"Huh?"
Akira stared at Tsunade with a deeply confused expression.
He could clearly tell she found him annoying.
Their interactions were basically limited to Nawaki's existence.
And yet—
She wanted to take him as her disciple?
Tsunade saw the wariness in his eyes, and a vein twitched on her forehead.
Does this brat have any idea how many people in Konoha would beg to become my student?
"Use the Mystical Palm," she ordered.
Akira raised his hand.
A soft green glow bloomed in his palm.
"You mean… this?"
The Mystical Palm Technique stimulated cells, accelerated healing, cured illnesses, and expelled toxins.
A top-tier medical ninjutsu.
Of course, at level one, it could only heal minor wounds.
Tsunade took a deep breath and said seriously,
"The difficulty of the Mystical Palm is extremely high. The fact that you grasped it in such a short time proves your talent."
"If you walk the path of medical ninjutsu… your future achievements may not be inferior to mine."
She wasn't exaggerating.
Konoha desperately needed specialized medical ninja.
But Hiruzen had never made cultivating medical specialists a priority.
Most of the people learning under Tsunade lacked talent to begin with—
they only chose medical ninjutsu because they had no other options.
Even then, most could only handle basic injuries.
Anything slightly complicated still required Tsunade herself.
"Sorry, Lady Tsunade," Akira replied calmly.
"Medical ninjutsu isn't my ninja way."
More importantly—
It doesn't give EXP.
He'd only learned it because her explanation was crystal clear.
Tsunade's expression darkened.
Her fist slowly rose.
"When I tell you to learn, you learn. Why are you talking so much?"
Ah.
Classic Tsunade.
Akira turned to run.
In the next instant, Tsunade flashed behind him.
A sharp chop landed cleanly on the back of his neck.
Akira's eyes rolled back.
He collapsed.
His final conscious thought:
This damn old woman—no wonder she never got married!
"…What did you say?"
Just before darkness swallowed him, Akira vaguely heard Tsunade's furious roar.
Wait—did I say that out loud?!
When Akira woke up, he saw Nawaki carrying something into the room.
"Nawaki?" Akira sat up.
"Big bro! You're awake!" Nawaki dropped what he was holding and ran over happily.
Akira stared at the room.
Scrolls.
So many scrolls.
Stacked like a small mountain.
"…What are these?"
"And where are we?"
Nawaki scratched his head and grinned.
"These are books my sister told you to read."
Akira: "???"
He wasn't confused because he didn't understand.
He was confused because Tsunade had lost her mind.
The door slid open.
Tsunade walked in, her voice cold.
"You need to read everything in this room and memorize it."
"They're medical case records. And my personal research notes."
"This is forced labor!" Akira protested loudly.
"I will never surrender!!"
If he was going to have a master, it should at least be someone who could take him grinding missions!
Tsunade smiled.
It was not a kind smile.
"I'm very democratic," she said gently.
"I'll give you two choices."
"I'LL NEVER LEARN—!!"
Her smile vanished.
"Either you learn all of this," she said flatly,
"or you experience my monster strength again."
Blatant.
Unapologetic.
Pure threat.
Akira's face flushed red.
"…As long as you don't kill me," he muttered,
"I'll learn."
A hero knows when to yield.
Tsunade nodded in satisfaction.
"From today onward, you're living here."
"Daytime—you're with me at the hospital."
"Night—you study."
She'd already promised the Hyūga clan appearances.
Originally, this was just to placate them.
Now?
She was serious.
"I'll test you later," she added.
"And if you fail… heh."
She left.
Akira collapsed back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling in despair.
Why does this feel like revenge…?
Wait—
Did he really say that line before passing out?
Nawaki was still grinning like an idiot.
"That's great, big bro! You can live here now!"
Akira looked at him with dead eyes.
"This is imprisonment."
Public, coordinated imprisonment.
Somewhere in the village, Jiraiya probably wished they could switch places.
Nawaki kept rambling.
"This house has me and my sister, Granny Mito, and Kushina. I'll introduce you later!"
Uzumaki Mito.
First Hokage's wife.
Former Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
Akira's thoughts slid dangerously.
If I farmed her… would Nine-Tails chakra drop?
He forcibly cut that thought off.
That's a boss I can't even look at yet.
Akira sighed and climbed out of bed, staring at the mountain of books.
"…Guess I'll study."
"What else can I do."
Nawaki turned to leave.
Two steps later—
He stopped.
Stiffly turned his head.
Akira was holding him by the collar, smiling painfully.
"Big bro, I won't disturb you—"
"You think you're leaving?" Akira snorted.
"If I'm imprisoned, you're imprisoned too."
"What I learn, you learn."
"We suffer together."
"NO—!!"
When Kushina returned home, she immediately heard Nawaki's miserable screams from upstairs.
She glanced nervously at Tsunade, who was seated downstairs reading intelligence reports.
"Uh… Tsunade-nee," Kushina asked carefully,
"Is something wrong with Nawaki?"
"There's a long-term guest now," Tsunade said lazily.
"Don't worry about them."
She did want Nawaki to become a medical specialist eventually.
Safer. Less likely to die.
"O-okay…" Kushina replied softly and went upstairs to see Mito.
Tsunade watched her go and shook her head.
Still too sensitive…
She set the report down, her expression turning serious.
"The other four villages are getting bolder."
According to intelligence, foreign ninja were pushing deeper and deeper into Fire Country during "missions."
This wasn't reconnaissance.
This was pathfinding.
No wonder Konoha Hospital was overflowing with wounded.
Many never made it back.
Tsunade rubbed her temples.
Peace won't last much longer.
Soon, she wouldn't be able to stay in the hospital.
Hiruzen would send her to the front lines.
And when that happened—
Akira, and the Hyūga team under her command,
Would go with her.
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