Bathing Tsunade

Carrying Tsunade into the bathroom, Li Tong set her down on a bench, filled the tub, and tested the water. Then he carried her over and slowly lowered her into it.

Though Tsunade was unlikely to wake up in her current state, Li Tong was still extremely careful.

He was worried that if Tsunade suddenly woke up, his head might end up mounted on a flagpole—and no one would be able to stop her.

He splashed water over her face and wiped it clean, then washed her hair. The clean bathwater quickly turned into black sludge. Li Tong immediately lifted Tsunade out of the tub and set her, soaking wet, on the chair. He changed the water and put her back in... After repeating this five times, the water in the tank ran out.

The bathroom's water tank was on the roof and connected to the bathroom by pipes. It was made of heat-absorbing metal, so during the day, sunlight alone could warm the water enough for a bath.

Now the water was gone. There was no more warm water, and Tsunade only looked a little cleaner.

Her hair was still full of mud and sand. Li Tong didn't dare dunk her head completely underwater; she'd choke and wake up at once. So washing her hair was very difficult.

Li Tong didn't dare stop for a moment. He ran out of the bathroom, leaped onto the roof, took down the empty tank, and dashed to the lake. After filling it, he used Fire Release Ninjutsu to heat the water directly from outside the tank. Then he put the tank back on the roof, reconnected the pipes, and returned to the bathroom.

Once the tub was full again, Li Tong put Tsunade back into it.

"This won't work. She won't get clean like this, and I can't dry her clothes. She'll definitely notice when she wakes up. Maybe... I should kill her?" Li Tong considered what would happen if he killed Tsunade, then immediately shook his head. The consequences were too terrifying.

There seemed to be only one option left: take off Tsunade's clothes. She'd be much easier to wash that way, and so would the clothes. They'd also be easier to dry.

But if he did that...

Take them off?

Or not?

Should he or shouldn't he?

After a full second of inner turmoil, Li Tong made up his mind.

Take them off!

"Please don't wake up. Please... don't... wake up..." Li Tong's hands trembled as he slowly undid Tsunade's clothes, one layer at a time, from the outside in...

Tsunade was God's masterpiece!

When Li Tong pulled her light-colored underwear out of the water, that was the thought that came to him.

If Li Tong had been eighteen, something might really have happened. Unfortunately, he was only twelve—and a rather skinny twelve at that.

"This isn't my fault!" Li Tong muttered to himself. He flicked up his sunglasses to reveal his eyes, swiftly glanced over Tsunade's body, then grabbed her clothes and shoes and hurried out of the bathroom.

At the lake, he quickly washed everything he'd taken off Tsunade, then dried it with Wind Release Ninjutsu. He brought it back to the bathroom and hung it up.

He returned to the tub.

Li Tong felt a little awkward about getting started. Taking a bath meant scrubbing, after all.

"This really isn't my fault!" Li Tong muttered again, then reached out with his "sinful" hands.

The feeling was beyond words.

Li Tong was surprised. An entire day had passed without anyone coming to the lake. The story of how Tsunade had buried him alive had spread, yet no one had come by!

How terrifying!

Tsunade was terrifying!

She had that much influence!

Li Tong was also a little glad he'd made the right decision. Fortunately, he'd washed Tsunade and her clothes, then put her clothes back on.

Late at night.

A gentle breeze stirred by the lake. The moon hung above the treetops, and all was silent.

Li Tong sat cross-legged on the grassy slope, perfectly still, his breathing steady.

Training!

He could say he'd trained all day. He hadn't dared leave, and he hadn't even eaten dinner. Tsunade was in his room, still asleep. Li Tong could have woken her, but he was worried she'd notice something, so he'd hesitated until now.

"So beautiful!"

Li Tong's breathing suddenly faltered. He opened his eyes and gazed at the lake with a sigh.

He just couldn't calm down.

A whole day had passed.

Whenever Li Tong closed his eyes, Tsunade appeared in his mind. His body was only twelve, but his soul was already over twenty. He had to admit that, apart from her awful personality, Tsunade was perfect in every way! Absolutely perfect!

"Unbelievable. It was just a bath. Honestly—" Li Tong's voice cut off abruptly. He sprang to his feet and turned to face Konoha, on guard.

A powerful chakra fluctuation had appeared in the wooden house!

Tsunade was awake!

And her condition was very unstable!

"Did she find out? No way. No way!" Li Tong muttered nervously.

"You bastard!!!" Tsunade's shriek rang out.

Li Tong spun around and ran for his life!

He raced across the lake and plunged into the woods on the other side. He was running as if his life depended on it, unable to stop imagining Tsunade tearing him limb from limb, chopping him to pieces, or cutting off his head and hanging it on a flagpole.

If only he'd run away during the day!

In the dim woods, Li Tong was moving at full speed.

Whoosh!

A gust of wind swept past. A ghostly figure left an afterimage beside Li Tong, then flashed into view and blocked his path. A pair of icy eyes fixed on him, golden hair fluttering in the wind. It was Tsunade!

Li Tong screeched to a halt and took several steps backward.

Their eyes met. They stared at each other.

"I think I can explain."

"Where's my money?"

They spoke almost at the same time. Then came an eerie silence.

Li Tong froze.

"What? What did you say?"

"You little bastard, I asked where my money is! Did you take it?" Tsunade snapped, grabbing Li Tong by the collar.

Tsunade had just woken up in the wooden house. First, she'd been shocked by Li Tong's ability to hypnotize her. Then she'd sensed something was off and felt around herself—only to discover that her money pouch was gone.

"Uh... the money, the money pouch? Oh! The pouch! Here it is!" Li Tong said, as if he'd just remembered. He pulled Tsunade's money pouch from his clothes and handed it over.

Tsunade took the pouch, opened it, pulled out a stack of bills, and counted them carefully.

Over eighty thousand. Not a single coin missing.

"She didn't find out." Li Tong let out a sigh of relief.

"Hmm?" Tsunade sensed something was off again and eyed Li Tong suspiciously. "Why were you running?"

"You were terrifying, charging at me like that. How could I not run?" Li Tong explained casually.

"Oh?" Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "Then why was my money pouch on you?"

"You were asleep, and I wanted to go eat on the street. I was worried someone might steal your money, so I kept it safe for you." Li Tong was making it all up. He'd taken Tsunade's money pouch because he'd forgotten to remove it before putting her in the tub. He'd found it in the pocket of her wet clothes, and it had gotten wet too.

So he'd taken it out, removed the bills, and dried them one by one. In the end, he'd been careless and forgotten to put the pouch back.

"I was asleep... How long was I out?" Tsunade looked up at the sky. The moon was full.

"All day. About ten hours." Li Tong put on an air of nonchalance and tried to change the subject. He reached out. "Look! I told you I could hypnotize you, but you didn't believe me. Now do you?"

Tsunade's expression grew complicated. She carefully recalled everything that had happened before she fell asleep, unconsciously resting a hand under her chin as she pondered.

"If you don't need anything, I'm going back." Li Tong turned to leave.

Only after Li Tong had walked dozens of meters did Tsunade look up and call out.

"Stop!"

"No!"

Li Tong didn't slow down.

Whoosh! Tsunade flashed in front of Li Tong, blocking his path.

"What now?" Li Tong reached out again. "Didn't I prove it to you? Are you going to bury me alive again?"

"Teach me!"

"What?"

"Teach me to hypnotize people."

"Sure! But..." Li Tong paused. He'd originally wanted to ask Tsunade to take him as her apprentice, but given what had happened last time, Tsunade was shameless enough to do anything. He thought it over and added, "You'll have to show me some sincerity and trade with me."

"Sincerity?"

"Right! For example, teach me Ninjutsu, and I'll teach you hypnosis. You teach me Ninjutsu, and I'll teach you hypnosis. How about it?"

Tsunade thought it over seriously. It didn't seem like a bad deal.

"Deal. What do you want to learn?"

"How about the Mystical Palm Technique? Let's start with that."

Li Tong already knew the Mystical Palm Technique! He'd spent eight thousand points of reputation to exchange for a Mystical Palm Technique card and swallowed it to master the technique. But he couldn't just use it in front of people. There was no way he could explain how he'd learned it. It was an extremely advanced A-rank Medical Ninjutsu. He could claim he'd invented the Rasengan himself, but that wouldn't work with the Mystical Palm Technique.

"The Mystical Palm Technique?" Tsunade blinked, then looked at Li Tong with a faintly amused expression. "You want to learn the Mystical Palm Technique?"

"Is there a problem?" Li Tong asked, puzzled.

"Of course there's a problem!" Tsunade put her hands on her hips. "The Mystical Palm Technique is an extremely difficult Medical Ninjutsu to master. Even in the Medical Department, only a handful of medical ninja can use it. Medical Ninjutsu is different from other types of Ninjutsu. Plenty of gifted ninja can master S-rank forbidden techniques but still fail to learn the A-rank Mystical Palm Technique. Even I—the person hailed as the most gifted in Medical Ninjutsu since Konoha was founded—took a full two years to go from learning the Mystical Palm Technique to mastering it. You, though... I doubt you'll ever manage it! Don't waste your time."

Li Tong abruptly raised a finger and wagged it at Tsunade.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tsunade glanced at the finger, then stared at him in astonishment. "A year? You're saying you can learn the Mystical Palm Technique in a year? Don't make me laugh! If you can master it in a year, I'll take your surname! Hahahaha! That's hilarious..." Tsunade laughed without restraint.

"No! I said one! If you teach me, I'll definitely master the Mystical Palm Technique in one day!" Li Tong said seriously.