Chapter 77: Tsunade: A Punch of Love (Part 1)
Hanekawa opened Terumi Mei's wallet. Inside was a stack of money. He counted it, and it totaled two thousand seven hundred ryo. Besides the money, there were two hot spring coupons and a bottle of blue nail polish. Hanekawa pursed his lips. The future Mizukage was a bit poor.
"Lady Tsunade," the young man handed over the intelligence he had stolen from the Village Hidden in the Mist.
"Thank you," Tsunade nodded slightly. After casually taking the files, she sat down across from Hanekawa.
"A ninja who just graduated from the academy would normally be unaccustomed to their first encounter with an enemy. But you, you were flirting with the young lady." Tsunade glanced at Terumi Mei's wallet and said.
"What flirting? Don't talk nonsense," Hanekawa said with a serious expression. "I was merely educating a defeated kunoichi."
"That young lady is probably a genius from the Village Hidden in the Mist," Tsunade chuckled. "The next time you meet her, she might be the one educating you."
"That will never happen." Hanekawa put his wallet away.
"Oh?" Tsunade was a little surprised. "You're that confident?"
"Because I have a great teacher," Hanekawa said with a sincere expression.
Tsunade froze for a moment, then laughed. She reached out and flicked his forehead hard.
"Was I wrong?" Hanekawa felt wronged.
"You're not wrong," Tsunade said, crossing her arms. "But... you can't be arrogant."
"Yes, Sensei," Hanekawa's eyelids twitched. For Tsunade, this action of crossing her arms only added to the burden on her clothes. Hanekawa felt an urge to lend a hand.
"You handled this battle well," Tsunade said with a slight smile, seeing his obedient look.
"So, is there a reward?" Hanekawa immediately took a step forward.
"The reward is you treating me to yakiniku," Tsunade rolled her eyes. This kid really did get out of hand if you didn't keep him in check for three days.
"What kind of reward is that?" Hanekawa couldn't help but complain.
"What? You don't want to?" Tsunade clenched her fist and asked.
"I want to," Hanekawa quickly said, following his heart.
"Don't move," Tsunade suddenly thought of something, reached out, and placed her hand on his forehead. Hanekawa blinked, not knowing what she was going to do. Soon, a surge of chakra flowed from her soft palm.
"Looks like you're not injured," Tsunade said after a moment, pulling her hand back.
"Thank you, Sensei," Hanekawa bowed slightly.
"It's easy to get hidden injuries in a battle, and if you don't treat them in time, it'll affect your growth," Tsunade threatened. "You might not get any taller."
Not getting taller is fine, I just hope I'll grow up a little more. A smile appeared on Hanekawa's face. "With you as my teacher, that will never happen."
Tsunade looked at him, and her heart fluttered. His handsome face, combined with that smile, was truly irresistible.
"What a sweet talker," Tsunade scoffed. "I don't know how many girls you'll end up corrupting."
"What do you mean 'corrupting'?" Hanekawa argued. "Sensei, you're slandering me."
Time passed as the two of them chatted. The ignored young man finally understood why Tsunade was the one who came to pick him up. It was all for a training exercise, and he was just a bonus. Learning the truth, he shed a tear. That night, he was even more bewildered and shocked. He got a tent all to himself, and then watched as Hanekawa and Tsunade walked into another tent.
The next afternoon. Sunlight shone down on the gate of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
"I'm finally back!" The young man shouted with emotion as he arrived. He had been a spy in the Village Hidden in the Mist for six years. After six years, he thought he would have to do another three years before he could go home.
"Let's go, we need to turn in the mission," Tsunade felt nothing; she even wanted to go play a few hands at the casino. After registering at the gate, the three of them entered the village. Hanekawa thought of Kurenai and the others, wondering how they had been doing over the past few days.
Hokage's office. Tsunade unceremoniously kicked the door open. The young man watched with his jaw dropped. Hanekawa was already used to it and remained unfazed. He suddenly had a thought: when Tsunade becomes Hokage, could he kick the door open too? But after thinking about it carefully, if he really did that, he would probably be beaten to death. The most likely scenario was that he would become like Danzo Shimura, constantly clashing with Tsunade.
"Tsunade!" Hiruzen Sarutobi was startled and quickly took a puff from his pipe to calm his nerves.
"The mission is complete. Give me my reward," Tsunade walked up to him. "And while you're at it, check if there are any new geniuses in the Village Hidden in the Mist."
"What do you need that for?" Hiruzen casually threw her a bankbook. The B-rank mission was worth one hundred and sixty thousand ryo.
"It's not enough. You need to add more money," Tsunade looked at it and shook her head. "We ran into Suigetsu."
"Suigetsu? What happened?" Hiruzen's expression became serious. The Seven Ninja Swordsmen were a signature of the Village Hidden in the Mist, holding a high status and great strength.
Tsunade gave him a brief rundown of what happened.
"I see," Hiruzen's tone softened. "That young lady you're talking about must be Terumi Mei." He opened a drawer and took out two files. Tsunade quickly scanned them; one was on Terumi Mei, the other on Momochi Zabuza. These two were the latest geniuses to appear in the Village Hidden in the Mist, both showing great strength at a young age. Tsunade handed the files to Hanekawa.
"How about this, I'll raise your mission to A-rank," Hiruzen thought for a moment. "I'll give you an additional three hundred thousand ryo."
"Deal," Tsunade said, not asking for more money. After reading the files, Hanekawa gave them back to Hiruzen. He already knew most of the information, but it was more detailed than in the original story.
"You two can chat," Tsunade took the money, turned, and started walking out. "Hanekawa, let's go."
Hanekawa wasn't as casual as her and said his goodbyes to Hiruzen before hurrying to catch up.
"It's a good thing Hanekawa didn't pick up his teacher's bad habits," Hiruzen said with a hint of relief. The young man stood by, pretending not to hear.
"Sensei!" Hanekawa stopped Tsunade, held out his hand, and asked, "Where's my share of the money?"
"You're too young. I'll hold it for you," Tsunade said with a smile.
"No way." Hanekawa was not swayed. My mom used to say that too. But he wasn't going to fall for it twice.
"Tch, you little brat." Seeing that she couldn't trick him, Tsunade gave him two hundred thousand ryo. "Don't spend it all."
"I should be the one saying that," Hanekawa put the bankbook away and muttered. The next second, his body shivered as he felt a murderous aura. Hanekawa swallowed, turned his head, and saw Tsunade approaching with a grim expression. She looked like the legendary Hachishaku-sama, about to swallow him whole.
Just as Hanekawa was about to speak, a huge shadow enveloped him. Tsunade hugged him and gave him a loving "punch" to the head.
"Sensei," Hanekawa cried out, feeling like there was no point to living. He couldn't escape because the "snowy mountain" was too heavy.
"It won't be this easy next time," Tsunade said after she had had her fun, and then let him go.
"Yes," Hanekawa said with a feigned tone.
"You should go back and rest." Tsunade hesitated for a moment. She had originally planned to take Hanekawa to the casino, but seeing that he had been on the road for two days, she decided not to pressure him.
"Goodbye, Sensei," Hanekawa waved to her. The mission had taken almost a week. He missed Yuhi Kurenai quite a bit. A week wasn't a short time. Hanekawa looked at the sky; it was around the time school was letting out. After a moment of thought, he headed towards the Ninja Academy.
The bell rang, signaling the end of classes. A group of students poured out like they were escaping a disaster.
"Rin, what do you say we go get some ramen?" Obito Uchiha asked with a smiling face.
"I need to go home and read," Rin Nohara hesitated for a few seconds, then declined.
"Is that Hanekawa?" Kakashi Hatake's surprised voice rang out. Rin subconsciously looked up. A familiar figure appeared in the distance.
He's back? Rin's heart fluttered, and a happy smile appeared on her face. But someone was a step ahead of her.
"Hanekawa!" Yuhi Kurenai immediately ran out.
"Hmph!" Asuma Sarutobi pursed his lips.
"I wonder what mission Hanekawa was on," Kakashi Hatake said, a hint of envy in his eyes. He also wanted to go on a mission, but his father, Sakumo Hatake, was too busy to take him. The only way was to graduate early. But because of his earlier promise, Kakashi Hatake had to wait until after Hanekawa graduated.
"It must have been the simplest D-rank mission!" Obito Uchiha said, a little annoyed.
"Hanekawa, when did you get back?" Kurenai stopped, panting, and asked.
"Just now," Hanekawa reached out and patted her head, smoothing down her hair.
"Hanekawa," Rin and the others walked up. Kurenai realized what he had done and her face turned red.
"I heard from Kurenai that you went to the Land of Water on a mission," Kakashi Hatake looked him up and down. "Did you run into any ninjas from the Village Hidden in the Mist?"
"I ran into a big shot," Hanekawa said with a smile. "Suigetsu, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen."
Everyone gasped upon hearing this. The Seven Ninja Swordsmen were so famous that they had all heard of them.
"How is that possible?" Obito Uchiha asked with a look of disbelief. "You ran into him and you're still alive?"
"Because my teacher is even more amazing," Hanekawa said, shrugging his hands. He wasn't lying. With Tsunade's strength, dealing with Suigetsu wasn't too difficult. Even with a few extra Anbu from the Village Hidden in the Mist, the result would have been the same. But he was a liability. Tsunade didn't take any risks for his safety.
Obito's eyes turned green with envy. Damn it! Just because you have Tsunade as a teacher?! My future teacher will be a big shot too!
"As expected of Lady Tsunade," Rin's face was filled with admiration.
"Let's go, I'll treat you all to yakiniku," Hanekawa said, taking out his bankbook. "I earned a lot of money on this trip."
"Then I'm going to eat you into poverty!" Asuma Sarutobi said without a hint of politeness. Hanekawa thought to himself that Asuma would one day have a student named Choji Akimichi, and then he would know what it meant to be eaten into poverty.
Obito's face turned green. Rin, you said you were going home to read, so why are you following them?
...
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