Chapter 37

His progress with hand seals was frighteningly fast, too.

He was improving before their very eyes.

A little under half an hour later,

Uchiha Chisato and Mikoto finished their training one after the other, while Xunjing's proficiency with hand seals passed the beginner threshold and reached the proficient stage.

Not only could he form the seals smoothly without making mistakes, but he could also manage two seals per second.

Not bad.

Thud, thud, thud-

Just then, footsteps came from the front courtyard, accompanied by Tsunade's boisterous shout. "Lady Jiri, little Xunjing, are you home?"

"Hm?"

Xunjing and the others paused in surprise. "Tsunade?"

"Come on, let's see what she needs."

Uchiha Chisato called them over and led Xunjing and Mikoto out of the backyard. She opened the front gate and welcomed Tsunade in.

"Would you like to come in and sit?"

"No, thank you, Lady Jiri."

Tsunade waved a hand and got straight to the point. "I came to see Xunjing about something else today, so I won't come in."

"Oh? What is it?"

Both Uchiha Chisato and Xunjing looked curious.

"Well..."

Tsunade began somewhat sheepishly. "Yesterday, my teacher-the old Third Hokage-called me to the Hokage Building. He already knows I've taken Xunjing as my student."

"So he wants me to bring you over to meet him, your teacher's teacher."

"And he's probably hoping you'll attend the Ninja Academy, too."

"But honestly, at Xunjing's level, I think going there would be a complete waste of time."

After discussing medical arts with Xunjing yesterday, she had discovered that his abilities were a cut above her own. With his insight and brains, what could the Ninja Academy possibly teach him? He could probably master everything the school had to offer in just a few days.

But there was nothing she could do about her teacher's orders. He was the Hokage, after all.

Besides, she could more or less guess that her teacher wanted to use the school to fill Xunjing's head with that Will of Fire nonsense.

Too bad, Teacher. I'm afraid your little scheme is going to fall flat. With Xunjing's brains, do you really think you can fool him? Tsunade silently gloated.

She certainly wouldn't tell the Third Hokage any of that. She had no fondness left for the old bastard. If the time had been right, she would have turned against him long ago. Always scheming, always plotting, and now you want to brainwash me, too. Why don't you just drop dead?

"Huh?" Xunjing looked utterly speechless. "Can we just forget about the Ninja Academy?"

"What's the point of going to a school that's practically just playing house? Our reformed Clan Academy is far more useful."

"Besides, my days are already packed. There's too much I need to learn and practice. I really can't spare the time."

He was somewhat interested in visiting the school, meeting a few talented people, and winning their goodwill to make signing contracts easier later. But he didn't want to sink all his time into it.

"Uh... then don't go?" Tsunade paused, feeling that Xunjing had a point.

Especially since she could sense that the chakra volume inside Xunjing was already astonishing. By her rough estimate, it was probably no lower than that of an average elite jonin.

She clearly remembered that yesterday, the boy had possessed only a faint trace of chakra, obviously having just begun training. Yet in a single day, he had changed this much.

He was a prodigy when it came to chakra, too. The Ninja Academy really had nothing to teach him.

She would be better off teaching him herself. She could pass on her Monster Strength Technique and Medical Ninjutsu while exchanging medical knowledge with him along the way. Wouldn't that be a win-win?

"No, you still need to go." Before Xunjing could reply, Uchiha Chisato placed a hand on his head. "Xunjing, go meet the Third Hokage first, enroll officially, and get to know some classmates."

"Once you feel there's nothing left to learn at school, you can send a Shadow Clone to attend classes."

Uchiha Chisato paused before continuing, "Or you can go to Tsunade and have her speak to the school and the Third Hokage. Then you can switch to studying Medical Ninjutsu under her."

For now, Uchiha Chisato wasn't considering letting him graduate early from the Ninja Academy.

In her eyes, Xunjing's abilities were still nowhere near sufficient.

There was no way she would let him become a full-fledged ninja now. That would be throwing him straight into the eye of the storm.

Once he officially joined the ranks, Hiruzen Sarutobi would certainly send him out of the village on missions.

And that old bastard Danzo was still watching from the shadows.

For Xunjing as he was now, all of that was too soon and too dangerous.

They could discuss it once he was capable of protecting himself.

"Tsunade, what do you think?"

Having finished speaking, Uchiha Chisato looked up at Tsunade.

Tsunade immediately smiled, unable to hide the excitement in her voice. "No objections here! I couldn't ask for anything better! It's settled, then. Hehe!"

Wasn't that exactly what she wanted?

Lady Jiri really understood her.

Then both women turned their gazes toward Xunjing, their expressions practically spelling out, "You'd better not say no."

"Xunjing, what do you think?"

Xunjing: "..."

With them acting like this, did he even have a choice?

"All right, all right. I agree."

Xunjing could only shrug helplessly and nod.

"Good. Then it's settled."

Uchiha Chisato nodded in satisfaction, patted Xunjing's head, and nudged him toward Tsunade. "I'm leaving him in your hands. I still have things to do."

Then she turned to Mikoto. "You should head to school, too. You'll be late if you don't leave now."

"Yes!"

Mikoto answered, said goodbye to everyone, and hurried off.

After saying goodbye to Uchiha Chisato, Tsunade left with Xunjing. Before long, they were standing in front of the Hokage Building.

Tsunade lifted her foot and kicked the Hokage's office door without hesitation.

Bang-

The door gave a tortured groan and slammed into the wall. The entire room shook, sending dust raining down.

The Third Hokage: "..."

Xunjing: "..."

The corners of both their eyes twitched in unison.

Well, that was certainly very Tsunade.

The Third Hokage looked at Tsunade with speechless resignation and pinched the bridge of his nose, his voice thick with exasperation. "Tsunade, can't you open the door properly with your hand?"

"I've already had to replace my office door five times this month because of you."

"And now that you're a teacher, couldn't you set a good example? Mind how you conduct yourself?"

"You'll be a bad influence on the child."

He couldn't understand it. Starting a little over twenty days ago, Tsunade's attitude toward him had grown ruder by the day.

Her temper had been getting worse, too.

It was practically unbearable.

He didn't remember doing anything to offend Tsunade lately.

Tsunade folded her arms and lifted her chin, her tone impatient. "Hmph, I'm already used to that routine of yours! I brought him here, so hurry up and get acquainted. I need to take him to school to register!"

She had long since stopped viewing the old Third Hokage's behavior through rose-colored glasses. All she had done was kick a door. Compared with the wrongs the Senju Clan had suffered, what did that amount to?

The Third Hokage shook his head with a helpless, bitter smile, then turned to Xunjing and put on what he thought was a friendly expression. "You must be Uchiha Xunjing? I'm the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Your teacher must have mentioned me often. As her teacher, I'm your grandteacher."

As he spoke, he clearly sensed the vigorous vitality within Xunjing. The boy's constitution was a cut above that of most children his age.

He doesn't look remotely like a sickly child born with a weak constitution. It seems the Uchiha Clan really does have an effective way to replenish vitality. I need to find a way to get my hands on it. The Third Hokage calculated silently. Such a method would be enormously useful to both him and the Sarutobi Clan.

And this chakra volume. Yesterday, he barely had any, and today it's surged to jonin level? Because he only started properly molding chakra yesterday? He really is a promising genius. I need to win him over and make him one of my own.

At that thought, the Third Hokage's smile grew even warmer.

Xunjing felt sick to his stomach, but remained perfectly polite on the surface. He smiled and nodded. "My teacher has mentioned you. Uchiha Xunjing greets you, Lord Hokage."