Apprenticeship

Facing the incoming Kamehameha, Tsunade, who had initially been unconcerned, suddenly narrowed her eyes.

The Chakra Scalpel on her palm glowed a pale green. Using the boost to her body provided by Monster Strength, Tsunade raised her hand and fiercely chopped at the energy wave before her.

Boom...

The energy wave split in two before Tsunade, striking the ground on either side and leaving two small craters.

Even the Kamehameha didn't work?

Seeing that Tsunade's sleeves were only slightly damaged, Feng Xun felt disappointed. Still, he knew that Tsunade had so easily neutralized his trump card not because there was anything wrong with the Kamehameha itself, but because he was too weak.

Feeling the little energy left in his body, Feng Xun seemed to resign himself as he raised both hands over his head. "I surrender. Kill me or torture me, do as you please."

Tsunade showed no reaction to Feng Xun's surrender. Instead, she kept appraising him with her beautiful eyes, clicking her tongue in amazement.

What was wrong with this crazy woman? Could my Kamehameha have failed to injure her on the outside but knocked her brains loose instead?

Just as Feng Xun considered whether to cautiously make contact with her, Tsunade walked over to him.

"You little brat, you won. I permit you to graduate from here." As she spoke, Tsunade continued to assess Feng Xun. "Still, I never expected someone your age to use a technique comparable to an A-rank ninjutsu. And I've never seen anything like it before. Could this be thanks to your Kekkei Genkai?"

At the end, Tsunade lowered her voice, because besides the two of them, Nobi Fan was still present as an invisible bystander.

She did not think it would be a good thing if more people learned about this.

Seeing Tsunade once again cleverly come up with an explanation for his technique on her own, Feng Xun could not be bothered to dispute it. Still, he asked, "What did you mean when you said I won? I didn't hurt you just now, much less knock you off the arena."

"Because I broke the rules!" Tsunade shrugged.

"Broke the rules?"

"That's right. I used Monster Strength on my palm just now, so you won this match."

Feng Xun suddenly understood.

It seemed this crazy woman was not entirely hopeless. At least when it came to keeping agreements, she deserved some credit.

As he thought this, Feng Xun said, "Since Lady Tsunade has acknowledged that I can graduate, I won't disturb you any longer. I'll take my leave first."

To avoid any further complications, Feng Xun did not wait for Tsunade's reply and hurriedly tried to leave the training ground.

Unfortunately, before he could even reach the bottom of the platform, someone lifted him by the back of his neck.

Feng Xun turned his head and looked at the smug Tsunade, his expression turning unpleasant. "Lady Tsunade, what is the meaning of this? I should have won already, shouldn't I?"

Tsunade deliberately ignored Feng Xun's dark expression and explained, "Indeed, you did win just now, but it only counts as half a win."

"Half a win?"

Feng Xun frowned slightly, unable to understand what Tsunade was plotting.

"Yes. Before you won, I was the one who treated you first. Without my treatment, do you think you could still shamelessly claim that you won?"

Although Feng Xun really wanted to say he could, he could not be sure whether saying so would bring some other form of "torture" upon him.

He could only say, "Lady Tsunade, let's not beat around the bush. Just tell me. What will it take for you to let me go?"

"Become my disciple!" Tsunade answered succinctly.

This topic again?

Feng Xun sighed inwardly. Just as he was about to refuse again, Tsunade continued, "Don't rush to reject me. Listen to what I have to say first."

"From our match just now, you do possess strength close to that of a Chunin. In terms of offense alone, you might even be stronger than an ordinary Chunin. But aside from that, you have a fatal weakness."

Hearing Tsunade say this, Feng Xun, who had not cared much at first, raised an eyebrow and could not help focusing on her.

Seeing that she had successfully caught Feng Xun's attention, Tsunade felt smug as she continued, "Your fatal weakness is that your current strength was gained too quickly, leaving your foundation unstable."

"What do you mean?" Feng Xun glanced at Nobi Fan, who was dozing outside the arena, and asked quietly.

Rather than directly answer Feng Xun's question, Tsunade asked, "I heard from Sister Lianxiang before that you used to be a useless good-for-nothing with no ambition."

Sorry for being useless, I guess. Feng Xun grumbled inwardly, but he did not object, since those were all facts.

"But the strength you displayed just now is absolutely not something a useless person could show at the age of eight. In other words, you most likely awakened your own Kekkei Genkai recently, and that is the main reason your strength increased so dramatically. Am I right?"

Tsunade looked at Feng Xun again.

"If the changes in my body—my system cheat activating—mean the same thing as awakening a Kekkei Genkai, then I suppose that's about right." Feng Xun neither confirmed nor denied it.

Thinking she had uncovered the truth, Tsunade smiled and continued, "So right now, you're like a newborn baby who started running before learning how to walk. You may be ahead of others for a while, but you can easily fall midway."

As she spoke, Tsunade used her other hand to poke Feng Xun's loose, untoned muscles. "You can clearly see it from your flashy movements and your body's delayed reactions. Even when you consciously want to make a move, your body can't respond immediately."

Feng Xun remained silent for a long time before asking again, "Then what should I do?"

Seeing that the fish had finally taken the bait, a smile clearly appeared on Tsunade's face. "You need systematic training, supplemented by medicinal meals. Very few people are proficient in such things, but I happen to be one of them."

After saying that, Tsunade proudly lifted her chin, practically begging him to write "Please take me as your master" across her face.

Feng Xun looked up at Tsunade's proud expression, then lowered his head to look at his own body, which was not skinny but hardly robust either.

Feng Xun smacked his lips. He knew that most of what Tsunade had said was correct. As for how much falsehood had been mixed in, it was probably only that last statement.

In his view, people proficient in medicinal meals and training methods were not common, but they were not exactly rare either. His father had once prepared medicinal meals for his older brother, though Feng Xun only remembered it happening once.

But his father was gone now, and his older brother had been young back then, so he probably did not remember any formulas. Asking someone else for help would be troublesome, and whether they would even agree to help was another matter.

There was no helping it. Although the woman before him was crazy, Feng Xun had to admit that she would also make a good teacher.

(Just think of Sakura in the future. A true three-nothing ninja who could still contribute in the final battle. Even allowing for the cover of female lead plot armor, it was clear that Tsunade's teaching had succeeded.)

"Lady Tsunade, I was immature before. Please, Lady Tsunade, become my teacher." Setting aside his previous prejudices, Feng Xun spoke sincerely.

It's fine. Even if there's one less person in the points tally, I'll make up for it elsewhere.