22: It's So Good to Have You

Watanabe obediently ended the Spirit Transformation Technique. He didn't tell Tsunade that the more damage his soul took, the stronger it became.

Karma Reversal was his biggest secret.

"You've only just mastered the Spirit Transformation Technique. Until you're completely familiar with it, you can't use it carelessly. Keep training your soul to make it stronger, or you could suffer backlash," Tsunade warned him.

"Got it. I know what I'm doing."

Watanabe felt like Tsunade was treating him as her little brother. In terms of actual age, Tsunade was just a little girl to him. He didn't need her to remind him of any of this.

"Also..." Tsunade paused and glanced aside. "From now on, you're not allowed to use that technique on other girls."

Watanabe was confused. "Why?"

"I said don't use it, so don't use it! Why do you have so many questions?" Tsunade tried to hide her blush behind a fierce tone.

Watanabe awkwardly agreed.

Your chest is small, so whatever you say goes.

Only after Watanabe gave her a definite answer did Tsunade look satisfied. She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already past nine, and she slowly got up from the sofa.

"I'm going home."

"I'll walk you," Watanabe offered eagerly.

He had invited Tsunade over; there was no way he'd make a girl walk home by herself.

Tsunade had been hoping he'd walk her home, so she didn't refuse.

It was just the start of Konoha's nightlife. Neon lights flickered along the streets, where plenty of young couples strolled hand in hand, looking sweet and affectionate.

Watanabe noticed a girl holding a cup of milk and happily gulping it down. An idea came to him. "Tsunade, wait here a moment."

Tsunade was still thinking about what it had felt like when Watanabe possessed her. Embarrassed and flustered, she watched him run into a nearby milk tea shop, then return a little while later carrying a cup of milk tea.

"Here."

Watanabe handed her the drink and put a straw in it for her.

Tsunade felt warm inside. Watanabe was pretty thoughtful, she decided. She took the milk tea and drank without thanking him.

By the time Watanabe walked her to the Senju Clan Compound, she'd finished the whole cup.

"You can leave me here. Go on back," Tsunade said, waving goodbye.

"Tsunade."

Watanabe suddenly called out to her.

"Hmm?"

Tsunade turned to look at him.

Watanabe smiled. "It's so good to have you around. Thank you."

Tsunade: "..."

Why was he suddenly saying that?

His smile caught her off guard. She gave a little snort through her delicate nose, then turned and went inside.

But the curve of her lips gave away how she felt.

The moment she stepped through the door, however, her smile froze.

Mito and Nawaki were standing right in front of her, both staring at her as if they were interrogating her.

"Big sis, why have you been getting home so late these past two days? I barely see you anymore!" Nawaki demanded angrily.

"Have you been busy with something?" Mito asked more gently.

"Nothing much," Tsunade replied guiltily. "Watanabe asked me to help him train. Since we're classmates, I figured I might as well give him a hand."

Nawaki eyed her suspiciously. "Who's Watanabe?"

Mito reminded him, "The boy who came over the other day."

Nawaki's eyes widened in realization. "Oh, him!"

He'd figured any boy his sister brought home had to be someone special. Now it seemed his instincts had been right.

"Are you close with Watanabe?" Mito asked.

Tsunade stammered, "I guess we're getting closer. We are classmates, after all."

Mito saw her granddaughter's expression and immediately understood what was on her mind.

Back in the Warring States period, the average person lived only thirty years, and most people settled down and started families at thirteen or fourteen. Tsunade was no longer a child.

Thinking of this, Mito sighed. "Even if you're helping him train, you didn't have to give away the ninjutsu scroll your second grandfather left behind."

Tsunade: "..."

Had she found out?

Or had that Inuzuka Kiba gone and told on her?

Her face flushed with embarrassment. Like a gambler caught cheating, she could only stare back, speechless.

"Next time, invite Watanabe over so we can have a proper meal with him. I hardly got to speak with him last time," Mito said.

Tsunade understood that her grandmother wanted to get a better look at him. She gave a vague answer. "Sure... sometime."

Nawaki was stunned. "Huh?"

She was going to bring him home again?

The last time she'd brought him home, she'd barely been around since. If she brought him back again, would he ever get to see his sister?

"Tsunade's helped me so much. I've got to find a way to repay her properly!"

On his way home, Watanabe made up his mind.

Inuzuka Kiba had been right. When Watanabe first approached Tsunade, his motives really hadn't been pure. He'd only wanted to spar with her every day. But after spending the past two days with her, he'd received so much help from her that he was deeply grateful.

Watanabe had a strong sense of right and wrong: he repaid kindness and returned hostility. Tsunade had been so good to him, so of course he had to repay her.

Then he thought it over. Given Tsunade's status, she already had everything she could want. She might even become Konoha's Fourth Hokage one day. What could an ordinary civilian like him possibly do for her?

Paying back the more than sixty thousand ryo he owed Tsunade was probably the greatest repayment he could manage.

Thinking about the debt, Watanabe immediately winced with a "tch," as if his teeth hurt.

That night, he lay in bed, practicing the Spirit Transformation Technique until he could use it more smoothly. In soul form, he drifted around the house, experiencing the world from a ghost's perspective.

[Damage to soul: soul strength (mental power) +2, +2, +2...]

Increasing his soul strength would help Watanabe adapt to the Spirit Transformation Technique more quickly. And if his soul grew strong enough, invading someone else's Spiritual World would be easier in the future. He could manipulate their body as casually as a toy without being forcibly expelled.

As for mental power, Watanabe figured it would increase his resistance to Illusion Techniques, though he couldn't be caught in one to begin with.

He practiced until three or four in the morning. By then, he could use the Spirit Transformation Technique with ease, and he was so wide awake that he hurried off to bed to weaken himself a little.

The next morning, he headed to school beneath the bright sun, feeling like life was full of hope and happiness.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed. One evening—

In a secluded grove.

"Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow!"

A boy and a girl were sparring.

More accurately, Watanabe was taking a one-sided beating.

Tsunade's fists came down like a torrent of raindrops, each blow landing with tremendous force. The crashing sounds made anyone listening shudder.

Watanabe turned himself into a human punching bag, gritting his teeth as he weathered every attack without taking a single step back. He kept looking for chances to counterattack, but Tsunade's movements were too nimble. He couldn't even touch the hem of her clothes.

"Heavenly Guardian Kick!"

Tsunade cried out. She raised her long, shapely leg, tensed it, and brought it crashing down on Watanabe's shoulder.

"Bang!"

Watanabe flew backward, shooting more than ten meters through the air. He smashed through several tree trunks along the way, sending clouds of dust billowing everywhere.

[Under attack: vitality +56, defense +25, pain -30...]

"Huff! Huff!"

Tsunade panted heavily, her full chest rising and falling. Sweat glistened across her pretty face.