Day had barely begun to break when Naoki Senju heard faint sounds of arguing from next door.
"Lady Tsunade! Why did you go to the casino again yesterday? You even lost all our travel money!"
"Oh, don't make such a fuss. We can just do what we did last time."
"Lady Tsunade, we're shinobi. Can we keep doing that sort of thing? Besides, using ninjutsu to bully ordinary people violates the Three Prohibitions of Shinobi."
"They're not good people anyway, and their money is ill-gotten too. Just think of it as ridding the people of a menace. The most important quality in a shinobi is knowing how to adapt."
"Lady Tsunade!"
A little while later, the argument next door gradually died down, giving way to footsteps. The door was shoved open, and a furious Shizune dragged Tsunade into the room, while Tsunade looked distinctly reluctant.
"Lord Naoki, please talk some sense into Lady Tsunade. She lost all our travel money again last night!"
Naoki looked at Shizune, whose fury was off the charts, then at the beautiful, captivating Princess Tsunade. This time, Tsunade actually lowered her head timidly, avoiding his gaze...
Princess Tsunade could get shy?
As though he had discovered something amusing, Naoki Senju smiled and reassured Shizune:
"Don't worry, Big Sister Shizune. It's just travel money, isn't it? My two personal guards still have several hundred thousand ryo in banknotes. Just take those."
Shizune was so angry that she laughed. She shot Tsunade an exasperated look, then explained to Naoki:
"What Lady Tsunade lost yesterday was those several hundred thousand ryo of yours."
Tsunade lowered her head even further, nearly burying it in her chest, making Naoki Senju's disgraceful tears flow from the corners of his mouth...
After swallowing his drool, Naoki Senju cleared his throat to show he was being serious and waved a careless hand:
"Those banknotes are nothing. We can find a bigger city tomorrow and withdraw more. But what did you mean by 'what we did last time' when you were next door just now?"
At Naoki's outrageously extravagant declaration, Tsunade's eyes lit up as though she had discovered a treasure trove. She all but pounced on him...
After all, even completing an S-rank mission only earned her a million ryo, and Konoha took half of that...
Shizune, however, blushed scarlet and explained rather reluctantly, "We... we sell Tonton to some thug samurai for a high price, then have Tonton run back..."
What was this... a study in Tonton's sustainable development?
Still, Naoki Senju saw nothing wrong with this approach. In fact, he thought Tsunade was already showing considerable restraint. Even an ordinary person could develop murderous urges with a weapon in hand, let alone shinobi, who already lived in a different world from ordinary people. Simply refraining from wantonly slaughtering ordinary people already made them saints.
"Aren't you afraid of losing Tonton?"
Naoki glanced at the little pink pig in Shizune's arms. Seemingly feeling that she had been looked down on, Tonton gave two very disgruntled grunts.
"Oink, oink!"
"Hehe, Tonton says she's a ninja pig. Those thug samurai could never catch her."
Shizune lifted Tonton high, utterly affectionate. Clearly, the girl and her pet were extremely close.
Tsunade's gaze was rather strange, even faintly gleaming green, sending a slight chill down Naoki Senju's back...
"I'm not going to the casino today."
Tsunade's startling declaration made Shizune look at her in disbelief. Tears began to glimmer in her eyes, and her voice choked up:
"Lady Tsunade, you've finally turned over a new leaf..."
But Tsunade paid no attention whatsoever to the deeply moved Shizune. She slowly approached Naoki Senju and bent down, the magnificence of her chest striking straight at his young heart...
A cool little hand stroked Naoki Senju's cheek, and his heart rate peaked at that very moment. Happiness had come so suddenly!
"Today, I'm going to give you private lessons on shinobi knowledge."
Those sweet words, like an intimate whisper in his ear, left Naoki Senju, who had been single since birth, itching with anticipation. Lady Tsunade, please don't go easy on me!
Looking at Naoki Senju, whose eyes practically blazed, Tsunade gave a sly smile. He might act older than his age, but he was still just a brat. This was all it took for him to lose control.
"One hundred thousand ryo per lesson. No credit."
With that, she ignored Naoki Senju's aggrieved little look and briskly straightened up, ending his wonderful fanservice time. She turned and dragged Shizune, whose face was so red it looked ready to bleed, downstairs.
Just now, Shizune had thought Lady Tsunade was going to do that with Naoki... but it turned out she had still overestimated Lady Tsunade's decency. She was actually after Naoki's money...
At that moment, Shizune wished she could crawl into a crack in the ground...
But who was Tsunade? One glance told her what Shizune was thinking, and she gave Shizune's pretty cheek an exasperated pinch. This little girl had only known him for a day, and she was already taking his side.
"Shizune, we're shinobi. It's perfectly normal for us to accept missions and get paid. The price might be a tiny bit high, but isn't personal instruction from one of the legendary Sannin worth that much?"
Shizune felt something was wrong, but she didn't know how to argue back. Personal instruction from one of the legendary Sannin truly was something no amount of money could buy...
After fobbing off the adorable Shizune, Tsunade breathed a sigh of relief. This apprentice of hers was good in every way, except that she was sometimes far too kind. Although a medical-nin did need a heart devoted to saving lives and healing the injured, being too kind made it easy to get taken advantage of.
Especially by that precocious little brat... even she had nearly fallen into his hands, let alone kindhearted Shizune. No, she had to find time to warn him. She couldn't let him develop in Jiraiya's direction.
Jiraiya was ugly, so at most he could peep into the women's baths and couldn't cause any major trouble. But that brat could steal hearts. He was bound to cause plenty of trouble in the future. She was putting so much effort into teaching him, so what was wrong with him honoring her with a little money?
Besides, it wasn't as though she wouldn't pay him back later. Once she won at gambling, she would repay him with interest!
After finishing breakfast with her inexplicable confidence, Tsunade took Naoki Senju's portion upstairs. Still worried, Shizune followed her up.
But contrary to Shizune's expectations, Lady Tsunade was truly serious this time!
Not only did she explain everything very carefully, starting with the most basic chakra and the origins of shinobi, but she was also extremely strict, showing no consideration whatsoever for Naoki Senju's status as a "severely injured patient."
After going over something once, Tsunade gave Naoki Senju ten minutes to memorize it. He could ask questions during that time, but if there was anything he couldn't remember after ten minutes, then too bad. Even if she beat him into paralysis, Tsunade was confident she could avoid lasting damage and heal him completely within two hours.
Naturally, the fact that Naoki Senju had already fully recovered hadn't escaped Tsunade. After receiving a million ryo in banknotes as compensation, Tsunade reluctantly forgave him.
But while learning the twelve most basic hand seals, Naoki Senju repeatedly suffered Tsunade's retaliation for reasons such as "forming hand seals too slowly" and "incorrect hand seal movements."
Only when night fell did the physically and mentally exhausted Naoki Senju finally get time to rest. Tsunade used Healing Jutsu one last time to treat some bruises on his skin. Seeing that he was grimacing in pain but had no intention whatsoever of giving up, she silently praised him. Not bad. He hadn't disgraced the Senju Clan's name.
Outwardly, however, she remained cold, doing her best to look like a strict teacher as she instructed him, "Get a good rest tonight. Tomorrow, you can try molding chakra."
After Tsunade left, Naoki Senju still couldn't fall asleep for a long time. Chakra, ninjutsu, kekkei genkai, Tailed Beasts, the Ōtsutsuki... what a magnificent world. And now, he too could possess the key to entering it!