You Wearing Black Silk Are Right

"Where's Watanabe? Why didn't you bring him?"

Tsunade decided to lay it all out, angry now, even more so than when Jiraiya had joked with her earlier.

She felt that since Hiruzen had considered both Jiraiya and Orochimaru as potential disciples, he couldn't have missed Watanabe. And as long as he noticed Watanabe, he would surely discover his unparalleled talent and potential.

In her eyes, Watanabe was more outstanding and perfect than anyone. The fact that Hiruzen hadn't brought him could only mean he was doing it intentionally.

Seeing Tsunade's genuine anger, Jiraiya shrank his head sheepishly, not daring to interrupt.

Orochimaru remained calm, not believing the conflict between Tsunade and Hiruzen had anything to do with him.

"Watanabe is indeed a very outstanding child," Hiruzen said.

"I can also see that he really wants to become my disciple, and to achieve that, he got the top grades in the entire school."

Tsunade froze.

Watanabe took the graduation exam?

Didn't I tell him not to graduate and wait for me to return?

After realizing this, the anger in her beautiful eyes intensified.

She understood, of course, that Watanabe took the graduation exam for her. But even though he got first place, he was still being targeted by Hiruzen.

"By rights, I should take Watanabe as my disciple," Hiruzen sighed. "But he is simply too outstanding, even mastering Ninjutsu that I haven't mastered. There's nothing I can teach him, and letting him develop naturally might be better for him..."

"Stop putting on an act."

Tsunade coldly interrupted.

"Who do you think wants to be your disciple? I'm going home, I can't be bothered to play with you."

With that, Tsunade simply gave up and walked past Hiruzen, heading back towards Konoha.

Hiruzen was stunned. He hadn't expected Tsunade to act so drastically. It was like playing cards and Hiruzen played a three, and Tsunade flipped the table.

Not only did Tsunade need the master-disciple relationship, but he did too, even more than Tsunade. If he let Tsunade leave like this, he wouldn't be able to face Mito or the Konoha higher-ups.

"Wait!"

Hiruzen quickly called out to her.

Tsunade ignored him and continued walking away, her back showing absolute determination.

Hiruzen suddenly felt regret. If he had known he would anger Tsunade to the point of giving up, he would have definitely brought Watanabe with him.

"Don't forget, you promised Mito-senpai that you would train with me for half a year!" Hiruzen said in a deep voice.

This sentence had an effect. Tsunade stopped.

She really wanted to leave, but she also knew that her master-disciple relationship with Hiruzen was tied to the clan's interests. If her grandmother found out she refused to be Hiruzen's disciple for Watanabe, who knew if her grandmother would develop an opinion about Watanabe.

Tsunade didn't care about the Senju Clan's interests, only Watanabe. She didn't want her willfulness to cause any negative impact on Watanabe.

A moment later, Tsunade turned around and glared at Hiruzen angrily:

"Old man, you remember this. When I become Hokage, I definitely won't let you off easy!"

Jiraiya and Orochimaru were both moved. They hadn't expected Tsunade to dare threaten Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Hiruzen, on the other hand, relaxed and smiled without saying a word.

The next morning.

It was a bright and sunny day. Watanabe didn't want to be late again, so he arrived at the mission hall early to wait for assembly.

Ten minutes later, Uchiha Chiri appeared first. Her familiar black silk stockings were a feast for the eyes just looking at them.

"Chiri-sensei, good morning," Watanabe greeted politely.

Chiri nodded, then suddenly noticed Watanabe's bare forehead. A thought crossed her mind, and she felt the urge to lecture him again.

She had told Watanabe long ago that his actions to help that boy were foolish, but Watanabe had insisted on contradicting her. Now, the facts had finally proven she was right.

"He didn't return your forehead protector, did he?" Chiri adopted a cool, lecturing tone. "I told you, you don't understand the ninja world. After suffering this loss, next time..."

"No, Might Duy returned it to me last night," Watanabe said with a smile. "But I didn't take it back. I let him keep using it."

Chiri was even more displeased upon hearing this. "Are you planning to lend him the forehead protector indefinitely?"

Watanabe: "Not exactly. Once he gets through this most difficult period, I'll take the forehead protector back. By then, he'll also earn his ninja status through his own abilities."

"What difficulties is he facing?"

Watanabe felt that Might Duy's situation wasn't something that couldn't be told. He truthfully explained Might Duy's father's serious illness and how Might Duy insisted on sharing his mission rewards with him.

Chiri fell silent after listening.

Watanabe felt that Chiri misunderstood him and said, "Sensei, don't think I don't understand anything just because I'm young. In reality, I understand quite a lot and don't easily suffer losses. As for you, Sensei, you probably don't truly understand the world of poor commoners. You should speak less about things you don't understand..."

Here we go again!

He's contradicting me again!

Chizuru was unconvinced but couldn't refute Watanabe. Of all the new genin she had ever led, Watanabe was the most disrespectful, even though she was the Teacher.

"Teacher, were you listening to what I just said?"

Chizuru's expression turned cold, and she threatened in a chilling voice, "Say one more word, and I'll kick you out of the squad."

Watanabe: "???"

What the heck? Weren't we having a nice conversation? She changed her mood just like that.

Fine, fine. If you wear black stockings, I'll agree with anything you say.

Watanabe wisely fell silent.

Shortly after, Hiruzen and Hyuga Rei arrived at the assembly point and respectfully greeted Chizuru.

Chizuru was still angry about being lectured by Watanabe earlier and gave them a cold shoulder, leading them into the Ninja Hall without a word.

Hyuga Rei didn't seem to mind. After several interactions, she believed Chizuru was simply a cold person. She cheerfully initiated conversations with Watanabe, who, suspecting she was looking for an opportunity to get back at him, half-heartedly responded, remaining constantly on guard.

Hiruzen, on the side, was anxious, constantly pondering how to win Chizuru's favor, or at least make her attitude towards him friendlier. Otherwise, he felt like he could be kicked out of the squad at any moment.

With the Second Great Ninja War on the horizon and the ninja world in turmoil, the number of clients coming to Konoha to issue missions had more than doubled, with people from all directions.

Considering the three members of her squad had just graduated, Chizuru accepted only a B-rank mission to clear out bandits. It was worth noting that when she worked alone, her lowest-ranked missions were A-rank, and she had even completed many S-rank missions, which was why her reputation in Konoha was so prominent.

"Ninja, those bandits are threatening our village and demanding we gather ten million Ryo for them within three days, or they'll massacre our entire village. We're truly desperate and had no choice but to come to Konoha to request help."

The client was a middle-aged man who tearfully recounted his plight to Chizuru.