Tsunade, Dead Inside

Danger!

Hikawa immediately declared his loyalty. "There is only one teacher in my heart."

The killing intent on Tsunade's face instantly vanished.

She crossed her arms over her chest, thinking that this brat was quite sensible after all.

"It seems Tsunade-sama likes Hikawa very much."

Kushina Uzumaki glanced around and said.

"I don't."

Tsunade said without changing expression, "He's too mischievous."

Kushina Uzumaki merely smiled and said nothing more.

She had known Tsunade for a long time, so she naturally understood her very well.

"Didn't Minato come today?"

Tsunade changed the subject.

"He has a mission."

Kushina Uzumaki waved her hand and joked, "And even if he came, I'd still keep Tsunade-sama company."

"Liar."

Tsunade exposed her and asked, "Who was it that left me sitting alone last time?"

"Tsunade-sama, want to play cards?"

Kushina Uzumaki coughed and asked.

"Then I'm definitely going to win!"

Tsunade perked up.

"Really?"

Kushina Uzumaki did not believe her.

They had played cards before, and Tsunade had lost every time.

"That was then."

Tsunade snorted. "My luck has turned around now!"

Ever since she had Hikawa, she had won far more than she lost at the Casino.

"Wait for me."

Kushina Uzumaki got up and went into the room.

Hikawa's mouth twitched.

Tsunade clearly had not realized one thing.

Her luck had turned because she brought him along.

But now that he was her opponent, that lucky effect would no longer apply.

"I'm back!"

Kushina Uzumaki reappeared with a deck of cards.

"Are we gambling for money?"

Hikawa asked curiously.

"Money hurts relationships."

Kushina Uzumaki glanced at Tsunade and said, "We'll just use paper strips."

"Let's begin."

Tsunade spoke confidently.

Kushina Uzumaki could not help feeling puzzled.

Where did that confidence come from?

Seeing this, she began shuffling the cards.

"The first round was just an accident."

Very soon, Tsunade's smile froze, but she still stubbornly insisted.

"Hikawa."

Kushina Uzumaki took out a strip of paper, blinked, and said, "Don't go easy on her just because she's your teacher."

"Don't worry."

Hikawa promised, "I'll be completely impartial."

"Tsunade-sama, a bet is a bet."

Kushina Uzumaki said with an eager expression, clearly looking forward to the show.

"I know."

Tsunade curled her lips.

Because of the height difference, she took the initiative to bend down.

Her sleeveless top immediately tightened, outlining a full curve.

Kushina Uzumaki instinctively looked down at herself, and her smile immediately vanished.

The contrast was simply too brutal.

With immense willpower, Hikawa kept his eyes from wandering downward.

Looking at the beautiful, delicate face before him, he reached out and stuck the strip beneath her chin.

Tsunade's beautiful eyes widened as she began calculating how to win it back later.

But she soon realized she had been overthinking it. The first round had not been an accident—it had been the beginning.

"Seventeen cards! How did you beat me instantly?!"

After losing for an entire hour, Tsunade was already dazed.

"Sorry."

Kushina Uzumaki shook her head.

"Damn it!"

Tsunade gritted her teeth.

"Should we stop here?"

Hikawa glanced at Tsunade, whose face was covered in paper strips, and asked tentatively.

"No!"

Tsunade refused without hesitation. "If I don't win back at least one round, no one is leaving today!"

Hikawa and Kushina Uzumaki exchanged looks, both seeing helplessness in each other's eyes.

Should I try cheating?

An idea came to Hikawa.

But what left him dumbfounded was that the moment he intended to cheat, his hand became absurdly good.

It was the kind of hand that could not lose even if he played randomly.

Time quickly reached noon.

"I'm done playing!"

Tsunade put down the cards in her hand and flopped backward, looking utterly ruined.

She had not won a single round all morning.

She finally understood that this so-called change in luck was fake. From beginning to end, the lucky one had been Hikawa.

"I'll go cook."

Kushina Uzumaki let out a sigh of relief.

She had truly been afraid Tsunade would keep dragging them into more card games.

"Do you need help?"

Hikawa offered.

"No."

Kushina Uzumaki walked into the kitchen.

Hikawa turned to look at Tsunade.

At that moment, she lay sprawled across the sofa like a limp snake.

"Teacher, I'll help you take off the paper strips."

Hikawa walked over, crouched in front of her, and his eyes instinctively drifted toward those sloping snowy peaks.

"I thought you looked pretty happy when you were putting on the strips."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes.

"What happened to accepting the results of a bet?"

Hikawa gently peeled a strip from her face and asked.

"Accepting the results of a bet is one thing, but your disrespectful behavior toward your teacher is another."

Tsunade suddenly smiled.

Heh, women!

Hikawa sighed. "Go ahead, then."

"Go ahead with what?"

Tsunade froze and asked in confusion.

"Aren't you going to get revenge on your student?"

Hikawa paused, then added, "No touching my head."

Without hesitation, Tsunade reached out with both hands and messed his hair into a complete disaster.

"..."

Hikawa wore an utterly lifeless expression.

Tsunade laughed with immense delight.

That was blinding.

This was a huge profit.

Hikawa thought to himself.

After lunch, the two of them followed Kushina Uzumaki around the nearby area for a while before saying goodbye and leaving.

A new day still belonged to the holiday.

Hikawa went to buy fitness equipment.

In the original work, there had been scenes of dumbbells placed in the Raikage's Office.

At the time, he had thought the Raikage merely worked out casually, but he had not expected it to truly be a training method.

"Where should I put these?"

Hikawa looked at the fitness equipment covering the floor and fell into thought.

There were small dumbbells among the equipment, as well as large bench press racks and more.

Yuhi Shinko's house was not very large, inside or out.

Then... Tsunade's house?

Her place was not a single house, but an entire row of houses.

According to Tsunade, this had once been the Senju Clan's residence. After the clan dispersed, it had been left vacant.

As for whether anyone would notice, that would not be a problem.

These fitness exercises were quite common.

The most crucial part of this body-training method was using Chakra to nourish the body after training.

With that thought, Hikawa used the Tool Summoning Scroll to pack up the fitness equipment and headed to Tsunade's house.

As expected, she was not up yet, but that did not matter. He had a key.

After bustling about for a while, he finally finished setting everything up.

Hikawa began training according to the method written on the Lightning Release Chakra Mode scroll.

A moment later, a new entry appeared.

C-rank Ninjutsu Entry: Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

Trigger Condition: Beginner-level Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

Current Progress: 0%.

It was actually C-rank?

In other words, merely getting started would allow him to reach Chunin level.

The difficulty was high, but so was the potential.

Hikawa could not help feeling full of motivation.

"What is that brat making so much noise about so early in the morning?"

Tsunade got up, changed clothes, and walked to the window.

When she opened it, she saw Hikawa training.

With a serious expression, he accelerated from a distance, sprinted forward, then leaped up and cleared the high-jump bar.

Tsunade watched for a moment before going back to sleep.

Two months passed in the blink of an eye, and school soon began.