A Chance Encounter with Tsunade

Land of Fire.

A town somewhere.

"Let's rest here for today."

Feng Ye wore a Konoha ninja forehead protector as he walked at the front of the group, arriving at a hot spring inn in town before speaking to the others behind him.

Urabe Daisuke nodded, and Might Duy had no objections either.

Nearly a week had passed since they left Konoha. Their group was now heading toward the border of the Land of Fire, and the closer they got to the border towns, the more tense the atmosphere became.

"Welcome."

Seeing Feng Ye at the front with a ninja forehead protector, the receptionist at the hot spring inn greeted him politely with a smile.

Konoha's ninjas maintained the Land of Fire's stability and possessed power far beyond that of ordinary people. Their status was naturally different from that of common civilians.

After checking in with Urabe Daisuke and the others and choosing their rooms, Feng Ye did not immediately go inside to rest. Instead, he said to Might Duy, "Senior, keep an eye on this place. I'll take a quick look around town."

"Alright, leave it to me."

Might Duy nodded solemnly and stood guard in the corridor.

Feng Ye removed his ninja forehead protector, tucked the exposed White Fang into his sleeve, and quietly left the hot spring inn to scout the town.

Although his and Might Duy's strength meant they could handle any unexpected situation, there was no harm in conducting some reconnaissance. They might even uncover something unexpected, such as Iwagakure scouts who had infiltrated the Land of Fire.

Getting rid of them might even yield valuable intelligence.

Soon.

Feng Ye made a circuit around town.

"!"

He had only intended to carry out a routine sweep, yet he truly sensed the Chakra fluctuations of a ninja. Feng Ye immediately became alert.

Though the Chakra fluctuation he sensed was faint, it felt incredibly deep. This was definitely not Chakra that an ordinary ninja could possess!

"At least a Jonin... possibly Kage-level..."

Feng Ye drew a breath.

This was a truly major unexpected development. In almost an instant, he entered his Triple Speed state, raising his vigilance to the maximum.

"Feng Ye?"

Just then, a somewhat familiar voice suddenly called out.

A familiar figure then appeared not far away and looked in his direction. It was Shizune from his class. She stared at him in surprise, lowered the kunai in her hand, and said with some delight, "That Chakra fluctuation—it really was you."

"Shizune?"

Feng Ye froze for a moment.

If Shizune was here, then the extraordinary Chakra presence he had sensed must be...

At the next moment.

The sound of something shattering came from the gambling house nearby, followed by hurried footsteps. Then a very familiar figure ran out and called to Shizune.

"Shizune! Hurry! We need to make a run for it!"

"Huh? Lady Tsunade..."

Shizune blinked, only to see a large group of men behind her charging out with clubs in hand, their faces fierce as they shouted loudly. Startled, she hurriedly chased after Tsunade as she fled.

After catching up to Tsunade in a few steps, Shizune looked at the many figures pursuing them from behind. "Lady Tsunade... what is this...?"

"Ahahaha, I accidentally lost everything. Even the loan shark money I borrowed went down the drain. Anyway, let's run first!"

"Huh?!"

Shizune was dumbfounded. There had clearly still been plenty of chips when she stepped outside, but there was no time to learn the details now. She could only flee alongside Tsunade.

Not far away.

Watching this scene, Feng Ye released his grip on White Fang and shrugged innocently.

What a coincidence. It really was Tsunade.

With war approaching, Tsunade had still brought her newly accepted disciple Shizune here to gamble. It seemed the current Tsunade had absolutely no interest in the village or the war.

But once the war truly broke out, even if she had hemophobia and could not take the battlefield, Hiruzen Sarutobi would probably call Tsunade back to the village. At the very least, she would have to take charge of the medical corps.

"..."

Feng Ye watched the direction Tsunade had fled in and pondered slightly.

He was indeed interested in Tsunade's Medical Ninjutsu—or rather, in the Hundred Healings Jutsu, a self-healing technique. In terms of regeneration, it was almost comparable to the Sage Body, or at least similar to it in certain aspects.

After Hashirama Senju, no one in the Senju Clan had ever managed to cultivate the Sage Body again. Thus, there was no longer any specific method for cultivating it.

If he wanted to obtain the Sage Body in the future, he had only two options. One was to transplant Hashirama Cells, and the other was to find a way to work it out himself.

He would not use the Hashirama Cells transplant method unless absolutely necessary. On one hand, it was far too dangerous. On the other, even if it succeeded, he would only obtain an incomplete Sage Body at most.

As for figuring it out himself, it was impossible to do so through idle speculation.

He needed sufficient foundations.

First was Orochimaru's Cell Activation, which he had already acquired. Then came the three great senjutsu arts of Mount Myōboku, Ryūchi Cave, and Shikkotsu Forest—the three Sage Modes. Finally, there was Tsunade's Hundred Healings Jutsu. With these five foundations mastered, Feng Ye was confident that he could cultivate a true Sage Body!

"Still, my training is already getting a little too complicated."

After thinking for a while, Feng Ye ultimately shook his head.

It was not yet time to train in the Hundred Healings Jutsu. Even if he approached Tsunade and obtained the technique from her, he would not be able to cultivate it for the time being.

This technique required an enormous amount of Chakra, and he did not currently possess a constitution with an abnormal Chakra reserve. That meant he would also have to cultivate the Yin Seal. With that, there would simply be too many things to train in, and none of them would improve his strength in the short term.

The Sage Body was still too far away from him.

For now, he still needed to focus on training that could directly increase his strength.

Once he possessed Kage-level strength in his normal state and gained the power to roam freely through the ninja world, it would be more appropriate to consider the Hundred Healings Jutsu and Sage Mode then.

"Come to think of it, if I want the cultivation method for the Hundred Healings Jutsu, asking Shizune should be enough to get it... though I might need to sell my looks?"

Wait.

Why had he thought about selling his looks?

Feng Ye patted his forehead, feeling that something might be wrong with his thought process, and could not help mocking himself inwardly.

As long as he got enough gambling capital and made a bet with Tsunade later, couldn't he simply win the Hundred Healings Jutsu? Tsunade's passive skill of losing every gamble was completely maxed out.

His body had not fully developed at this age. Unless absolutely necessary, he definitely could not sell his looks. Who knew whether someone might do something "excessive" to him?

"Forget it. There's no rush. I'll deal with it when an opportunity comes."

Feng Ye returned to the hot spring inn.

After dinner, Feng Ye returned to his room and closed his eyes. The familiar dark space appeared before him, and the enormous Phantom Clock emerged in front of him.

The next increase in my time multiplier should be coming soon. When it rises again, that should also be when a new ability unlocks.

As Feng Ye gazed at the enormous Phantom Clock, he murmured inwardly, anticipation flickering in his eyes.

The golden clock hand was drawing ever closer to the 2 o'clock position. He could faintly see that the gray mist over the mark for 2 o'clock seemed to be gradually dispersing.

Once the clock hand fully pointed to 2 o'clock, it would mean that the ability corresponding to 2 o'clock would be unlocked.

Although he did not know what the specific ability would be, Time-based powers were almost never useless. Any power involving time could stand alone as a powerful trump card!

Barring any surprises, the story will go premium on the first of next month. Updates will remain steady before then, and there'll be a steady burst of updates afterward. I'll ask for a few recommendation votes at the start of the month~