Young Tsunade's Childhood Dream

News of Aokiji staying up late to read dirty books somehow leaked out and swept through the entire class.

That afternoon, while they practiced throwing Shuriken, Aokiji kept feeling the strange looks from those around him. When he tried to explain, the girls immediately backed far away the moment they saw him approaching, terrified of catching something filthy.

"Please, let me explain..."

His raised hand had nowhere to go. Aokiji was so depressed he wanted to pinch a certain someone black and blue.

"Aokiji, it's not that big a deal..."

Jiraiya comfortingly patted him on the shoulder.

Aokiji's face was black as a burnt pancake. Just as he seriously considered whether to take Jiraiya out, waves of shrieks erupted nearby.

"Ahh, Orochimaru is so handsome!"

At the center of a crowd of girls stood a boy in a kimono. His features were delicate, only a tiny bit less handsome than Aokiji's. The target before him was covered in Shuriken, and his accuracy looked quite impressive.

Orochimaru ignored the girls' cheers and continued throwing Shuriken on his own. Handsome, aloof, and highly skilled—this sort of persona was extremely popular with young girls, making them squeal nonstop like fans who had just seen their beloved idol.

In contrast, all the boys wore thoroughly displeased expressions.

"What's so great about Orochimaru? It's only this much. What's he acting so proud for? If I wanted to, I could do it anytime."

Jiraiya was deeply envious of how popular Orochimaru was with girls. A large part of why he wanted to become a ninja was because ninjas had an easier time winning girls' favor.

Jiraiya eagerly threw the Shuriken in his hand, hoping to imitate Orochimaru and earn cheers from the girls. Instead, he made a clumsy imitation—none of his Shuriken hit the target. All he could do was stomp his feet in rage, helplessly fuming.

The watching girls could not help laughing at him. "Haha, Jiraiya, you idiot! You think you can surpass our Orochimaru? Know your place. Maybe in your next life."

"Damn it, take this!"

Desperate to prove himself, Jiraiya started throwing wildly.

He had not held out much hope, but this time, the target was suddenly covered in Shuriken. He froze, wiped his nose with a finger, and put his hands on his hips. He was feeling pretty damn proud of himself.

"Wow, that's amazing!"

Finally, here it came...

Jiraiya basked in the girls' praise and chuckled. "Well, I guess it's alright."

When he opened his eyes, there was no one in front of him. This was not how he had imagined it.

Where had everyone gone? Still baffled, he suddenly noticed several girls gathered around another boy, looking at him with worship in their eyes. It was that lazy-looking guy.

What was going on? Jiraiya was completely dumbfounded.

Why had everyone gone over to Aokiji?

"Idiot, the target you hit was someone else's." Kashio pointed at the empty target beside the one full of Shuriken.

"What?!"

Jiraiya was devastated. "How is Aokiji so good at this?"

In his memory, Aokiji was either sleeping or on his way to sleep. They were about the same, so how was he this good? Why was the gap between people so huge? It was enough to make him furious! Kashio sighed. "Of course he is. Even if he's given up on himself now, his foundation is still there."

Jiraiya looked confused. "Given up on himself?"

Kashio did not answer. He looked at Aokiji with concern in his eyes. If he kept declining like this, it probably would not be long before he became just another ordinary person.

"That was amazing! How did you do it?"

A ponytailed girl looked at him with admiration.

Aokiji's reputation was not great, but his Shuriken skills were too impressive to ignore. His flaws did not overshadow his strengths, and he was indeed fairly good-looking. As a result, the scandal of him secretly reading dirty books at night and sleeping in class was selectively overlooked.

Aokiji said flatly, "Doesn't anyone with hands know how to do it?"

The teacher recording the scores was so shocked his jaw nearly dropped.

Is this the power of the Uchiha Clan? Even though he sleeps all day, his practical results are this outstanding.

Orochimaru quietly watched Aokiji. His unusual slit pupils revealed a trace of interest.

Tsunade curled her lip and said unwillingly, "You're pretty capable."

Her Shuriken scores had originally ranked only behind Orochimaru's, but with Aokiji's appearance, she could only reluctantly move down from second place.

It was not that Aokiji wanted to show off. This had simply been his previous level. If his ability suddenly dropped too drastically, people would definitely grow suspicious. His decline in strength needed to look gradual.

First, he had to establish the image of a genius. Then, when he suddenly broke out later, he would have an explanation.

After all, geniuses did not need to make sense.

Even if they fell into decline midway, they could quickly catch back up.

That was more logical than starting out as trash and suddenly exploding with talent later on.

In the anime, when Tsunade and the others became the Third Hokage's disciples, they looked around eleven or twelve. In other words, he was five now, so he should still have five or six years to slowly let his grades decline in everyone's eyes.

There was a war going on outside. He was not some protagonist from a novel—why would he graduate so early, rushing off to get himself killed?

Still, there was one thing he did not understand. Weren't Jiraiya and Tsunade classmates from the same year? Then why, when they became the Third Hokage's disciples, did Jiraiya say it was their first meeting...

Aokiji thought about it endlessly but could not figure it out. In the end, he could only blame the chaotic Naruto timeline.

Weekend.

The Ninja Academy was on break, and the children did not have to attend school.

In a quiet house far from the bustling streets.

Tsunade stood outside the door and called out, "Grandma Mito, are you home? I came to see you."

A moment later, a kindly voice came from inside. "Coming, coming."

The door opened to reveal a woman with striking red hair and pretty features, her hair tied into a bun.

There was a diamond-shaped mark on her forehead. Though she was old enough to be a grandmother, she still looked very young, as if time had left no marks on her face.

"Honestly, why do you come over here every other day?" Mito fondly rubbed Tsunade's head.

Tsunade threw herself into her arms and giggled. "Because Grandma Mito is my favorite."

A few years ago, after Grandpa Hashirama died, Tsunade had been sad for a long time. It was only through Mito's constant comfort that she emerged from her grief. As she grew older, she came to understand that Grandma Mito had actually been the saddest person then. Her parents were usually busy with many things and had no time to visit, so whenever Tsunade had nothing to do, she came to keep Mito company.

"Alright, don't just sit outside. Come in and have a seat." Mito smiled as she led Tsunade into the house and pointed at the snacks in the room. "If you're hungry, help yourself."

She naturally did not eat snacks herself. All of them had been prepared for her little granddaughter, who visited often.

"Grandma Mito, tell me more stories about Grandpa Hashirama."

"Haven't you heard enough already?"

"No. Even if I heard them a hundred times, I'd never get tired of them."

"You really are impossible."

"Hehe..."

Tsunade ate snacks while listening to Mito tell stories about Hashirama. Before she knew it, she had eaten almost all of them.

Mito teased her with a smile. "Our little Tsunade really can eat. You finished all that food in no time. It makes me worry whether your future husband will be able to afford to feed you."

Tsunade licked the grease from the corner of her mouth. "I don't need anyone else to support me. If anything, I'll support someone else."

"Tsunade, girls shouldn't say things like that."

"Why?" Young Tsunade blinked.

"You'll understand when you grow up." Mito smiled and held Tsunade in her arms.

Mito's embrace was comfortable and warm. Tsunade shifted back a little. "Grandma, when girls grow up, does that part develop too?"

Mito froze for a moment, then realized Tsunade had reached the age where she began caring about her appearance. With a kindly smile, she said, "That's right. You have such a good appetite that you'll definitely develop very well in the future. You'll charm plenty of men."

The moment Tsunade heard that, she felt awful. "Then... does that part developing have something to do with eating?"

"Yes. Why?"

Tsunade looked distressed. "Then it seems I'll have to control my diet in the future."

Mito looked puzzled. "Why?"

"If that part gets too big, it'll look heavy and affect combat. My dream is to become a great ninja like Grandpa. I don't want some huge things getting in the way of my performance."

Mito: ...

Too young to know the value of breasts, she mistook combat for treasure.

Mito did not even know what to say. "That part is related to diet, but it actually has a lot to do with genetics too."

"Really?" Tsunade pressed, wanting to make sure.

Mito comforted her, "Yes, diet only plays a small role. The important thing is genetic factors."

Tsunade thought about it. That did seem to be true. Tall, large-built parents often had tall, large-built children. Her worries immediately vanished, and she beamed. "Thank you, Grandma Mito. Now that you say that, I'm relieved. You and Mom are both very small, so I'll definitely be very small in the future too."

Mito's face immediately darkened.