Chapter 105: Kushina's Tutelage
As usual, the group trained for about two hours before heading their separate ways. Occasionally, they'd stay for a meal, but most of the time they ate at home.
After seeing them off, Hoshikawa returned to the living room. It wasn't long before he heard the front door open, so he stood up and turned to face it.
The door swung open, and a gloomy, sullen-faced Tsunade walked in. From that expression, Hoshikawa knew without a doubt that she had lost horribly.
He was about to say hello, but Tsunade charged at him, her beautiful face twisted into a menacing grimace.
Hoshikawa knew he was in trouble, but it was too late to run.
"Why did you leave? You made me lose another million ryo!" Tsunade grabbed his hair with both hands, messing it up completely.
Hoshikawa sighed helplessly. He knew how terrifying a furious woman could be, so he just let her have her way. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that Tsunade was taking advantage of him. The anger was an act; she just wanted to ruffle his hair.
"Here." Hoshikawa suddenly remembered something and pulled out a passbook.
"One million ryo?" Tsunade's eyes lit up as she glanced at the passbook, a mischievous smile spreading across her face. "Finally, a student who knows how to honor his master. Not bad."
"It's the reward from the Land of Demons mission." Hoshikawa reached up and tried to fix his hair.
"Oh, lame." Tsunade's face fell instantly. "I don't even want this student anymore!" In her mind, the million ryo mission payout was what she deserved.
"Where's the Rasengan I was promised?" Hoshikawa asked, ignoring her dramatics.
"It's getting late. You and I will go see Kushina tomorrow," Tsunade said, putting the passbook away.
"Kushina-neesan knows the Rasengan too?" Hoshikawa was surprised.
"She doesn't know it, or more accurately, she doesn't need to learn it. She's the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki." Tsunade shook her head. "But just because she doesn't need to learn it doesn't mean she can't use it."
"Got it." Hoshikawa nodded in understanding.
"I'm hungry. Go make dinner." Tsunade patted his head.
"Yeah." Hoshikawa glared at her. "Stop patting my head!"
"You're getting less and less cute," Tsunade sighed, patting him one more time.
Hoshikawa's face darkened, and he turned to walk into the living room.
Tsunade couldn't help but laugh at his reaction. Hoshikawa was just so much fun to tease.
The next day, Hoshikawa had Kurenai cover for him at the Academy and went to Tsunade's house. As he expected, she was still asleep. Hoshikawa walked up to her bedroom door and knocked loudly.
"Just... just five more minutes..." Tsunade mumbled, poking her head out of the door. She was bent over, and her summery nightgown couldn't contain her ample figure. A flash of white skin peeked out.
"Fifteen minutes," Hoshikawa said, his eye twitching. "I'll go make breakfast."
Bang!
The door slammed shut, and Tsunade returned to her room, collapsing back onto the bed.
Hoshikawa went to the kitchen and, after a moment of thought, decided to make a bowl of ramen. It would be just about perfect for fifteen minutes.
When the time was up, he carried the beef ramen out of the kitchen.
"Sensei!" Hoshikawa shouted, placing the bowl down in front of her door.
"I heard you!" a grumpy voice called from inside.
A moment later, the door opened, and a dressed Tsunade walked out. She yawned and headed to the bathroom to wash up.
After they had breakfast, Hoshikawa and Tsunade headed to Kushina Uzumaki's house.
"Kushina-neesan still can't go out freely?" Hoshikawa asked as they walked. Thanks to his advice, Kushina and the Nine-Tails had a better relationship now, and she no longer had rampages.
"She's still the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki, after all." Tsunade sighed softly. "The higher-ups in the village keep a close eye on her, especially that old geezer Danzō!" Her voice was filled with clear annoyance at the end.
"I have a plan. Sensei, you should become Hokage. That would put that old geezer Danzō out of a job, and it could also restore Kushina-neesan's freedom." Hoshikawa blinked at her.
Tsunade's eyebrows went up. She was actually a little tempted, but then she saw the problem.
"You brat, you're always trying to find a new way to get me to be Hokage." Tsunade flicked him on the head. "Do you think being Hokage is that simple?"
"I believe in you, Sensei." Hoshikawa's expression was sincere.
"Even if I became Hokage, those two things you mentioned wouldn't be easy to achieve. The Hokage isn't a dictator." Tsunade scoffed.
Hoshikawa knew she was referring to the two advisors, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane. In terms of status, they weren't much below the Hokage. Being Hokage wasn't about fighting; it was about political maneuvering. In the original story, Minato Namikaze was constantly being constrained after he became Hokage. Of course, Tsunade would have more freedom than him, given her background. But if she wanted to get rid of the advisors, she'd likely be blocked by Hiruzen Sarutobi, as a retired Hokage still had a huge amount of influence.
"There's always a way." Hoshikawa smiled. "How about we take the first step?"
"You brat, you've been circling around the same point this whole time." Tsunade rolled her eyes.
"You're so wise, Sensei!" Hoshikawa praised her immediately.
"Hoshikawa!"
Just then, a familiar voice rang out. A figure flashed in front of them, and it was Kushina Uzumaki.
"Lady Tsunade!" Kushina said, her face full of smiles. "You two haven't come by in so long!"
"We went to the Land of Demons," Tsunade said nonchalantly.
"Never mind that!" Kushina waved her hand excitedly. "Let's go inside! Kurama sensed you two even before I did!"
"Kurama?" Tsunade laughed. "Tell it that I'll bet against it in a card game in a bit."
Hoshikawa's lips twitched. He pictured the adorable, giant fox being corrupted by them and becoming obsessed with card games. What if they were in the middle of a battle and Kushina told Kurama to fight, but it just said, "Let's play a round of Gwent first!" The other eight Tailed Beasts would die laughing if they ever found out.
"It'll be so happy," Kushina said, nodding.
"There's one more thing," Tsunade said, glancing at Hoshikawa. "Kushina, do you know the training method for Minato's Rasengan?"
"Of course, I do!" Kushina said with a hint of pride. "I'm the one who named it!"
Minato's original name for the Rasengan was "The Spinning, Twirling, Rasengan of the Flash of Light and a Spinning Top, and a Spiraling Ball of Wind and Two-Style-Jutsu-Ball of Jiraiya."
"I meant the training method," Tsunade said. "If you know it, please teach it to Hoshikawa."
"No problem!" Kushina said happily. "Leave it to me."
"Thank you, Kushina-neesan," Hoshikawa said quickly.
"What's there to thank me for?" Kushina said, brushing him off. They were already close, and even if they weren't, she'd teach him just for being Tsunade's student.
"How about this? I'll teach Hoshikawa the Rasengan training method, and then the three of us will play cards." Kushina suggested.
"That's a great idea," Tsunade immediately agreed.
Hoshikawa was speechless. Is playing cards more important than the Rasengan to you two? What about the Rasengan's pride?
"Lady Tsunade, you can wait for us inside for a bit." Kushina turned and went to a room.
A moment later, she came out with a bag of balloons and then went to the bathroom to fill them with water.
"Let's go." Kushina led Hoshikawa outside and handed him the water-filled balloons.
There were four stages to the Rasengan training method.
Stage one: condensing chakra in your hand.
Stage two: releasing a steady, continuous stream of chakra to pop a water-filled balloon.
Stage three: maintaining the chakra release and solidifying it to the point where it could damage a rubber ball, giving it a rudimentary destructive power.
Stage four: the most difficult stage, combining everything you've learned to condense the Rasengan in your hand.
"Since you're a medical ninja, stage one will be easy for you. We'll start with stage two." Kushina held out her hand, a burst of chakra causing the water inside the balloon to spin and spin until it finally burst.
As a sealing ninja, her chakra control was no less than a medical ninja's, so she could do it with ease.
"There!" Kushina clapped her hands. "If you have any questions, come ask me. I'm going to play cards!"
Hoshikawa realized that Kushina had also fallen into the same pit as Tsunade. Sure enough, anyone who spends too much time with Tsunade ends up like this.
Good thing I haven't.
After all, I have ulterior motives... ahem, ahem. I mean, my will is strong, and I trust my younger brother's choices.
Hoshikawa took a water balloon and began his training.
Spinning, spinning, spinning...
He suddenly thought of the Japanese pronunciation of "Rasengan" sounding like "take the kidney."
How long did it take Naruto to learn the Rasengan? A month?
Hoshikawa tried to remember. He wasn't sure of the exact time, but it was at least two weeks. Overall, the Rasengan wasn't an incredibly difficult jutsu to learn. The main difficulty was chakra control, which Hoshikawa, as a medical ninja, had in spades.
Time passed.
The bright sunlight faded, replaced by the colors of the evening sky.
Pop!
The water balloon in Hoshikawa's hand burst. He reacted quickly, jumping back to avoid getting wet.
Not bad.
Hoshikawa nodded in satisfaction. He had completed stage two in just one day. His talent was definitely not lacking.
"Wow, that's amazing!" Kushina clapped from nearby.
"Why do you sound like you're trying to cheer up a kid?" Tsunade asked, teasing her.
"Do I?" Kushina blinked. "That's what I say to Kurama, and it always gets so happy, its tail wags so much."
"Kurama?" Tsunade pictured the scene. "Does it think it's a dog?"
"Shhh!" Kushina whispered, lowering her voice. "Don't let it hear you, or it'll get mad."
"Alright, we'll come back tomorrow," Tsunade said with a laugh. "You can teach Hoshikawa the next stage of practice then."
"Okay." Kushina waved goodbye.
"See you later." Hoshikawa waved back and left with Tsunade.
............
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