You're Putting the Cart Before the Horse

Wu Yu slowed his steps, thought for a moment, exited Jade Rabbit Mode, then turned and headed straight for the Hokage Building.

"Ah?"

The jonin following him from the shadows was surprised by his sudden change in direction. When he realized where Wu Yu was heading, he was even more taken aback.

As Wu Yu drew closer to the Hokage Building, the chakra signature of the jonin tailing him suddenly accelerated in his perception. Moving at a speed that would have seemed like teleportation to a genin, she shot ahead of Wu Yu's path in the blink of an eye and intercepted him in front of the Hokage Building.

"Ah, it's Nakamori Junior." A young woman with short black hair stepped out from around the corner.

She wore casual clothes and carried a faint scent of disinfectant. Konoha Hospital was not far from here, so it was plausible enough to say she had merely been passing by.

"Shizune-senpai." Wu Yu nodded and moved to continue toward the Hokage Building.

Shizune flashed in front of Wu Yu, blocking his way. Surprised, she asked, "It's so late. Team Kakashi should have already disbanded for the day, shouldn't they?"

Wu Yu smiled. "What does Team Kakashi disbanding have to do with Tsunade's Team?" He lifted a foot to go around Shizune, only for her to grab his arm again. Lowering his voice, he explained, "Senpai, I think someone was following me just now! Wait here a moment—I'll report it to the Hokage first!"

"..." Shizune's mouth fell open.

Wu Yu said indignantly, "This is outrageous! Someone actually dared to openly stalk someone like me in Konoha, boo hoo hoo..." Before he could finish, Shizune covered his mouth and dragged him away.

Shizune led Wu Yu west for some distance. Only after they were well away from the Hokage Building did she release him, saying irritably, "Junior, you realized it was me long ago, didn't you?"

Wu Yu smiled. "Senpai, why were you following me for no reason?"

Actually, although he had met Shizune once on the day of the team assignment meeting, he had not paid much attention to memorizing her chakra signature then. This time, he had only discovered that the jonin following him was Shizune because Jade Rabbit had alerted him.

Shizune said, "It wasn't really following you... Lady Tsunade asked me to bring you to see her. I..."

"What is it?"

"I heard about your Genin Certification Exam that day..." Shizune hesitated, but still leaned closer and asked in a highly gossipy tone, "Kakashi actually collapsed from exhaustion?"

Wu Yu leaned back slightly and examined Shizune. "Senpai, did you want to personally assess me?"

"You saw through me." Shizune smiled and straightened up. "I've stayed by Lady Tsunade's side all these years, and I'd never even heard of you. Then she suddenly decided to return to the village and quickly took you on as her disciple... I'm really curious about you."

Wu Yu smiled. "If you were curious, then why didn't you assess me personally during the Survival Exercise?"

Shizune waved a hand. "Lady Tsunade is your supervising jonin, so your genin status was already guaranteed. What would I even assess? Wouldn't that just be putting on a show? That'd be so embarrassing."

She's such a by-the-book person.

Wu Yu pointed toward a small patch of woods beneath a towering cliff not far ahead.

Shizune nodded and smiled. "That was Kakashi, after all. Wu Yu, you don't know this, but back in our generation, Kakashi was... sigh, you wouldn't understand!"

No one understands better than I do, okay?

As Wu Yu followed Shizune and quickened his pace toward the woods, he suddenly remembered something and asked, "I heard Kakashi became a chunin when he was six?"

"You know that too?" Shizune nodded. "That's right. A chunin at six—the super genius Kakashi."

But that doesn't add up. In the Chunin Exam Kakashi took in the manga, not only Might Guy participated, but Obito Uchiha did too.

Could Might Guy and Obito Uchiha have also taken the Chunin Exam when they were six?

Wu Yu did not remember the age at which Obito graduated from the Ninja Academy, but he was certain it had not been six... So he asked, "Then the others who took the Chunin Exam with Kakashi should all have been much older, more mature genin, right?"

"..." Shizune sighed. "You don't understand. During the War Era, Ninja Academy students were different from you all now. Back then, we received our genin qualifications during our first year, so we had to attend school while making time to carry out missions. At the time, the Chunin Exam was held twice a year, and a large portion of the participants were still 'genin' students attending the Ninja Academy."

"..." Wu Yu said, "If students passed the Chunin Exam while still enrolled, they would probably be assigned missions related to the Frontline Battlefield very soon afterward."

Shizune nodded. After darting into the woods, she stopped at a clearing. "This will do. Nakamori Junior, Lady Tsunade is still waiting for us. Let's make this quick."

Wu Yu clapped his palms together, and a Three-Eyed Mask appeared on his face. "Alright!"

"Why did you take so long?"

Inside a tavern near Konoha Hospital, Tsunade lifted her eyelids and impatiently glanced at Shizune and Wu Yu as they entered through the curtain. Tilting back her head, she downed another cup.

Seeing that she was about to pour herself more, Shizune sat down and said, "Lady Tsunade, you really shouldn't drink any more."

"I'm happy, so I only had a couple extra cups." Tsunade's cheeks were flushed with drink, but she did not object as Shizune removed the bottle and cup. With eyes already somewhat bleary, she looked Wu Yu over and asked, "Well?"

Shizune shook her head and sighed. "Nakamori Junior truly deserves to be considered someone Lady Tsunade values so highly... He has even learned Lady Tsunade's Sage Mode."

Tsunade glanced at her, and Shizune continued, "Although Nakamori Junior's combat experience is somewhat lacking, so he can't bring out Sage Mode's true strength, but..." She gave a bitter smile. "But even so, I had no way of truly posing any threat to him before his Sage Mode ended."

Wu Yu smiled. "If you found a way to stall until my Sage Mode ended, wouldn't that let you pose a threat? Ninjas aren't the sort who have to launch frontal assaults, after all."

Tsunade accepted a small bowl from Shizune, swirled it lightly, and said flatly, "Shizune, who told you that he learned his Sage Mode from me?"

"Huh?" Shizune was stunned for a moment.

Tsunade tipped back her head and drained the Hangover Soup in one gulp. Setting down the bowl, she exhaled a breath reeking of alcohol and wiped her mouth. "Come to think of it... if not for Wu Yu, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to learn Sage Mode. So, Shizune, you have it backward."

Shizune was truly shocked now and looked incredulously at Wu Yu beside her.

Wu Yu was waving away the smell of alcohol in the air as he casually said, "What yours, what mine, what's fundamental and what's secondary? We're practically one and the same."

What did that mean? Shizune was baffled. Could Nakamori Wu Yu really be related to Lady Tsunade? Nakamori... that surname did seem like it might, perhaps, maybe, possibly have some connection to Senju of the Forest?

However, Tsunade knew that Wu Yu was referring to Mysterious Clone Tsunade.

Although the Mysterious Clone's memories could not alter Tsunade's personality or sense of self, still... in the Mysterious Clone's memories, Tsunade had truly obeyed Wu Yu's every word like a servant.

Though it made her deeply unhappy whenever she thought of it, there really was nothing wrong with Wu Yu's claim that they were practically one and the same.

This brat, driven by the hormones of his age, really had the audacity of a pervert!

Tsunade shook her head, leaned back in her chair, and folded her arms. "Enough nonsense. I called you here today to begin teaching you Medical Ninjutsu."