To Repay My Debts, I'll Become Hokage!

Uchiha Chonhua's mouth twitched; with debts hanging over his head, he had no choice but to dance.

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

By the afternoon, the shop had quieted down, and Uchiha Chonhua called out a greeting before heading toward the Senju Clan estate.

Since meeting Nawaki, they had spent more time together, and their relationship had deepened into a friendship where they talked about everything.

Using Nawaki's friendship as a pretext, he could enter the Senju estate openly and honestly, occasionally "bumping into" Tsunade to ask for her guidance on medical ninjutsu.

"You brat, here again today?"

Tsunade crossed her arms, watching the smiling Uchiha Chonhua, and felt speechless on Nawaki's behalf.

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

At first, Tsunade had truly believed Uchiha Chonhua came for Nawaki, but as time passed, she realized things weren't that simple.

Uchiha Chonhua spent quite a bit of time with Nawaki, but compared to the time he spent with her, it was actually quite short.

Good grief, she had become the person who spent the most time with Uchiha Chonhua; was he here to play with Nawaki, or was he here to play with her?

"Nawaki and I agreed to have a sparring match today."

"And after the match? Are there going to be a bunch of questions you want to ask me again?"

Hearing this, Uchiha Chonhua scratched his head sheepishly: "This student is dull-witted; I hope Teacher Tsunade can teach me more. Is that not allowed?"

With wide, glistening eyes full of expectation, he looked at her. Tsunade clicked her tongue; she already knew this kid had ulterior motives.

However, Uchiha Chonhua was studious and thirsty for knowledge, and she didn't dislike children who worked hard.

But she didn't want to waste her time on Uchiha Chonhua either; with that kind of free time, wouldn't it be better to go to the casino and play a few rounds?

Tsunade's amber eyes rolled, and thinking of Nawaki, an idea formed in her mind.

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

Tsunade wore a bright smile, but her words made Uchiha Chonhua sense trouble.

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

With that, Tsunade patted Uchiha Chonhua's little head with a laugh and left the Senju estate; she was off to go all-in at the tables.

Uchiha Chonhua gave a bitter smile.

It seemed his eagerness had tipped Tsunade off, though she didn't hold a negative view of his actions; instead, she had left him with a request that put him in a difficult position.

Get Nawaki to listen to Tsunade's teachings?

Nawaki was the last person who wanted to hear Tsunade's lectures.

"Hehe, little Tsunade is always acting on a whim, putting you in a difficult spot, little Chonhua."

A kind voice drifted over. Uchiha Chonhua looked up and hurriedly bowed humbly.

"Sorry to disturb you, Grandma Mito."

She stood with a hunched back, her white hair tinged with red tied up, her demeanor gentle, much like a grandmother from next door.

The wife of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and the first jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, Mito Uzumaki.

She was the grandmother of both Tsunade and Nawaki.

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

Uchiha Chonhua nodded, took off his shoes, and entered the house, glancing at Mito Uzumaki as he passed.

She looked no different from an ordinary old woman—frail, aged, and slow of step.

It was impossible to imagine that this elderly woman was currently the strongest person in Konoha.

Mito Uzumaki watched Uchiha Chonhua go with a smile.

A curious Uchiha.

To think that one day, a member of the Uchiha Clan would be able to enter the Senju estate.

The times really had changed.

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

The Warring States period was truly fading away, never to return.

Chapter 12: Tsunade: This is Nawaki!?

"Whoa!"

Nawaki cried out as he tumbled to the ground.

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

Nawaki shook his arm, the lingering pain still radiating through it, causing it to tremble slightly.

"Hiss~, you're really strong."

Nawaki looked a bit discouraged and said, "I didn't think I'd be defeated so quickly. You guy, your strength is truly something else."

You are just a bit weak, Uchiha Chonhua thought silently.

As the grandson of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, Nawaki had been the center of attention in Konoha since birth.

To live up to such expectations and pressure, and to avoid tarnishing his grandfather's illustrious reputation, Nawaki had been nothing if not diligent in his training.

But... how to put it?

Nawaki, who was a year ahead of them, had grades in his academic courses that were merely above average. Beyond his studies, he had begun his ninja training, starting with practical combat lessons.

In terms of combat, Nawaki was not the best either; the top of the class was a child from the Aburame Clan.

Such results caused many who had been watching him to drop their jaws in disbelief.

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

Oh no, Nawaki had started doubting whether he was even a descendant of Senju Hashirama.

Had he actually managed to make the kid go emo?

Uchiha Chonhua quickly offered comfort: "Your strength isn't weak; you just can't utilize it fully. You have abundant chakra and your taijutsu isn't bad, but your chakra control is relatively poor, which is hindering your performance."

"By the way, Nawaki, have you learned tree-walking?"

Nawaki's response caught Uchiha Chonhua off guard.

"Huh? What's that?"

"...Are you serious?"

Nawaki nodded, indicating he was indeed serious.

Uchiha Chonhua fell silent, then walked toward a large tree in the Senju estate courtyard. Under Nawaki's astonished gaze, he walked up the trunk as if it were flat ground.

Nawaki looked left and right, even reaching out to touch it; Uchiha Chonhua stood there as if on level ground, not moving an inch.

"This, this, this... how did you do that?"

Uchiha Chonhua pushed off with his feet, landed with a backflip, and looked at Nawaki, puzzled: "I'm the one who's surprised. Are you sure you don't know about tree-walking? Didn't your sister teach you?"

"No, that's not right. You should have seen someone else perform it at some point... wait, maybe you really haven't..."

After all, tree-walking was a fundamental skill, and it wasn't often seen outside of instructional settings.

In the village, most ninjas simply leaped over walls and roofs; they rarely walked up trees step-by-step. There were many trees in the village, but even more houses.

After all, even the future trio of Team 7 had been unfamiliar with tree-walking, which showed that one rarely saw such training in the village.

Was this a case of being blinded by the light closest to the lamp?

Wait, hold on! This was a breakthrough point.

Uchiha Chonhua's mind shifted, and he thought of a solution.

"Nawaki, your foundation isn't bad, but your chakra control is poor, and your output isn't stable. If you complete the training of tree-walking and water-walking like I did, you'll be able to control your chakra like an extension of your own body, reducing unnecessary waste and stabilizing your output."

"Once you do that, you'll be able to utilize your full strength without it fluctuating between being powerful and weak."

He had noticed this during his spars with Nawaki; it was clearly caused by unstable chakra.

"You can even walk on water?!"

Nawaki was shocked. Walking on the surface of water—was that really possible?

It just went to show that Konoha was too peaceful. In other ninja villages with harsher environments, who wouldn't know the basics of chakra control training?

Uchiha Chonhua shook his head. Konoha was adept at ideological education—the Will of Fire had fooled so many—yet when it came to cultivating ninja abilities, it was far from perfect, with gaps even in fundamental training.

Uchiha Chonhua scoffed inwardly; once he became Hokage, he would never let such things happen.

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

Nawaki felt a bit depressed. If Tsunade had taught him this, he wouldn't be so frustrated.

But it wasn't too late to learn. Still... Nawaki looked at himself. Was he really losing to Chonhua and Minato only because of poor, unstable chakra control?

If Uchiha Chonhua knew what Nawaki was thinking, he would have cruelly told him: no.

Even if Nawaki's chakra were stable, his overall strength still wouldn't match the cheat-enabled Uchiha Chonhua or the true genius, Namikaze Minato.

He shouldn't compare himself to them, but Nawaki should have no... problem... beating the top of his class, right?

Uchiha Chonhua began to guide Nawaki's training.

"Come on, distribute your chakra evenly across the soles of your feet. Not too much, not too little. Then step up. You have to make micro-adjustments in real-time based on the tree trunk's resistance..."

Thwack!

Nawaki stepped up and immediately took a header into the dirt. He wasn't discouraged, though; he carefully adjusted his focus and ran at the trunk again, only to fall once more.

One of the traits of the Senju Clan was having vast, abundant chakra, and controlling such a massive amount was no simple task.

And so, Uchiha Chonhua revealed his true motive.

"Nawaki, let's go learn medical ninjutsu from Teacher Tsunade together."

With a twig hanging from his hair and his clothes dirty and torn, making him look like a wild man, Nawaki froze at Uchiha Chonhua's words, then his voice suddenly rose in volume.

"What!? Learn medical ninjutsu from my sister? No way!"

Uchiha Chonhua said unhurriedly, "You aren't actually trying to learn medical ninjutsu; you only need to learn the key points regarding chakra control. Nawaki, do you want to learn how to walk on trees and water as quickly as possible?"

"I do, but..." Nawaki's head throbbed at the mere thought of those medical textbooks. "But I don't want to read."

"Who said anything about reading?" Uchiha Chonhua looked at him in surprise. "You're here to learn chakra control, right?"

"That's right."

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

Uchiha Chonhua shook his head. "The process of learning medical ninjutsu is essentially the process of learning chakra control. This is just to speed up your training for tree and water walking. Once you've mastered those, you can give up on medical ninjutsu."

Nawaki scratched his head. "...That actually makes some sense, but I still don't want to learn it."

"I'll go ask my sister for training methods on chakra control. She'll definitely have a way. Why do I have to learn medical ninjutsu?"

The truth was that the key points for tree and water walking were incredibly plain and simple; one had to rely on their own intuition and familiarity to master them.

A genius would grasp the essentials immediately, succeeding in one or two tries, while those who weren't as gifted could only rely on falling over repeatedly to let their bodies build muscle memory.

Nawaki was the latter. Even though Uchiha Chonhua had already told him the key points, he still failed time and time again.

Afterward, Nawaki asked Tsunade when she returned home.

Upon hearing Nawaki's question, Tsunade replied with a sour look on her face. Uchiha Chonhua thought to himself that judging by that expression, she must have lost a fortune.

She truly lived up to her reputation as the legendary Sucker. If he ever ran short on money, he could just gamble with Tsunade—it would be a guaranteed profit.

Nawaki's face fell after hearing her answer; it was exactly the same as what Chonhua had told him.

Although he could learn it through sheer persistence, he really wanted to master it as quickly as possible.

So, should he do it? Should he learn medical ninjutsu?

Nawaki swallowed hard and said sheepishly, "Sister, can I skip reading those medical books and just learn the medical ninjutsu directly?"

"...Huh!?"

Tsunade stared at Nawaki with a look of pure horror.