be serious. I have something important to tell you this time.”
Clearing his throat, Shun Muto also sat up straight, intending to appear more like a serious and reliable adult. Unfortunately, his slovenly and greasy uncle demeanor couldn’t make him look serious.
“Mm-hmm, Uncle Gen, you say.”
Listening to Shun Muto’s words, Sato Shinichi also became serious. He put his mobile phone into his pocket, put on a solemn expression, and stood still.
After all, apart from his identity as a unserious uncle, Shun Muto also had the appearance of a strong professional hero.
“Your master just contacted me. He’s a little injured and needs to be treated over there. He probably won’t be back for a few days and asked me to supervise your training during this period, so don’t be lazy.”
“What! Old man is injured? Is it serious?!”
The boy’s excited words directly interrupted Shun Muto, and he looked at Shun Muto anxiously.
“Hey, Shinichi kid, calm down. It’s a minor problem, a minor problem.”
Seeing the boy who didn’t even listen to the rest of his words and looked worried, Shun Muto waved his hand helplessly.
“That guy Lei is more likely due to overuse of his abilities. His injuries are all minor. The problems over there have basically been resolved. The main reason is that he doesn’t want to endure the bumpy train ride back, so he plans to recuperate until his abilities recover before returning.”
The lake district is a day’s drive from Kyoto. Hamano Tsukasa, who called himself old bones, certainly didn’t want to go through such bumps back to Kyoto. So he decided to recuperate for a few days before leaving, and also to prevent the enemy organization from launching a surprise attack.
“Oh… that’s good.”
Hearing Shun Muto’s explanation, Sato Shinichi slowly calmed down. In fact, the boy understood Hamano Tsukasa’s strength better than anyone. His momentary loss of composure was just a result of his concern.
“I know you care about your master, but if Old Lei asks me to train you… my methods have been taught to you before, and they’re not very suitable.”
“How about this? I can spar with you a couple of times in the next few days to see how much you’ve improved over the years?”
Seeing Sato Shinichi return to normal, Shun Muto lowered his head and started thinking about training. As Hamano Tsukasa’s adopted son, Sato Shinichi had been doted on by many aunts and uncles since childhood.
At that time, Shun Muto even considered passing on his legacy to him, but the boy truly lacked strong talent in swordsmanship, so he had to give up helplessly.
“Okay!”
Hearing this arrangement, Sato Shinichi became excited again in an instant.
Opportunities to spar with Shun Muto were very rare. This troublesome pigeon enthusiast, after being pestered by him for practice a few times, had left him with a “I will definitely next time” and then decisively ran away. Just as the other party said, the last time they sparred was a few years ago.
On the other hand, he usually sparred most with his senior brother, Akane Bujin. Although his senior brother basically never refused his practice requests, it was obvious that interacting with strong practitioners with different abilities and combat styles would lead to faster improvement than being confined to one’s own methods.
“Eh, I knew you’d say that. But I can only accompany you for these few days. I’ve been on vacation for too long, and the Nagoya branch has already started urging me. However, Dragonji should be back in a couple of days, and he can take over for me.”
Maintaining a serious demeanor for too long was truly tiring. After finishing the important matters, Shun Muto was too lazy to sit upright and directly leaned back into the sofa, crossing his legs as he replied.
“Hmm, Aunt Dragonji is coming back?”
“Yes, about what you mentioned before, I think we should ask Dragonji. After all, she spoils you more than Hamano does.”
Casually picking up a snack from the table and putting it in his mouth, Shun Muto, now relaxed, started giving bad advice again.
“What I mentioned before? Is it about Kazumi’s problem?”
“Yes. If you go directly to ask Old Lei, I think you’ll be completely rejected. But if you ask Dragonji to ask, there’s still a pretty good chance~”
As if thinking of something interesting, Shun Muto’s tone became cheerful, and he winked at Sato Shinichi.
“Ah, that might not be good…”
Sato Shinichi paused somewhat awkwardly and replied with difficulty.
Even Sato Shinichi, whose emotional intelligence was so low, could see some clues about the relationship between his master and Aunt Dragonji, so what Shun Muto said was not unreasonable.
But the problem was that his master had an extremely bad relationship with Uncle Kusakabe in his memory. Although they were friends who acknowledged each other, their interaction was particularly unwilling to admit defeat. Even though he and Aoi got along well at their generation, it couldn’t ease their combative interactions.
And for Hamano Tsukasa to lower himself and ask an old opponent for something would probably be more unbearable than killing him.
“Oh, even for Little Kazumi, it’s not okay? Girls only actively pursue someone when they like them very much~”
Seeing the boy’s hesitation, Shun Muto, who feared that the world would not be chaotic enough, fanned the flames.
“That’s not true!!”
Sato Shinichi subconsciously replied to Shun Muto, but he read a different meaning from the other party’s words.
“Wait, Uncle Gen, how did you know?”
“Oh dear, I accidentally saw it while smoking. I just happened to glance at it, just a glance.”
“Uncle Gen!!!”
