Tsunade Played Dirty

"Oda Lang, Kimura Takuya—no one else can find out about what happened today!"

"Let's put that aside for now. Big Sis, what about the promise that you'd take me as your disciple?"

Picking his nose with one hand, Kimura Takuya pointed at Tsunade with the other, urging her to take him on as her student. He couldn't have looked more smug.

Even gentle Shizune was so furious she nearly snapped.

Tsunade just laughed heartily and held Shizune back.

"Haha, all right. You be my disciple!"

"What?"

"I said I bet you could reattach the arm, and I won. Now you be my disciple. Haha!"

Tsunade planted her hands on her hips and laughed, watching Kimura Takuya's utterly baffled expression.

She was overjoyed.

Hahaha, you thought you could bet with me?

The first time I played dirty, your father hadn't even been born yet!

"You're so shameless! That's just too shameless!"

"We'd only started the bet. Neither of us had placed a wager yet. Whether we bet on the big or the small wasn't set in stone. So I bet you could reattach the arm, and I won. Any problem with that? You're not going to welch on the bet, are you?"

Tsunade stared at Kimura Takuya, her eyes narrowing slightly as her expression darkened. The immense aura of a Kage Level shinobi surged toward him.

By the looks of it, she was determined to take him as her disciple today.

Hahaha!

At last, you've come. Good thing I never gave up~

Under Tsunade's powerful aura, Kimura Takuya appeared meek and timid.

In truth, he couldn't help singing triumphantly inside. He nearly burst into song.

Do you know what I've been through all these years?

I could only train two hours a day. I only dared to eat three meals a day, and I didn't even dare have a midnight snack!

I was afraid that if I got too strong, someone would notice.

Now I can finally be invincible in the open!

A genius with a backer can start down the path to invincibility.

A genius without a backer is just a damn human cauldron!

Although Kimura Takuya was thrilled on the inside, he showed none of it.

"You're not a Konoha Ninja. You can't take me as your disciple, can you?"

"Huh? Hahaha, just you wait!"

With that, Tsunade left with Shizune.

Back at her home, she retrieved her Forehead Protector, which had been kept there for years.

It was still in perfect condition. Tsunade took it out and studied it for a long while before finally tying it around her forehead, just as she had back then.

Looking at the figure in the mirror, Tsunade grew dazed. It was as if she were seeing her old self.

A flicker of sorrow passed through her eyes. She took a deep breath.

Then she headed to the Hokage Building.

Kimura Takuya was a rare genius among medical ninja. If she took him as her disciple, she might take him away to train him.

She had to tell Teacher Sarutobi.

The Anbu in the Hokage Building naturally recognized the First's granddaughter, Princess Tsunade of Konoha.

Tsunade passed through without hindrance and arrived outside the Hokage's office.

She was still considering how to broach the subject with Teacher Sarutobi when she heard Danzo's voice from inside.

"Hiruzen, you can't keep deliberating. Kimura Takuya's ninjutsu is far too dangerous. It must be kept under Konoha's control.

"If another village gets its hands on his ninjutsu, wouldn't our enemies be healed instantly, too?

"It must be classified as a forbidden technique, mastered only in secret by the Anbu.

"We must also erase Kimura Takuya's memories of the technique. It's far too dangerous for a child to possess a technique like that. Another village could steal it from him at any moment!"

Inside the Hokage's office, Danzo calmly spoke of stripping someone of his ninjutsu.

With a few quiet words, he decided another person's fate.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, the two Hokage Advisors, fell silent and didn't object, tacitly accepting Danzo's decision.

"Then—"

Bang!

Someone kicked open the office door.

The Anbu hidden inside immediately moved to shield the Hokage and the advisors.

"I won't allow it! Old Man, if you want to treat my disciple like this, I'll never agree!"

"Tsunade?"

Tsunade's powerful aura bore down on everyone present. The Anbu were hit first, breaking out in cold sweat.

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the Forehead Protector on Tsunade's forehead.

His eyes lit up, and he waved for the Anbu to stand down.

Then he walked up to Tsunade.

"I've already assigned Kimura Takuya to Kurenai Yuhi's team. He can't become your disciple."

"She's only his team leader. I want to take him on as my personal disciple!"

"No. That child's ninjutsu is too important to the village. He can't leave the village with you, and I won't allow you to take him as your disciple. Unless..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Tsunade's Forehead Protector, his expression distant, as if he were seeing Tsunade and the others back when they were young.

Back then, Tsunade had boldly reformed the medical ninja system.

Back then, Jiraiya was still in the village, and Orochimaru hadn't defected.

How spirited the Konoha Sannin had been in those days!

"Old Man, spit it out. Unless what?"

"Unless you take the Hokage Position!

"Tsunade, become the Fifth Hokage."

"What? No, I—I don't want to be Hokage."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's words knocked the wind out of Tsunade's sails. She took two steps back and stammered out her refusal.

Seeing Tsunade back down, Sarutobi Hiruzen understood her concerns. It wasn't only her hemophobia; she also hated the shinobi world.

"If you don't become Hokage, you have no say in Konoha's decisions. I've already made up my mind. Kimura Takuya's ninjutsu must be taken by the Anbu and classified as a forbidden technique.

"I'll also have the Yamanaka Clan erase his memories of the ninjutsu immediately.

"You may leave, Tsunade."

"What? Why do you have to do this? The Yamanaka Clan's memory-erasure technique will turn someone into an idiot!"

In response to Tsunade's challenge, Sarutobi Hiruzen showed no mercy.

"For the village! The decision has been made. You can't change it now."

"Wakatta. I understand. Then I accept the Hokage Position."

"What? I'm old, and I can't hear you when you speak so quietly."

"I said I'll be Hokage! Are you satisfied now, Old Man?"

Tsunade shouted and roared, as if becoming Hokage were something awful—as if they were asking too much of her.

When Sarutobi Hiruzen saw that Tsunade had agreed, he took several satisfied puffs on his pipe.

"The Hokage succession ceremony will be held tomorrow. Does anyone object?"

After Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke, his aged figure seemed reborn.

His aura rose with each passing moment as he looked down on the elders present.

For a moment, no one dared meet his gaze.

That was right.

He was, after all, Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Shinobi Hero!

The Third Hokage, teacher of the Sannin!

Whatever his merits and faults, he was the Hokage, and the Hokage was naturally the strongest of his generation in Konoha. There was no doubt about that!

"I agree. Tsunade should become the Fifth Hokage."

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura exchanged glances, then voiced their support at the same time.

Danzo looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen. As his aura bore down on him, Danzo turned to Tsunade, his eyes full of reluctance.

"Elder Danzo, do you have any objection to my becoming Hokage?"

Tsunade naturally wasn't afraid of Danzo. She lifted her chin and looked down on him.

Her words sounded like a question, but her tone was icy and threatening.

If Danzo dared say no, Tsunade would turn on him right then and there and teach the old man who'd threatened her disciple a lesson.

"I have no objection. I agree."

The odds were against him. With four votes in favor, his opposition wouldn't matter anyway.

Knowing when to yield wasn't shameful.

Besides, he'd put up with Sarutobi Hiruzen for so many years.

Having a hotheaded novice like Tsunade take the position might actually be good for him.

At the very least, Tsunade would be less able than Sarutobi to control Konoha when she first took office. Wouldn't that give Root another chance to grow?

Having figured out the details, Danzo calmed down and voiced his support as well.

He added just one more thing.

"Yakumo Kurama is just as important as Kimura Takuya. The two are now on the same team, so they need protective supervision. I want to transfer outstanding personnel from Root into Kurenai Yuhi's team to protect them both."

"Agreed." ×2

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura clearly wanted to keep the Hokage's power in check, so they supported Danzo's proposal.

With three votes to two, the matter was settled.