With a poof of white smoke, the familiar slug appeared on Taiichi's desk.
"Taiichi-sama."
"Hello, Katsuyu-sama. Is there a reply from Tsunade-sensei?" Taiichi asked eagerly.
"Yes, there is!"
Katsuyu's body undulated, and a scroll and a letter emerged from within her, dropping onto the desk.
Taiichi picked them up. He opened the letter first.
After skimming past the habitual greetings and complaints, he read about Tsunade's recent situation.
She had lost another 500,000 ryo gambling in the last two days and was currently hiding from debt collectors in the Land of Waves. She also mentioned Shizune had made great progress recently and warned Taiichi not to slack off, or he'd be surpassed.
Then came the good part: she had compiled some basic Ninjutsu for him. Not just Fire Style, but basic Jutsu for all five elements.
Taiichi jumped up in excitement. Having a good teacher was amazing, especially one with a rich inheritance.
Further down, Tsunade affirmed Taiichi's idea of specializing in Fire Style and offered some guidance. Although she wasn't a Fire Style specialist herself, her experience and knowledge far outstripped Taiichi's.
Regarding Taiichi's desire to increase the temperature of his flames, Tsunade hit the nail on the head:
How hot have you seen fire get? If you haven't even seen it, how can you create it?
This question stumped Taiichi. In both his lives, the hottest thing he had personally witnessed was probably a gas stove flame. Maybe a few hundred degrees. He had heard of higher temperatures but never truly experienced them.
Lost in thought for a moment, Taiichi shook his head and read the end of the letter.
Tsunade warned him to be extremely careful of one person: Danzo Shimura. She had likely guessed from Taiichi's previous vague descriptions that his last mission's complications were Danzo's doing.
Taiichi was touched by her concern and disgusted by Danzo. The man was like a green bottle fly—wherever there was trouble, he was there.
He carefully folded the letter and placed it in a drawer with the others.
Then, he grabbed a pen and paper to write a reply.
Dearest Tsunade-sensei:
He started with flattery, then thanked her for the Ninjutsu scrolls and advice, emphasizing how much they would help his training.
He expressed deep gratitude for her warning about Danzo and promised to be vigilant against the old man's schemes.
Finally, he presented his latest research result: Chakra Enhanced Strength (CES) Body Flicker Technique.
After four days of crashing and bruising, Taiichi had completed the technique that morning.
The results were significant. As long as his chakra control, dynamic vision, and reflexes could keep up, this version of Body Flicker allowed for speed far surpassing physical limits, and it could be used continuously.
The only downside was high chakra consumption. But that was fine; he would use normal Body Flicker for travel and the CES version for emergencies.
According to his tests, a full-power burst with the new technique increased his speed by nearly 50% compared to before. And it wasn't a one-time burst; he could chain them as long as he had chakra.
This improvement boosted his combat capability by a large margin.
It took over ten pages for Taiichi to detail the principles, nuances, and training key points of the CES Body Flicker.
He folded the thick stack of paper into an envelope and handed it to Katsuyu.
"Katsuyu-sama, sorry to trouble you again."
"It is no trouble, Taiichi-sama. Following you contractors is one of the few interesting things in my long life. I am happy to help."
With a poof, she vanished.
Taiichi then turned his attention to the scroll on the desk. It was a storage scroll. Makes sense; recording that many Jutsu would take a lot of space.
He released the seal. A pile of scrolls tumbled out.
Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu.
Earth Style: Earth Flow Spears.
Looking at the forty or fifty scrolls before him, Taiichi felt surrounded by happiness. This was enough material to study for a long time.
He sorted them by element and rank. Most were C-Rank, with quite a few B-Rank. B-Rank was the bread and butter of Jonin. Higher ranks were often too dangerous or impractical for general use.
While Taiichi happily organized his loot, Tsunade was walking out of a gambling den in the Land of Waves, looking dejected.
Shizune, waiting at the door, sighed internally. "Lost again."
She had gotten used to it. She used to beat up anyone who called Tsunade "The Legendary Sucker," but now... she just sighed.
"Shizune, let's go back to the inn," Tsunade said weakly.
"But Tsunade-sama, you gambled away our room money. We can't afford the inn anymore. I only have enough left for one meal," Shizune said, head drooping.
"Ah! How did that happen?" Tsunade looked even more depressed. "Fine. Let's eat first. I'll think of where to borrow money while we eat."
Just then, she felt the summons from Shikkotsu Forest. Taiichi had written again.
That brat writes more and more frequently, Tsunade thought. Though she complained it was troublesome, having someone care about her felt nice.
They went to an izakaya. While waiting for food, Tsunade summoned Katsuyu and got the letter.
"Is it from Taiichi-kun?" Shizune asked.
"Yeah. Wonder what he wrote this time. So troublesome. I just wrote him a bunch of scrolls," Tsunade grumbled, but her hands moved quickly to open the envelope.
Reading the flattery at the start, Tsunade smiled, her gambling loss blues fading slightly.
But as she read on, her smile vanished, replaced by seriousness.
Taiichi's description of the CES Body Flicker intrigued her. If successful, it would be a massive boost to combat power.
But she knew how hard it was. As a master of CES, she knew converting that explosive force into propulsion was difficult.
And according to the letter, Taiichi had already done it. It was shocking.
The food arrived, but Tsunade was too distracted to eat. Her mind was full of the new technique.
"No, I have to try this." She stood up and walked out.
"Tsunade-sama! The food! We haven't eaten!" Shizune called out, having just taken one bite.
Tsunade was already gone.
"Sigh. What's the rush?" Shizune sighed. "Boss, pack this up."
Outside, Tsunade realized Shizune wasn't following and waited. Once Shizune caught up with the takeout, they hurried to a secluded forest outside the town.
Tsunade adjusted her state, followed Taiichi's instructions on chakra flow, condensed it, and exploded it from her feet.
BOOM! (A small crater appeared under her feet.)
SPLAT! (Tsunade flew sideways and face-planted.)
"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune screamed, rushing to help her dizzy master up.
Maybe because Tsunade had massive chakra or was used to full-power CES, even a restrained output was too much. She crashed just like Taiichi did on his first try.
Shaking her dizzy head, Tsunade pushed Shizune away. "I'm fine. Just testing a Jutsu. Didn't control the power well."
She tried again, starting with the minimum chakra required.
As the best medical ninja in the world, her control was impeccable. After a few tries, she got it.
Her figure flickered left and right, faster and farther each time.
soon, she vanished from Shizune's vision completely.
"That's too fast!" Shizune gaped, eyes trying to track the blurring shadows.
Suddenly, Tsunade appeared next to her. Her forehead had a sheen of sweat, but she wasn't panting.
"Too fast. It exceeds my reaction limit. For combat, I'll need to slow it down a bit." It was mental exhaustion from high-speed processing.
"Tsunade-sama, can I learn that?" Shizune asked with shining eyes.
"You? Practice your chakra control more. You don't even meet the basic requirements yet."
Tsunade scolded Shizune, wondering if she had failed as a teacher. Compared to Taiichi, who was improving by leaps and bounds in Konoha and inventing Jutsu, Shizune seemed... lacking.
"Wait here. I'm going to Shikkotsu Forest," Tsunade ordered.
"Okay..." Shizune looked aggrieved. Scolded and abandoned.
---
Taiichi was happily taking notes on a Fire Style scroll when he felt the summons.
What? Tsunade-sensei replied already? But this isn't the agreed signal.
Curious, he accepted the Reverse Summoning.
Poof.
He appeared in the misty forest. Standing there wasn't just Katsuyu, but Tsunade herself.
"Tsunade-sensei! You're here!"
Taiichi was overjoyed. This was their first face-to-face meeting since they started writing.
"What? Only you can come here, but I can't?"
"No, no! I'm just happy to see you!" Taiichi grinned.
"Enough of that. I came to ask: did you develop that CES Body Flicker yourself? Did anyone help?" Tsunade asked seriously.
Taiichi straightened up. "I developed it alone. Finished it this morning. You're the second person to know."
Hearing she was the second person (after himself), Tsunade felt touched. Her investment hadn't been in vain.
"What do you plan to do with it?"
"Haven't decided. It's new and needs refinement. Any suggestions?"
"This technique has little value for average ninjas because the learning curve is too high. But for Jonin, it's worth studying. Mastering it means a massive jump in strength."
She continued, "Normally, I'd suggest trading it to the village for resources. But after your last mission... hold off. Or wait until you're stronger."
Taiichi understood. She wanted him to keep it as a trump card.
She really cares about me. She came personally just to warn me.
"Danzo is a schemer. I don't believe he didn't meddle in your mission. If you hand this over now, it might end up on his desk tomorrow. Keep it to yourself for now."
"Okay! I'll do whatever you say, Sensei!" Taiichi beamed.
"Brat. Always sweet-talking."
"Oh, by the way, Sensei. Be careful when practicing it. Keep chakra output to a minimum. It's easy to lose control. I crashed for three days straight developing it," Taiichi warned.
Tsunade's temple throbbed. A dark aura surrounded her.
You couldn't have written that in the letter?! I already practiced! I already crashed! You tell me NOW?!
Taiichi saw her expression and realized what happened. He laughed awkwardly and changed the subject.
"Alright. I came to warn you. Since you know, I'm leaving."
They chatted a bit more, and Tsunade prepared to leave.
Taiichi was reluctant to see her go, but he knew he couldn't make her stay yet.
Just as he was about to say goodbye...
"Wait. Taiichi, do you have money on you?" Tsunade asked suddenly.
Taiichi blinked, confused. He nodded dumbly.
"Give me your wallet." She extended her hand, completely shameless.
Taiichi handed it over.
Tsunade opened it, whistled at the contents, and counted out a million ryo.
"Consider it a loan." She tossed the wallet back.
POOF. She vanished.
Taiichi caught his wallet, realizing what just happened.
She gambled it all away and came to mooch off me.
He shook his head with a wry smile. Well, there goes the earnings from the last mission.
POOF. He vanished back to Konoha.