"Shoo, shoo! What are you butting in for? Yuzuru already said it suits me. You play with snakes, so don't bother trying it."
Jiraiya shoved Orochimaru away.
Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya with equal disdain.
"Hehe, well, Yuzuru, tell me, what would it take for you to teach me?"
"Well..."
Yuzuru looked at Tsunade.
"Sensei, none of Lord Jiraiya's Ninjutsu really suits me, so I'll leave it to you. But I want new Ninjutsu in exchange."
Tsunade immediately understood, then grinned at Yuzuru. "That's my good disciple. Don't worry, your teacher definitely won't let you lose out."
"Sensei, there are two A-rank Ninjutsu here, plus one S-rank one. Well, it's most likely Senjutsu."
Hearing Yuzuru whisper in her ear, Tsunade's smile widened.
Jiraiya's heart sank. With those words and that expression, didn't she mean he would be the one losing out?
Oh no, my new novel hasn't even been published yet. I haven't even had time to warm the money from my last book in my pocket. It can't be!
Tsunade raised two fingers and waved them in front of Jiraiya.
"Um, Tsunade, what do you mean by that? Two million?"
Jiraiya wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and hastily offered her a fresh bottle of liquor.
"Twenty million!"
"What! Are you robbing me? Where would I get that much money? Besides, even if I had it, there's no way I'd spend twenty million buying one Ninjutsu! No way, no way. That's too expensive!"
Jiraiya shook his head frantically.
"Then there's nothing I can do. Yuzuru just said that what he'll tell you includes not just the A-rank Rasengan, but an upgraded S-rank Rasengan and a concept for an S-rank Senjutsu. Twenty million is already cheap."
As expected of Tsunade. What had clearly been two A-ranks and one S-rank became two S-ranks and one A-rank in her mouth.
"What? That's... no, it's too much. Besides, what if it doesn't work?"
"Forget it, then. Since you doubt my good disciple, he won't teach you."
Now that Tsunade had stopped discussing it, Jiraiya felt even worse.
"But I really don't have twenty million."
Jiraiya sighed.
"How much do you have right now, then?"
Tsunade blinked.
"Only seven million."
"Hand it over. Write an IOU for the rest."
Tsunade held out her hand for it.
"Tsk, fine. Yuzuru, I've given you and your teacher my entire nest egg. You'd better not disappoint me."
Jiraiya spoke with a miserable expression.
"Don't worry. There definitely won't be any problems!"
Yuzuru remained perfectly calm.
Please, I couldn't be more familiar with making those balls. Regular balls, big balls, Wind Release balls-each one is stronger than the last.
Hmm, as for the Big Ball Rasengan... whatever. Any way you look at it, its power deserves an S-rank. I'll go with what Tsunade said. Besides, I'm the only one who knows it for now. If I call it S-rank, who would dare argue?
While Minato hadn't developed it much yet and was still studying Flying Thunder God, he could sell it for a good price. Once Minato mastered Flying Thunder God: Second Step, his next step would probably be improving the Rasengan. With his talent, wouldn't expanding on it be a piece of cake?
Some things had to be sold early, and he could earn a favor too, especially a favor from someone like Jiraiya.
"All right, Kurenai and I will be leaving first, Sensei."
"Mm, go find Kushina first. I have some things to discuss with these two. I'll head back in a while."
"Okay."
After taking Kurenai by the hand and leaving the barbecue restaurant, Yuzuru saw the little girl's adoring expression. Though he said nothing, he found it hard to keep the corners of his mouth down.
Sigh, it couldn't be helped. Sometimes it really wasn't that his self-control was lacking. The main problem was that a little loli as cute as Kurenai, looking at him like that, made it hard not to smile.
For the record, he absolutely wasn't a lolicon. He was just borrowing against the future.
Although Kurenai was just as cute as a child, just as lovable, just as... ahem. In short, he absolutely wasn't a lolicon!
"Xiao Xian, you're really amazing!"
The moment Kurenai spoke, Yuzuru completely lost his composure. The corners of his mouth, which he had already struggled to hold down, sprang right back up.
"Ahem, I'm all right."
No, I still have to hold it in!
"Oh, right. Do you want to learn my Ninjutsu, Kurenai?"
"Huh? I-I can learn it too?"
Kurenai asked in surprise.
"Of course. You have wind-affinity chakra, just like me, Kurenai. You can learn it."
Yuzuru pinched Kurenai's adorably dazed cheeks.
"That's wonderful! Hehe, I love you the most, Xiao Xian."
Kurenai leaped straight into Yuzuru's arms, gazing at him with admiration in her large, ruby-like eyes.
At that moment, Yuzuru could no longer hold back the smile he had worked so hard to suppress.
Just then, a familiar voice rang out from the roadside.
"Kurenai! What are you doing!"
The groceries in Yūhi Shinku's hands fell to the ground. He pointed at the two embracing children, his face filled with anguish.
"Huh? It's Dad."
Yuzuru raised an eyebrow, suddenly understanding why he wore that expression.
Hmm, in his eyes, I must be the little blond punk who stole his precious cabbage?
"Dad, let me tell you, Xiao Xian is really amazing."
Cutting Kurenai off, Shinku grabbed her and hurried away.
"Hey, hey, hey! I haven't said goodbye to Xiao Xian yet."
"Hurry home. There are lots of bad kids out here!"
"Xiao Xian isn't one!"
Watching the father and daughter leave, Yuzuru chuckled softly.
Naturally, a father-in-law found his son-in-law annoying. And when his daughter was about to be stolen away from childhood, it would be strange if he felt happy about it.
Sigh, spare a little understanding for the lonely old geezer.
Yuzuru rested both hands behind his head and strolled toward the Senju ancestral residence.
That evening, Tsunade came home drunk and flopped onto the sofa as soon as she arrived.
Yuzuru & Kushina: ...
"Ahem, well, Tsunade isn't usually like this."
Kushina still wanted to offer a few excuses for Tsunade.
But seeing Yuzuru's expression, which said, "Do you take me for a three-year-old?" she immediately fell silent.
"Well, I'll go make some sobering tea. Help look after Tsunade."
"Mm."
Yuzuru said nothing more this time. He went over to Tsunade, sighed helplessly, and helped her sit up against the sofa.
"You reek of booze. You stink."
"Brat, what did you say!"
Hearing Yuzuru's muttering, Tsunade immediately opened her eyes.
"I'm talking about you! Aren't you going to wash up? Don't you care about your image at all?"
Yuzuru said irritably.
"You little brat. Quite the busybody."
Tsunade muttered, but still didn't move, kicking off her shoes for good measure.
"Bring me my slippers."
"I'm your disciple, not..."
"Hmm?"
Yuzuru was very angry, and the consequences would be very...
"If you don't bring my slippers, how am I supposed to get your Ninjutsu for you?"
Oh, you should've said so sooner. Look at this misunderstanding.
Yuzuru hurried to the entryway and fetched her a pair of soft slippers.
"Come with me."
Tsunade put on the slippers and was just about to stand when she swayed and fell back down.
Yuzuru: ...
"Have you got no sense? Help your teacher up already."
For fuck's sake! For the Ninjutsu, I'll endure it!
Whoever provided the milk was Mom, especially someone as well-endowed as Tsunade.
Yuzuru took another couple of good, hard looks.
Yep, well-endowed in every sense.