Marine Headquarters Residential Area,
Walking side-by-side with Gion down the street, Chiga curiously observed his surroundings.
On both sides of the street were various shops, mostly selling daily necessities, similar to a commercial street on Blue Star, but with a bit more modern flair than Konoha. Since it was a Marine base, the signs and displays were predominantly blue and white.
"You can come here to stroll around when you have time, buy some fruits or something to treat yourself. That way you can grow taller," Gion said casually beside him.
Chiga was a little speechless. At 16 years old, he was already nearly 1.9 meters tall. Was that still not tall enough in her eyes?
However, seeing that Gion was estimated to be over two meters tall, Her word seem reasonable enough. After all, in this world of one piece he's quite short .
Seeing no reaction from Chiga, Gion thought he might be offended that she considered him short, so she quickly rephrased,
"Actually, you don't need to grow too tall. Your current height is already enough, especially since you're only 16."
"Mhm, I don't mind that, Gion-nee. There's an old man over there who keeps staring at you."
Chiga noticed a perverted-looking old man in a brown casual suit standing at the entrance of a tavern. He had been looking in their direction since a moment ago, so Chiga decided to alert Gion.
"Huh?" Gion turned her head and immediately spotted the old man Chiga was referring to.
There was no way around it; the so-called old man was simply too conspicuous. But not in Chiga's handsome way; his conspicuousness stemmed from being ugly beyond belief.
The man had his hands in his pockets, his mouth twisted, a cigarette dangling from his lips. His large face featured two squinting small eyes, which, even if opened, probably wouldn't be much bigger. He looked just like… Blue Star's Pigsy!
"Oh, I know that man. His name is Kake. He's quite annoying. You can stay away from him in the future."
Kake? Wasn't that the Tea Pig who would later become a candidate for Admiral alongside Gion? Chiga stroked his chin, pondering.
At this moment, Kake saw Gion glance in his direction and immediately walked over with his lewd gait.
"Miss Gion, it's been a whole month since I last saw you. You're still as beautiful as ever. Please accept my 88th confession!" Kake approached Gion and Chiga, pulling out a bouquet of flowers from somewhere, and then made his "heartfelt" confession.
However, Gion didn't even spare him a glance. She simply reached out and pulled Chiga, ready to leave.
"Hey, hey, Miss Gion, don't leave! You haven't rejected me this time!" Kake hurriedly chased after them, eager to receive Gion's eighty-eighth rejection.
"I'm tired of saying no. Just give up!" Gion said with a look of disgust.
"Why? Am I not handsome enough, or not excellent enough?" Kake asked, his disbelief revealing the question buried deep in his heart.
Chiga watched silently from the side, thinking, With your appearance and behavior, where do you get the confidence to ask such a question?
Seeing that Gion was too lazy to reply, Kake lowered his head in frustration. Then, he finally noticed Chiga, who was silently observing.
"Eh? And this young man is?"
Seeing that Kake had finally noticed him, Chiga stopped his eavesdropping and stepped forward to introduce himself.
"Hello, I'm a new recruit who just joined the Marines. My name is Uchiha Chiga."
"Oh, oh, hello, I'm Kake." Kake gave a simple introduction as well, thinking, Where did this new recruit come from, to have Gion personally accompanying him, and he's so handsome! Suddenly, a bolt of lightning flashed through his mind.
Could it be? Gion is interested in him?!
Thinking of the scene of the two of them walking side-by-side down the street earlier, Kake shivered and froze in place. Chiga, seeing him suddenly act as if he'd been struck by lightning, wanted to go over and check on him. Then, he abruptly looked up, startling Chiga.
He stared intently at Chiga's face for a long time, so long that Chiga thought he wanted to have an imperial city duel with him after his failed confession.
Then, he glanced between Gion and Chiga a few times, took a deep breath, and with a tone as if he had seen through everything, he said,
"Alright, I understand! I wish you happiness, Gion!"
With that, he walked away without looking back, with a hint of nonchalance.
"Where did this water come from? Is it raining?" Chiga looked at the puddle on the ground where Kake had been standing, a puzzled expression on his face.
"Don't mind him, he 'understood' again." Gion was already immune to Kake's antics and didn't take them to heart at all.
"Oh," Chiga shrugged, then turned and followed Gion away.
Upon reaching a residential area, Gion pointed to a small building and said to Chiga,
"That will be your temporary residence for the next few days. You'll be assigned permanent housing after you graduate."
Then she pointed to a nearby villa with a garden,
"Next door is where Sister Tsuru and I live. You can come find me if you need anything. I'll be at headquarters these next few days."
Chiga nodded, indicating he understood.
Seeing that Chiga had no objections to his living arrangements, Gion gave a few final instructions and then left.
Chiga also entered his small building, resting and recuperating, awaiting news from the training camp.