Third Hokage's Attention (Part 1)

Ichiraku Ramen.

Teuchi steadily carried over two bowls of ramen and gently set them before Yūske and Tsunade.

"Let's eat!"

The two picked up their chopsticks together and eagerly sampled the delicious food. The ramen bowls looked heaping and tempting, yet they were emptied at remarkable speed. In the blink of an eye, only two empty bowls remained before them.

"Did you come out specifically to find me?" Yūske broke the silence first.

"Yes. I went to your house first, but your mother said you'd gone out."

"Sorry, I didn't know you were coming. The village hadn't assigned me a mission, so I thought I'd take advantage of the free time to have a good look around the village." Yūske scratched his head sheepishly. "You must've looked for me for a long time."

"Not... really. I went to find Teacher first and asked him to help me look for you."

Yūske's mouth twitched slightly. Hiruzen Sarutobi's wry, helpless expression appeared vividly in his mind, and he could not help chuckling.

"What? Do you have a problem with that?" Tsunade crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him unhappily.

"No, no." Yūske hurriedly waved his hands in surrender and quickly changed the subject. "Did you come to see me because of what I asked you about training yesterday?"

He had only mentioned it casually. What he truly wanted to learn most was the Eight Inner Gates, and it seemed that only Might Duy knew that technique.

"This is the training plan the Third Hokage put together for you. There are also several Wind Style Ninjutsu." Tsunade casually tossed a scroll to Yūske.

"Lord Hokage?" He had not expected to establish contact with Hiruzen Sarutobi so quickly. The Third Hokage had held the position longer than anyone else in Hokage history.

What Yūske worried about most was Danzo, that crafty old fox, being the first to set his sights on him once the String-String Fruit was exposed. Whenever Danzo wanted someone, even if Hiruzen Sarutobi disagreed, once Danzo succeeded in secret, Hiruzen Sarutobi would most likely let the matter rest.

However, now that he had this connection to the Third Hokage and could receive his protection, Danzo would have to think carefully before making a move against him.

Seeing Yūske fall silent, Tsunade thought she had hurt a Jonin's pride and hurriedly said, "Yūske, I'm only thanking you for your support. Besides, only by becoming stronger can we achieve our ideals and protect our village better, right?"

"Thank you, Tsunade."

Yūske tightly clasped Tsunade's hand, his excitement impossible to hide.

At that moment, Yūske was sincerely grateful to Tsunade. He was merely a civilian ninja with no background and mediocre strength. This training plan was like timely rain, helping him avoid countless detours on the path of cultivation.

Tsunade looked at her small hand held in his, and a blush gradually spread across her cheeks.

Once his excitement faded, Yūske came to his senses and realized he might have offended Tsunade. He quickly released her hand and hurriedly changed the subject to ease the awkward atmosphere.

After accompanying Tsunade around the village for a while, Yūske escorted her home. Then he rushed straight into the depths of the forest. His heart was filled with urgency as he impatiently took out the scroll.

Hiruzen Sarutobi truly deserved his title as the Professor of the ninja world. This training plan alone meant Yūske would no longer need to take unnecessary detours for quite some time.

Holding the scroll, he found it hard to believe that merely because he had supported Tsunade once at the previous Jonin Meeting and made an appearance, Hiruzen Sarutobi would do this much for him.

Perhaps there were circumstances he did not know about. At that instant, the scroll in his hands felt exceptionally heavy.

Even among certain ninja clans, this scroll would be considered a precious treasure. What exactly had Hiruzen Sarutobi seen in him?

Casting aside his tangled thoughts, Yūske threw himself back into training. With this scroll in hand, he trained diligently while also trying to put the development of the String-String Fruit on the agenda.

Days passed one after another, and Yūske met Tsunade almost every day. Though she had not yet reached the level of one of the future Three Legendary Sannin, she was already an Elite Jonin. Shamelessly, he had gotten himself a powerful teacher for free.

Over those days, Tsunade gained an extremely thorough understanding of Yūske's strength—almost all of it was sustained by taijutsu, while his ninjutsu and chakra control were only at the level of a Chunin.

Thus, taking advantage of this rare period of leisure, Tsunade put Yūske through hellish special training. After every session, Tsunade would drag Yūske back to the village, then mercilessly make him pay for a meal.

Today, after completing another grueling training session, the two arrived at the barbecue restaurant. The moment they sat down, they heard someone calling out.

"Tsunade."

At a table not far away, two people stood at the same time and walked toward them.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Jiraiya, Tsunade's partner. You don't mind if we join you, do you, Watanabe Yūske?" Jiraiya asked.

"Orochimaru the Cold-Blooded." Orochimaru looked at Yūske with an interested expression.

"Of course I don't mind. Lord Orochimaru, Lord Jiraiya, please sit." It was Yūske's first time sharing a table with the future Three Legendary Sannin. To be honest, he was a little excited.

"Sorry to intrude."

"What are you two doing here?" Tsunade asked as she watched them take their seats.

"I heard Tsunade has been leaving early and coming back late recently. As your companions, of course we had to come see what was going on," Jiraiya teased.

Tsunade had already clenched her fist.

Orochimaru, however, was not as playful as Jiraiya.

"We just came from Teacher Hiruzen's place. He told us you might be here."

"Is there a mission?" Tsunade asked with a frown.

"Nothing's been decided yet, but the old man told us to be ready at any time to head to the Front Lines and fight." Once the conversation turned serious, Jiraiya put away his playful demeanor as well.

They were saying such confidential matters without the slightest hesitation. Hiruzen Sarutobi's disciples really were confident. Yūske silently complained.

Meanwhile, after finishing his paperwork in the office, Hiruzen Sarutobi continued observing through his crystal ball. After watching for the past few days, he had formed a plan for Watanabe Yūske.