Chapter 37

His progress in hand seals was frighteningly fast.

It visibly shot upward.

After a little over half an hour,

Uchiha Chisato and Mikoto finished their training one after the other, while Xunjing's hand-seal proficiency crossed the beginner threshold and entered the proficient stage.

Not only could he form seals smoothly without mistakes, but he had also reached the standard of two seals per second.

Not bad.

"Knock, knock, knock—"

Footsteps sounded from the front yard, followed by Tsunade's boisterous shout. "Lady Chisato, little Xunjing, are you home?"

"Hm?"

Xunjing and the others were all taken aback. "Tsunade?"

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

Uchiha Chisato called out, then 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, Lady Chisato, thank you."

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

"Oh? What is it?"

Both Uchiha Chisato and Xunjing looked curious.

"Well..."

Tsunade began somewhat awkwardly. "Yesterday, my teacher—the old Third Hokage—called me to the Hokage Building. He already knows that I took Xunjing as my disciple."

"So, he wants me to bring you over to meet him, your grandmaster."

"And besides that, he probably wants you to attend the Ninja Academy."

"But honestly, with Xunjing's abilities, going there would be a complete waste of time."

Yesterday, she had talked with Xunjing about medicine and discovered that his skills surpassed even hers by a fair margin. With that kind of talent and brain, what could the Ninja Academy possibly teach him? He would probably master everything the school had to offer in just a few days.

But she had no choice when it came to 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.

What a shame, Teacher. Your plan is probably going to fall flat. With Xunjing's brain, do you really think you can fool him? Tsunade secretly gloated.

Of course, she would never say any of that to the Third Hokage. She did not have the slightest favorable impression of that old man anymore. If the timing had been right, she would have fallen out with him long ago. He was always plotting and scheming, and he even wanted to brainwash her. Why didn't he just die?

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

"What would be the point of going to a school that feels like children playing house? Our reformed Clan Academy is far more practical."

"Besides, my schedule is packed every day. There are too many things I need to study and train in. I simply can't spare the time."

He was somewhat interested in visiting the school, meeting a few talented people, and building goodwill for the sake of making contracts in the future. But he did not want to throw all his time into it.

"Uh... so you won't go?" Tsunade froze for a moment, feeling that Xunjing had a point.

Especially since she could sense that the amount of Chakra in Xunjing's body was already astonishing. By her rough estimate, it was probably no less than that of an ordinary Elite Jonin.

She remembered clearly that yesterday, the boy had possessed only a faint thread of Chakra. He had clearly just begun cultivating it. Yet after a single day, the change was this drastic.

This guy was a super genius when it came to Chakra too. The Ninja Academy really had nothing to teach him.

It would be better for her to teach him personally. She could pass down both the Monster Strength Technique and Medical Ninjutsu to Xunjing, while also exchanging medical knowledge with him. Wasn't that a win-win situation?

"No, he still has to go." Before Xunjing could speak, Uchiha Chisato reached out and pressed a hand on his head. "Xunjing, go meet the Third Hokage first. Enroll properly and get to know more classmates."

"Once you feel there is nothing left to learn at school, send a Shadow Clone to attend classes instead."

Uchiha Chisato paused, then continued, "Or you can go to Tsunade and have her tell the school and the Third Hokage that you're transferring to study Medical Ninjutsu under her."

For the time being, Uchiha Chisato had not considered having him graduate from the Ninja Academy early.

In her eyes, Xunjing was still far too weak.

She would never let Xunjing become an official ninja now. That would be the same as pushing him into the spotlight.

Once he became officially registered, Hiruzen Sarutobi would definitely send him out of the village on missions.

And that old bastard Danzo had been watching from the shadows all along.

For the current Xunjing, all of this was still too early and too dangerous.

They could talk about such things after he was capable of protecting himself.

"Tsunade, what do you think?"

After speaking, Uchiha Chisato looked up at Tsunade.

Tsunade immediately smiled, unable to hide her excitement. "Of course I have no problem with that. I'd love nothing more! It's settled, then. Hehe!"

Wasn't this exactly what she wanted?

Lady Chisato understood her so well.

Then, both women turned their gazes toward Xunjing at the same time, their faces plainly saying, "You'd better not refuse."

"Xunjing, what do you think?"

Xunjing: "..."

Did he even have a choice, looking at them like this?

"Fine, I'll agree."

Xunjing could only shrug helplessly and nod.

"Good. Then it's settled."

Uchiha Chisato nodded in satisfaction, patted Xunjing on the head, and pushed him toward Tsunade. "I'm leaving him to you. I still have things to do."

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

"Yes!"

Mikoto responded, bid everyone farewell, and hurried away.

After saying goodbye to Uchiha Chisato, Tsunade left with Xunjing. Before long, the two of them stood before the Hokage Building.

Tsunade lifted her foot and kicked the door to the Hokage's office open.

Bang—

The door let out a pitiful groan and slammed hard into the wall. The entire room shook, and dusty gray debris drifted down in showers.

Third Hokage: "..."

Xunjing: "..."

The corners of both their eyes twitched at the same time.

Yeah, that style was definitely Tsunade.

The Third Hokage looked at Tsunade with a helpless, speechless expression. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he spoke with a headache in his voice. "Tsunade, can't you use your hand to open a door properly?"

"Because of you, I've replaced my office door five times this month already."

"And you're a teacher now. Can't you set a better example and pay some attention to your image?"

"You'll lead the child astray like this."

He truly did not understand it. Starting more than twenty days ago, Tsunade's attitude toward him had grown more impolite by the day.

Her temper had become increasingly explosive as well.

It was simply unbearable.

As far as he remembered, he had not provoked Tsunade recently.

Tsunade crossed her arms, raised her chin, and spoke impatiently. "Hmph, I'm already sick of your routine! I brought him here, so hurry up and get acquainted. Then I can take him to enroll at the school!"

She had long lost any illusions about the old Third Hokage's way of doing things. It was only a kicked door. Compared to the grievances the Senju Clan had suffered, what did it amount to?

The Third Hokage shook his head with a helpless bitter smile. Then his gaze shifted to Xunjing, and he forced what he believed was an amiable smile. "You must be Uchiha Xunjing. I am the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Your teacher must have mentioned me often, right? By seniority, I am your grandmaster."

As he spoke, he clearly sensed the vigorous life force within Xunjing's body. This constitution was far stronger than that of most children his age.

He doesn't look anything like a sickly child born with a deficient constitution. It seems the Uchiha Clan truly does possess an effective method for replenishing life force. I need to find a way to get it. The Third Hokage calculated that this method would be of great use to both him and the Sarutobi Clan.

And that amount of Chakra. It was still so sparse yesterday, yet today it has surged to the level of a Jonin? Is it because he only began formally refining Chakra yesterday? He truly is a genius. I need to win him over properly and make him one of my own.

With that thought, the Third Hokage's smile grew even broader.

Xunjing felt thoroughly disgusted, but he remained polite on the surface and nodded with a smile. "My teacher has mentioned you. I am Uchiha Xunjing. Greetings, Lord Hokage."