Do You Dare Bet Me?

Hoshi looked at Tsunade's cute expression and could not help wanting to tease her. Putting on a mysterious air, he said:

"You saw it just now?"

Tsunade nodded along with his words. Hoshi casually picked up the pen on his desk and began spinning it between his fingers. "Want to learn?"

Watching Hoshi spin the pen up close, Tsunade forgot all about pretending to be fierce. Her little head bobbed eagerly, looking as though she could not wait another second.

But Hoshi suddenly put the pen away and said, "But I don't want to teach you."

"Y-you..."

Tsunade's excitement froze on her face, and she was instantly left speechless with anger. This was the first time in her life someone had dared speak to her like that. Her little fists clenched at once, and she dearly wanted to punch Hoshi's hateful face.

But when she thought of how hitting someone at school would lead to someone telling Grandma Mito, who would then give her a lecture, Tsunade gave up on the idea of using force.

If fighting would not work, then she could only outsmart him. With that thought, Tsunade's big eyes darted around before she suddenly raised her head and said:

"Oh? I get it. You're just afraid I'll surpass you once I learn it, aren't you? Do you dare make a bet with me? I bet I can learn this within three days—and do it even better than you."

Hoshi laughed the moment he heard that standard opening. Everyone knew that betting against Tsunade was always a sure win.

He looked into Tsunade's large eyes and asked, "Then what happens if you lose?"

Tsunade thought for a moment before saying:

"Then I'll grant you one condition, as long as it isn't too excessive. If I win, you'll do the same. Deal?"

Hoshi had only intended to tease Tsunade in the first place. Now that she was offering to grant him a condition, naturally he agreed without hesitation.

This was a perfect opportunity to shake her down. The current Tsunade was not the down-and-out gambler from the Original Story who had gambled herself into bankruptcy. As the Senju Clan's only current heir—Nawaki had not been born yet—Tsunade was a genuine little rich girl.

Hoshi did not care much about money. What he craved were the Senju Clan's abundant ninjutsu resources. Perhaps he could use this chance to obtain the Shadow Clone Jutsu he had long dreamed of!

Hoshi had coveted the Shadow Clone Jutsu for a long time. Although the technique itself was only B-rank ninjutsu, its practicality was undeniably S-rank.

Moreover, Hoshi had always harbored a bold idea: if a Shadow Clone cultivated alongside him, would the system grant him double the experience points?

If that really worked, Hoshi's rate of growth would undoubtedly double. No matter what, he had to seize an opportunity like this.

Just as the bet with Tsunade was finalized, the bell signaling the end of class rang.

The moment the teacher left the classroom, the previously quiet room erupted into noise. The students gathered in little groups of two or three to chat, while Hoshi and the others naturally formed a group of four.

Hoshi turned around in his seat and sat properly, facing Tsunade as he began teaching her how to spin a pen hand in hand. In truth, spinning a dagger and spinning a pen were quite different, but Tsunade was only doing this for fun, so there was no need for Hoshi to make his own teaching any harder.

Jiraiya and Yazi beside them also stared fixedly at Hoshi's hands, their eyes filled with little stars.

Hoshi slowly demonstrated two basic movements for Tsunade, then sped up and combined the two movements into one, drawing repeated gasps of amazement from Tsunade and Jiraiya.

Hoshi's pen-spinning lesson also attracted quite a few nearby students. But school had only just started, and no one knew each other very well yet. Besides, most children at that age were thin-skinned.

Thus, most of them merely perked up their ears and craned their necks to sneak peeks and listen in, not daring to come closer for a better look.

While watching, Tsunade's mind was clearly saying, Okay, I remember it.

But when she actually tried it, her hands told her, No, I don't.

She could not help pouting. Thinking of how Grandma Mito had always taught her Hand Seals hand in hand, she simply said:

"Hey, if you only do it yourself, how am I supposed to understand? When Grandma Mito taught me Hand Seals, she always showed me hand in hand. You should demonstrate it hand in hand too."

Tsunade's words startled Yazi beside her. She hurriedly tugged on Tsunade and said, "You can't, Princess! My mom said that if you casually hold hands with boys, you'll have babies."

But Tsunade said carefree, "They're just lying to you. When you go to the hospital, the old doctors hold your wrist to take your pulse, and nothing happens, right? Grandma Mito told me that it takes two people who like each other sleeping together to make a baby."

As she spoke, little Tsunade unceremoniously grabbed Hoshi's hand and placed it over her own small hand. Turning back, she gestured to Yazi. "See? Nothing happened."

Jiraiya, watching from the side, was so jealous he muttered, "If it's just an experiment, why didn't she grab my hand...?"

Since Tsunade herself had asked for it, Hoshi naturally obliged. And honestly, Tsunade's little hand was chubby and soft, and it felt incredible to hold.

While Hoshi gave Tsunade her hand-in-hand lesson, the students in the distance exploded into chatter. The girls all sighed that Tsunade's method was truly brilliant.

If only they had thought to ask Hoshi for advice too. Maybe then they would have been the ones getting their hands held.

The boys, meanwhile, all wore gloomy expressions. Hoshi was already popular enough, and now he was even holding Tsunade's hand. It looked like he was about to win Tsunade over, so of course they had their objections.

"Damn it, I want to hold Tsunade's hand too."

"Get in line. If you want to hold Tsunade's hand, line up behind me."

"Damn, look at that lecherous smile. How can Tsunade not see his true colors?"

"That Hayate Hoshi isn't even better-looking than me. Why does he have such great luck with girls?"

"At the Combat Assessment two months from now, I'm definitely going to teach him a harsh lesson."

Quite a few little boys gritted their teeth and clenched their fists, wishing they could swallow Hoshi whole on the spot.

Uchiha Iwa, seated in the middle of the classroom, could not help frowning when he saw this. Though Uchiha Iwa, who was destined to have nothing with Tsunade, had already given up pursuing her—

Giving up did not mean he would allow someone else to do it. Besides, this guy was acting a little too arrogantly.

It had only been two days since school began, yet he was already close to overshadowing him. Uchiha Iwa would not allow that to happen.

He needed to find an opportunity to warn this arrogant guy.

Uchiha Iwa's gaze flickered as he secretly plotted against Hayate Hoshi.

As the noise around them grew louder and louder, some of the comments reached Tsunade and Hoshi's ears, making Tsunade regret her decision somewhat.

After letting Hoshi demonstrate it once on her hand, Tsunade pulled her hand back. She grabbed Yazi and used going to the bathroom as an excuse to leave the classroom, temporarily calming the small uproar.

Hoshi did not care about the comments from those little brats. He had no intention of showing off, but if some people came begging to be slapped down, he would not mind showing them what he could do.