Qinglong's Ninja Mission

Early one morning, Tsunade took Qinglong to an open area on the outskirts of the village.

"If you want to become my disciple, you'll need to show some strength. See the bell in my hand?"

Tsunade held up a little bell and said with a smile:

"Your mission today is to find a way to take the bell from me!"

"If you can't, you're not qualified to be my disciple—and you won't get any lunch!"

Tch!

Qinglong rolled his eyes at her. She'd treated him to dinner just last night, and now she was using lunch to threaten him.

How dare she!

And besides, stealing a bell was way too boring!

"Teacher Tsunade, stealing a bell is childish! Can't we just fight like men?"

A cross-shaped vein appeared on Tsunade's forehead. What did he mean, "fight like men"? She was a woman, wasn't she?!

Still, that suited her just fine. Rather than play some silly game with a bell, she'd rather beat him up and show him the strength of Princess Tsunade—and teach him to respect his elders!

"Hmph..."

Tsunade silently put the bell away.

"Then come on, brat! Let's see what you can do!"

"Okay!"

Qinglong struck a fighting stance—and vanished in an instant!

"What?!"

"He disappeared!"

Shizune, holding the little pig, was just as shocked. Tsunade's eyes widened.

"No!"

"He hasn't disappeared. He's moving incredibly fast."

Tsunade stared intently at the open ground ahead. She could still make out Qinglong's path.

His footsteps rang out across the field as he raced forward at incredible speed, leaving afterimages behind him.

"Such a fast Body Flicker Technique!"

Tsunade's expression turned serious, but she couldn't help praising him. She was reminded of one of Konoha's young prodigies—Body Flicker Shisui!

"Whoosh!"

Qinglong closed in on Tsunade in an instant. A ring of his afterimages appeared around her.

"Afterimage Fist!"

Nearly ten afterimages surrounded Tsunade, all throwing punches at once.

The Afterimage Fist created illusions through rapid movement, but there was only one real body.

Which one was real? Guessing was practically a gamble.

Unfortunately, Tsunade guessed wrong. The person she kicked turned into an illusion.

Qinglong had already appeared behind her.

"Teacher, I'm over here!"

He swung a palm, about to send Tsunade flying. But she was no pushover. She'd been ready for a sneak attack from behind and turned to defend herself in an instant.

"Thump!"

Tsunade was still knocked back several steps.

"Not bad, brat! You've got some strength!"

Tsunade's expression grew serious.

"It's time to show you my signature move!"

She stepped forward, cracking the ground beneath her.

Then she used the Body Flicker Technique to appear in front of Qinglong and kicked.

Painful Heavenly Foot!

"Thump!"

Qinglong took the kick head-on and was sent several meters backward.

Tsunade was astonished. Even though she'd held back, the kick hadn't had nearly the effect she'd expected.

It felt like she'd kicked not a child, but a thousand-pound weight.

Qinglong steadied himself and rolled his shoulders.

"That was just a warm-up. Now I'm going to get serious!"

He removed the weights from his wrists. They hit the ground with a thunderous crash.

Tsunade and Shizune's expressions changed.

Then Qinglong took off his shirt, which hit the ground with an even louder crash, kicking up a cloud of dust.

He kept going, sitting down to remove his shoes.

Only then did he stand. He felt ten times lighter, his whole body relaxed!

He gave a light jump and soared twenty or thirty meters into the air, as light as a swallow!

Tsunade and Shizune were too stunned to speak. Shizune's mouth hung open, and she couldn't close it.

Qinglong landed. Tall and lean, he clenched his fists as the air around him seemed to crackle.

Tsunade felt the pressure. A bead of sweat trickled down from her forehead.

"This brat!"

Qinglong fixed his bright eyes on Tsunade.

"Teacher, here I come!"

"Ikuzo!"

"Whoosh!"

Qinglong vanished from where he stood and appeared in front of Tsunade the next instant, throwing a punch.

Tsunade unleashed her monstrous strength and punched toward him.

"Thump!"

Their fists collided, setting off a burst of air that carved a round crater into the ground.

"Again!"

In an instant, they both roared and launched into another fierce exchange, the sounds of their blows ringing out without pause.

Their punches whipped up clouds of dust, and every collision sent out a powerful blast of air as the ground cracked beneath them.

The longer they fought, the more astonished Tsunade became. Her disciple was incredibly strong, forcing her to draw on more and more of her power.

"Boom!"

After a prolonged battle, Qinglong was sent flying by a punch and crashed into a tree, snapping it in half!

Qinglong howled and couldn't get back up!

Tsunade's rosy lips curled into a smile. She'd finally taken her disciple down.

She had still held back quite a bit, but it seemed her disciple hadn't been using his full strength either!

Still, she'd managed to knock him flat, hadn't she?

"Now you know how strong your teacher is!"

Tsunade smiled smugly as she looked down at her fallen disciple.

"Impressive! Impressive!"

Qinglong gave her a thumbs-up.

Tsunade helped Qinglong up and gently placed a little bell in his palm.

"Good. You're strong! I'm very pleased!"

"Starting today, you're my second disciple!"

In the Hokage Building, the Third Hokage had also been keeping an eye on the fight. He was the one who'd called Tsunade back, and Qinglong was the bond he'd arranged for her.