Two and a Half Years!

"Pfft-cough, cough!"

Tsunade seemed so startled by Ye Chuan that she nearly choked on her own spit.

Her eyes widened as she stared at Ye Chuan in disbelief.

"What did you say?! You want to learn Medical Ninjutsu from me?!"

"A brat who kills without blinking wants to become a medical ninja?"

The contrast was simply too great!

"Yes." Ye Chuan nodded without hesitation.

Tsunade looked into Ye Chuan's serious eyes. He did not seem to be pretending.

She fell silent for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing. "Interesting! Very interesting! Good! Very good!"

"For your discerning eye, and the talent you've shown..."

"All right! I, Tsunade, will take you as my student!"

She had no reason to refuse.

Ye Chuan's talent was plain to see. Keeping him by her side and teaching him personally also fit her earlier idea: she could guide him better and keep him from going astray.

Besides, Konoha really was desperately short of outstanding medical ninjas.

"Today really is a good day! I just took in that hardworking girl Sakura, and now a monstrously talented kid like you comes along! Hahaha!"

Tsunade looked delighted, as though she had found a treasure.

"Thank you, Teacher Tsunade." Ye Chuan bowed respectfully.

"All right, we can skip the apprenticeship ceremony and all that. I don't have so many rules." Tsunade waved a hand.

"But let me warn you, my training is extremely strict!"

"I'll have Shizune teach you the fundamentals of Medical Ninjutsu first. As for the Strength of a Hundred and Chakra Enhanced Strength... we'll talk about those once you've built a solid foundation!"

"Yes!" Ye Chuan replied.

He had never expected Tsunade to teach him every step of the way.

Gaining Tsunade's recognition, the right to learn those core techniques, and her protection was already enough to accomplish his goal.

Leaving the Hokage Building thoroughly satisfied, Ye Chuan felt that his path for the next two and a half years had become much clearer.

As soon as he reached the foot of the building, he spotted a familiar figure pacing nearby, seemingly waiting for him.

It was Hinata.

"Ye Chuan!"

Seeing Ye Chuan come out, Hinata hurried over at a jog, a hint of curiosity on her face.

"Just now... Lord Hokage..."

"Yeah, it wasn't anything major." Ye Chuan smiled, in a good mood.

"Come on. I'm a little hungry. Let's get ramen."

"...Okay." Hinata nodded obediently and followed beside him.

They arrived at Ichiraku Ramen, sat down, and ordered.

Hinata hesitated, but still asked quietly:

"Ye Chuan... now that you've become Lady Tsunade's student, does... does that mean you'll be leaving Team 8?"

There was a barely perceptible trace of disappointment in her voice.

"Leaving Team 8?" Ye Chuan paused at her words, then understood what she meant. He shook his head with a smile. "You're overthinking it."

Tsunade was the Hokage now and extremely busy. She could not possibly mentor him the way an ordinary teacher guided a student.

Becoming her student was more like... extracurricular tutoring.

He should still be assigned to Team 8, and he would most likely continue going on regular missions and training with Hinata.

Besides, he also wanted to learn more about genjutsu from Kurenai Yuhi, especially how to break it.

By that reckoning, both his teachers for the next two and a half years would be stunning beauties. That would certainly be a feast for the eyes.

Hearing that Ye Chuan would not leave, Hinata immediately let out a relieved breath, and a genuine smile appeared on her face.

Looking at her smile, Ye Chuan felt a slight stir in his heart as well.

After finishing their ramen, he walked Hinata to the vicinity of the Hyuga Clan Compound, then headed home alone.

Two and a half years quietly slipped by.

For Ye Chuan, this was undoubtedly the most peaceful stretch of time since he had come to this world.

Without an imminent threat of death or plots he needed to constantly guard against, he could finally devote all his energy to the single goal of improving his strength.

During those two and a half years, he remained a member of Konoha's Team 8 and completed dozens of missions, both large and small. He started with C-Rank and B-Rank missions, and later even took part in several A-Rank missions.

At the same time, his extracurricular lessons with Tsunade never stopped.

Learning Medical Ninjutsu proved far more tedious and difficult than he had imagined.

It required extraordinarily precise chakra control, along with vast amounts of medical knowledge and charts of the human body's meridians and acupuncture points that had to be memorized by rote.

Even with his adult soul, he had poured enormous effort into it, but reaching Tsunade's level of regenerating severed limbs was not something he could achieve overnight.

By comparison, learning Chakra Enhanced Strength went much more smoothly.

Drawing on his own insights into using chakra, he quickly mastered the method of concentrating chakra into a single point and incorporated it into some of his sword techniques.

Of course, the system's daily missions were mandatory training that he never missed for even a day.

The required sword swings rose from five thousand to eight thousand, then to the current ten thousand. Fortunately, he had Shadow Clones to help him cope with the increasingly absurd workload.

His ninja rank also rose steadily.

About a year after Sasuke defected, Konoha held the Chunin Ninja Exams again.

This time, Ye Chuan no longer hid his abilities, though he did not draw excessive attention either. With strength far beyond his peers, he passed the examination smoothly and advanced to Chunin.

Another year or so passed, and thanks to his strength and the merits accumulated over numerous missions, he received an exceptional promotion to Jonin alongside Neji Hyuga, who had been a year ahead of him.

Although his rate of promotion was not as outrageous as Kakashi's or Uchiha Itachi's, it was certainly fast enough to mark him as a top-tier genius in peacetime.

Just like that, the two and a half years quietly came to an end.

Ye Chuan was now sixteen.

His figure had grown taller and more slender, his face had shed its last traces of childishness, and his black eyes were as deep as the night.

His Hawkeye inheritance progress had finally settled at [88.8%].

Even across the entire Shinobi World, he could now certainly be considered a true expert.

At most, he was still a little short of peak Kage Level, but he was more than capable of protecting himself.

One day, while training at home, Ye Chuan suddenly sensed something. He raised his head and turned his gaze toward Konoha's main gate.

A familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar presence was rapidly approaching, and... it was many times stronger than it had been two and a half years ago!

The corners of Ye Chuan's mouth lifted slightly.

"Finally back...?"

He set down the Wado Ichimonji in his hand. With a flicker, he appeared on the roof of his small house and gazed toward the village entrance.

A moment later, two figures came into view.

One was the white-haired ninja, still carrying a huge scroll on his back.

The other was a blond boy who had grown considerably taller.

Naruto Uzumaki had finally returned to Konoha!

Ye Chuan knew this meant that his two-and-a-half-year period of peaceful growth had finally ended.

The Akatsuki's full-scale operations, renewed entanglements with Orochimaru and Sasuke, the gathering clouds of a great ninja war...

A more dangerous era had arrived!