A Medical Contest

Tsunade's meaning was crystal clear; she was undoubtedly acting out of kindness to warn Takizawa Dan not to butt heads with Shizune.

The reason was equally obvious. Shizune was, after all, her own direct disciple. Whether in ninjutsu or medical arts, she was a standout among her peers. Even many jonin were no match for her, let alone Takizawa Dan.

Furthermore, if it came to a contest of medical skills, it was simply impossible; it would be like narrowing an already slim chance of victory by thousands upon thousands of times!

"Little Brother Dan, I'll consider your words just now as never having been spoken, out of consideration for your youth and ignorance. As long as you choose to retract them now, I can pretend this never happened. We shall proceed with the competition as planned, and it won't affect the outcome."

Shizune stared at Takizawa Dan before her, speaking with a grave expression.

Had it been anyone else daring to speak to her like that, they would likely have lost their head or been left critically injured on the ground by now.

It was only because she saw him as a mere brat, and because Master Tsunade was here to vouch for him, that she could barely bring herself not to hold it against him.

"Heh, do you both have so little faith in me?" Takizawa Dan looked at the speechless Shizune and the stern-faced Tsunade, suddenly breaking into a bright, hearty smile.

"The outcome hasn't been decided yet. If you don't let me try, how will we know who will emerge victorious?"

Faced with Takizawa Dan's radiant smile, Tsunade and Shizune exchanged a glance and fell silent.

A moment later, Tsunade finally raised her head, looking at Takizawa Dan with unprecedented solemnity.

"Takizawa Dan, I must warn you—this is no joke. Since you have decided to challenge Shizune to a medical duel, then so be it."

"However, a medical contest is entirely different from a trial of force."

"In a trial of force, since it isn't the focus of my school, I can accept it if you stop once the point is made. That wouldn't be excessive."

"But for a medical contest, I demand that both sides give it their all. No holding back is permitted. Furthermore, both sides must agree on a wager beforehand; the loser must pay the winner, and no delays or reneging will be tolerated!"

As Tsunade announced these terms, her expression remained extremely severe.

She wanted to use this method to tell Takizawa Dan that a medical contest was no small matter. One had to understand that this was the core curriculum of her school; naturally, it couldn't be brushed off lightly, nor could it end with a simple apology if one lost.

The loser had to pay a price!

"Alright! No problem, I accept." Takizawa Dan chuckled. "I'm actually quite curious, what does Sister Shizune intend to wager against me? I'm ready to accept."

Watching Takizawa Dan's confident smile, Tsunade and Shizune looked at each other, both seeing deep helplessness in the other's eyes.

This kid... one couldn't tell if he truly had the ability, or if he had just learned a few amateur tricks and, like a newborn calf unafraid of the tiger, started thinking he was invincible.

"Fine, I'll bet against you!"

Shizune nodded, stepped forward, and took an exquisite box from her waist.

"Takizawa Dan, if you can truly defeat me today, then this box in my hand is yours!"

Seeing that Shizune had actually brought out this item, Tsunade gasped, "Shizune! You aren't joking, are you... to actually bring out this thing..."

"I am not joking. I have felt Little Brother Dan's resolve, so I have decided to meet his challenge with my utmost sincerity!"

Shizune replied with absolute seriousness.

It had to be said that although this female ninja usually gave off a somewhat lackadaisical, indifferent vibe, she was actually quite dashing when she got serious, possessing a coolness that didn't lose out to any male ninja.

"Sister Tsunade, what is this thing?"

Seeing that Tsunade placed such importance on the object, Takizawa Dan asked out of curiosity.

"Shizune, you explain it to him and see if he's still willing to accept."

Tsunade sighed with a bitter smile and stepped aside.

She knew in her heart that after being provoked by Takizawa Dan time and time again, Shizune had finally lost her patience and decided to go all out.

The fact that she could bring out her most precious, personal ninja tool was the best proof of that!

Come to think of it, when was the last time Shizune went all out? It seemed the last time she only used half her strength, she saved an entire village, didn't she?

The more Tsunade thought about it, the more she felt Takizawa Dan was being reckless and unreliable, and she couldn't help but shake her head repeatedly.

Hopefully, this failure would serve as a lesson for the boy on his path of growth.

"This item is called a Ninjutsu Scroll Launcher!" Shizune explained to Takizawa Dan. "It can launch scrolls containing ninjutsu, allowing one to use techniques instantly without the need for hand seals!"

Listening to Shizune's explanation, Takizawa Dan's eyes lit up sharply.

As a veteran fan of the Hokage series, he had watched Boruto in his past life and had always been curious about such instruments that could replicate ninjutsu through technological means.

Just think: as long as you bought a ninjutsu scroll, you could fire it off at will using this launcher, skipping the trouble of hand seals and achieving instant casting!

Not only that, but it didn't consume any chakra. Even a three-year-old child, as long as they could press the "launch" button, could immediately fire off a ninjutsu. How terrifying was that!

It seemed that this type of ninjutsu launcher had existed as early as this era! It was just that it appeared to still be in a prototype stage, not as light or sensitive as the ones in Boruto.

"I once saved the life of a daimyo from the Land of Lightning. To repay me, he gifted me this spare Ninjutsu Scroll Launcher. I have kept it on my person for many years. As a wager for this competition, it should be sufficient, right?" Shizune said calmly. "As long as you can beat me, you can take it."

So it was a life-saving device from a daimyo. After hearing Shizune's words, Takizawa Dan understood.

The daimyo of various countries were basically ordinary people without the strength to truss a chicken and knew no ninjutsu, but they needed to protect their lives and have a contingency for emergencies. That was why they came up with this compromise: using a Ninjutsu Scroll Launcher to release techniques.

If one were to draw an analogy, it was just like in his past life, where some big shots didn't have the time or energy to train hard in martial arts to protect themselves, so they might keep a handgun hidden in their coat.

The two were essentially the same thing.