Early the next morning.
Akira opened the door to his room—and immediately saw Tsunade standing outside, staring at him with an unfriendly expression.
Bang!
He slammed the door shut.
"That's weird," he muttered. "Seeing Tsunade first thing in the morning… must be a hallucination."
After all, the two of them didn't interact that much.
"Yeah. Definitely just my imagination."
He opened the door again.
This time, what he saw wasn't just Tsunade—
But Tsunade's fist.
"Monster Strength Punch!!"
"Substitution Jutsu!!"
A steel shield instantly replaced Akira's body.
Tsunade's punch landed squarely on it.
Akira watched in horror as cracks spread outward from her fist, spider-webbing across the metal.
Boom!
The entire shield shattered into fragments.
Akira stumbled backward, pale with fear. Like an innocent boy whose chastity was under threat, he screamed:
"Lady Tsunade—this is really not okay!!"
That single sentence—
Those two words—
Were like a trigger.
Doors along the hallway creaked open.
Eyes peeked out through narrow gaps.
Whispers immediately followed.
"Did he just say Tsunade…?"
"That's the Princess of Konoha, right?"
"She's single… does she like younger ones?"
"And forceful ones, too—wow…"
The murmurs spread.
Tsunade's face turned bright red.
Veins bulged visibly on her forehead.
Her raised fist trembled.
Akira's eyes widened.
Wait—this still didn't make her retreat?!
Does this woman have no sense of shame?!
Seeing her clearly about to swing again, Akira instantly turned and sprinted back inside.
From behind him came Tsunade's furious roar.
"YOU BASTARD!! I'LL KILL YOU!!"
Akira rushed toward the window, preparing to jump—
But a long, powerful leg swept in from the side.
Too close.
Too fast.
No way to dodge.
Akira peacefully closed his eyes.
BOOM!!!
A few minutes later…
Tsunade dragged a bruised and swollen Akira out of the inn by the collar.
"Lady Tsunade, we can talk this through," Akira pleaded weakly.
He had seriously underestimated her.
She hadn't hesitated at all.
He'd known she came with bad intentions—
Turns out, "those who come with kindness never arrive early."
Tsunade ground her teeth.
"Hyūga Akira, can you stop causing me problems for one single day?"
First the Hyūga clan incident—she'd stepped in because of her brother.
Then the arena stunt—Sarutobi had personally warned her.
And now?
Rumors. Scandalous rumors.
This brat was more annoying than Jiraiya!
Akira rolled his eyes, about to speak—
"Nope," Tsunade cut him off.
"From now on, you're learning medical ninjutsu under me."
"Right under my nose."
"I want to see what else you think you can pull."
"NO—!!" Akira wailed.
He needed EXP.
He needed levels.
The Second Shinobi World War was right around the corner.
He couldn't afford to waste time!
Unfortunately, Tsunade didn't care.
She dragged him straight into Konoha Hospital.
The hospital had been established by Senju Tobirama.
Originally, it was staffed entirely by civilian doctors.
But after Tsunade developed the Mystical Palm Technique, ninja began joining the hospital.
Even retired shinobi could earn a living here if they mastered it.
They became the first generation of medical-nin.
Tsunade marched Akira into the emergency ward.
"Lady Tsunade, more wounded have arrived," a bespectacled nurse said urgently.
Her eyes flicked toward Akira.
"Ignore him," Tsunade said flatly. "Take me there."
She dropped Akira and shot him a vicious glare.
"Behave. Or else."
She didn't explain what "or else" meant.
She didn't need to.
Akira swallowed.
The emergency ward was filled with groans.
Beds lined the room.
Some patients were missing arms. Others had shattered legs.
Medical-nin were desperately maintaining Mystical Palm Technique.
"Lady Tsunade, thank goodness you're here!" someone cried.
"There's a critical patient!"
A bed was rushed forward.
The ninja lying on it had purple-black skin exposed across his torso.
"Poison?" Tsunade asked.
She tied up her hair, rolled up her sleeves, and pressed glowing green hands to the patient.
While treating him, she spoke calmly:
"The key to Mystical Palm is absolute chakra stability…"
She was teaching as she worked.
Unlike ordinary ninjutsu, Mystical Palm required constant adjustment.
Too much chakra, and tissue ruptured.
Too little, and healing stalled.
It wasn't enough to "know" the technique.
You had to control it.
The poison gradually faded.
Nearby, Akira—who had nothing to do—listened intently.
Chakra control…
He raised his hand experimentally.
Green light flickered into existence—
Then vanished.
"…Hm?"
Tsunade's eyes widened.
She stared at Akira.
"You… learned Mystical Palm just now?"
This was an A-rank difficulty technique.
Even with her guidance, hospital staff usually took months to stabilize it.
Akira glanced at his system panel.
[Mystical Palm Technique (Lv.1) — 0 / 300]
"Wow," he thought. "A-rank skills really are expensive."
For the first time, Tsunade truly looked at him seriously.
Mastering Mystical Palm required extreme chakra control.
And Akira—
Because his chakra pool was small—
Had trained control far beyond ordinary standards.
Tsunade fell silent for a moment.
Then said, "From now on, I heal. You observe."
Originally, she'd planned this just to appease the Hyūga clan.
Now?
She was genuinely considering taking Akira as a disciple.
As a jōnin, she was qualified.
Akira, unfortunately, had no right to refuse.
Damn old woman… he cursed internally.
They treated patients nonstop.
One batch left—another arrived.
Tsunade didn't stop moving all day.
By the time they finished, night had fallen.
"Come with me," she said, leading Akira out.
The route was familiar.
It was toward Nawaki's home.
"Lady Tsunade," Akira suddenly stopped under the streetlights, his shadow stretching long behind him.
"What do you really want?"
Tsunade hesitated.
Then asked quietly—
"Would you be willing… to become my disciple?"
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