The Magician's Strongest Ability!

On the quiet forest path, Li Tong walked ahead with an expression that suggested he had just stepped in something foul.

"Elite Jonin—when I was sixteen, I couldn't even beat an Elite Jonin, yet you managed it at twelve. You little brat, tell me, how on earth did you do it?"

"Hey! Brat, have you eaten yet? I haven't, want to go together? My treat!"

"Hey! Brat, do you like seafood?"

"Brat, what's wrong with you? Are you mute?"

"You little brat, I'm talking to you! Stop right there!"

Li Tong stopped abruptly, feeling as if eight hundred flies were buzzing around his head. He turned back to look at the incessantly chattering Tsunade with a blank expression and sighed, "Hey! Big Sister, can you stop following me? I'm going back to take a bath. Do you want to join me?"

"Oh?" Tsunade paused, then immediately broke into a brilliant smile. "Sure! Let's bathe together!"

Li Tong's shoulders slumped. He had to hand it to this shameless woman; he had clearly written "I find you incredibly annoying" all over his face, so why did she insist on pretending she didn't see it?

"I'm leaving, do as you please!" Li Tong turned, head hanging low, and walked forward.

"Hey! Don't be so dejected." Tsunade hurried over, hooked her arm around Li Tong's neck, and enveloped him in a thick, cloying fragrance that nearly made him pass out. His face twisted in misery.

"Huh?" Tsunade looked surprised. "How come you didn't sneeze this time?" She had done it on purpose.

"I'm almost cured of you," Li Tong gave her a dead-fish stare.

"Is it that magical?"

"But I still suggest you change your perfume. This scent is too strong; I can smell it from eight hundred meters away."

"Really?" Tsunade kept her right arm hooked around Li Tong and lifted her left sleeve to sniff it.

"Hey! Can you stop holding me like this? We aren't that close, you know!"

"Brat! How dare you talk to me like that!" Tsunade raised an eyebrow, tightened her grip on his neck, and challenged, "What are you going to do about it?"

"Look here!" Li Tong said rapidly, snapping his fingers at the same time.

Tsunade's attention was instantly captured by the snap. She looked at his raised right hand as he flipped his palm, revealing a green pendant hanging from a black silk thread, which was looped around his index finger.

The pendant swung back and forth like a pendulum.

"You are tired, you need to rest, close your eyes! Close your eyes comfortably, keep your mind clear, and think of nothing but my words. You feel your arms and legs becoming very heavy, relax, relax your whole body, you will feel even more relaxed, even more comfortable, even more comfortable..."

Tsunade seemed to freeze in place, staring intently at the swinging pendant.

Li Tong's words seemed to carry a hypnotic power, guiding her consciousness and her inner thoughts.

This was the ultimate ability of the world's top stage magician—hypnosis!

Hypnosis was real, but because the success rate was so low, very few magicians dared to perform it on stage. If a performance failed, they would never have another chance to perform; their reputation would be ruined. Furthermore, audiences often assumed the hypnotized subject was merely an "actor" working in collusion with the magician.

In his past life, Li Tong had never performed hypnosis publicly.

It wasn't a matter of success rate—his success rate was incredibly high—but it was exhausting. He had to use his own eyes to constantly monitor the changes in the subject's gaze, control his tone, and use his voice to find a resonant frequency for hypnosis, all while gauging the subject's reactions. Since every person was different, the tone required for hypnosis varied as well.

A single wrong syllable could cause the hypnosis to fail.

This meant there were no set rules; hypnosis relied entirely on improvisation and real-time adjustments.

In his past life, every time Li Tong successfully performed hypnosis in private, he would be left utterly drained, requiring a long sleep to recover. It was a mentally taxing ability.

"...What do you see? You see the ocean, a tranquil ocean, a gentle breeze blowing. You enjoy this serenity, warm sunlight wraps around you, sleep now, sleep..."

As the final syllable faded, Tsunade closed her eyes.

Li Tong carefully shifted his shoulders, crouched slightly, and slipped out from under Tsunade's arm, slowly detaching himself from any physical contact with her.

Tsunade stood like a statue, eyes tightly shut, the golden hair on her forehead swaying gently in the breeze.

"Idiot woman!" Li Tong muttered, rubbing his brow, then looked at the pendant in his hand.

This wasn't his; he had swiped it from Tsunade just before deciding to hypnotize her.

Is this the pendant that brings misfortune? Li Tong wondered. He recalled that in the original story, this pendant was an heirloom of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. Tsunade had given it to her younger brother, Nawaki Senju, and her first love, Dan Katō, both of whom died in the war.

However, the final owner of the pendant didn't die, because that was the protagonist of the original story, Naruto Uzumaki! A child of destiny who could trigger plot armor whenever he pleased!

"Sigh, I hope she doesn't come bothering me again!" Li Tong sighed, hung the pendant on a nearby tree branch, and walked away quickly.

Half an hour later.

Mikoto Uchiha and two Uchiha Clan Jonin were walking along the path when they spotted Tsunade standing motionless in a strange posture from afar. Mikoto blinked in confusion. "Huh? That's Lady Tsunade. What is she doing?"

"Perhaps it's some kind of unique training."

"Lady Tsunade is truly worthy of being the Hokage's direct disciple; she is so diligent."

The two Jonin speculated one after another.

"Is that so? Then let's be quiet and not disturb Lady Tsunade," Mikoto whispered.

The three of them lightened their footsteps and walked around Tsunade.

Snap!

Mikoto accidentally stepped on a thick, dead branch, which let out a crisp cracking sound. Tsunade, who had been standing motionless in the middle of the path, instantly opened her eyes.

"Ah! Lady Tsunade, I am so sorry to disturb you!" Mikoto immediately bowed in apology.

"How... how could I... strange... where is this..." Tsunade was still dazed, her eyes unfocused as she looked at Mikoto Uchiha, then scanned her surroundings.

When she saw the pendant hanging from the tree branch, memories flooded into her consciousness like a tidal wave.

"You bastard! Damn it! What did you do to me? This is impossible, I actually..." Tsunade's eyes widened; she snatched the pendant from the branch and vanished in a flash.

"Lady Tsunade, she..." Mikoto Uchiha was bewildered, having no idea what had come over Tsunade.

"Sister, it's more important to find that brat Li Tong. Lady Tsunade won't make things difficult for us," the Uchiha jonin on the right said.

Lakeside cabin, bathroom.

Li Tong was soaking in a tub filled with warm water, shaking his head contentedly while humming a strange tune. When the mood struck him, he even stood up in the tub, spinning and wiggling around.

Li Tong had just finished one rotation.

Whoosh!

Like a phantom, Tsunade appeared out of thin air before the tub, staring at Li Tong as she asked coldly, "Brat, what did you do to me?"