Only Two Students? No! All of Konoha's Young Lords!

Half a month later.

Three people arrived beneath the two enormous banyan trees at the Aburame clan compound.

Tsunade walked in front.

Uchiha Mikoto followed on her left, her hair tied in a neat ponytail.

On her right was a red-haired Kushina Uzumaki, looking around with curiosity.

Deep inside the compound, the door of a wooden house slid open.

Ichika Aburame stood in the doorway.

Instead of her usual drab yellow house clothes, she wore a tidy dark-gray jacket with a stand-up collar.

She had clearly been waiting since morning.

When she saw Tsunade truly had brought the others to the end of her moss-covered path,

the breath caught in the throat of this Aburame madam, whose presence was so easy to overlook.

She really came.

She hadn't forgotten. She hadn't made an excuse.

Tsunade Senju had personally come into this gloomy, shadowed grove to invite her.

"Come on, Ichika."

Tsunade stopped below the steps and lifted her chin.

"We're waiting for you."

"Yes! I'm coming!"

Ichika's voice trembled slightly. She hurried down the steps, tugging her collar closed as she went.

In her haste, she had not even tucked her hands into her sleeves as she usually did.

Half an hour later, in the rear courtyard tearoom of the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

The room was warm, and people already filled the seats around the long, low table.

The wives of the Ino-Shika-Chō clans were there, along with the spirited Yuri Inuzuka and Hoshina Hyuga, who held a child in her arms.

As the door slid open, everyone looked over.

Tsunade entered first, pulled a cushion over, and sat down. She gestured behind her.

"Let me introduce an old friend. Ichika Aburame, wife of the current Aburame clan head. She's part of our mutual aid group from now on."

The room went quiet for a second.

The Aburame clan had a habit of suppressing their presence and favoring dark places.

As a result, Ichika had been practically invisible in the past.

Hearing Tsunade Senju speak her name aloud with such weight,

Ichika could feel her heart pounding against her ribs.

She took a deep breath and bowed a full ninety degrees.

"Ladies, I look forward to getting to know you."

"Come sit! So you're Lady Ichika!"

Yamanaka Sora reacted first, beckoning warmly and making room beside her.

"We've been neighbors in Konoha for years. Why haven't we seen you out and about?"

Lola Akimichi handed her a cup of hot tea. "Exactly. You're never at the gatherings or festivals. Anyone who didn't know better might think you found us too noisy."

Ichika held the scalding cup, her eyes stinging a little.

It was not that she disliked the noise.

More than anyone, she had longed for a few friends she could speak to openly while they remained back in the village.

People tended to overlook the Aburame when they passed them on the street. They forgot to send invitations and left seats off banquet plans.

She was too shy to force her way into a crowd.

But she voiced none of it. She only nodded hard.

"The Insect-Breeding Room usually needs someone there. But now that Lady Tsunade has invited me, I'll be here on time from now on, as long as you'll have me."

"Who wouldn't?"

Yuri Inuzuka waved a hand.

"Centipedes and Kikaichū are invaluable for healing and scouting. We can hardly get your help even when we ask!"

The mood warmed at once.

Tsunade took the chance to pat the red-haired girl beside her on the shoulder and drop another piece of news on the ladies.

"And this is Kushina Uzumaki. I've just officially taken her as my student."

A mane of red hair. The name Uzumaki.

The ladies' expressions shifted.

Though the Uzumaki clan lived far away by the sea, they were a formidable clan that had taken Sealing Jutsu to its pinnacle.

Not to mention their Blood Pact with the Senju, forged generations ago.

Now they had sent such a promising child to Konoha, and Tsunade had taken her directly under her wing as a personal student.

The political weight and connections behind that were obvious.

Holding her tea bowl, Ria Nara looked at Kushina with the fondness she might show one of her own children.

"Konoha and the Uzumaki are like one family. You're home now that you're here. If you need anything or have questions, come to the Nara family whenever you like."

Everyone went on to praise Kushina and Mikoto.

The two young girls blushed under the attention of the socially adept ladies.

After some conversation, two pots of tea had been emptied.

Tsunade tapped the table twice with a fingertip.

The tearoom fell silent. Every lady sat up straight.

They all knew that sharing troubles and chatting about family was only the appetizer. Tsunade had brought too many newcomers today not to have something big in mind.

"Half a month ago, I took on another student," Tsunade said, leaning back. "A commoner named Minato Namikaze."

The ladies exchanged looks.

A commoner?

Everyone seated here was the wife of a prominent shinobi clan's leading household. They knew little about children from ordinary families.

Tsunade Senju had taken students from the Uchiha and the Uzumaki, yet she had added a commoner boy?

Tsunade ignored their puzzled looks and laid out her real purpose.

"I have Mikoto, Kushina, and Minato now, plus my little brother Nawaki. All four are talented."

Her gaze passed over every mother at the table.

"I've decided to start a Weekend Special Training Class on the Back Mountain. Two days every weekend, I'll put them through extreme physical conditioning and practical combat training."

Lola Akimichi blinked. "Tsunade, if you're training your own students, why tell us?"

Tsunade's lips curved into a deep smile.

"Training just the four of them wouldn't be much fun."

"I'm making you ladies a special offer today."

"If you have children of the right age and their aptitude isn't too poor, send them to me on the Back Mountain."

The women around the table began breathing faster.

Tsunade raised three fingers and drove home just how valuable a place in the class would be.

"Once your children join, I'll treat them exactly as I treat Mikoto and Kushina."

"I'll personally teach them everything I know about Medical First Aid, Human Limits Conditioning, and Fine Chakra Control."

"And my two teammates, Jiraiya and Orochimaru, will have to take turns coming up the mountain every week as my assistants. They'll teach practical combat and Jutsu Analysis."

The news hit like a thunderclap.

Yamanaka Sora nearly crushed the empty teacup in her hand.

Three jonin, all running a special training class for children?!

What shinobi clan in all of Konoha could put together a teaching team like that?

Even in their prominent families, a core heir might, at most, be assigned a jonin instructor.

And there was no guarantee that instructor would give it their all!

"I'm signing up!"

Lola slapped her thigh so hard her cushion shook.

"All Chōza does at home is eat and sleep. I'll haul him to the Back Mountain tomorrow!"

"Train him as hard as you like, Tsunade. Don't hold back on the Akimichi House's account!"

"Our Shikaku has to join!"

Ria Nara's gentle composure broke, her voice utterly firm.

"Medicinal supplies, logistics—whatever the class needs, the Nara family will cover half!"

"Inoichi can go too!"

"And Hiashi and Hizashi!"

"My Tsume!"

"Well... I have a child who's just turned six. Could she come and watch?" Ichika's palms were slick with sweat as she hurried to seize her chance.

Tsunade watched these usually reserved ladies clamor like shoppers fighting over the last vegetables at a market, desperate to send their eldest sons and daughters into her class.

She leaned against her chair and slowly ran a finger along the rim of her tea bowl.

Heat surged through her chest.

The moment she had taken Minato Namikaze and Kushina as students half a month ago, her thinking had changed completely.

Why take students one at a time?

The mutual aid group had won her the financial backing and connections of Konoha's core shinobi clans.

But logistics would always be just logistics.

Shikaku, Inoichi, Chōza, Tsume...

I'll take the next heirs of those clans, the foremost young lords and ladies of every major force in the village.

I'll bring them all into my training class.

As their teacher, I'll be the one behind the harshest and most unforgettable training of their childhoods.

Five years from now, ten years from now...

In every clan hall in Konoha, at every major clan's council table, each clan head holding power...

They'll all be my own students, the ones I trained hard on the Back Mountain since they were children.

When that day comes, will Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo still have any say in this village?

Even the air in Konoha will move by my rules.

"Stop fighting over it."

Tsunade brought her palm down hard on the long table, silencing the clamor.

She leaned forward, her commanding presence bearing down on everyone around it.

"Write down their names. Bring the children to the foot of the Back Mountain first thing Saturday morning."

"But I'll warn you now: broken bones and torn muscles will be routine in my training class."

"As long as they're still breathing, though, I can heal them and send them right back to training."

Lola Akimichi whipped out a blank scroll and thrust a brush into Tsunade's hand.

"I'll sign! If Chōza dares complain even once, you won't have to lift a finger. I'll break his legs myself when he gets home!"

The other ladies were just as excited.

One after another, they practically "sold" their children to Tsunade.