Exploitation

"Grrrrowl!" A thunderous rumble came from Yizhe's stomach.

He had only eaten a bowl of ramen last night, and after the fight that followed, his stomach was now completely empty. He was starving!

"Heh, heh, heh!" Tsunade shook her head and said with a helpless smile, "Come on. Let's get breakfast first!"

Looking at Yizhe's stomach, Shizune covered her mouth and tried hard not to laugh. But her crescent-shaped eyes had already given her away.

The three of them left the inn, found a random restaurant by the roadside, and went inside.

Each of them had their own thoughts, and before long, they had finished eating.

"Boss, the bill!" Tsunade called loudly.

But when Yizhe saw the teasing look in her eyes, he had a bad feeling.

"Esteemed guests, the total for the three of you is three hundred yuan!" the waiter said with a smile.

"Mm." Tsunade leaned back in her chair, lazily pointed at Yizhe, and casually said, "Give the bill to that kid!"

Yizhe was dumbfounded. He shot to his feet and protested, "Why should I pay?"

He had been staring at Tsunade's alluring sitting posture, his mind wandering as he secretly admired those rolling waves and indulged in wild fantasies. Then this sudden bill left him utterly stunned.

"Why?" Tsunade sprang up as well, planted one foot domineeringly on the table, bent forward, and scolded him with a look of exasperation. "If you don't try to please me and make me happy, how am I supposed to take you as my disciple?"

The surging waves were right before his eyes. Yizhe reluctantly tore his gaze away and refused to back down. "But you haven't even accepted me as your disciple yet!"

"If you want to become my disciple, you start by showing respect to your teacher!" Tsunade said tyrannically, widening her eyes.

Yizhe was completely speechless. This was the first time he had seen someone forcibly demand benefits while sounding so utterly justified.

Shizune, meanwhile, laughed so hard she nearly lost her breath.

But then he reconsidered. Tsunade's words had not entirely rejected his request to become her disciple. Perhaps the time was not right yet, or perhaps Tsunade still needed to test him.

No matter what, the door to becoming Tsunade's disciple had not been completely shut.

After thinking it over, he decided to go along with Tsunade and settle the bill.

"Just three hundred yuan?" Yizhe eyed the waiter suspiciously.

It was not that he was overly suspicious. He had stayed at a shady inn before, and it had traumatized him. Three hundred yuan was far too different from the ten thousand yuan last time.

"Yes, just three hundred yuan!" the waiter replied with the same smile.

Under Tsunade's watchful gaze, Yizhe pulled out a stack of bills from his pocket, reluctantly took out three, and handed them to the waiter. "Here, take it!"

"Please come again!" Maintaining his professional smile, the waiter turned and left.

"Let's go!" Yizhe beckoned to Shizune and Tsunade, ready to leave.

But he noticed that neither of them moved. They seemed rooted to the spot, with no intention of leaving.

When he turned around, he saw Shizune repeatedly giving him meaningful looks and glancing at Tsunade.

"Beautiful lady, what else do you want?" Yizhe looked at Tsunade helplessly.

Tsunade lazily held out a hand and casually said, "Hand it over!"

"Hand over what?" Yizhe was confused.

"Money! Money! Take out however much you have and give it all to me!" Looking utterly serious, she slowly walked toward him and prepared to search him.

"What the hell!" he cried out, quickly dodging away.

"You don't understand?"

"You think treating me to breakfast is enough? Take out all the money on you and give it to me!" Tsunade spoke like a thug, as though she had him completely cornered.

Seeing her shameless behavior, Yizhe understood that he would not get away without bleeding today!

He shook his head, gritted his teeth, steeled himself, pulled a stack of bills from his pocket, and handed it over.

"One, two, three..." Tsunade took the money and counted it carefully.

Shizune covered her mouth and quietly watched with a smile.

Yizhe turned his head away, unable to bear even a glance. That was his hard-earned money, earned at the risk of his life! And now it had fallen into this woman's clutches. He truly regretted it!

Why had he taken a fancy to this woman as a potential teacher?

Lust is a blade hanging over one's head. The ancients truly did not deceive me! Yizhe sighed inwardly.

"Why is there only eight thousand?" Tsunade counted it once and was not very satisfied.

"That's all I have!" Yizhe declared solemnly.

"Really?" Tsunade looked suspicious and threatened, "If I search you later and find more, you can forget about becoming my disciple!"

Yizhe shot her a fierce glare, then pulled another, smaller stack of bills from his pocket and said helplessly, "This is all that's left!"

"That's more like it!" Tsunade snatched the money and started counting again.

"Together with the earlier amount, it's around thirteen thousand. Is there any more?" Tsunade continued asking.

"No!"

"Really no more?" She did not believe him. This kid had been sly all along, making her suspicious.

"No!" Yizhe said firmly, wearing the expression of a dead pig unafraid of boiling water.

Shizune burst out laughing beside them.

"Fine! Then let me search you!" With that, Tsunade made as if to frisk him.

Yizhe hurriedly used the Body Flicker Technique to dodge away. He stared at Tsunade in disbelief and retorted, "You actually don't trust me!"

"Fine, you dared to dodge! You must still have some hidden!" Tsunade rolled up her sleeves angrily, pointed at him, and cursed.

"Is there not even this much trust between people anymore? You actually want to search me!" Yizhe shouted.

"I'm telling you, if you don't take out every last bit of money today, then forget about becoming my disciple in the future!" Tsunade roared.

"What do you need so much money for? I need to keep some living expenses for myself!" Hearing Tsunade use apprenticeship as a threat, Yizhe could not help softening a little.

"You won't need living expenses anymore. Hand all your money over to me for safekeeping! Just like Shizune, you'll turn in all your money and I'll handle the spending. When I'm in a good mood someday, you can officially become my disciple!" As she spoke, she pointed meaningfully at Shizune.

Shizune smiled and nodded at Yizhe.

"Fine!" Seeing that Tsunade would not rest until she got what she wanted, Yizhe helplessly took out the few remaining bills on him.

"That's more like it!"

Tsunade smilingly accepted the money from Yizhe's hand and stuffed it directly into her bosom. This time, she did not count it again.

But what left Yizhe dumbfounded was Tsunade's bold style of dress. One glance seemed enough to see all the way through, so where exactly had she put the money?

Aside from that green coat on the outside, it seemed like she was only wearing one other garment underneath!

"From now on, you'll go out with Shizune to make house calls. Earn money every day and show filial respect to me, understand?" Tsunade patted his shoulder and instructed loudly.

"Yes, Lady Tsunade," Yizhe replied weakly.

He had been exploited clean by the female thug before him and no longer had any will to live.

"We can leave now, right?" Looking utterly deflated, he took the lead toward the exit.

"Lady Tsunade, do you really plan to take him as your disciple?" Shizune asked seriously as she walked behind them.

"Let's watch and see first!" Tsunade's smile faded as she whispered, "You know medical ninjutsu isn't that simple! Teach him some basic things first and test him. See whether he has the talent for it!"

"Besides, I've only met this kid once, and I don't know him well. We still need to observe him for a while."