Tsunade: This Is Nawaki!?

Uchiha Chonhua's mouth twitched. He was in debt, so he had to dance.

"Mom, I'm going to play at a classmate's house."

The shop quieted down in the afternoon. After letting his mother know, Uchiha Chonhua headed for the Senju residence.

After meeting Nawaki that time, he'd kept in touch with him. Their relationship had grown closer, and they'd become friends who could talk about anything.

Thanks to his friendship with Nawaki, he could enter the Senju residence openly and run into Tsunade from time to time, asking her for guidance in Medical Ninjutsu.

"You're here again today, kid."

Tsunade folded her arms and looked at Uchiha Chonhua's beaming face, feeling speechless on Nawaki's behalf.

Her foolish little brother still hadn't seen through this kid's intentions.

At first, Tsunade had genuinely thought Uchiha Chonhua had come for Nawaki. But as time went by, she realized there was more to it than that.

Uchiha Chonhua spent plenty of time with Nawaki, but nowhere near as much as he spent with Tsunade.

Good grief. She, Tsunade, had become the person who spent the most time with Uchiha Chonhua. Was he coming to play with Nawaki or with her?

"Nawaki and I agreed to spar today."

"And after the spar? You'll have plenty of questions to ask me again, won't you?"

At that, Uchiha Chonhua scratched his head sheepishly. "I'm a slow learner, so I hope Teacher Tsunade can teach me more. Is that so wrong?"

He looked at her expectantly with his big, dewy eyes. Tsunade clicked her tongue. She already knew this kid had ulterior motives.

Still, Uchiha Chonhua was eager to learn and thirsty for knowledge. She didn't dislike hardworking children.

But she didn't want to waste her time on Uchiha Chonhua, either. Wouldn't it be better to spend that time playing a few hands at the casino?

Tsunade's amber eyes shifted as she thought of Nawaki, and an idea came to her.

"Chonhua, I don't have that much time to waste on you. But..."

Tsunade wore a radiant smile. Her words made Uchiha Chonhua think something was wrong.

"If you can get Nawaki to listen to my teachings too, I don't mind setting aside some time to teach you more."

With that, Tsunade smiled and patted Uchiha Chonhua's head before leaving the Senju residence. She was off to gamble.

Uchiha Chonhua gave a bitter smile.

It seemed he'd overdone it, and Tsunade had caught on. But she didn't seem to disapprove of his approach. Instead, she'd left him with a request that put him in a difficult position.

Get Nawaki to listen to Tsunade's teachings?

The last thing Nawaki wanted was to listen to Tsunade's teachings.

"Hehe, Little Tsunade always does whatever pops into her head. She's put you in a difficult spot, hasn't she, little Chonhua?"

A kindly voice rang out. Uchiha Chonhua looked up and quickly bowed respectfully.

"Sorry to trouble you, Grandma Mito."

She had a hunched back and a crown of white hair tinged with red. Her gentle manner made her seem like an ordinary grandmother from next door.

She was the wife of Senju Hashirama, the First, and the first Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Mito Uzumaki.

She was Tsunade and Nawaki's grandmother.

"Come in. I've prepared tea and snacks for you."

Uchiha Chonhua nodded, took off his shoes, and went inside. As he passed Mito Uzumaki, he glanced at her.

She was no different from an ordinary old woman: frail and slow on her feet.

It was hard to imagine that this old woman was currently Konoha's strongest person.

Mito Uzumaki watched Uchiha Chonhua with a fond smile.

What an unusual Uchiha.

An Uchiha had actually entered the Senju residence.

Times really had changed.

Mito Uzumaki sighed inwardly. Hashirama's wish was gradually becoming reality.

The Warring States Era was truly fading into the past, never to return.

Chapter 12: Tsunade: This Is Nawaki!?

"Whoa!"

Nawaki cried out and fell to the ground.

Seeing this, Uchiha Chonhua quickly withdrew his hand and helped Nawaki up.

Nawaki shook his arm. The pain still lingered, and his arm trembled a little.

"Yikes, you're really strong."

Nawaki looked dejected. "I didn't expect to lose so quickly. You're really strong, you know."

You're just a bit weak, Uchiha Chonhua thought silently.

As the grandson of Senju Hashirama, the First, Nawaki had been the focus of attention throughout Konoha since birth.

To live up to those expectations and pressure, and to uphold his grandfather's reputation, Nawaki had trained incredibly hard.

But... how should he put it?

Nawaki was a year ahead of them and ranked around the middle to upper-middle in his academic classes. Besides his studies, he was training to become a ninja and had begun practical combat lessons.

He wasn't the best at combat, either. The top student in his class was a child from the Aburame Clan.

Those results had shocked many of the people keeping an eye on him.

"I can't beat you or Minato. Am I really my grandfather's grandson?"

Oh no. Nawaki was starting to doubt whether he was even a descendant of Senju Hashirama.

Had Chonhua made the kid so depressed that he'd gone into emo mode?

Uchiha Chonhua quickly reassured him. "You're not weak. You just can't bring your full strength to bear. You have plenty of chakra, and your Taijutsu is decent, but your chakra control is weak, which limits your abilities."

"By the way, Nawaki, have you learned Tree Walking?"

Nawaki's answer caught Uchiha Chonhua by surprise.

"Huh? What's that?"

"...Are you serious?"

Nawaki nodded, confirming that he was serious.

Uchiha Chonhua fell silent, then walked over to a large tree in the Senju residence's garden. Under Nawaki's astonished gaze, he walked along the trunk as if he were on level ground.

Nawaki looked around, then even touched the tree. Uchiha Chonhua stood on it as steadily as if he were on flat ground, without moving an inch.

"H-how did you do that?"

Uchiha Chonhua pushed off with his foot, flipped through the air, and landed. He looked at Nawaki in confusion. "I'm the one who's surprised. Are you sure you haven't learned Tree Walking? Your sister never taught you?"

"No, wait. You must have seen someone else do it before, right? ...Actually, maybe you really haven't."

Tree Walking was a basic skill, but it wasn't often seen outside of lessons.

After all, this was inside the village. Most ninjas leaped across rooftops and walls; few walked up trees in a rigid, textbook fashion. The village had plenty of trees, but even more buildings.

Just look at the three kids from Team 7 in the future. They were all unfamiliar with Tree Walking. That showed how rarely you'd see anyone practicing it in the village.

Was this a case of not seeing the forest for the trees?

Wait! This was the perfect breakthrough.

Uchiha Chonhua's thoughts shifted, and he came up with a plan.

"Nawaki, your fundamentals aren't bad, but your chakra control is poor and your output isn't steady. If you practice Tree Walking and Water Walking like I do, you'll learn to control your chakra as easily as your own limbs. You'll waste less chakra, and your output will be more stable."

"That way, you'll be able to bring your full strength to bear instead of sometimes hitting hard and sometimes hitting weakly."

He'd noticed it during their spar. The problem was clearly caused by Nawaki's unstable chakra.

"You can walk on water too?!"

Nawaki was astonished. Could you really walk across the surface of water?

Konoha really was too peaceful. Ninjas from other villages with harsher environments all knew that chakra control was a basic part of training.

Uchiha Chonhua shook his head. Konoha was pretty good at teaching people what to think. The Will of Fire had fooled so many people, yet when it came to training ninja skills, they fell short. They'd even overlooked basic training.

Uchiha Chonhua scoffed to himself. Once he became Hokage, he'd never let something like this happen.

"Damn it, why didn't my sister tell me about training like this?"

Nawaki was a little frustrated. If Tsunade taught him this, he'd be wide awake.

But it wasn't too late to learn now. It was just... Nawaki looked at himself. Was he really losing to Chonhua and Minato because his chakra control was poor and unstable?

If Uchiha Chonhua knew what Nawaki was thinking, he'd cruelly tell him the truth: no.

Even if Nawaki stabilized his chakra, his abilities in every area would still fall short of Uchiha Chonhua, who had a cheat ability, and the genuine genius Namikaze Minato.

He shouldn't compare himself to them, but surely Nawaki could beat the top student in his class... right?

Uchiha Chonhua began guiding Nawaki's training.

"Come on. Distribute your chakra evenly across the soles of your feet. Not too much, not too little. Then step onto the tree. Adjust it in real time according to how much weight the trunk can bear..."

Smack!

As soon as Nawaki stepped onto it, he toppled headfirst to the ground. He didn't get discouraged, though. After carefully adjusting his chakra, he ran up the trunk, only to fall again.

One characteristic of the Senju Clan was their vast reserves of chakra. Controlling such a huge amount of chakra was no easy task.

So Uchiha Chonhua finally showed his hand.

"Nawaki, let's go learn Medical Ninjutsu from Teacher Tsunade together."

With a branch hanging from his head and his clothes filthy and torn, Nawaki looked like a wild man. At Uchiha Chonhua's words, he froze for a moment, then raised his voice.

"What!? Learn Medical Ninjutsu from my sister? No way!"

Uchiha Chonhua said unhurriedly, "You don't actually have to learn Medical Ninjutsu. You only need to learn the parts about chakra control. Nawaki, do you want to learn Tree Walking and Water Walking as quickly as possible?"

"Of course I do, but..." At the thought of all those medical books, Nawaki's head began to hurt. "But I don't want to read!"

"Who said you had to read?" Uchiha Chonhua looked at him in surprise. "You're learning chakra control, right?"

"Right."

"Those medical books are for learning Medical Ninjutsu. You're here to learn chakra control, so why would you need to read them?"

Uchiha Chonhua shook his head with a knowing air. "Learning Medical Ninjutsu is also a way to learn chakra control. It'll help you master Tree Walking and Water Walking faster. Once you've learned those, you can stop studying Medical Ninjutsu."

Nawaki scratched his head. "...That kind of makes sense, but I still don't want to learn."

"I'll ask my sister how to train my chakra control. She'll definitely know what to do. Why should I learn Medical Ninjutsu?"

Because the key to Tree Walking and Water Walking was so plain and simple: get the hang of it through practice.

Geniuses grasped the principles immediately and mastered them in one or two tries. Those who weren't as bright could only keep falling until their bodies learned the movements.

Nawaki was one of the latter. Uchiha Chonhua had already explained the principles, yet Nawaki still kept failing.

Later, Nawaki asked Tsunade, who had returned home.

When she heard Nawaki's question, Tsunade answered with a sour expression. Uchiha Chonhua figured she must have lost badly.

No wonder they called her the legendary Big Loser. If he ever ran short of money, he could go gamble with Tsunade. It'd be an easy way to make a fortune.

After asking her, Nawaki wore a long face. Why was her answer exactly the same as Chonhua's?

He could learn through sheer persistence, but... he still wanted to master it as quickly as possible.

So, should he learn Medical Ninjutsu?

Nawaki swallowed, then asked sheepishly, "Sis, could I skip reading those medical books and go straight to learning Medical Ninjutsu?"

"...Huh!?"

Tsunade stared at Nawaki in horror.