Tsunade's Shock

"Phew..."

"I did it!"

Looking at the fish flopping about in front of him, Uchiha Yue broke into a smile. His gaze then shifted to Tsunade.

In just three minutes, Yue had used his Medical Ninjutsu to bring the dead fish back to life, completing the training task Tsunade had assigned him. Even he was a little surprised. After all, when he'd watched the original story, he'd learned that Haruno Sakura had needed a long time to complete this training under Tsunade.

So after finishing the task, Yue couldn't help feeling a little pleased with himself. At the very least, he felt his talent for Medical Ninjutsu had already surpassed Sakura's.

Who would have thought that when Tsunade saw the smile on Yue's face, her expression would darken at once? Yue felt uneasy, wondering if he'd done something wrong.

Then Tsunade went straight to a pile of ninjutsu scrolls, pulled out several, and laid them in front of Yue. After unsealing one of the scrolls, she pointed to the dead fish inside and said, "This fish has been dead for six hours. Now use Medical Ninjutsu to bring it back to life. Remember, you have to revive it within three minutes. Otherwise, even I won't be able to save it."

"Yes!"

Faced with a new challenge, Yue showed no fear. He didn't even wait for the chakra in his body to recover before starting to heal the dead fish in front of him.

Sure enough, just as Tsunade had said, as soon as Yue gathered Medical Ninjutsu chakra in his hands, he could sense that barely any life remained in the fish. The faint trace of life left in it gave him exactly three minutes to treat it. If he went even one second over, no human effort could save the fish.

As he gathered Medical Ninjutsu chakra and held it above the fish, Yue's gaze grew even more serious than before. Tsunade, on the other hand, watched impassively, observing how well he controlled his Medical Ninjutsu. Fortunately, Yue's mental energy was exceptionally strong, and training in the Rasengan had given him superb chakra control.

Three minutes later, Yue had brought the dead fish back to life once again.

But just as Yue thought Tsunade would praise him, she simply unsealed another ninjutsu scroll in silence and pushed it in front of him.

"This fish has been dead for a full ten hours. You have to bring it back to life within one minute. Keep going."

Hearing the command in Tsunade's voice, Yue knew he couldn't question her. Otherwise, he'd be on the receiving end of her iron fists. Faced with Tsunade's tyrannical supervision, it was impossible for Yue not to feel a little resentful. But Tsunade hit much harder than he did, so he had no choice but to obey her and continue using Medical Ninjutsu.

And so, under Tsunade's watch, Yue barely had any time to rest. He spent the entire time treating the dead fish sealed inside the scrolls.

Aside from giving Yue time to recover his chakra, Tsunade kept a strict watch over him. Whenever Yue showed even the slightest sign of fatigue, she would furrow her brow, and he would quickly pull himself together for fear of making her angry. And whenever he made even a small mistake while controlling his chakra, Tsunade would lightly tap the top of his head with her finger.

Don't think Tsunade was kindly comforting Yue. That was her harshest punishment!

Whenever Yue's chakra control became even slightly unstable, Tsunade pressed down on his head with a force far greater than the force Yue used to throw a Kunai. Fortunately, Tsunade could control her strength with ease, making sure he felt the pain without actually getting hurt.

Otherwise, Yue figured he'd have gone home covered in bruises after just one day of training with Tsunade.

"Phew... phew..."

"Lady Tsunade, I did it!"

Panting heavily, Yue had already lost count of how many times he'd run out of chakra and how many times he'd recovered.

The scrolls stacked up in front of him were piled as high as a mountain. That alone showed how many dead fish Yue had treated in a single day. And yet, when Tsunade saw him gasping for breath, she still offered no praise. She only nodded slightly, signaling that he could go home and rest.

On the way home, Yue barely had the strength to think. By the time he finally dragged his exhausted body back, he nearly collapsed in the entryway. His mother, Minako, felt a pang of concern when she saw how utterly worn out he was after his first day of training. Yue had to reassure her before he finally had time to return to his room and rest.

But...

When Yue had finally recovered his strength and was getting ready to continue his daily training in his room, he recalled Tsunade's attitude that day and suddenly furrowed his brow.

What... did I do wrong?

It seemed that after I completed the first stage of training, Tsunade had been frowning the whole time.

Could I have made a mistake while training in Medical Ninjutsu?

Puzzled, Yue thought Tsunade really was a difficult person to please, then began following the training plan he'd made for himself.

At the same time, Tsunade sat in a tavern and lifted the cup in front of her, downing a glass of strong liquor.

Jiraiya, sitting across from her, furrowed his brow slightly. "Tsunade, weren't you teaching that kid from the Uchiha Clan today? Did his talent disappoint you and put you in a bad mood?"

"Disappoint me?"

At Jiraiya's words, Tsunade's lips curled into an amused smile. "Jiraiya, what makes you think my Yue lacks talent? Have you even seen what he can do?"

As she spoke, Tsunade recalled Yue's training that day and sighed. "Jiraiya, do you know how surprised I was today? I always thought I had the greatest talent for Medical Ninjutsu. But while teaching Yue today, I realized my talent for it is practically trash!"

"In just one day—he needed only one day! That kid Uchiha Yue completed a training regimen that took me a whole year!"

"Can you imagine it? Can you imagine how shocked I was? Can you imagine how troubled I felt?"

At that, a bitter look appeared on Tsunade's face. She rubbed her golden hair and said ruefully, "I figure I won't be able to teach Yue Medical Ninjutsu for much longer—not even three years. By then, he might be better at it than I am, and he'll only be seven!"

"He's already got such terrifying talent at four. How am I supposed to live with that as his teacher?"

"When I finally have nothing left to teach Yue, won't that be so embarrassing?"