Tsunade raised an eyebrow. Shizune was touched and wanted to know, but she felt awkward asking. "Um, isn't this the sort of thing you should keep secret? It doesn't seem right for you to tell me."
Tsunade was speechless.
Genma smiled. "It's just a few insights I've gained from training. You share your own training insights with me all the time, Shizune. It's fine."
Watching the two of them get all mushy, Tsunade grew impatient. "Enough already. Hurry up and tell me!"
She really had no patience.
Genma grumbled to himself, but didn't teach her directly. Instead, he asked, "Lady Tsunade, have you ever tried using as little spiritual and physical energy as possible to extract chakra?"
Tsunade shook her head, then caught on to what Genma meant. After giving it some thought, she nodded. "That's actually an interesting idea."
Spiritual and physical energy were combined in a one-to-one ratio to form chakra, but what was the minimum amount of each needed?
Probably not many people had ever thought about it, let alone explored it in detail.
Tsunade quickly realized that if someone could reach the minimum threshold, they would definitely have excellent control.
It would also be useful for training in Yang Release transformation later on.
"Genma, how did you come up with this? That's amazing!"
Shizune exclaimed.
Tsunade looked at Genma, feeling that there was something about the kid's brain that wasn't quite ordinary.
"It just came to me."
Genma offered a casual explanation.
In truth, the idea had come to him after he failed to extract chakra from a weed.
A single weed contained too little energy to extract chakra from.
But in theory, as long as the proportions were right, the amount shouldn't matter. So the problem was with the person doing the extracting.
While developing Wood Release Chakra Mode, Genma had kept experimenting, and naturally, he'd come up with this method for training chakra control.
By now, Genma could even extract a tiny amount of chakra from a little weed.
After sharing his tips and experience, Genma was about to get up and leave when Tsunade suddenly said, "I'm planning to leave the village and travel for a while after summer break. I'll have to leave Shizune in your care, Genma."
Genma froze.
Leave?
He turned to look at Shizune. She had her head lowered, clearly having known about this for a while.
Scratching his head, Genma asked, "Lady Tsunade, wouldn't it be better to stay in the village and train?"
"You'd have access to reference materials and be able to exchange ideas with others, without any danger."
Tsunade didn't want to explain. "What would a kid like you know?"
Genma pursed his lips in disdain. "I heard Lady Tsunade likes gambling. You're not going to abandon Shizune and go off somewhere to..."
Tsunade immediately protested loudly, "That's absolutely not what this is about!"
Unfortunately, although her voice was loud, she didn't sound very convincing.
She really did want to go gamble a little, clear her head, and get some fresh air.
Lately, Third Hiruzen Sarutobi had been urging her to take a position at Konoha Hospital.
But she had Hemophobia.
And with all the resentment she was carrying, she didn't want to stay in the village.
Genma had a pretty good idea what was going through Tsunade's mind, but he could only pretend not to know. He gave her a disdainful look. "Lady Tsunade, of course I'll take care of Shizune, but don't forget, I'm a kid too."
"And I can't take your place."
Shizune hurriedly tugged on Genma's sleeve. "Genma..."
Tsunade's face flushed. Feeling even more guilty, she glared at Genma. "You little brat, you talk too much!"
Genma spread his hands.
He was just a little kid right now. There wasn't much he could do to convince Tsunade, so he could only guilt-trip her.
And, well, it was working pretty well. Tsunade was turning red.
After thinking it over, Genma pressed on. "As the granddaughter of the First and the Second Hokage, the Third's student, and one of the Konoha Sannin, shouldn't Lady Tsunade carry on the Will of Fire? How can you slack off?"
Tsunade couldn't help rolling her eyes.
Genma continued with his high-minded rhetoric. "Doesn't Lady Tsunade want to become Hokage?"
Tsunade curled her lip. "Only an idiot would become Hokage. I have absolutely no interest!"
Genma looked heartbroken. "How can you say that, Lady Tsunade?"
"You're someone I look up to, and yet you've fallen so low!"
"You've really let me down!"
Tsunade's face darkened.
Shizune hurriedly grabbed Genma. She was afraid Tsunade might hit him. Lady Tsunade didn't have the best temper.
Crack, crack—
Tsunade clenched her fists and stared at Genma.
Genma immediately straightened up. "Lady Tsunade, let's make a bet!"
He brought out his trump card!
But Tsunade seemed rather uninterested. "I don't gamble with little brats."
Genma immediately taunted her. "I bet Lady Tsunade can never beat me!"
Tsunade's eyebrows shot up. "And what if you lose?"
A gambling addict couldn't help taking the bait.
Genma grinned. "If I lose, then after I graduate, I'll give Lady Tsunade sixty percent of my mission fees forever."
There was no way he'd lose.
But what if he did?
If it came to that, he could just think of it as handing over his paycheck.
Tsunade was very tempted.
The kid had plenty of talent. As long as he didn't die young, he'd at least become a Jonin.
Sixty percent of his mission fees meant she'd never have to worry about money again.
As for losing?
Impossible. Absolutely impossible!
There was no way he couldn't win even once in a hundred tries.
The advantage was hers!
Seeing Tsunade's expression, Genma knew she was tempted. He immediately held out his right fist.
Tsunade looked puzzled. Genma smiled. "Let's start with the simplest game: rock, paper, scissors!"
Tsunade scoffed. "You're doomed to lose, brat!"
Shizune quietly reminded her, "What happens if Lady Tsunade loses?"
Tsunade glared at her, then gave a soft snort. "If I lose once, I'll grant the kid one reasonable request. I could teach him a ninjutsu or something."
Genma agreed at once. "Sounds good. Let's start!"
As he spoke, he had already hidden his fist behind his back.
Tsunade did the same. Their eyes met, and invisible sparks flew between them.
The next moment, they both threw out their hands.
Genma chose scissors; Tsunade chose paper.
"Again!"
Tsunade snapped.
They continued.
The second time, Genma chose paper and Tsunade chose rock.
Then came the third time, the fourth...
Tsunade went from confident to incredulous, and from sitting to standing.
Shizune marveled silently. Lady Tsunade hadn't won even once. How was Genma doing it?
After ten rounds, Tsunade's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. She could hardly believe it.
If Genma's eyes weren't so black, she might have suspected he was from the Hyuga Clan.
"That's enough!"
Genma stopped. "Ten rounds. But let's just say I won once."
Tsunade was annoyed. "Ten rounds is ten rounds."
"Let's keep going, but change things up."
"Let's go outside and fight!"
Shizune's eyes widened. Lady Tsunade was being completely unreasonable.
Tsunade knew she was being unreasonable, too. For a moment, she didn't dare look at Genma and turned her head away.
Genma smiled and stood up. "No problem!"
In a straight fight, there was no way he could beat Tsunade. But with the information advantage on his side, he had a decent chance of winning.
So the three of them headed out to the training ground.
It was right next to Tsunade's house, just a short walk away.
Looking at Genma across from her, Tsunade said, "Don't worry. I'll go easy on you and won't hurt you!"
Genma reminded her, "Lady Tsunade, I may be a kid who hasn't graduated yet, but don't underestimate me."
Tsunade took that as a provocation and immediately flared up. What an utterly unlikable brat!
She decided she'd make him suffer just a little.
Before you continue