"Why don't you test her, Tsunade?"
Kakashi spoke up again, forcing Tsunade to consider the reason behind his persistence.
She knew very well that the Kakashi before her was not the type to act on a whim.
Since Kakashi had pushed this little pink-haired girl in front of her, this kid—who looked like she was about to burst into tears—must possess some extraordinary quality.
Thinking of this, and considering that Kakashi was now the Hokage, Tsunade decided to give him some face.
Tsunade leaned in close to Sakura, staring her straight in the eye. This caused Sakura to take a frightened step back.
Seeing the shrinking, timid behavior of the brat before her, a flash of impatience crossed Tsunade's eyes.
She grabbed Sakura's hand and said, "The Academy taught you how to knead chakra, right? Now, gather as much chakra as possible into your hand."
Hearing this, Sakura turned back to look at Kakashi. Under his encouraging gaze, she followed Tsunade's instructions and focused as much chakra as she could into the palm that Tsunade was holding.
As the chakra gathered, Tsunade felt the negligible amount slowly accumulating in Sakura's hand.
The amount of chakra wasn't much; even for a child of this age, it could only be considered mediocre.
However...
Tsunade could feel the presence of chakra in every single meridian of the brat's palm.
Sensing this, Tsunade narrowed her phoenix-like eyes slightly.
Talent.
She seemed to see that word written all over the kid in front of her.
Using jutsu requires chakra to travel through the user's body. How to maximize the precise control of that chakra involves the user's meridian system.
Being able to circulate chakra through the body's meridians to the greatest extent allows one to perfectly execute techniques that require extremely high chakra control.
The meridians in the palm and fingertips are the narrowest. Ninja with insufficient control must use a massive amount of chakra to forcefully flush through these tiny pathways to use ninjutsu.
But a ninja with superb control can complete the desired technique using the absolute minimum amount of chakra.
There was no doubt that the brat before her, whose chakra capacity could only be described as mediocre, did not have enough chakra to forcefully flush the meridians in her hand. She could only use the most delicate manipulation to fill the meridians with chakra.
This kind of talent was highly sought after among medical-nin.
"Pass."
Finally, Tsunade let go of Sakura's hand.
Pass?
No, it was an extremely outstanding aptitude.
"Take her back for now. Let this brat report to Shizune whenever she has free time every day."
Medical ninjutsu?
It didn't matter who taught her. To Tsunade, there was no difference between Shizune teaching her and teaching her herself.
"Shizune, could you please take Sakura to the Academy first?"
Kakashi glanced at Tsunade, then spoke softly to Shizune.
Shizune, naturally, did not refuse. She understood Tsunade's personality too well.
If the child's talent was merely a "pass," Tsunade wouldn't have bothered assigning Shizune to teach her.
But the fact that Tsunade, who hated trouble, had agreed to it meant that this pink-haired girl's talent was exceptional.
"Let's go, Sakura."
Shizune bent down and looked at Sakura with a kind smile.
Sakura hesitated, looking at Kakashi, before finally letting Shizune take her hand and lead her out.
Once Sakura had left, Kakashi turned his gaze back to Tsunade.
"Lady Tsunade, I don't intend for that child to stay in the rear like other medical-nin."
Hearing Kakashi's words, Tsunade raised an eyebrow.
"What? What more do you want from me?"
Just as Kakashi was about to speak, Tsunade continued.
"Her personality is too weak. Even if she learns Superhuman Strength, so what?"
"If she goes onto a frontal battlefield, she'll likely just be throwing her life away."
"Rather than wasting a precious life in vain, it's better for her to stay safely in the rear."
Tsunade had already guessed Kakashi's intentions.
He wanted her to pass on her Superhuman Strength to that pink-haired brat, and perhaps even teach her the Strength of a Hundred Technique eventually.
But with such a weak character, what good would having power do?
She would just be a slightly larger ant.
Kakashi frowned as he listened to Tsunade.
He felt he had been a bit too hasty.
The current Sakura Haruno was not yet the Sakura Haruno of the original story—the one who would risk her life alone to hold off the Sound Trio for the sake of Sasuke and Naruto.
Right now, she had the talent, but not the mindset.
"I understand. If that child develops the necessary mental fortitude, you intend to teach her personally, correct?"
Kakashi looked at Tsunade.
Tsunade paused for a moment. Did I say that?
But it didn't matter.
"Do as you please."
Tsunade waved her hand dismissively.
If the girl really developed a will of steel, Tsunade wouldn't mind personally instructing the pink-hair.
She gave Kakashi a deep look.
She had a rough idea of what Kakashi was going to do to the child next.
But...
If he didn't handle it well, he could ruin her.
After all, when facing setbacks, if one deeply feels their own powerlessness and weakness, it is very possible to live in that shadow for the rest of their life.
"Then I have no further issues."
Kakashi nodded.
"Alright, back to the main topic. I'm stating this in advance—do you know why I don't learn the Sage Mode of Shikkotsu Forest?"
Tsunade looked at Kakashi seriously now.
Kakashi looked at her calmly but remained silent.
Seeing Kakashi give absolutely no reaction, Tsunade twitched the corner of her mouth.
This damn brat, he really is nothing like his dead father.
"Forget it. I'll take you to see it with your own eyes, so you can give up on this idea."
Seeing no reaction from Kakashi, Tsunade decided not to dissuade him further. She turned to look at Hikari, who had been standing to the side without speaking from the beginning.
"Hey, Kakashi's wife—are you coming too?"
Hikari smiled, taking Kakashi's hand. "Of course, I'm going with Kakashi."
Tsunade couldn't help but curl her lip as she looked at their joined hands.
Coming along is fine, but why hold hands?
If you two flaunt your romance in front of me again, neither of you is coming next time!
"If that's the case..."
"Reverse Summoning Jutsu!"
Accompanied by Tsunade forming the hand seals, the three of them instantly vanished from where they stood.
Blue sky, white clouds...
And omnipresent white mist.
As well as... a "small mountain."
Filling their vision was a pure white, small-scale mountain range. The sheer size of this mass encompassed almost their entire field of view.
"Oh my, it's Lady Tsunade. It has truly been a long time."
The moment Kakashi and the others appeared, a voice filled with gentleness rang in their ears.
At that moment, a slug with a white body and blue stripes on its back emerged from the small mountain and appeared before the three of them.
"Mm, not just Lady Tsunade, Lord Hokage is here as well..."
"And... Lord Hokage's Lady Wife..."
————
Supporting me on Pa-treon to gain early access to advanced chapters and enjoy expedited updates. Your support is greatly appreciated.
pat-reon .c-om/Dragonhair
(Just remove the hyphen - and space, to access Pa-treon normally.)