"Meow~"
Raj nodded repeatedly.
'What's meant to be will be. Better to face the blade sooner rather than later. Dragging this out would just ruin my sleep.'
Rin left the room.
Today was an unusual day, so training was suspended.
Raj stayed close to Tsunade, still a bit uneasy.
But after Rin left, Tsunade pulled out a notebook from beneath her desk, containing Rin's records from the Medical Corps.
"Meow?"
"Rin is a good child. Raising you must have been quite a challenge. Do you know why I asked her to leave you here?"
After flipping through Rin's file, Tsunade retrieved another document - Raj's file.
The Flying Thunder God Technique wasn't yet recorded, but it did mention his ability to enlarge himself and manipulate his fur.
This led her to believe he had recently learned the technique, rather than inheriting it as a hereditary ninjutsu.
Learned it... that was truly remarkable.
It was precisely because of this technique that she had asked Rin to lend Raj to her for a while.
This proved Raj's exceptional learning ability and his capacity to master ninjutsu that required no hand seals.
"Would you like to learn a new ninjutsu?"
"Meow?"
Learning ninjutsu without getting beaten up?
Could such a wonderful thing exist in this world?
Raj's eyes lit up.
Tsunade could teach him only a few techniques, and Monstrous Strength was one of them...
"Meow!"
"Don't get too excited. There's a price to pay," Tsunade said.
'Should I ask, "What's the price?"'
Raj hesitated.
Just then, Tsunade pulled out something else from beneath the table: two dice and a dice cup.
'Is she going to gamble?'
Under Raj's curious gaze, Tsunade began shaking the dice cup, saying, "Let's make..."
"A bet."
"Is this the price, meow?"
Tsunade paused, then set the cup down with a bored expression, propping her head up with her hand.
"No, I just want to gamble. Are you in?"
"Meow!" Raj nodded.
'Even though it's free playtime, her eyes are a bit scary. If I win, I should get some Points, right? With that, it wouldn't really be free after all.'
As for Tsunade, she simply wanted to see if she could even beat a cat at a game with no money involved.
'I should be able to win, right?'
'It'll stop soon. I'll lift the cup and see...'
Two dice: 1 and 6.
"Hmph, your turn," Tsunade said, a slight smirk playing on her lips as she pushed the dice cup across the table.
"Are we betting on the highest roll? I've never played this before."
"Whatever works," Tsunade said with a shrug.
She was itching for a gamble, but more than that, she wanted to see how this cat would roll the dice.
With its paws? The Transformation Technique?
Or some kind of fur ability?
Under her curious gaze, Raj leaped onto the table, curled its tail around the cup, and began shaking it rapidly.
The dice tumbled inside without falling out.
"...!"
This "technique" was unexpected.
'This Black Cat claims it's never played before? What a blatant lie! No wonder it fooled me earlier.'
Tsunade's expression darkened.
Raj's tail twitched, nearly sending the dice flying.
With a thump, he slammed the cup down on the small table inside the tent.
He really hadn't played before. That practiced-looking shake was all bluff - he had no idea how to read the dice by sound.
But the deception worked perfectly; at least Tsunade was fooled.
"Meow~ I'll roll now!"
"Roll!" Tsunade leaned forward, her hands gripping the table as her massive chest threatened to topple over.
Raj tried his best to maintain his composure and avoid looking, while simultaneously using his tail to flip the dice cup.
Moments later, the dice revealed two sixes.
Twelve points - the maximum.
"Unexpectedly lucky, meow!"
"...Damn it."
Losing to a cat? That stings.
Tsunade slumped in her seat, then said expressionlessly, "I was going to teach you a powerful Ninjutsu, but I've changed my mind. You dead cat, take me to the training grounds.
I'm going to teach you a lesson."
'You're playing dirty! This isn't fair! You said you just wanted a gamble!'
Raj wanted to protest, but what could he do?
Tsunade was being unreasonable.
If she were reasonable, Jiraiya wouldn't be lying in the tent, unable to move.
He used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport Tsunade back to the mountainous training grounds.
The Flying Thunder God seals here were the ones he'd left during his trip to see Matatabi.
Which led to...
"Couldn't you have chosen a better place to leave your seals?"
"Meow~ I'm just a cat. This tree trunk is big enough."
Raj couldn't help but retort.
He refused to take the blame for everything.
Even if he owed her money, he wouldn't let her intimidate him.
He couldn't spend his entire life bowing his head just because Tsunade might never collect her debt.
That's not how debts work.
"Hmph, I won't bully you. I'll only use two fingers. If I use three, I lose," Tsunade said, beckoning with her fingers.
"Meow~ Flying Thunder God Technique?"
"You can use it. No problem."
Tsunade beckoned again.
The Flying Thunder God Technique depended on how it was used.
Humans might master it, but cats might struggle.
She wanted to see how Raj would utilize it.
'As long as I can use it!'
Even if his destructive power couldn't match hers, he could at least escape.
Survival was guaranteed.
"Then, let's begin!"
With that, Tsunade slammed her two fingers together, launching a thunderous attack at Raj.
But challenging a cat in speed...
Raj nimbly leaped backward, but he immediately realized Tsunade's monstrous strength was far more complex than he'd imagined.
Though he'd read about it in a previous life, experiencing it firsthand was entirely different.
Her punch felt like a violent gust of wind.
Even before it landed, a wave of Chakra surged toward him.
Fortunately, Raj reacted quickly, leaping away from its original position.
The spot it had marked, however, wasn't so lucky.
No sooner had Raj jumped clear than a whoosh sounded, and Tsunade was already in front of it.
'Holy shit, she's fast!'
A battle of attrition against Tsunade was impossible.
The woman could regenerate her health and, as a member of the Senju Clan, possessed far more Chakra than ordinary people.
In a prolonged fight, Raj would be exhausted long before she even broke a sweat.
It had to end this quickly.
Forgetting all caution, Raj hurled the iron ball, then used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport behind Tsunade.
In the same instant, it activated the Gate of Opening...
Whoosh!
Tsunade spun around, her finger striking forward with tremendous force, enveloped in a powerful vortex of air.