A smile tugged at Tsunade's lips as she said with clear approval, "You've got some real substance to you, kid."
Then she asked, "You want to study medical ninjutsu under me?"
Akira nodded. "Yes. I'm very interested in medical ninjutsu."
The moment he said it, Jiraiya, as usual, could not keep his mouth shut. "Akira's already pretty impressive when it comes to medical ninjutsu. According to Guy, in Konoha right now, aside from a few of the old veterans, he's probably the best healer in the village."
Tsunade's understanding of him was overturned all over again. Frowning, she asked, "You've had formal training in medical ninjutsu?"
Akira knew there was no point hiding it, so he answered honestly. "A little."
"It's just that I feel a lot of the jutsus currently used at Konoha Hospital still need improvement, so I never really committed to studying them in depth."
Inside, Tsunade felt like a storm had been kicked up.
Kage-level strength at thirteen was already absurd enough, but on top of that, he was skilled in medical ninjutsu too. If Jiraiya was telling the truth, then this boy's medical ability had to be approaching Shizune's level.
And Shizune was Tsunade's own direct student, trained by her hand.
Looking at Akira's calm, unshaken expression, the admiration in Tsunade's eyes deepened even more. "I think you're more than qualified to become an excellent Hokage."
The moment he heard the word Hokage, Akira shook his head so hard it was almost comical. "You're really overestimating me. I have absolutely no interest in being Hokage. I'm not suited for that position."
"But I firmly believe Naruto has a better chance of becoming Hokage in the future. That's the dream he's never let go of."
Tsunade turned to look at Naruto, who was climbing out of the crater.
"That kid? I don't buy it."
Still, remembering the desperation with which Naruto had thrown himself into using Rasengan just now, Tsunade felt the faintest stir of doubt.
Maybe this brat, with the Fourth's blood in his veins and the Nine-Tails inside him, really could make a miracle happen.
Naruto came over covered in dirt and dust, his eyes steady as he declared, "Becoming Hokage is my ninja way. I mean it."
Tsunade snorted. "You can't even use a Rasengan properly, and you want to become Hokage? What a joke."
Naruto shot back, "I've already figured out the basics. Give me a little more time, and I'll master it for real!"
Something seemed to occur to Tsunade. Looking at Naruto's confidence, she suddenly proposed a wager.
"All right. Since you've got that much nerve, I'll give you one week. If you can master the Rasengan in seven days, I'll admit you've got the makings of a Hokage."
Naruto's brow furrowed. One week really was tight, and he did not have much confidence in himself.
But the second he saw Tsunade's taunting smile, his stubborn streak flared up.
"Fine! Deal! One week from now, I'll make you eat those words!"
Even Jiraiya thought a week sounded rough, but he knew Naruto well. Once the kid got serious, miracles had a habit of happening.
Then Tsunade suddenly turned to Akira. "How long did it take you to learn the Rasengan? Jiraiya said the two of you learned it around the same time, right? So why is it that this idiot still hasn't mastered it, but you already have?"
Akira froze for a second. How had the spotlight swung back around to him again?
What he did not realize was that while Tsunade looked young, she was still a woman in her fifties inside. Whenever she saw a promising junior, she could not help asking a few extra questions.
Akira was trying to figure out how to answer without bruising Naruto's pride when Naruto unexpectedly jumped in to save him.
"Akira only watched Pervy Sage demonstrate it once and learned it right away. He's a genius, so of course he learns fast. But he said learning fast isn't the same as using it well. He believes I'll use it better than he does someday!"
Tsunade automatically filtered out the self-comforting part at the end and stared at Akira in shock. "You learned an A-rank jutsu after seeing it once? Are you sure you're not some kind of monster wearing human skin?"
Akira's mouth twitched slightly, and he chose silence.
Jiraiya burst out laughing. "Tsunade, stop acting so shocked. He's heard that one enough times already. The reason he's built up such terrifying strength at this age is because he learns everything so fast."
Tsunade looked at Akira for a long time, and the gaze in her eyes was the way an elder might look at an exceptionally capable younger relative. By age, Akira really was young enough to be her grandson.
But that look made Akira's skin crawl. He was terrified that the future Hokage was about to put him on some kind of priority exploitation list.
Thinking about Kakashi's miserable future was enough to make Akira feel like his own was getting darker by the minute.
Tsunade smiled. "If this kid's trained properly, surpassing the Fourth Hokage might not be impossible."
At this point, Akira had completely given up resisting. These two brought everything back to Hokage every three sentences, like he was some unfinished masterpiece waiting to be carved into one.
Hand on heart, he had absolutely no interest in that exhausting job. Naruto could have it.
Looking at Akira's dead-inside expression, Jiraiya laughed. "In that way, he's a lot like me. But I still think he just hasn't settled yet."
Tsunade nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah. I think so too."
Faced with the two of them discussing him like that, Akira chose not to speak.
In the end, Tsunade did not agree on the spot to return to the village and become Hokage.
Jiraiya decided to give her one week to think it over, and at the same time, that was also the final deadline for Tsunade to decide whether or not she would heal Orochimaru's hands.
So the group ended up staying at the same inn in Tanzaku Town.
Over the next several days, Jiraiya stopped gathering information and remained at the inn, keeping a close watch on Tsunade's movements.
Akira, meanwhile, was the calmest one there. Every day, he either meditated or sat around doing nothing in particular.
Everyone else had their own burdens. Naruto was desperately training Rasengan in the back hills to win the wager. Shizune was anxious over Tsunade's choice. Tsunade herself was suffering over Orochimaru's offer.
Without fail, Jiraiya spent every day seated on the balcony, watching Tsunade's every move.
Sometimes he would glance back at the perfectly unbothered Akira and joke, "I thought you wanted Tsunade to teach you medical ninjutsu. Why don't I see you trying to butter her up?"
Akira slowly opened his eyes and replied calmly, "I think it's better to wait until we're back in Konoha."
"She's too distracted right now. She's not in any mood to teach me."
Jiraiya blinked, then grinned mischievously. "Don't tell me you're scared of her."
Akira shook his head, tone even. "Why would I be afraid of her?"
In terms of strength, Tsunade was no match for him as he was now. He did not fear Jiraiya either, so there was even less reason to fear Tsunade.
He just had no desire to walk into a bad mood at exactly the wrong time.
Jiraiya turned around, his expression becoming serious. "Tsunade's definitely weighing Orochimaru's offer right now. No matter what happens, we cannot let her really heal him."
Akira nodded in agreement. "Right. But if Tsunade-hime truly makes up her mind to do it, we can't stop her either."
Jiraiya let out a sigh, and a hard edge flashed in his eyes. "If she takes that step, I'll kill her myself."
Hearing that, Akira looked at him for a long moment, then smiled faintly. "I know you could do it if you had to. But I'd rather believe in Tsunade-hime's character. She would never betray the village."
Jiraiya frowned. "Let's hope she makes the right choice."
Akira knew perfectly well that even if Tsunade did lose her way for a moment, Jiraiya would, at worst, be devastated. Actually making him kill her would be harder than climbing to heaven.
During those days, Tsunade drowned herself in gambling to avoid facing reality.
It was an old habit of hers. Whenever something weighed on her, she buried herself in the betting halls and tried to numb it out.
Akira did not stay locked in his room all the time. Once he got tired of sitting around, he would go out for a walk too. He just had no interest in gambling, so he and Tsunade naturally never crossed paths.
A week slipped by in the blink of an eye. Naruto was still in the hills stubbornly grinding away at the Rasengan, and Jiraiya was still camped out like a man waiting for his wife to come home.
With nothing else to do, Akira decided to head back to the castle ruins in the mountains for another look.
As he passed a noisy gambling hall, a familiar voice called out to him.
"Akira!"
He turned toward the sound and saw Tsunade standing at the entrance, staring directly at him.
Akira stopped and nodded politely. "Tsunade-hime. Is there something you need?"
Tsunade strode over and blocked his path. "What are you wandering around for?"
Akira pointed toward the distance. "I was going to take another look at the castle in the hills."
Tsunade grabbed his arm and started dragging him inside without giving him any choice. "What's there to see in that wreck? It's just broken stone. Come in and sit with me for a few rounds."
Akira leaned back in protest. "I don't like gambling."
Tsunade laughed. "Who said anything about making you gamble? Just sit beside me and watch. You can be my good luck charm."
Akira sighed inwardly. Looks like she really has been living in this place all week.
Dragged into the gambling hall by force, he was met by a row of vicious-looking guards. The way they looked at Akira was practically the way a butcher might look at a fat lamb.
After all, anyone brought in by the legendary Tsunade, the biggest loser in town, had to be another fool here to donate money.
With no other option, Akira sat down beside her and watched as she threw money around with fearless abandon. The way she gambled felt less like play and more like a warrior goddess charging a battlefield.
He found it mind-numbingly dull.
And then something strange happened.
From the moment Akira sat down, Tsunade started winning.
Not just once.
Several times in a row.
In less than an hour, the chips in front of her had piled into a small mountain.
Tsunade was laughing so hard she could barely breathe as she pounded Akira on the back. "Akira, you're my lucky cat! The second you sat down here, my luck turned unbelievable. Later, when we cash out, you get half!"
This was, without question, the high point of Tsunade's gambling career.
She was convinced Akira had brought her luck, never realizing that luck this unnatural often pointed to something ominous.
The air in the hall had grown thick and filthy enough to choke on. The looks the other gamblers were throwing at Tsunade and Akira had gone from envy to naked malice.
Of course, these people only had the guts to glare.
Actually trying something would have taken ten times more courage than any of them possessed.
Everyone in town knew Tsunade might be the legendary sheep to fleece, but her monstrous strength was just as real. She was one of the Sannin. Winning her money was one thing. Laying a finger on her was another.
Since nobody dared direct their anger at Tsunade, all of those red-eyed losers dumped every bit of resentment onto Akira instead. He looked much easier to pick on.
So by then, the eyes fixed on him practically looked ready to skin him alive.
Tsunade, meanwhile, was completely lost in the thrill of winning and had not noticed that some of those people were no longer merely annoyed at Akira. They looked like they wanted to drag him into an alley and beat him half to death.
A helpless smile touched Akira's lips. Don't pin this on me. Tsunade-hime, you're the one going wild here.
Faced with all those malicious stares, Akira remained perfectly calm. He sat steadily at Tsunade's side, raised his teacup, and took a sip without even glancing up.
He had never been particularly interested in gambling, but seeing Tsunade, a woman who usually lost every bet she touched, absolutely dominating the room today was unusual enough to be worth watching.
In the blink of an eye, two more hours passed, and every coin these gamblers had on them had been stripped away clean.
All the cash had been stuffed into boxes. Three large ones, all filled to the brim, each heavy enough to make anyone's eyes go red.
Tsunade got so excited she suddenly grabbed Akira's face in both hands and planted a loud kiss right on it, the sound sharp enough to make the entire room go silent for a full second.
Akira wiped the saliva off his face, black lines practically hanging over his head. "You won some money. Did you really have to get that excited? You've completely stopped caring about your image."
With a grand sweep of her arm, Tsunade shoved all three heavy boxes onto Akira to carry, then dragged him straight toward the exit.
If they stayed any longer, the gamblers who had just lost the shirts off their backs really might snap.
The moment they stepped out of the gambling hall, fresh air hit them head-on. Akira teased, "Judging by your reaction, you don't win very often, do you? You look happier than it's Christmas."
Tsunade walked down the street with light, almost girlish steps, smiling the whole time. She was obviously in an outrageously good mood.
She glanced back at Akira and said with total cheer, "Today's luck is unbelievable. Come on, dinner's on me."
Before Akira even had a chance to refuse, she grabbed his arm and dragged him toward a nearby tavern.
The two of them entered, found a table, and sat down. Tsunade skillfully ordered several dishes to go with drinks, plus multiple bottles of sake, then immediately started pouring and drinking.
Truth be told, Akira and Tsunade were not all that familiar with each other. Before now, they had only exchanged a few polite words in a tavern once before.
Now, sitting face-to-face, the atmosphere felt more than a little awkward, and Akira genuinely could not think of a good topic to start with.
As Tsunade drank, she asked in an offhand voice, "Jiraiya told me you wanted to ask me about medical ninjutsu?"
Setting down her cup, she asked with a slightly unfocused gaze, "Exactly how good are you right now? How well do you handle Healing Jutsu and Chakra Scalpel, those two basics?"
Akira nodded honestly. "I've basically mastered both."
Tsunade froze halfway through lifting her drink and looked up at him blankly, as though her brain had stopped for a second. "What did you just say? You mastered them?"
Akira remained perfectly calm and nodded again. "Yeah. Is that a problem?"
Tsunade's eyes widened in disbelief. "Healing Jutsu and Chakra Scalpel are both high-difficulty A-rank jutsus. And at your age you've already mastered them?"
She shook her head and waved him off. "I don't believe it. Talk is cheap. Show me."
Akira did not waste words.
In his left hand, a pale blue Chakra Scalpel formed instantly, the sharp current of chakra giving off a faint vibrating hum.
At the same time, his right hand lit with the soft green glow of Healing Jutsu.
Tsunade stared at the stable, high-intensity chakra flowing over both hands and was left completely stunned.
She could not help blurting out, "Your Chakra Scalpel is maintaining that level of sharpness? And your chakra control is absurdly precise. As for this Healing Jutsu... the life energy in it is unbelievably dense."
Tsunade drew in a deep breath, and her eyes turned serious. "Looks like Jiraiya wasn't exaggerating for once. Your talent really is outrageous. All right then, tell me. What parts don't you understand? I'm in a good mood today. I'll give you a few pointers."
The more she looked at Akira now, the more pleasing he became to her eyes. When it came to medical ninjutsu, very few geniuses ever truly caught her attention.
This boy's level was already approaching Shizune's.
And when it came to the fine control of these two jutsus, he might even have been slightly better.
Inside, Akira was quietly delighted. He had not expected that spending two hours in a gambling hall with the great Lady Luck disaster herself would pay off this well.
Truthfully, his interest in medical ninjutsu had never been entirely about healing the sick and saving lives.
More than anything, it came from pure curiosity. He had an intense hunger to understand all kinds of strange and unusual jutsus, and since he hated wasting time, he had simply studied whatever he could get his hands on.
From there, Tsunade began explaining the finer points of medical ninjutsu while steadily drinking.
Akira listened with complete focus. Thanks to his near-perfect memory, every word that left Tsunade's mouth was absorbed, understood, and fixed firmly in his mind almost at once.
The two of them talked in the tavern for hours.
And through the tricky questions Akira raised, Tsunade was shocked to discover that his understanding of medical ninjutsu ran much deeper than that of an ordinary practitioner. His theoretical knowledge had already left Shizune far behind.
When it came to practical skill, he might even have surpassed her too.
Of course, compared to Tsunade herself, a true master, he was still lacking polish.
At first, Tsunade had assumed that at thirteen, no matter how gifted he was, he would still only be a promising seedling, not yet on the level of someone like Shizune, who had trained under her for years.
But now it was obvious she had judged far too early.
Akira's actual level was absolutely above Shizune's.
As Tsunade got more and more invested in teaching, Akira became equally absorbed in listening. Watching the serious focus on the boy's face, Tsunade suddenly found herself dazed for a brief moment.
It was as if she were seeing herself from decades ago, when she had first started learning medical ninjutsu. She had been just as hungry then, just as passionate.
The two of them talked all the way until midnight.
Outside, the sky had long since gone completely dark, and the table was crowded with empty plates and bottles.
Akira had been eating like crazy while listening. Tsunade had been teaching and drinking and eating right along with him.
Thankfully, both of their constitutions were monstrous. The food they ate was converted into chakra almost immediately, so neither of them had to worry about ordinary mortal concerns like putting on weight.
By the time it was deep into the night, Tsunade's elegant face had already gone bright red, and her eyes had begun to lose focus. She was clearly no longer all there.
At last, unable to hold out any longer, her body slumped to one side, and she dropped face-first onto the table, fast asleep.