Little Tsunade didn't understand the future.
For now, she was simply overjoyed. She truly loved medicine.
There really were things in the world as enjoyable as gambling.
Although Emiya Shihara's arrival meant she spent less time gambling with her great-grandfather, his presence made her childhood much happier. After Shihara returned to Konoha, he visited Hashirama Senju every day. Little Tsunade saw him constantly. She loved sneaking up behind him, following him to the hospital, and strolling through Konoha's streets to buy chestnut juice.
And Shihara was exactly like the hero from the bedtime stories—perhaps even more impressive. Compared to the sometimes-unreliable Hashirama, Emiya Shihara's serious demeanor and kindness were irresistible to children. When he treated patients, he was focused and calm, his words always chosen with care. If someone didn't understand, he would explain patiently, making illnesses sound clear and manageable.
Despite his cold, distant attitude toward ninjas and his dislike of the times, a quiet warmth occasionally escaped—especially toward children, a tenderness few would expect.
On their way to Konoha Hospital, little Tsunade's short legs hurried to match Shihara's deliberately slowed pace. She muttered about how long the walk felt.
> "It's so far today…"
Shihara glanced down at her.
> "I'm not tired. I can still walk…"
Sensing a hint of disapproval in his expression, she panicked, waving her little hands to prove she wasn't weak.
Without a word, Shihara bent down, lifted her, and placed her on his shoulders.
> "Huh?"
From up high, Tsunade's eyes widened in delight.
> "Emiya-sama, it's so high! Is this where the slug sits in the story?"
> "Yeah," Shihara said evenly. "Slugs also sit on shoulders when they can't keep up."
Tsunade touched her round cheeks, already daydreaming.
> "Someday I want a slug of my own…"
> "Yeah."
Curious, she noticed his stride quicken as the breeze brushed her hair.
> "Can I learn a lot today too?"
> "Yeah."
> "Then can I have sweet grape juice?"
> "No. That's for sick people. After studying today, you can have chestnut juice."
She pouted but didn't argue.
By the time they reached Konoha Hospital, the patients' curiosity had faded. Everyone assumed Shihara was training a student. It looked so natural—teacher and pupil. At five, Tsunade had already mastered a few basic medical jutsu and sometimes helped with minor scrapes. But she still had a long way to go. She shadowed Shihara constantly, listening as he explained conditions to patients in ways anyone could understand:
> "Your own resistance is more useful than any medicine."
"This disease will make your body produce antibodies. Next time, you won't be attacked by it."
"Some illnesses are like a fire breaking out in your house. You put it out with water. From then on you keep a tank of water ready in case of another fire. Antibodies are like that tank of water—prepared to fight the disease in the future."
Tsunade's eyes sparkled. She didn't fully grasp "antibodies" or "disease," but she understood the image of water against fire.
As the sun dipped low, her stomach growled. She tugged Shihara's sleeve.
> "Lord Emiya, when can we go eat? I want thick, sweet chestnut juice!"
Shihara rubbed her head. He rarely spoke outside of work, but he always kept his promises to Tsunade.
Yet something unexpected happened as they left the hospital.
A handsome little boy with long dark hair had been rushed in with food poisoning. His condition looked serious, though for Konoha Hospital it was routine. A medic quickly induced vomiting and saved him.
Shihara walked calmly past the boy's anxious parents, but the child's weak voice drifted over:
> "Just ordinary kidney beans and green peppers… Can they make you so sick?"
His mother sighed.
> "Orochimaru, you can't keep doing strange experiments in the kitchen…"
His father added, weary but gentle:
> "Let's add a new rule for the kitchen. No mixing kidney beans and green peppers…"
Shihara paused, crouched, and whispered to Tsunade. As the medics recorded "kidney beans plus green peppers = poison" on their scrolls, Tsunade suddenly ran forward.
> "It's not the beans and peppers! It must be the beans weren't cooked. Uncooked beans with vegetables can build up strange substances that cause poisoning!"
Everyone turned to stare at the chubby little girl. Even the pale boy on the chair raised his eyes, astonished.
Someone his own age knew more than he did.
Orochimaru, ever curious, had been hospitalized after one of his kitchen "experiments." Now he'd discovered something new: knowledge could be even stronger than his tests.
Could a child's knowledge outmatch an adult's strength? How many such hidden facts existed? The thought thrilled him.
Since children had limited exposure to dangerous ingredients, he'd started experimenting in the kitchen with vegetables. If the experiment failed, he'd serve the food to his parents and earn praise. If it succeeded… he'd end up in the hospital.
But today Tsunade had shown him another possibility—knowledge that could pinpoint poisons faster than experiments.
He never got the chance to speak to her. He watched as the plump blonde girl walked away hand-in-hand with a tall young man.
> "Tsunade-chan knows even this…"
A medic updated the records, muttering with admiration:
> "As expected of a child personally taught by Lord Emiya!"
> "Tsunade-chan? Lord Emiya?"
Orochimaru's narrow eyes lowered. These two names were new to his world. He watched them retreat, the young man's silhouette dark against the setting sun—a shadow that would leave the first stroke of deep ink on the boy's heart.
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