Medicinal Bath

Early in the morning, wisps of dawn light filtered through the gaps in the leaves, scattering like light spots across the bustling streets and alleys of Konoha.

On the orderly streets, shops of all sizes opened one after another, adding a touch of vitality to the village.

At this moment, a boy with a bare upper torso and a bamboo vegetable basket strapped to his back was panting heavily as he ran through the increasingly crowded streets.

"Good morning, Feng Xun. Out exercising so early again today."

A gray-haired middle-aged woman gathered the vegetables in her hands into her basket and greeted the running youth, seemingly long used to his routine.

"Morning to you too, Aunt Yamauchi! My master said your vegetables were delicious yesterday." Feng Xun jogged in place while smilingly expressing his gratitude.

"Oh? That's wonderful. Lady Tsunade is a hero of the village, and for her to think my food is good is the greatest honor for me."

The villager called Yamauchi wore a heartfelt smile upon hearing this.

At that moment, another white-haired old man waved at Feng Xun and handed him a radish still stained with soil: "Little Xun! This is a fresh radish I just pulled from the field this morning. Take it back for Lady Tsunade to make soup with; the flavor is guaranteed to be delicious."

"Thank you, Grandpa Kishimoto! My master will definitely love it." Tossing the radish into the bamboo basket behind his back, Feng Xun expressed his thanks while continuing to run forward.

"Good morning, Little Xun..."

"Morning, Uncle Takeuchi!"

"Morning, Little Xun. Here is some spinach just picked today, take it back with you!"

"Thank you, Yasumura-san..."

A dozen minutes later, Feng Xun finally shook off the enthusiastic villagers and turned to run toward Tsunade's house.

As soon as he stepped through the door, Tsunade's complaining voice drifted from inside: "Too slow, you're ten minutes later than usual. As punishment, do an extra hundred push-ups later. Hurry up and make lunch now, I'm about to starve to death."

Lying lazily across the bed, Tsunade said listlessly.

Hearing this, Feng Xun's eyelids twitched uncontrollably, and a few black lines popped up on his forehead.

How could this damn woman be so popular?

Tying the lead weights she had prepared for him onto both arms, Feng Xun walked into the kitchen without a word.

Looking at the neat and clean kitchen and remembering its previous state, Feng Xun was filled with a myriad of emotions.

Nearly two months had passed since he became Tsunade's apprentice, during which time she had arranged a series of training routines for him.

Yet in his view, training himself was secondary; it was mostly because she wanted to press him into free labor.

For instance, going out into the streets and alleys of Konoha every morning to accept the goodwill of others while jogging three laps around the village.

Upon returning, cooking breakfast for Tsunade while wearing twenty-kilogram lead weights on his arms.

After eating, he sometimes went to the front courtyard to fetch water while practicing water-walking.

Of course, besides these, there were also normal training methods, such as a consecutive five hundred push-ups or five hundred sit-ups.

As for the medicinal diet she had promised at the beginning, Feng Xun hadn't tasted it even once, but instead, there was an inexplicable medicinal bath punctually every three days.

If he hadn't genuinely felt his physique improve considerably over these past days, he would have quit long ago.

Harboring complaints and grievances in his heart, Feng Xun washed the vegetables gifted by the villagers and wielded the kitchen knife in his hand with continuous rhythm.

It was worth mentioning that he previously had no way to cook a decent meal while wearing lead weights.

Yet now he could complete all the procedures without a single error, which had to be considered a completely useless improvement.

At the dining table, Tsunade picked up dishes of brightly colored food with great ladylike refinement.

As she put the food into her mouth, an expression of enjoyment appeared on her face.

"Damn brat, your cooking is getting better and better. Why don't you stop being a ninja and come be my exclusive chef?"

Hearing this, Feng Xun curled his lip: "Heh, damn woman, I'm returning those exact words right back to you. You should stop being a ninja too and just stay at my house as a mascot. I'm sure plenty of villagers would send food over."

Bang!!!

At this, Tsunade slammed her hands onto the table, abandoning any pretense of ladylike grace as she glared fiercely at Feng Xun: "Stinky brat, how dare you speak to your master like this? Do you want to commit patricide against your teacher?"

Faced with this, Feng Xun hit back without showing the slightest weakness: "Crazy woman, you still know I'm your disciple? I thought I was your household servant."

Fine, the tit-for-tat at the dinner table was also a daily requisite.

After the two of them finally quieted down, Tsunade poked at the grains of rice in her bowl and suddenly looked up: "Today is the third day, right?"

Feng Xun, who was still eating, twitched his right hand involuntarily at these words, his expression somewhat strange as he said, "I-It seems so!"

Seeing this, Tsunade flashed a malicious smile at Feng Xun and giggled: "Aha, good disciple, you don't look so good. Why don't we start right now?"

"This isn't so good, is it?" Feng Xun's mouth twitched.

Twenty minutes later...

"Damn it! Crazy woman, stop pulling my pants off, wait, I'll take them off myself, don't use force!"

"Good disciple, don't be shy. It's not like this is our first or second time anyway, you should be used to it."

"Used to it my ass! What happened between you and me? I'm still a virgin..."

"Oh, you're still a virgin? Let me check right now."

"Help! Someone is committing indecent assault in broad daylight..."

Plop!!!

Before Feng Xun could finish speaking, Tsunade picked him up entirely and tossed him into the wooden barrel filled with medicinal liquid.

"I keep saying, you make a huge fuss over such a small matter every time. Aren't you tired of it?"

Dragging a wooden stool over from the side, Tsunade sat on it unceremoniously, staring at Feng Xun inside the barrel.

Feng Xun turned his head away, ignoring her.

Are you kidding, this was a matter concerning a man's dignity; how could it possibly be a small matter?

Seeing that Feng Xun was ignoring her, Tsunade didn't mind either. Instead, she kept her eyes fixed on the color of the medicinal liquid; as soon as it faded to a certain degree, she would immediately haul Feng Xun out to prevent the toxins extracted by the brew from invading his body.

As time slowly passed, the color of the medicinal liquid grew paler and paler. When it reached a critical point, Tsunade's gaze sharpened, and she plucked Feng Xun straight out of the wooden barrel in one swift motion.

Due to the medicinal liquid, Feng Xun felt somewhat dizzy right after bathing, and it wasn't until Tsunade wiped his body down bit by bit that he fully regained his clarity.

Looking at the gentleness left in Tsunade's eyes, Feng Xun felt a trace of warmth in his heart.

Although this master of his was very irresponsible at times and even went out of her way to cross him, most of the time, she had his best interests at heart.

Perhaps having a master like this wasn't so bad after all.