In public, Minato was a force of nature, Konoha's brilliant young jounin, a talent seen only once in a generation. At home, however, he was a man who lived in healthy fear of Kushina.
Would he ever experiment on Rin? Even if the thought crossed his mind, he wouldn't dare. If Kushina found out, his fate would be worse than death. Besides, given Minato's genuinely kind nature, Takeshi never actually believed he would do such a thing. Jiraiya himself became serious when it came to his students, Minato was even more so.
His interest was purely academic. He wanted to research Sage Mode not just for himself, but for his teacher. Minato had always known that Jiraiya's own Sage Mode was imperfect.
In the days that followed, the Third Mizukage and Third Raikage met frequently, their meetings filled with bickering and thinly veiled insults. Yet both cooperated with Konoha. No one tried to escape, they obediently arranged their reparations.
Soon, a shipment of money, ninja tools, and explosive tags arrived from Kirigakure. It was only the first installment. More supplies would be sent in waves, as stipulated in the contract they had signed. If the Mizukage went back on his word after returning home, Konoha had ways to "persuade" him-or simply take his remaining swords by force.
Once the Mizukage was released, he sent the two ninjutsu scrolls as promised, and Kirigakure's forces officially retreated to the Land of Water.
Just like that, the war on the eastern front was over.
Tsunade sprawled in her chair, her expression loose and lazy. A two-front war, and they'd won. Before it began, she would never have believed it could end so quickly. By her estimates, it should have dragged on for three to five years, if not longer.
Konoha couldn't have afforded that. A war against four great nations was inherently a losing proposition in the long run. The longer it went on, the heavier their losses would become. Even if they won, the village's strength would be so depleted that others would surpass them. This was precisely the calculation of Kumo and Iwa.
A real pity for them. The Raikage's plans had been thrown into chaos by Takeshi and Minato. There was no news from the Iwa front yet, but she was confident Jiraiya and Orochimaru could handle it.
Tsunade hummed a tune and took a sip of sake, life feeling uncharacteristically leisurely.
Just then, light footsteps approached the tent. She quickly shoved the sake bottle behind her chair and sat up straight, adopting the air of someone diligently reading a report. But the scent of alcohol was unmistakable.
"Tsunade-sama, you're drinking again!" Shizune said, pouting as she began to search for the bottle.
"Ahem. Shizune, is something wrong?" Tsunade coughed lightly.
"Duy-san is out of bed and already training," Shizune reported. "He's with Guy and Takeshi. Should I stop him?"
'Might Duy,' Tsunade thought. She rubbed her temples, casually retrieved the sake bottle from behind her chair, and drained it in one go. "I'll go take a look. You and Rin can help the medical corps with the wounded."
"Understood." Shizune glanced at the empty bottle before turning to leave.
Tsunade sighed as she watched her go, then put the bottle away and went to find Takeshi. She knew he had been training Guy and the others, but when she'd checked before, it was just basic taijutsu. Now that Duy was involved, she was curious.
The concept of the Eight Gates had been proposed by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, but for some reason, Tobirama had abandoned his research. She never imagined that years later, someone would develop the technique on their own, and that this person would be a man who had been a genin his entire career.
She had only walked a short distance when she saw a flash of fire. Curious, Tsunade picked up her pace. As she neared the training ground, she saw a blaze rising into the sky from in front of Duy. Flaming fists flew out from a swirling fireball, each punch exploding on impact with the ground. After a final barrage, the small hillock they had been using as a target was completely leveled.
The power was astonishing. Everyone knew Might Duy couldn't use ninjutsu.
'So this is... taijutsu?'
Tsunade was shocked. She had imagined the Eight Gates would be so powerful, but seeing this firsthand, she realized her imagination hadn't been nearly bold enough.
Duy finished the attack and exiting of the Gate of View state, panting heavily. The chakra consumption was immense, but he had finally done it.
"Excellent, meow!" Takeshi praised him. "You've completed the Morning Peacock. You remember the Primary and Reverse Lotus from before, right?"
"Sensei!" Guy shouted. "I have mastered both techniques! I will teach them to my father!"
Takeshi gave a weak nod. He'd thought teaching Morning Peacock would be simple, it was just high-speed punching while in the Sixth Gate, but Duy's comprehension was painfully slow. It was hard to believe this was the man who had developed the Eight Gates on his own. He'd considered teaching him Daytime Tiger, but then he had a better idea.
"Meow~ The Seventh Gate has its own special technique," Takeshi said, shamelessly passing off Guy's future creation as his own. "In that state, you can punch the air so fast it compresses into high-pressure bullets. It was a technique recorded by my clan long ago."
Takeshi shamelessly stole the technique created by its originator, right in front of him.
Guy's eyes lit up. He was already picturing it. He only wished he could open the Seventh Gate right now to try it out. 'Wait! If the air bullets can be shaped like the Morning Peacock, maybe they can be made into the shape of a giant cat... like Sensei's fighting form!' He was thrilled with his own brilliant idea.
"*Huff~ huff~* I-I'm still good." Duy gasped.
"That's enough, Duy," Tsunade said, jumping down to stop him. "Your body can't handle the strain of using it continuously yet."
"Yes, Tsunade-sama. I'm sorry." Duy bowed quickly. He still had to listen to doctor's orders.
Tsunade did a quick checkup and found that his exertion wasn't too severe. He just needed to rest.
"Remember to take it easy," she said. After a brief chat, she waved for Takeshi to follow her.
Takeshi immediately followed. Guy's comprehension and development abilities were good, so teaching him wasn't tiring. But teaching Duy was truly exhausting, Takeshi had to explain Morning Peacock for half a day. It was better to seize the opportunity and slip away.
Tsunade wanted to see him privately. Could it be...? The cat rubbed his paws together. 'Time to split the loot.'
"Meow!"
"I managed to extort an extra sum from Kirigakure," Tsunade said, her tone businesslike. "This money, we'll split fifty-fifty, as we agreed. But we don't touch a single ryo of the official reparations. That all goes to the village treasury or to the pensions for the wounded and fallen. Understood?"
Takeshi nodded quickly. He understood the difference. The money she was holding was a bonus she had secured on her own, the rest belonged to Konoha. Still... was Tsunade really that principled?
He gave her a look of suspicion.
Her eye twitched, and for a second, it looked like she might punch him. She had, in fact, skimmed a little off the top, but not from the village's funds. Jiraiya and Orochimaru had both sent letters asking for her help on their fronts, and both were willing to pay for her assistance. Of course, a small detail like that didn't need to be mentioned to Takeshi. 'Money corrupts,' she told herself.
Takeshi grew even more suspicious, but when he saw the amount of money she'd squeezed out of the Mist, he immediately forgot his concerns. The sum was massive. Even after splitting it, he was getting ten million ryo, a third of what Asuma's bounty would one day be worth. More importantly, this was just the bonus. The official mission reward from the village would surely be substantial as well.
"You're definitely taking a kickback, meow," Takeshi said, waving a paw dismissively. "But since my share is this big, I'll consider the benefits you pocketed as payment for your hard work."
"*Cough, cough, cough*!" Tsunade coughed violently. How could this cat say something like that? What did he mean, 'pocketed'? She had earned that with her own two hands!
"Meow~ Where's Rin? I need to teach her Sage Mode. We might not have time once we get back to the village." Takeshi still had a decent number of points, and he wanted to get this done before he impulsively spent them all on sealing scrolls.
"Ahem. We're heading back in a few days, so I have her and Shizune on patrol."
"Isn't that your job, meow?" Takeshi tilted his head.
A vein throbbed on Tsunade's forehead. This cat was getting bolder every day. Before she could retort, he had already zipped away.
'The Flying Thunder God is so convenient,' he thought.
Back at the camp, Rin was just stepping out of her tent when something heavy landed on her shoulder.
"Takeshi?"
"If it's important, I can handle the patrol myself," Shizune said kindly. "Go on." Her and Rin's friendship had blossomed while covering Tsunade's duties.
"Meow~ Thanks, Shizune."
"It's no trouble, Shizune-senpai," Rin said. "I'll try to be quick." She understood what this was about.
Takeshi had considered finding a dramatic spot for the lesson, but decided against it. Procedures were a hassle.
"Meow~ First, I need to explain that Sage Mode can cause... physical alterations," he began. "It's different for everyone, but it's a normal phenomenon. Don't worry if your body changes a little."
Rin nodded. Minato-sensei had told her that the sages at Mount Myoboku started to turn into frogs. She wondered what the cat clan's transformation would be like. Growing fur? A knot of apprehension tightened in her stomach. That sounded... a little scary.
She watched as the black cat took out a portion of the special food she'd been eating for days. Each time, it left her feeling incredibly full. Was this the key to Sage Mode?
"Meow! Before you eat, I'll tell you the method for guiding sage chakra. Memorize it first, so you don't forget what to do."
Takeshi paused, then began to explain the system's version of the Sage Mode training method.
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