Aoshi didn't intend to offer any opinions—he had simply planned to remain a quiet listener. While he felt the topic was a bit precarious, he was still slightly surprised that Tsunade was willing to reveal this side of herself to him.
They hadn't known each other long, yet it was clear that, in Tsunade's heart, he had already become someone she regarded with a degree of closeness.
But Tsunade wasn't letting him off the hook so easily—she kept pressing him for a response.
"Tell me, am I wrong? Anyone who wants to become Hokage is definitely a fool!"
Aoshi could only smile wryly. "Lady Tsunade, you're drunk."
"I am not!"
"I can keep drinking!"
Right now, Tsunade was no different from a stubborn child—none of the dignity one might expect from a mature, 28-year-old kunoichi was anywhere in sight.
But it was already late, and Aoshi had no choice but to decline her demand to continue drinking.
"Lady Tsunade, it's time to go home." Though he'd had a couple of drinks himself, Aoshi remained clear-headed. Supporting the near-unconscious Tsunade, he paid the bill and helped her out of the yakiniku restaurant.
Outside, the cool night breeze brushed against them, cutting through the warmth of the alcohol.
The chill sobered Tsunade up slightly—but only just. Still leaning heavily against him, she could barely stand on her own.
With her full weight pressing on him, Aoshi felt the gravitational pull of a Planetary Devastation closing in.
A downward glance was all it took for him to catch a glimpse of alabaster skin—a view no man could reasonably ignore. This… is the true meaning of rich and generous.
Even the silver moon hanging high above seemed to pale in comparison.
Is this some kind of loyalty test? he thought. What subordinate could possibly pass something like this?!
Shaking the thought from his head, Aoshi quickly reined in his wandering mind and focused on escorting Tsunade safely back to the Senju compound.
"You're back late again, Lady Tsunade."
Kushina, who came to open the door, immediately spoke in a reproachful tone. But when she noticed Aoshi supporting her, her expression shifted to surprise.
"Huh? Aoshi? What are you doing with Lady Tsunade?"
Aoshi quickly explained that he'd taken Tsunade out to dinner to thank her for guiding him in medical ninjutsu, and then gently handed her over to Kushina.
"I see… That's so like you. You learn things so fast. Meanwhile, I've been struggling for days and still haven't made much progress."
These past few days, Kushina had been busy studying fuinjutsu under Uzumaki Mito, barely stepping outside. If it weren't for visiting Mikoto last time, Mito probably wouldn't have let her out at all.
"You're a genius too, Kushina. With your talent, you'll master it soon. Don't be discouraged."
Kushina was an Uzumaki—sealing techniques ran in her blood. She just hadn't unlocked her full potential yet.
"Heh, that's right! I am a genius!"
---
Leaving the Senju compound behind, Aoshi was on his way home when he suddenly stopped mid-step.
One of his shadow clones—the one he'd tasked with training Konoha Style Willow—had just dissipated due to chakra depletion.
That's right. Even while taking Tsunade out to dinner, he hadn't slacked on his training. One of the best perks of living in the shinobi world—when you need to multitask, you can literally clone yourself.
That said, Konoha Style Willow lived up to its A-rank difficulty.
Even after a full training session, Aoshi still felt like he hadn't grasped the essence of it—like nine-tenths of his brain circuits were firing, just not the one that actually mattered.
He needed to keep pushing himself to grow stronger. With his current strength, how could he survive the upcoming Third Great Ninja War?
He wouldn't feel safe unless his survival rate was at least 98%.
---
When you take your work seriously, time passes quickly. In the blink of an eye, a whole month had flown by.
During this time, Aoshi maintained a strict routine: home, Konoha Hospital, training ground.
It was repetitive—but incredibly effective. His chakra reserves had grown substantially, and he had achieved a personal milestone:
[Chakra: C-Rank (11,750/100,000)]
Even among jōnin, his current chakra level would be considered mid-tier. What shocked him, however, was the next benchmark—B-rank required at least 100,000 chakra points.
Reaching that anytime soon? Practically impossible.
A few days ago, after breaking through the 10,000 mark and reaching C-rank, the system had rewarded him with a special treasure chest—something different from the usual chakra orbs.
Upon opening it, he received a Copy Scroll.
As the name implied, the scroll allowed him to randomly copy one existing ability from a selected target—limited to what that target currently possessed.
It was also single-use only. So far, Aoshi hadn't used it.
For one thing, the scroll was extremely rare—there was no guarantee the system would ever award him another.
Secondly, his current system already allowed him to acquire jutsu from patients, making the scroll seem somewhat redundant.
But that was only on the surface.
In reality, the Copy Scroll could even replicate Kekkei Genkai—something the system's golden orbs couldn't achieve.
As for the rainbow-colored orbs? He hadn't received one yet, so he couldn't say for sure.
That's why he had to use the scroll carefully—ideally on someone with a Kekkei Genkai.
If successful, it would be a massive windfall. In Konoha, the most well-known Kekkei Genkai were Wood Release and the Sharingan.
But there was no one currently in the village who possessed Wood Release.
At this point, Yamato probably hadn't even been born. As for the Sharingan, Uchiha Mikoto had it—and not just one or two tomoe. She already had three.
And more importantly, Aoshi had easy access to her.
The only issue? Mikoto had been busy with her newly re-formed team and had spent the past month out on missions, barely returning to the village.
As for the Byakugan, Aoshi had no plans to copy it.
While the Hyūga clan's dojutsu was highly valuable in wartime, it didn't offer the same combat boost as the Sharingan.
Unless it was Ōtsutsuki-level, the Byakugan simply didn't appeal to him.
More importantly, if he used the Copy Scroll on a Hyūga and ended up copying Gentle Fist instead of the Byakugan, that would be a major loss.
Gentle Fist without Byakugan was practically worthless.
"Aoshi, can I ask you for a favor?" Mikoto suddenly appeared at Konoha Hospital and sought him out.
"Don't rush. What kind of favor?"
As it turned out, Mikoto's team had accepted a C-rank escort mission that morning—to accompany a merchant caravan to the Land of Rain.
Everything had been ready to go, but at the last minute, the merchant's son had injured his leg while playing around.
Unlike shinobi, ordinary people didn't recover quickly from such injuries.
But the merchant's goods were perishable, and any delay could cause heavy losses.
So, the client demanded that a medical ninja accompany the team to tend to his son's injury along the way. However, medical ninjas were already rare in shinobi squads, and most working at the hospital preferred to avoid field missions altogether.
Not everyone was like Tsunade—capable of both healing and fighting on the battlefield.
That's why Mikoto had come to ask Aoshi for help.