After dinner, Uchiha Dan took Namikaze Minato to a training ground.
There, Namikaze Minato worked hard to show off the results of his recent training against a wooden post.
First, he moved back and threw Shuriken. Then he closed in on the wooden dummy and performed a series of close-combat moves.
Uchiha Dan, meanwhile, sat off to the side, bored out of his mind, occasionally pretending to watch with interest.
In truth, all of Uchiha Dan's attention was on Namikaze Minato as he carefully sensed every detail of his movements.
Half an hour later, Namikaze Minato stopped showing off and came over to Uchiha Dan, looking smug. "Big Brother, I'm amazing, right?"
"Haha, amazing! You're amazing!" Uchiha Dan ruffled Namikaze Minato's hair and praised him without holding back.
Hatake Sakumo, who was keeping an eye on Uchiha Dan, watched the familiar scene from a distance and noticed nothing amiss.
But after they returned to the bedroom, Uchiha Dan's expression turned serious, making Namikaze Minato's heart skip a beat.
Uchiha Dan didn't waste time. He immediately took out a piece of paper, wrote something on it, then handed it to Namikaze Minato.
Namikaze Minato took the paper and read it carefully.
After a long while, his eyes grew brighter and brighter. He nodded firmly, then started writing in the remaining space.
Though outsiders thought Uchiha Dan had never trained in ninjutsu, he never stopped thinking about it for even a second while he was awake.
His knowledge of ninjutsu theory was so vast, and his understanding of its principles so profound, that few in the entire Shinobi World could match him.
With Uchiha Dan's guidance, Namikaze Minato's talent and strength far surpassed what they would have been otherwise.
This written exchange was Uchiha Dan's unique way of guiding Namikaze Minato—and the only method he dared use.
To be safe, they didn't write in the script used by the Shinobi World. Instead, they used Chinese characters, which only the two brothers knew.
It had to be said: Uchiha Dan was going to extraordinary lengths to repay Namikaze Toneri and his wife for raising him.
Of course, he also wanted to test many of his ideas on Namikaze Minato. It served two purposes at once.
After they had exchanged notes for a while, Namikaze Minato wrote, "Big Brother, I've run into a small problem while training in the Chakra Body Strengthening Technique you taught me."
"Tell me exactly what's happening!"
Namikaze Minato took a chart of the body's pressure points and pointed to three of them. Then he wrote, "The Chakra flow gets a little sluggish when it passes through these three points."
"Use the technique right now. Let me sense it!"
After carefully sensing it for a while, Uchiha Dan wrote with a smile, "Your Chakra reserves are still too small to break through those points. This problem should disappear in six months at most. Then your physical strength will increase dramatically."
Namikaze Minato smiled and nodded firmly. He tore up the paper, burned it, then flushed the ashes down the toilet.
At last, the two brothers' exchange for the day came to an end.
Uchiha Dan was used to it.
But every time, Namikaze Minato felt a pang of sadness.
His big brother had done nothing wrong. He was incredibly talented, and his understanding of ninjutsu was far beyond that of the teachers at school.
So why couldn't he train?
Why did Lord Hokage keep sending people to watch him?
Uchiha Dan's explanation was that it might be because he was too talented—and because he belonged to the Uchiha Clan.
Namikaze Minato refused to accept that.
All he wanted now was to grow strong as quickly as possible, so his big brother could train without worry and live freely.
That was why he wanted to become Hokage, and why he was willing to work himself to the bone.
Only by becoming Hokage could he make all of that happen.
To outsiders, Uchiha Dan and Namikaze Minato weren't brothers.
But for as long as Namikaze Minato could remember, Uchiha Dan had been his big brother. He had always treated him outrageously well—far better than a biological brother could.
Uchiha Dan didn't know what Namikaze Minato was thinking. Even if he had, he would have just laughed it off.
He wasn't about to pin his hopes on a child who hadn't even turned seven.
If he wanted to train and be free, he could only save himself.
The only thing troubling him now was how to keep Namikaze Toneri's family from being affected if he escaped.
Fake his own death?
Early the next morning, Uchiha Dan went to the hospital as usual.
But as soon as he entered the office and saw who was inside, he hurried back out and looked up at the sign on the door.
"What are you hiding for?"
Before Uchiha Dan could turn and run, a fair hand grabbed his collar and dragged him back into the office.
"Why are you running away when you see me?" Tsunade asked angrily, folding her arms across her chest.
"Can't I go to the bathroom?" Uchiha Dan would never admit he was running away.
"No!"
"Do you have no humanity at all? You savage! Baboon, gorilla, monkey, caveman..."
"Shut up!" Hearing that familiar string of insults, Tsunade shouted over him at once.
She had no idea how she'd put up with him for the past five years.
If her competitive streak hadn't kicked in at the beginning—if she hadn't wanted to win back what she'd lost—she truly would never have wanted to see this guy again.
And now she'd actually gotten used to being insulted by him!
The power of habit was terrifying.
Seeing there was no escape, Uchiha Dan sat down in a chair, dejected. "All right, what do you want? Say it and leave!"
"Obviously, I'm here to continue our contest!"
"Are you ever going to stop?" Uchiha Dan snapped. "I already conceded. What more do you want?"
"Is that how you treat your benefactor?" Seeing Uchiha Dan finally get angry, Tsunade felt a little thrill of revenge and teased him.
"Benefactor?" Uchiha Dan played along perfunctorily. "Yes, yes, yes. From now on, you're my benefactor. I'm so grateful to you."
"So you'd better leave. I'm afraid you won't like the way I show my gratitude."
But just as Uchiha Dan finished speaking, the office door swung open.
Two orderlies carried in a desk and set it across from Uchiha Dan's.
Then the hospital director walked in, personally carrying an armchair. He placed it behind the desk they had just set up.
"Lord Tsunade, this will be your seat from now on!" the director said with utmost courtesy.
Tsunade didn't hesitate to sit down. She looked at Uchiha Dan provocatively.
Uchiha Dan was dumbfounded.
What the hell was going on?
"I see!" Uchiha Dan immediately figured it out. He pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and said to the director, "Director, don't leave just yet. I'll write you my resignation letter right now."
"Damn you!" Tsunade snatched the paper from Uchiha Dan and tore it to shreds.
"Tsunade, what exactly are you up to?" Uchiha Dan genuinely couldn't figure out what she was thinking.
He could tell Tsunade would be working at Konoha Hospital from now on, and that they'd be sharing an office.
But how had things even gotten to this point?
Seeing things take a bad turn, the director hurried out. Neither of them was someone he could afford to offend, and he even considerately shut the door behind him.
"Wait, is Lord Hokage planning to have you keep an eye on me?" Uchiha Dan ventured, thinking of a possibility.
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