Chapter 16

Her face immediately lit up with joy as she lowered her voice and urged, "Xuan! Hurry and thank Lady Tsunade!"

Being accepted under Tsunade was like a pie falling from the sky for her son.

She was thinking of more than just learning medical ninjutsu.

More importantly, Tsunade was the princess of the Senju Clan and the Third Hokage's disciple.

By that logic, didn't that make Xuan the Third's grand-disciple?

With that connection, her son would at least be safer moving around the village in the future.

Even if those higher-ups wanted to make a move against Xuan, they would have to think twice about doing it openly.

Ever since hearing Xuan's analysis of the situation—of just how deep the higher-ups' hostility toward the Uchiha ran—Meixin had been constantly worried.

Now, she could finally breathe a little easier.

"Greetings, Teacher."

Xuan respectfully bowed to Tsunade, his tone deferential.

Being able to take Tsunade as his teacher was a very good thing for him. He was quite satisfied with this outcome.

"Haha! Now we're talking! Let's see if that old bastard Jiraiya still has the nerve to show off his disciple in front of me!"

Tsunade straightened up, planted her hands on her hips, and laughed smugly.

Xuan: "..."

Meixin: "..."

So—you took on a disciple just to compete with Jiraiya?

Tsunade put away her smile and turned to Xuan, her expression becoming serious. "I've more or less figured you out."

"To be honest, you're one strange kid. You taught yourself medicine to this extent, and even my talent in this field can't compare to yours."

"And if I'm not mistaken, you've already extracted chakra, haven't you?"

The chakra fluctuations within Xuan's body could not escape her notice.

Well—the small amount Xuan deliberately revealed was indeed real.

As for what he had hidden... heh.

Xuan nodded lightly. "I extracted a little. I was born with a strong constitution and have the foundation of the Innate Art. On top of that, I modified the medicinal bath formula for building a foundation, making it much more effective. Once I felt my body was sturdy enough, I tried extracting some chakra so I could practice chakra-related techniques."

"Oh? Your foundation is sturdy? Let me take a feel."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow and casually pinched and probed Xuan's body. An expression like she had seen a ghost appeared on her face. "What did you do, kid? Is this really the body a three-year-old should have? Are you some kind of monster?"

She would have believed it if someone said Xuan's physique belonged to an adult.

No, he was far sturdier than plenty of adults.

His meridians and bones were broad and robust, and his resilience was absurdly strong.

And then there was that vitality.

If she had not confirmed that Xuan was born to two Uchiha, she might have thought he was a direct descendant of the Senju Clan or the Uzumaki clan.

That life force was nearly on par with her own.

With Xuan's foundation, extracting chakra was indeed no problem at all.

In fact, his chakra reserves in the future would definitely be terrifying.

"It's all right, I suppose."

Xuan smiled and spread his hands. "It's just natural talent combined with some acquired conditioning. I'm only a tiny bit stronger than ordinary people."

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Yes, just a tiny bit."

Then Tsunade turned to Meixin with a puzzled look. "Meixin, are you sure this kid is really yours and your husband's?"

Meixin: "???"

I respect you because you're Tsunade, but you can't just slander me like that.

"Haha, I'm joking!"

Before Meixin could lose her temper, Tsunade quickly waved her hands with a laugh, then asked, "Could there have been someone in your family line with Senju or Uzumaki clan blood?"

Otherwise, there was simply no explanation.

"Probably not. My husband never mentioned anything like that."

Meixin shook her head helplessly.

She knew perfectly well that it was all Xuan's own ability.

The Innate Art was inherently strange. The more one practiced it, the more it continuously strengthened one's foundation, enhancing vitality and raising the level of one's life.

If the two of them could learn it, they would have started practicing it long ago.

"All right, let's get serious."

Tsunade dropped the joke. She propped up her chin with one hand and pinched her jaw with the other as she pondered for a while. "Since you already have chakra, it looks like I won't need to teach you the basics. From now on, come work at the Ninja Hospital directly. Learn while you work, and get some hands-on practice with medical ninjutsu."

"Also, you can read every medical book in my study. Borrow them whenever you want."

"I'll announce it publicly later that you're my final disciple. Study hard and don't embarrass your teacher. Try to surpass Minato Namikaze as soon as possible. Got it?"

She had been frustrated for so many years. Now that she had finally taken in a monster whose talent was even more outrageous than Jiraiya's disciple, how could she not take the chance to show him off?

"Understood. Thank you, Teacher!"

Xuan bowed respectfully, a smile on his lips.

That was enough.

It seemed that taking Tsunade as his teacher was the safest path for now.

With Tsunade at his side, his situation in Konoha had become much safer.

Moreover, the village's medical knowledge and medical ninjutsu were practically open to him.

To put it bluntly, Tsunade had built Konoha's entire medical system with her own hands.

Of course, the Senju Clan's accumulated foundation over the years also played no small part.

But Tsunade could settle all of that with a single word.

That very day, Xuan began learning medical ninjutsu.

He started with the most basic Chakra Healing Technique.

With Xuan's mind, coupled with his powerful spiritual strength, chakra control was as easy as playing around. He learned something after seeing it once, and once he learned it, he could master it.

Tsunade was stunned again.

"Oh? Come on, try this Mystical Palm Technique!"

"Teacher, I already know it."

Less than half an hour later, Tsunade saw thick, steady green light blooming from Xuan's hand while the fish on the table continued to flop about energetically.

Her eyelid twitched violently.

"This is the Mystical Palm Technique! He learned it that fast? And his chakra control is this absurd?"

Tsunade felt that she had truly had her eyes opened today.

Over the next half month, Xuan followed Tsunade every day to learn all kinds of powerful medical ninjutsu.

Tsunade even sent him to perform surgeries and treat patients with his own hands.

Before long, the entire Ninja Hospital knew that Tsunade had accepted a genius disciple.

That boy's talent in medical ninutsu was simply inhuman.

Hokage's Office.

Bang!

Tsunade shoved open the door and looked impatiently at the Third, who was seated there smoking. Catching the smell of smoke, she fanned it away with disgust and shouted, "Old man! What do you want with me?"

The Third saw Tsunade's disgusted expression, and the corner of his eye twitched.

What sin did I commit to take in disciples like these?

Whether it was Tsunade or Jiraiya, none of them gave him any peace of mind.

Even Orochimaru, once his most prized disciple, had become increasingly unreliable over the years. He had grown obsessed with experiments, become more and more unscrupulous, and drawn ever closer to Danzo.

Just thinking about it gave him a headache.

He extinguished his pipe, exhaled a mouthful of smoke, then rose and opened the window to air out the room.

Then he sat down again and looked at Tsunade. "I heard you recently accepted that Uchiha genius, Uchiha Yan, as your disciple?"

"Tch!"

Tsunade looked at the Third with disdain. "It's been half a month. Didn't you know already? Why are you still asking?"

The Third: "..."

Couldn't she speak properly?

Was this teacher of hers no longer able to lift a blade, or had Tsunade grown too full of herself?

Whenever Tsunade brought up names like Nawaki, the Third could not quite keep his face straight, and his tone softened accordingly.

He sighed and asked again, "Even if I already know, I still want to hear it from you. Also, what exactly is Uchiha Yan's background?"

"To be honest, I'm quite surprised that you were willing to take an Uchiha as your disciple."

The Senju and the Uchiha had fought for so many years. Their blood feud was not something that could be resolved in a day or two.

The two clans had been killing each other for nearly a thousand years.

Of course, the Third did not intend to dig too deeply into that. What truly concerned him was the Uchiha's mess of problems.

"That kid is a monster."