Mito's Generous Gift

"Me first, me first."

The moment Tsunade heard the word "bet," her eyes lit up. She picked up the pencil and began her performance.

Tsunade's situation was no different from that morning's, but Lady Mito watched with great delight.

She had not expected Tsunade to be so outstanding when it came to Chakra Control. If she continued developing it, perhaps that technique Lady Mito had thought of before could truly be realized.

If she could master that technique, Tsunade would not only never have to worry about her safety in the future—she might even be able to fulfill her wager...

Once Tsunade finished spinning the pencil, it was naturally Hoshi's turn.

Hoshi glanced at Lady Mito, whose expression revealed neither pleasure nor anger. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to take a gamble. On the way here, he had already made countless guesses about why Lady Mito had summoned him.

Lady Mito was not some senile old fool. She had not called him over merely to watch him spin pencils for fun. Perhaps the pencil-spinning had caught her interest—or perhaps it had inspired her.

That meant this visit might turn out to be an opportunity for him. Even if nothing else came of it, leaving some kind of impression on Lady Mito could greatly benefit his future life.

With that thought, Hoshi first bowed to Lady Mito before speaking.

"Then I'll embarrass myself."

As he spoke, Hoshi did not take the pencil from Tsunade's hand. Instead, he pulled a dagger from his Ninja Tool Pouch.

The Anbu standing nearby was startled and nearly rushed forward to subdue Hoshi on the spot, but Lady Mito raised a hand to stop him.

Hoshi took out the dagger and began his performance. In order to catch Lady Mito's attention, he truly went all out, throwing every technique he had mastered into the display.

The dagger fluttered up and down through his fingers like a butterfly. Forget Tsunade—even the Anbu at the side stared dumbfounded. Was this kid not afraid? That dagger was no ordinary weapon. One moment of carelessness, and his fingers might go flying. Even he was not confident he could perform the movements this little fellow was making.

Yet the little fellow before him did not show the slightest hint of panic. Had this brat been practicing with daggers since he was in the womb? Lady Mito, too, watched Hoshi's performance without blinking. The moment she saw his movements, she understood: this absolutely could not be some child's game.

Not even the Sage of Six Paths could have developed such a complete and refined training method at the age of six.

What this little fellow had taught Tsunade must have been simplified movements from some secret family technique. No wonder the child had refused when Tsunade asked him to teach her.

So it was the Hayate Clan's secret teachings that had inspired her. If that was the case, she truly ought to reward this little fellow.

After Hoshi finished his demonstration with an expression that plainly said, "See how awesome I am?" Lady Mito gave a light round of applause. "What a splendid performance."

Little Tsunade hurriedly stopped Lady Mito, terrified that she might muddle-headedly declare Hoshi the winner.

"No, don't clap! Grandma, he cheated! He never taught me that many moves. He only taught me two! You can't say he won. If you let him win, I won't talk to you anymore!"

Lady Mito helplessly rubbed Tsunade's little head in surrender, then said to Hoshi, "Little Hoshi, look—Tsunade learned those two moves for only three days and already mastered them so well. Isn't she amazing too?"

As she spoke, she winked at Hoshi while Tsunade was not paying attention. The meaning was obvious: Just let her have this one. Consider it helping me.

The moment Hoshi saw Lady Mito's expression, his heart stirred. He then put on a somewhat disappointed look and said, "All right, then Tsunade wins. But the condition she asks for can't be too excessive."

Children were so easy to fool. Hearing Hoshi himself say that she had won, Tsunade was so happy she nearly lost her bearings. Curled up in Lady Mito's arms, she giggled herself into a little ball.

Lady Mito affectionately pinched Tsunade's nose. "All right, you won. Go train now. Grandma has something to discuss with Hoshi."

Now that she had won, Tsunade did not care what Lady Mito wanted to say to Hoshi. She happily skipped off.

Only after watching Tsunade run into the distance did Lady Mito smile at Hoshi. "All right, come inside and sit with me."

The moment Hoshi heard that, he knew something good was coming. He eagerly answered and followed Lady Mito into the room.

After entering, Lady Mito first poured Hoshi a cup of tea. Hoshi accepted it with both hands and said, "Thank you, Lady Mito."

Lady Mito waved it off. "You're about the same age as Tsunade. Just call me Grandma Mito, like she does."

Naturally, Hoshi took the opening and ran with it, calling her Grandma Mito again and again with great enthusiasm.

After taking a sip of tea, Lady Mito said, "That just now was a secret technique of your family, wasn't it? Using that method to train eyesight, finger dexterity, and control over one's strength was certainly quite ingenious."

Hoshi paused for a moment, then nodded. He neither admitted nor denied it, merely waiting for Lady Mito to continue.

Lady Mito smiled and went on.

"Tsunade is good in every way, but Hashirama spoiled her so much that she became rather willful. She actually dared to ask for another family's secret technique the moment she opened her mouth. Still, meeting you was also her good fortune."

Hoshi was somewhat baffled by those words. After thinking it over, he asked, "Grandma Mito, Tsunade's way of spinning the pencil..."

Lady Mito did not hide it and answered openly.

"I taught her that way. I won't hide it from you either. I had been troubled by Tsunade's control over her strength, but I never expected your pencil-spinning to inspire me and help me find a solution.

Come to think of it, it was also because of the pencil-spinning that I discovered how exceptional this child's Chakra Control was. I really should thank you."

The moment he heard "strength" and "control," Hoshi immediately thought of Tsunade's Super Strength. So his pencil-spinning had actually helped Tsunade awaken her talent for Super Strength ahead of time.

When he heard that Lady Mito wanted to thank him, Hoshi's eyes lit up. This trip had indeed not been wasted. Perhaps he was about to recover his Shadow Clone Jutsu after all.

He hurriedly put on the appearance of a humble, polite, well-behaved child and said to Lady Mito, "Grandma Mito, you're too kind. I was only playing around with Tsunade before. I never thought I would be able to help her. I don't deserve your thanks."

Seeing how polite Hoshi was, Lady Mito could not help patting his head.

"How could that be? No matter what, Tsunade learned the Hayate Clan's secret teachings. That is an indisputable fact. Grandma is a reasonable person—I won't take advantage of you."

As she spoke, Lady Mito rose and walked over to the cabinet nearby. The instant she opened it, Hoshi's eyes went wide. Though he had only caught a fleeting glimpse, Hoshi was one hundred percent certain that the largest Scroll in the cabinet was the Scroll of Seals from the Original Story!

Lady Mito took several Scrolls from the cabinet and placed them on the table. She first picked up the larger Scroll and handed it to Hoshi.

"I know that the Hayate Clan is a family that lives by the blade. Consider these Swordsmanship Insights of Tobirama's a gift in return for Tsunade learning your Hayate Clan's secret teachings.

There are also several useful B-rank ninjutsu invented by Tobirama here. You may choose one to take back as Grandma's first-meeting gift to you."

Hearing that, Hoshi instinctively swept his eyes over the names on the Scrolls and discovered that one of them was the "Shadow Clone Jutsu"! Some readers have felt that this book's timeline has issues. In the next chapter, I will explain the timeline and the earlier matter of Lady Mito holding power from a setting perspective. If readers have any questions or feel that something is unreasonable, I hope you can share your opinions.