"Tch tch! This little brat's got a silver tongue, huh?"
"Almost made me feel fired up listening to him!"
"But… having friends like that? Not a bad thing."
Tsunade first threw a few mentally sarcastic remarks at Riku, but soon, her expression softened as she was moved by the bond between the kids. A touch of admiration and envy surfaced in her eyes.
Sure, she had Orochimaru and Jiraiya as close friends, but over time, their different beliefs and personal ambitions had pulled the three Sannin farther apart.
"I hope your friendship lasts," she thought with a faint sigh.
Soon after, Riku and his friends parted ways on their walk home.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of Riku, blocking his path.
"Who's there?!"
Riku tensed immediately, eyes alert.
Of course, he already knew it was Tsunade—just using a Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Technique).
After all, Tsunade had been tailing him and had never left the range of his mental sensing. He even caught her casting the transformation.
But guessing she was trying to test him, Riku chose not to expose her.
Transformed-Tsunade said nothing, simply rushed forward and threw a punch.
Riku reacted instantly, using Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) to dodge, then swiftly drew two kunai and three shuriken from his pouch and hurled them with precise technique to cut off all of Tsunade's escape paths.
"Oho? That Uchiha throwing technique of yours is pretty slick."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow at his movements.
Crack!
With a burst of chakra underfoot, she shattered the ground and flickered out of the encirclement, charging at Riku again with another punch.
Whoosh!
Riku once again flickered out of range, and mid-air, completed hand seals and inhaled deeply—
Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu! (Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique)
A blazing fireball over five meters wide roared toward Tsunade.
"Hoh?"
Tsunade twisted in mid-air without hesitation, concentrating chakra into her right fist, and smashed straight into the fireball.
BOOM!!
A massive shockwave blasted the fireball apart.
Her punch pierced the flames and shot toward Riku.
"Oi, are you trying to kill me?!"
Feeling the threat of death, Riku immediately darted back ten meters with successive flickers.
BOOM!!
The punch landed where he'd just stood, leaving a crater several meters deep and over ten meters wide.
The surrounding ground was shattered—like it had taken a comet impact.
"Are you seriously trying to kill me?! That's too much!"
Staring at the massive crater extending beneath his feet, cold sweat dripped from Riku's brow. He couldn't pretend anymore and shouted at Tsunade.
He thought she was just testing his strength—giving him a trial.
But she actually meant business.
With strength like that, if he'd been hit, he'd have ended up splattered across the field.
"Uh..."
Tsunade blinked, a little embarrassed. She had indeed overreacted to the surprise fireball and thrown a bit too hard.
Good thing she had adjusted the trajectory and pulled back at the last second.
Otherwise, Riku's current strength wouldn't have been enough to dodge.
But there was no way Tsunade would admit to that.
So she simply dispelled her transformation, changed the subject, and looked at Riku with raised brows.
"So, brat—you knew it was me all along?"
She'd figured it out. This little brat clearly recognized she wasn't an enemy.
Then again, she hadn't shown any killing intent.
But still—how could a five-year-old detect that?
"That's right."
Riku didn't bother dodging the topic any further.
By now, he had a good idea: this was a mix of his recent performance and the miracle effect of his wish—Tsunade was likely here to take him as a student.
So, there was no point keeping up pretenses.
"My mental abilities are decent. I sensed you nearby a while ago."
"I also saw you using the transformation technique."
"You're Tsunade-sama, right? May I ask what brings you here?"
As he spoke, Riku maintained a calm demeanor, having shed his earlier frustration—but in his eyes, he deliberately let some awe and reverence show.
After all, his character persona was a prodigy in medical ninjutsu, fascinated by the field.
So naturally, he should be a little starstruck when meeting the top medic-nin in the world.
Sure enough, Tsunade noticed the admiration in his gaze and felt a small surge of pride and satisfaction.
Her brows lifted.
"Mental perception, huh? No wonder."
"But—"
She suddenly appeared beside Riku in a blur, grabbed his cheek, and tugged on it with a mock scowl.
"If you knew it was me, and you didn't say anything, even went along with my little test… That means you intentionally played along, huh?"
"Are you messing with me?! How should I punish you, huh?"
"Hey—!"
Riku slapped her hand away and quickly jumped back several meters.
Rubbing his sore, reddened cheek, he muttered irritably,
"And now you're flipping the blame on me?! How was I supposed to know your intentions? If I'd exposed you too early, wouldn't that have annoyed you too?"
"So I figured I'd just go along with it and see what you were up to!"
"You can't just twist logic like that!"
"And I haven't even yelled at you yet for nearly killing me back there! What the hell was that?!"
This woman… sure, her figure was top-tier, but her personality was kind of a disaster.
Given his current strength, it was best not to mess with her too much.
His life might depend on it.
"Ahem!"
Tsunade coughed awkwardly, cheeks tinged red as she tried to defend herself.
"Don't be dramatic! I did hold back and redirect the punch at the last second!"
"Even if you hadn't dodged in time, at most you'd have been severely injured, okay?"
"And with me around, you'd be healed up in under a week. Don't slander me!"
"...Do you hear yourself?"
Riku's forehead twitched.
"What do you mean just severely injured?"
"You popped out of nowhere and punched a five-year-old like that—and you're saying at most I'd be severely injured?"
Is that supposed to be reassuring?
He suddenly regretted wishing to have Tsunade as his teacher.
She really did not seem reliable at all!
"Ahem..."
Tsunade looked even more flustered now. Face turning red with both shame and annoyance, she lunged forward, grabbed Riku's cheeks again, and gave them a firm twist before finally letting go.
Then she grumbled,
"Enough nonsense, brat!"
"I can tell—you're talented, smart, and annoyingly good with words. I can't win against you, alright?"
"I was in the wrong, fine! As compensation, I'll take you as my student and teach you my medical ninjutsu."
"You're a medical-ninjutsu prodigy, right? Sounds like a perfect fit to me. Any objections?"
Riku was speechless.
He really wanted to point out that wasn't this all supposed to be part of her plan to begin with? The stalking, the testing—all just to see if he was worthy of being her student?
Now she's spinning it like it's some generous compensation?
But he didn't dare say it aloud.
Because if it were anyone else, the risk of being rejected on a whim might be low.
But Tsunade?
She'd absolutely do it.
...
(End of Chapter)
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