Victory and Defeat

"A bet?" Hearing that Yusuke wanted to wager with her, Tsunade instinctively prepared to agree. But she was promptly tugged back by Shizune at her side.

Yusuke nodded and said, "That's right. If I lose, Kabuto naturally becomes Lady Tsunade's disciple; if Lady Tsunade loses, I hope to request a jutsu from her on Kabuto's behalf."

Hearing this, Tsunade asked curiously, "Why don't you first tell me what jutsu you want."

Yusuke smiled. "The Summoning Jutsu! The Katsuyu Lady Tsunade summons has an incredibly powerful healing ability. A summoning beast like that is the dream of every ninja."

"And Lady Tsunade needn't worry about Kabuto passing the Summoning Jutsu to others, after all, the summoning contract scroll should be in your hands. Kabuto would only be signing his name on it."

After saying this, Yusuke quietly watched Tsunade, who had fallen into thought, waiting for her reply.

In Yusuke's plan, the Summoning Jutsu was actually secondary; what he truly valued was the Senjutsu of Shikkotsu Forest.

"You need to first say what we're betting on!" At this point, Shizune, standing beside Tsunade, spoke up. She felt that this young man, not much older than herself, was surely hiding some scheme to trick her Lady Tsunade.

Yusuke smiled. "How about we bet on dice?"

"No!" The moment Yusuke finished speaking, Shizune flatly refused. She knew Tsunade's luck—betting on dice was a guaranteed loss with no chance of winning.

Seeing Shizune's reaction, Yusuke chuckled inwardly. He then proposed several common gambling methods, but all were rejected by Shizune.

At this, Tsunade's face showed displeasure, faint veins twitching on her fair forehead. It wasn't that she minded Shizune answering for her, but rather she was quite dissatisfied with Shizune's lack of trust in her formidable gambling skills.

"This won't do, that won't do either—this is a bit troublesome. How about we just compete in medical ninjutsu?"

Feigning a troubled deliberation, Yusuke tested the waters.

Hearing Yusuke's words, Tsunade raised an eyebrow and said slowly, "You should know that medical ninjutsu is what I excel at most. Proposing this kind of contest—you're not joking, are you?"

Yusuke smiled. "It seems the young lady here isn't satisfied with ordinary gambling methods. As it happens, This Humble One has some slight knowledge of medical ninjutsu as well, and since we're all ninjas, why not settle it with ninjutsu?"

"If Lady Tsunade has no objection, let's compete to see who can restore a dying creature to life faster. How about that?"

Hearing Yusuke propose a medical ninjutsu contest, Shizune couldn't find a reason to refuse. After all, this was Tsunade's forte—if she dared not even bet on this, there would be no more favorable option for their side.

Tsunade nodded. "Alright, in that case, let's begin."

"However, though you seem to have come prepared, I, Tsunade, don't like taking advantage of others. Regardless of the outcome, consider it that I owe you a favor."

Tsunade also sensed that Yusuke seemed to have come ready, but in her view, she had a very high chance of winning a medical ninjutsu contest. Even if she won, it would be an unworthy victory. Thus, this favor was her compensation to Yusuke.

Yusuke was slightly taken aback, then smiled. "Then I thank Lady Tsunade."

After confirming the terms of the bet, everyone caught two catfish of roughly the same size, both on the verge of death, and placed them on two stone slabs. Yusuke and Tsunade each stood before their respective slabs, waiting for Kakashi, acting as referee, to give the signal.

"Begin!"

As Kakashi's voice fell, Tsunade and Yusuke immediately started rescuing the catfish before them.

A few pale blue, needle-like Chakra appeared in Tsunade's hand, swiftly inserted into key points on the catfish's body. The catfish instantly sprang back to life, leaping about.

Seeing this, Kakashi asked Shizune, "Has Lady Tsunade already won?"

Shizune shook her head. "Not yet. Right now, Lady Tsunade is only using Chakra stimulation therapy to draw out the catfish's vitality, preventing it from dying before treatment can be completed. To truly restore the fish's life force, she still needs to continue treatment."

Just as Shizune said, a pale yellow Chakra, feeling very gentle, appeared in Tsunade's hand. She placed her Chakra-covered hand over the fish's body, and the fish's vitality visibly recovered at a noticeable rate.

While Tsunade was performing her medical ninjutsu, Yusuke took out a syringe and injected its liquid directly into the fish's body.

After the injection, Yusuke quickly formed hand seals. Once the seals were complete, he pressed his hand onto the injection site on the fish.

"Ninja Art: Seal of Life!"

What Yusuke had injected into the fish was the Hashirama Cells Fusion Liquid, and the curse seal technique he used was the 'Seal of Life' that had prolonged the lives of the Fourth Hokage and his wife during the Nine-Tails Incident. This powerful curse seal technique had been able to temporarily stabilize even the severe injuries of Minato and his wife back then, let alone the wounds of a mere fish.

Though wasting a vial of Hashirama Cells Fusion Liquid stung a little, Yusuke felt it was well worth it, considering it would allow Kabuto to learn Tsunade's Katsuyu Summoning Jutsu and, further, have a chance to study the Senjutsu of Shikkotsu Forest.

As the curse seal appeared on the fish's body, a surge of powerful life force erupted from within it. The fish writhed and leaped wildly on the stone slab, even more lively than a fish in water.

By this time, the fish Tsunade was treating had nearly fully recovered, but it was still a beat slower than Yusuke.

Looking at the fish jumping incessantly on Yusuke's stone slab, Tsunade said in surprise, "I didn't expect you to be proficient in curse seal techniques as well. But the key to this curse seal of yours lies in that vial of medicine you injected into the fish. I can sense an extremely powerful life force within it."

Yusuke smiled. "This Humble One did indeed take a shortcut. That vial of medicine is a secret life-saving drug I concocted. Combined with this 'Seal of Life,' as long as the injured person still has a breath, it can temporarily sustain their life."

Hearing Yusuke's explanation, Tsunade sighed and said slowly, "I lost. Though you used a medicine, there was no rule before the contest forbidding its use."

Looking at Shizune, whose cheeks were puffed out in frustration, Tsunade laughed. "What's with that expression, girl? Anyone would think you were the one who lost."

Shizune said resentfully, "He was too underhanded, using medicine like that. If I had lost, it wouldn't matter, but Lady Tsunade, your medical ninjutsu is clearly so strong."

Smiling, Tsunade patted Shizune's head to soothe her. Without any hesitation, she pulled a scroll from inside her chest and spread it on the ground.

This scroll was the summoning contract scroll for the Katsuyu of Shikkotsu Forest. On the unrolled part of the scroll, Yusuke saw the names of Senju Hashirama and Tsunade.

Tsunade waved at Kabuto. "Boy, come here."

Kabuto didn't move but looked at Yusuke. Yusuke smiled and nodded, signaling him to do as Tsunade said.

"Write your name here, then use your blood to press your thumbprint below your name." Tsunade pointed to a blank area next to her name on the scroll.

Following Tsunade's instructions, Kabuto wrote his name on the scroll, then bit his thumb and pressed his fingerprint. The entire contract-signing process was thus complete.

Tsunade rolled up the scroll and said to Kabuto, "Now follow me in forming hand seals. As you form the seals, channel your Chakra. How large a Katsuyu you can summon depends on the amount of Chakra you channel."

Kabuto nodded and immediately began forming hand seals alongside Tsunade.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

After completing the hand seals, Tsunade released the summoning, while Kabuto pressed his right hand to the ground, summoning a slug just large enough for him to ride.

Sitting atop the soft, slippery slug, Kabuto looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"Tsunade-sama, did you summon me?" the slug spoke, its voice a sweet, girlish tone.

Summoning beasts capable of human speech were common in the ninja world, so no one found it strange.

Tsunade said, "No, the one who summoned you is this young man on your back. He's also the one who signed the new contract. His name is Kabuto."

Kabuto quickly addressed the slug beneath him, "Hello, my name is Yakushi Kabuto. I look forward to working with you."

"Greetings, Kabuto-sama. I look forward to working with you as well," the slug replied, twisting its antennae to look at Kabuto on its back.

After learning the slug summoning technique, Kabuto sent the slug back to Shikkotsu Forest. Kakashi then asked Tsunade, "Tsunade-sama, how do you plan to arrange for Kabuto?"

Tsunade said, "I'm planning to leave the village tomorrow. If Kabuto agrees to learn medical ninjutsu from me to treat Minato, he'll have to leave with me. Given the talent he's shown so far, I estimate it'll take about a year before he can return and treat the Fourth Hokage."

"But Kabuto isn't my disciple yet. You'll have to ask him if he's willing to leave the village and train with me."

Kakashi explained the matter of treating the Fourth Hokage to Yusuke and Kabuto, then pleaded with Yusuke, "I hope you can help with this. This Humble One would be deeply grateful."

Yusuke patted Kabuto on the shoulder and said, "As a member of the village, if we can help the Fourth Hokage recover, it's our duty. Study hard under Tsunade-sama."

"During your training, you can also see more of the outside world."

Hearing Yusuke's words, Kabuto nodded and agreed to Kakashi's request. Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief, seeing hope for his teacher's recovery, which finally resolved a long-standing worry of his.

With matters settled, Tsunade gave the departure time for the next day and left with Shizune.

Though she regretted not successfully taking Kabuto as her disciple, Tsunade didn't dwell on it and quickly put it out of her mind.

What truly impressed Tsunade was the Yusuke she had met today.

"This young Uchiha's top expert is truly someone to be reckoned with." She greatly admired Yusuke's performance that day. But as she praised him, Tsunade couldn't help but think of the dwindling Senju Clan, sighing inwardly with melancholy.

Early the next morning, amidst everyone's farewells, Kabuto left Konoha with Tsunade.

During the send-off, Izumi felt both reluctant to see Kabuto go and deeply envious. After all, she had never left the village and was full of longing for the world beyond Konoha.

Watching the three figures gradually fade into the distance, Yusuke silently plotted Kabuto's future in his mind.

"Shikkotsu Forest, Ryūchi Cave, Mount Myoboku."

"Kabuto, the path ahead of you may be even more brilliant than I imagined!"

As always, thank you for your support!!

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