Taking a Master

Tsunade left the Hokage Building, but the anger in her chest had yet to fully subside. She did not go to a bar or any of the old places she knew well. Instead, her feet unconsciously carried her toward the former grounds of the Senju Clan.

She pushed open the long-unopened wooden gate, which creaked loudly on its hinges. The familiar courtyard came into view, but it was utterly desolate.

Weeds sprouted between the flagstones, cobwebs hung beneath the eaves, and the flowerbeds that had once been meticulously tended had long withered away, leaving only dry, hardened earth.

Shizune held Tonton in her arms as she followed behind Tsunade. Looking over the bleak courtyard, she let out a quiet sigh. "Lady Tsunade, this place... probably isn't fit to live in for now. To clean it up properly..."

"What a hassle." Tsunade cut off Shizune's hesitation bluntly. Her gaze swept over this place, which held too many memories and too much sorrow. There was little nostalgia in her eyes; instead, a trace of irritation flashed through them. Staying here would only leave her haunted by the ghosts of the past.

Then, the image of that child flashed through her mind, along with his secluded three-story wooden house with its own courtyard. There had to be spare rooms...

"Let's go." Tsunade turned and headed outside.

"Huh? Where are we going?" Shizune hurried after her.

"To that brat's house." Tsunade did not look back. "His place seems pretty big. Empty rooms are just being wasted."

Qianyu had just gotten home from school and set down his backpack. While he stood in the kitchen debating whether to cook noodles or heat up yesterday's leftover rice balls, he heard unabashed footsteps outside. Then the door was yanked open with a swish.

Tsunade and Shizune stood at the entrance, one in front of the other.

"Lady Tsunade?" Qianyu froze for a moment, then wiped his hands and walked out. A perfectly measured look of confusion appeared on his face. "Is something wrong?"

Tsunade strode in without a care, glancing over the living room as though inspecting her own territory. "Oh? Can't I come if nothing's wrong? Brat, in a sense, we're kin now."

"Kin?" Qianyu appropriately looked bewildered, blinking his bright black eyes. "But... my surname is Cangshu. Although..." He lowered his head, his voice growing quieter with just the right amount of disappointment. "I don't even know where my surname came from."

Cangshu... Tsunade repeated it twice in her mind. A tree beneath the vast heavens? Or a tree symbolizing Wood Release and the Senju? The old man's letter had been vague, but the surname itself seemed inextricably linked to Wood Release.

Combined with this child's appearance, the truth of his bloodline might have been more complicated than she had imagined. But at this moment, she preferred to believe it was some sort of fated return.

Looking at the child before her—his origins a mystery, his eyes clear yet touched by lonely stubbornness—the discomfort she had felt because of his Uchiha-like features seemed to be overwhelmed by a stronger sense of responsibility and protectiveness.

"None of that matters." Tsunade waved a hand as if brushing aside needless fog. She walked up to Qianyu and looked down at him, her amber eyes holding unquestionable seriousness.

"Brat, become my apprentice."

"Huh?!" This time, Qianyu was genuinely startled. He had expected something along those lines, but he had not expected Tsunade to be so direct. He had thought she would take him back to the Senju Clan and restore the clan name.

An incredulous delight quickly surfaced on his face, mixed with a cautious disbelief.

"Lady Tsunade... can I really? I... I've never had any family since I was little, and no one ever taught me anything..." His voice grew softer and softer, and his eyes seemed to redden as he flawlessly played the part of an orphan longing for care yet afraid of rejection.

He even unconsciously shuffled half a step forward, tilting his head up to look at Tsunade with damp, pleading eyes.

"If you do not find me unworthy, I am willing to become your—"

"Stop!" Tsunade's eyelid twitched. Seeing the brat's expression and tone inexplicably veering in a strange direction, her instincts told her not to let him continue.

She curled a finger and rapped Qianyu sharply on the forehead.

"Ow!" Qianyu clutched his forehead. This time, the tears were real, brought out by genuine pain as they welled in his eyes.

But then a more genuine bitterness surged through him, one even he had not anticipated. Ever since he had inexplicably come to this world, crawled out of the ruins left by the Nine-Tails' attack, and grown up amid the orphanage's indifference and White Zetsu's eerie watchfulness...

Then he had been scrutinized by every faction as though he were a chess piece or prey. He had been like a tightly drawn string, wearing a mask and calculating every step. Scheming, guarding against others, and acting—those had become his normal.

Tsunade's words, "Become my apprentice," might have been forceful, and perhaps they carried considerations of her own, but this was the first time someone had shown him such direct acknowledgment and acceptance, untainted by too much conspiracy or calculation.

That simple willingness to protect him was like a faint ray of light, unexpectedly shining into the heart he had fortified layer upon layer.

The soul from another world was finally, truly moved.

Tsunade watched him clutch his forehead, his eyes watery as he fought back tears, looking wronged yet somewhat dependent. The strange discomfort she had felt because he did not seem like a Senju faded considerably. Now this was more like it—a slightly foolish brat who needed someone to look out for him.

"Of course it's true." Tsunade crossed her arms. Her tone was still far from gentle, but it had lost its earlier sharpness. "When I, Tsunade, say something, I mean it. From now on, I'll personally guide your training, especially when it comes to your body and chakra. Of course, if you dare slack off or learn any weird nonsense..."

She clenched her fist, and her knuckles cracked crisply.

The threat needed no explanation, but Qianyu heard something else within it: responsibility.

The next moment, something happened that left both Tsunade and Shizune dumbfounded.

Qianyu suddenly lowered the hand covering his forehead. A dazzlingly bright, almost foolish grin spread across his face, and then he sprang up like a little cannonball with a "Heh!" and launched himself straight at Tsunade—

"This is great! Teacher Tsunade!"

He threw open his arms, trying to give her an enthusiastic hug. His little head even instinctively sought to nuzzle into the reassuring warmth of Tsunade's embrace.

"You damn brat! Who said you could hug me?!"

Tsunade's face instantly turned scarlet. On reflex, without using any monstrous strength at all, she simply waved a hand—

"Whoosh—bam!"

Qianyu felt his entire body float backward, tracing a graceful arc through the air before landing squarely in the sofa with a muffled thump, sinking deep into it.

"Pfft..." Shizune hurriedly covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking nonstop. Tonton in her arms also made a snickering "Puri puri" sound.

Qianyu struggled upright from the sofa and shook his head. He looked at Tsunade standing nearby with her arms crossed, her face faintly flushed and clearly still a little awkward.

Far from getting angry, he simply grinned foolishly. He knew that this time, perhaps he had truly found his harbor.

"The two bedrooms upstairs belong to Shizune and me." Tsunade cleared her throat, swiftly regaining her queenly presence as she declared her claim without room for argument. "You can have whatever you want downstairs. Now, let's solve the dinner problem first."

As soon as she finished speaking, her brows suddenly furrowed. She turned, pulled open the door, and stepped into the small yard outside. Facing the seemingly quiet woods not far away, she raised her voice and shouted impatiently:

"Come out, all of you! Stop hiding!"

The forest fell silent for a few seconds. Then, several masked ANBU figures awkwardly emerged one after another from the shadows in different corners. They had been ordered to stay here, never expecting to be discovered so quickly.

"Go back and tell the old man," Tsunade said, jerking her chin at them. "I'm living here. I'm not leaving. I'm taking this kid under my wing. And you—" She swept her gaze over them. "Stop standing around here. Go do whatever you're supposed to be doing."

The ANBU looked at one another. One who appeared to be a squad captain stepped forward, forcing himself to speak. "Lady Tsunade, Lord Hokage ordered—"

"What are you still looking at?!" Tsunade's eyes widened as a trace of the terrifying pressure belonging to one of the Sannin leaked out. "Get the hell out of here! Don't make me say it twice!"

"...Yes!" The ANBU captain decisively followed his heart, immediately lowering his head in acknowledgment before making a hand signal. As though granted a pardon, the ANBU instantly turned into several black shadows and vanished into the dusk, fleeing far faster than they had arrived.

Qianyu leaned against the doorway, watching Tsunade domineeringly drive off the Hokage's personal ANBU with just a few words. He could not help sighing inwardly again. This thigh really is thick! From now on, in Konoha, at least openly, he could walk sideways... or at least relax a little while walking?

Hokage's Office.

After receiving the ANBU report, Hiruzen Sarutobi dismissed his subordinates and walked alone to the window. Night had already fallen, and Konoha's lights glittered like scattered stars. Looking out over the village, a long-lost, genuinely relieved smile slowly appeared on his lips.

It was as if he could see the lively, chaotic life about to begin in that new wooden house between the hot-tempered blonde kunoichi and that black-haired kid.

"Tsunade..." he murmured. Smoke curled from his lips, blurring the gratified light in his eyes.

"You finally... have something to hold on to again."