But things did not go as planned. Aokiji had a Kekkei Genkai, after all. The Uchiha Clan had already reached its limit by compromising and allowing Aokiji to study Medical Ninjutsu. Delving any deeper would waste his combat talent, and the Uchiha Clan would not stand by and watch Aokiji squander his gifts.
It seemed they could only think of another way to win Aokiji over.
"What a pity. I had originally wanted to take him as my disciple."
Biwako sighed to herself.
With that as a lead-in, she changed the subject. "Come to think of it, I still don't know much about this child. Tsunade, you and he seem to have been childhood friends. Could you tell me about him?"
Gathering information on Aokiji was a task her husband had given her.
As Aokiji's teacher, Biwako was asking under the banner of concern for her student. Tsunade found it perfectly understandable and did not grow suspicious. "Aokiji?"
Biwako hummed in acknowledgment.
Tsunade summed up Aokiji's personality before answering, "You can think of him as someone who combines Orochimaru's strengths with Jiraiya's flaws."
Biwako was startled.
Setting Jiraiya's flaws aside for now, what did Orochimaru's strengths imply? Her husband had described Orochimaru as a once-in-a-century genius.
Perhaps there was some exaggeration born from favoritism toward a disciple, but it still reflected just what level Orochimaru's talent was at.
Did Aokiji, who could be mentioned in the same breath as Orochimaru, truly possess such talent? Tsunade knew both Orochimaru and Aokiji very well, so the credibility of her words was quite high.
"Is Aokiji very strong?"
Biwako asked the question she cared about most.
Tsunade froze. Oh no. Aokiji had specifically told her not to mention his strength to outsiders.
But she did not know how to cover it up, so