Opening a Hospital

After correcting Nawaki's improper stance, Kawafune let him practice on his own.

It had to be said that Senju Hashirama's genes were quite exceptional. Nawaki had already achieved some success with the inherited monstrous strength of the Senju Clan, and the weight of the sword posed no difficulty for him.

Moreover, the Senju Clan had some swordsmanship manuals as well. With a professional like Kawafune teaching him, Nawaki was beginning to look quite convincing with a sword.

Tsunade watched from the side and nodded in satisfaction. Compared to training at home, Nawaki was clearly putting in much more effort.

"Kawafune-kun, is this a Hatake Clan hereditary sword technique?"

Seeing Tsunade speak, Kawafune shifted his gaze away from Nawaki and, with a warm smile, shamelessly claimed five thousand years of Chinese wisdom as his own.

"It's merely a small insight I gained along my own path of training."

He delivered that smooth boast as lightly as drifting clouds. Given Tsunade's discerning eye, she had never seen better foundational swordsmanship movements.

"Kawafune-kun truly is a genius of the Hatake Clan."

"Not at all, not at all. It's only the legacy left behind by my ancestors."

That was not wrong, and to Tsunade's ears, it only sounded like modesty.

Kushina rolled her eyes at the side. Though she seemed carefree, having come to Konoha alone at such a young age had long since matured her mind.

Women infatuated with someone were simply unreasonable. She felt that Tsunade might have been poisoned by something Kawafune had given her.

Turning her attention to Nawaki, she ran over to the weapon rack, took down a wooden sword, and began to mimic his movements.

Learning a move or two to show off in front of Minato would be quite wonderful. She could already imagine the blond boy with the sunny smile looking astonished as he praised her.

As she practiced, a foolishly cheap smile spread across her face. In the end, she had become exactly the kind of person she hated.

"Let's sit over here for a while."

Kawafune had no desire to train at all. Were beautiful women not more important than training?

He led Tsunade to a stone table in the Training Hall and sat down. The round stone table, ancient in style and surrounded by four stone stools, carried the atmosphere of ancient China.

Tsunade sat across from him, adjusted her collar, and discreetly tightened the wrap around her chest. Kawafune's occasional heated glances made her a little embarrassed.

Kawafune merely beckoned, and someone brought over freshly brewed tea.

That was the good thing about having money—there was no shortage of people to run errands.

"This is this year's new tea."

As he spoke, Kawafune poured Tsunade a cup before pouring one for himself.

"Thank you, Kawafune-kun."

Tsunade lifted the teacup and took a small sip. The Hatake Clan truly had considerable wealth. Even this tea was top-quality from the Land of Tea, something ordinary clans would be reluctant to buy.

"Fine tea."

"Haha, if Tsunade-chan likes it, I'll send you off with two jin when you leave."

Kawafune was exceedingly generous. Such a small thing was nothing in the eyes of the actual person in control of the Hatake Clan.

"I have some ideas about what you said before regarding Medical Ninja. Would you be interested in hearing them?"

Kawafune could not simply chat idly with Tsunade. He intended to approach this from several angles—for example, by becoming her partner. That would only give them more time together in the future.

"Oh? Please enlighten me, Kawafune-kun."

The moment the subject turned to Tsunade's field of expertise, she was immediately interested.

"Here's the thing. The main issue is still the shortage of Medical Ninja."

"My idea is to open a hospital and train our own staff."

"Not only would it save lives and heal the wounded, but once there are enough personnel, your vision could naturally be put into practice."

Kawafune's little calculations clicked away. Hospitals were highly profitable, and with Tsunade around, he could research many things—such as Hashirama Cells.

As for Medical Ninja and the like, those were secondary. By the end of the story, would Medical Ninja really be more useful than the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique, or would they be more overpowered than Impure World Reincarnation?

"That sounds like a good idea."

After thinking it over briefly, Tsunade hesitated.

"But I don't have any money."

What Tsunade lacked most was money. The Senju Clan had disbanded, and even as its princess, she truly did not have much funding. Not to mention, she was famously capable of losing money.

"Problems that can be solved with money are not problems."

"My question is whether you are willing to be the director."

"I doubt there is a stronger Medical Ninja than you in all of Konoha."

Kawafune began to manipulate Tsunade, starting by talking her into becoming the director.

When the time came, the hospital would be his, and Tsunade would be his too. Just thinking about it was thrilling.

"Then... are you planning to invest in me becoming the director?"

Tsunade understood what Kawafune meant, but she still found it somewhat unbelievable. Opening a hospital was no small expense.

She had known Kawafune for less than three days at most. This seemed less like a windfall and more like a trap.

"Though the Hatake Clan is not some great clan—"

"Opening this hospital would, first, help you fulfill your wish, and second, benefit Konoha."

"I, Hatake Kawafune, would merely be contributing some money. It is nothing worth mentioning."

Kawafune continued his persuasion, speaking with great righteousness. Combined with his handsome face, his credibility immediately rose several levels in Tsunade's eyes.

"Since Kawafune-kun trusts me so much, then I will gladly accept."

"I'll toast you with tea in place of wine. At noon, we'll drink until we're thoroughly drunk."

Tsunade was not the type to dawdle. Since it was something she wanted to do, she agreed.

She raised her teacup and clinked it against Kawafune's. Wearing identical smiles while harboring different thoughts, the two drained their cups in one gulp.

The two then discussed the hospital in detail: its location, investment funds, staffing reserves, equipment procurement, and a whole series of other matters.

Sakumo and Nayuki came over and sat for a while, but they could not understand what was being discussed and had no chance to join in. After drinking two cups of tea, they both took their leave. It was better to let the younger brother handle such troublesome matters himself.

"I'll speak with my teacher about the location."

"But Kawafune-kun will have to put some thought into the funding. My teacher is no philanthropist."

Obtaining land still required Sarutobi Hiruzen's approval. Otherwise, they would not be able to get it.

"No problem. I can allocate the funds and have them ready at any time."

Kawafune was not familiar with the Third Hokage, so it would be more convenient for Tsunade to handle this. After all, they had a teacher-student relationship, and Sarutobi Hiruzen had received no small amount of favor from the Senju Clan.

"I'll also have to trouble you with the staffing. I truly have no connections in that area."

Kawafune knew quite a few Samurai, but he did not know any doctors well. He himself had never seen a doctor since childhood. Having strong healing abilities allowed one to be that willful.

"Once the land is confirmed, I'll contact people immediately. We'll get our hospital up and running as quickly as possible."

From Tsunade's words, she already regarded the hospital as something easily within reach, unaware that things ahead would not be as easy as she imagined.

Konoha was not as simple as she thought, either. Since the passing of her grandfather and Second Grandfather, Konoha had already become different from what she imagined.

"Then let us wish for everything to go smoothly."

Kawafune looked at the high-spirited Tsunade. Her appearance as a strong woman made his eyes burn even hotter.

Besides, when it came to Hashirama Cells, he also wanted to see whether his own Cellular Activity was stronger, or whether Hashirama Cells were more formidable at assimilation.

The two teacups clinked together once more, foreshadowing that the lunchtime drinking session would be anything but peaceful.