Meeting Water Gate

"I... I understand, Lady Tsunade."

Hearing Lady Tsunade's words, Hatake Dansui took a deep look at Uchiha Yue before him, a bitter smile appearing on his face.

At this very moment, Hatake Dansui knew he had truly been defeated—defeated at the hands of Uchiha Yue, with no chance of a comeback.

Setting aside the fact that Uchiha Yue had previously overcome the joint offensive launched by him and Hyuga Anihiko, the mere fact that Uchiha Yue had become a disciple of one of the Sannin was enough to place him beyond Hatake Dansui's reach. After all, the gap between their strengths had already widened significantly, and once Uchiha Yue became Lady Tsunade's student, Hatake Dansui felt his strength would only skyrocket further. What capital did he have left to challenge him?

At the same time, Hyuga Anihiko, who was still kneeling there, felt equally bitter. Unless he could find a teacher like Lady Tsunade, he, too, would have no qualifications to continue challenging Uchiha Yue. Moreover, Hyuga Anihiko's situation was far worse than Hatake Dansui's; his two consecutive failures had cost him the support of the Hyuga Clan entirely. In the future, he would likely have to struggle within the clan relying solely on his own efforts.

When Uchiha Yue saw the bitter expressions on the faces of Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko, he instantly understood Lady Tsunade's true intentions.

Clearly, Lady Tsunade was using the mouths of Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko to tell everyone in Konoha that Uchiha Yue would be growing up under her protection.

Although Lady Tsunade had been away from the village for a full year, one must never underestimate her influence within Konoha.

Not to mention the support of the Senju Clan behind her, even the reputation of Lady Tsunade as one of the Sannin was enough to deter any petty villains in Konoha. Looking at the state of Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko, Uchiha Yue suddenly realized that becoming Lady Tsunade's apprentice was not without its benefits; at the very least, those who wanted to stir up trouble around him would now have to consider the thoughts of this powerhouse of the ninja world.

Afterward, with the help of Hatake Dansui, Hyuga Anihiko left Lady Tsunade's residence in a sorry state.

It was estimated that within a day, the news of Uchiha Yue becoming Lady Tsunade's apprentice would spread throughout all of Konoha, and his name would be deeply etched into the minds of countless Konoha ninja and villagers.

However, what surprised Uchiha Yue slightly was that after the apprenticeship was settled, Lady Tsunade did not pay him any further attention, instead instructing Shizune to take him to the guest room to rest. Clearly, when she had intercepted Uchiha Yue's attack earlier, she had touched his body and sensed that his chakra was running low.

That was correct; even though Uchiha Yue's current chakra reserves were comparable to an average genin, using the Rasengan twice in succession had still exhausted every drop of chakra in his body. During the battle just moments ago, Uchiha Yue had struggled immensely to defeat Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko; if his final Rasengan hadn't defeated Hatake Dansui, he would have been the one to lose.

Fortunately, Hatake Dansui had lost his confidence the moment he saw Hyuga Anihiko suffer a crushing defeat.

Furthermore, it was Lady Tsunade stepping in to stop Uchiha Yue that saved him from the embarrassment of total chakra depletion.

Inside the guest room, Uchiha Yue quickly recovered his chakra, and then, accompanied by Shizune, he prepared to go to Lady Tsunade to formally perform the apprenticeship ceremony.

Jiraiya had come to Lady Tsunade's place this time clearly at her invitation to serve as a witness to Uchiha Yue's apprenticeship.

Perhaps Lady Tsunade had long guessed that Uchiha Yue would be able to master the Rasengan; at least, that was what Uchiha Yue thought to himself.

Then, after Uchiha Yue formally became her student, Lady Tsunade did not keep him there any longer, telling him to get some good rest and come to her for training tomorrow. Now that Uchiha Yue was about to graduate from the Ninja Academy, he would no longer need to go there for training every day, so coming to Lady Tsunade's place was naturally the best choice.

Moreover, these were all Lady Tsunade's arrangements, and Uchiha Yue naturally had no room to object.

It was just a slight pity for Uchiha Yue that he hadn't been able to speak with Jiraiya or his disciple, Minato Namikaze.

However, these were trivial matters to Uchiha Yue. After bidding farewell to Shizune in front of Lady Tsunade's residence, he prepared to return home to continue his training. Even though he now possessed the strength of an average genin, he was still keenly aware of his own shortcomings. Besides, in the world of ninja, unless one becomes a powerhouse like the Sannin, there is no way to control one's own destiny.

Just like the recently defeated Hyuga Anihiko, Uchiha Yue did not want to become a failure like him, eventually abandoned by his own clan.

Therefore, the current Uchiha Yue was full of motivation to become stronger and naturally had to continue training diligently.

However, Uchiha Yue never expected that just as he left Lady Tsunade's residence and prepared to head home...

A figure suddenly ran out from Lady Tsunade's residence, calling out to Uchiha Yue from a distance: "Uchiha-kun, please wait a moment!"

"Hmm?"

Hearing the voice from behind, Uchiha Yue turned his head slowly, and a look of surprise appeared in his eyes.

As it turned out, the person who had rushed out from Lady Tsunade's residence was none other than Jiraiya's beloved disciple, Minato Namikaze. Originally, Uchiha Yue had felt some regret about not being able to meet the future Fourth Hokage, but now that he saw Minato Namikaze had come specifically to find him, a smile immediately appeared on his face.

At this moment, Uchiha Yue could already guess Minato Namikaze's intentions; clearly, the other party had come for the ninjutsu he had just used, the Rasengan.

Hurrying over to Uchiha Yue, Minato Namikaze was clearly very interested in the Rasengan.

However, as a disciple of Jiraiya, one of the Sannin, Minato Namikaze was like a disciple of a great clan, with impeccable manners.

Then, after Minato Namikaze reached Uchiha Yue, he first waved at him and then said: "Uchiha-kun, I apologize for the abrupt intrusion. It's just that I am truly interested in the ninjutsu you used earlier. That ninjutsu is called the Rasengan, right? Uchiha-kun, how did you get the inspiration when you were developing the Rasengan?"

As he spoke, Minato Namikaze perhaps felt that asking this was a bit too blunt, and he felt a sudden pang of regret, scratching his head in embarrassment.

After all, every ninja considers the techniques they create as treasures and would not easily reveal information about them. For Minato Namikaze to come and ask Uchiha Yue about his thoughts on the Rasengan was like a stranger suddenly walking up to the Uchiha Clan to ask about the secrets of the Sharingan; if it were someone with a more volatile temper, they might have already started a fight.

However, since Uchiha Yue had been able to develop the Rasengan precisely because of his knowledge of the original story, he had no extra reservations toward Minato Namikaze, the true creator of the Rasengan. Furthermore, Uchiha Yue had long wanted to befriend the future Fourth Hokage, so as soon as the other party finished speaking, Uchiha Yue smiled and said: "Minato-kun, actually, I started developing the Rasengan purely to enhance my own chakra control, so you don't need to worry too much about it. Why don't we find a place and have a good chat?"

"That would be wonderful!"

Seeing that Uchiha Yue had no intention of being annoyed, Minato Namikaze's favor for him increased significantly, and the two then found a random teahouse to chat about the Rasengan.

While Uchiha Yue and Minato Namikaze were discussing the topic of the Rasengan, Uchiha Yue did not forget to ask Minato Namikaze for some advice on training methods for Wind-style chakra. One must know that Minato Namikaze had deep attainments in the path of Wind-style chakra training, and as Jiraiya's disciple, he naturally had unique insights when it came to this subject.

Moreover, Minato Namikaze was naturally an easy person to approach, and since Uchiha Yue had not held anything back while discussing the training methods of the Rasengan, Minato Namikaze felt even less need to have any reservations before Uchiha Yue.

Just like that, Uchiha Yue and Minato Namikaze chatted in the teahouse for a full four hours, with both gaining something from the exchange.

It was also during these four hours of conversation that Uchiha Yue and Minato Namikaze forged a deep friendship.

Even Uchiha Yue himself had not expected that he would be able to become friends with the future Fourth Hokage on this day.

However, what Uchiha Yue likely never expected was that because he and Minato Namikaze had been chatting so congenially in the teahouse, he had inadvertently provoked a terrifying existence.