Chapter 127: Like Family
Tsunade suppressed the strange feeling in her heart, turned around, and walked to the bathroom. By the time she finished washing up, breakfast was ready: lean meat porridge.
"Thank you," Tsunade said, knowing that Hoshikawa had made it especially for her.
"It's nothing," Hoshikawa said, shaking his head.
Tsunade stared at him for a couple of seconds before looking away and taking a sip of the porridge. The warm, delicious feeling made her eyes narrow slightly. Hoshikawa 's heart stirred; she looked just like a cat at that moment. Too bad I can't pet her.
"What's the plan for today? Training, or are we going out on a mission?" Hoshikawa asked after a moment of thought. Since their last trip to the Land of Grass, they had completed three C-rank missions and one B-rank mission.
On average, they went out once a month, with each trip lasting about a week. Besides the Land of Grass, they had also been to the Land of Birds, the Land of Demons, and the Land of Rivers. The longest they had stayed was in the Land of Demons, mainly because the priestess Miroku was too enthusiastic after Tsunade had saved her.
"Didn't you want to learn fūinjutsu?" Tsunade said, licking the corner of her mouth. "Mihō's body has pretty much recovered. Today, we're going to see Kushina."
"Sounds good," Hoshikawa said, his eyes lighting up. He had been looking forward to learning fūinjutsu for a long time.
"Learning fūinjutsu is just as difficult as learning medical ninjutsu," Tsunade said bluntly. "If it's taking up too much of your time, I suggest you give up."
"I know," Hoshikawa nodded. He didn't have a talent for sealing jutsu, so it probably wouldn't be easy for him. But that was fine. He just wanted to learn the basics. If a future title required him to know fūinjutsu, he wouldn't be completely lost. For him, the most important thing was to have a path to learning so that he could consult Kushina Uzumaki at any time.
"I'm full!" Tsunade put down her bowl and patted her stomach, looking completely satisfied.
"You seem to be in a very good mood today," Hoshikawa said, a little confused. Did she have a great time drinking last night?
"I do feel good," Tsunade said, standing up and stretching. "Go see if Kurenai and Rin are here." After saying that, she walked into her room.
Tsunade opened her wardrobe and changed her clothes. She turned and looked at the photo on the wall, her gaze lingering on Nawaki for a moment before she looked away. Hoshikawa 's actions today had made her feel like she had a family again. Or maybe, they had been family all along.
"That brat's not so bad," Tsunade said with a soft laugh, closing the door and leaving the room.
"Sensei," Kurenai and Rin greeted her right away.
"Show me the jutsu you've been practicing," Tsunade said, crossing her arms.
"I'll go first." Kurenai walked to a nearby clearing. Her chakra was quickly mobilized, gathered in her mouth, and transformed into Water Release chakra. She opened her mouth, and senbon made of water flew out at incredible speed. After a series of crisp sounds, a row of water needles was embedded in the tree in front of her. This was the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju's Water Release: Heavenly Weeping. In the original series, he was the only one who had used it, and he had used it against Madara Uchiha.
Although Kurenai had been learning Water Release for a long time, she didn't know many of its jutsu. The reason was the chakra limitations. Jutsu like Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave required a huge amount of chakra, as they had to instantly create a waterfall or an ocean. You could see that with Kisame Hoshigaki. His Water Release jutsu could be called "Ocean Release."
Tsunade nodded slightly. With the guidance of Kosuke Maruboshi, she didn't have to worry too much.
When it was Rin's turn, she pulled out a scroll. Inside was a fish she had prepared earlier. Rin took a deep breath and formed hand signs. Her movements were less practiced than Kurenai's. She struggled but managed to pull it off, extracting the fish's liver. The medical ninjutsu she was using was the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique, a B-rank jutsu she had just started learning. In fact, for her age, simply being able to perform it was a sign of great talent.
Tsunade didn't ask for too much and began her lessons. Besides Rin, Kurenai also received a few minutes of instruction.
"All right, you two continue practicing as I instructed. Hoshikawa and I are going out," Tsunade said, waving her hand and walking away.
"Huh?" Kurenai and Rin were caught by surprise.
"We'll be back," Hoshikawa said, smiling at them, and hurried to catch up with Tsunade.
"How secretive," Kurenai muttered with a slight huff. Although they were all Tsunade's students, Hoshikawa clearly had a closer relationship with her. There was a big difference between being a squad leader and being a sensei.
Rin, on the other hand, didn't think too much about it. She looked at the fish in front of her. She put the liver back and revived it, then took out a basin of water. The fish went into the water and started moving again. Seeing this, Rin poured the poison Hoshikawa had made into the water. The Delicate Illness Extraction Technique had two main uses: to transplant organs and to extract poison. To practice extracting poison, she had to administer it first.
"I'm sorry," Rin said. Although she felt bad, this was a necessary sacrifice for her to practice her medical ninjutsu.
"You medical ninjas are terrifying," Kurenai said, unable to stop herself from complaining.
A short time later, Tsunade and Hoshikawa arrived at Kushina Uzumaki's house, but unlike last time, no one came out to greet them.
"I bet they're playing cards," Hoshikawa said, his lips twitching. Card games had not only ruined Kushina but also the Nine-Tails.
"Let's go!" Tsunade's spirits lifted when she heard about card games.
"Tsunade-sama," a familiar figure appeared. It wasn't Kushina but Minato Namikaze.
"Minato-senpai," Hoshikawa said, greeting him. He wasn't surprised at all to see Minato.
"Hoshikawa !" Just then, a green flash rushed toward him. It was Guy.
"Is Rin not here?" Obito asked, looking around.
"No," Hoshikawa said, shaking his head. Obito immediately lost interest.
"Kakashi—" Hoshikawa was about to ask where Kakashi was when he heard a sharp, crackling sound of lightning. He looked toward the back of the house and saw a strong chakra fluctuation.
"Kakashi is working on his Chidori," Minato explained. "Tsunade-sama, and you, Hoshikawa , let's go inside and talk."
"I'm going to train." Obito couldn't be bothered to join them since Rin wasn't there. Guy felt the same way. He was preparing for the Chūnin Exams next year; that's when his youth would truly bloom in Konoha.
"Tsunade-sama!" Kushina saw them and greeted them. "Hoshikawa !" She was playing cards with Mihō Uzumaki and two of the Nine-Tails' tails.
"Mihō, I'll take over," Tsunade said, arranging things in a few words. "Minato, go teach Mihō and Hoshikawa fūinjutsu."
"Follow me," Minato said with a gentle smile. He didn't refuse.
"Good luck!" Kushina said, smiling and waving at them.
"Fūinjutsu, simply put, is the art of sealing a target's chakra," Minato began to explain outside the house. "Of course, more powerful sealing jutsu can seal a target's body and soul."
Hoshikawa immediately thought of the Reaper Death Seal. It was one of the few sealing jutsu that could seal a soul. But the price was to offer one's own soul, making it a mutual-destruction sealing jutsu. In the original series, Minato used the Reaper Death Seal to seal the Nine-Tails.
"To perform a regular jutsu, you just need to make hand signs, but fūinjutsu is different. It requires an additional step: the sealing formula," Minato continued. "Before you can learn fūinjutsu, you must learn the sealing formula, also known as a cursed seal." He formed hand signs and then slammed his hands onto the ground. Ink-like tadpole-shaped script appeared out of thin air. After a series of transformations, it formed a special pattern. In the center were simplified Uzumaki lines, surrounded by eight pointed squares.
"This is the sealing formula for the Four Symbols Seal," Minato explained. "It's often used to seal evil forces, like Tailed Beasts."
"That's so cool!" Mihō said, her face full of awe. She had already learned the concept and meaning of Tailed Beasts from Kushina. It was unbelievable to think that something as powerful as a Tailed Beast could be sealed by fūinjutsu.
"Now we can begin our lesson," Minato said with a smile, pulling out paper and brushes. "Just like with hand signs, a sealing formula must be drawn without a single mistake. It has to be an exact match." Mihō and Hoshikawa walked up, and each received a set of paper and brushes.
"First, practice drawing it on paper. When you're proficient, you can replace the brush with your chakra and draw the sealing formula with chakra," Minato said, looking at them. "Do you understand?"
"Yes," Mihō and Hoshikawa said in unison.
"I'll go get a table for you," Minato said, turning and going into the house. He quickly brought out a table and chairs. Mihō and Hoshikawa sat facing each other and began to draw. Minato watched and gave them pointers.
He also created a shadow clone to teach Obito and Guy. They were his real students, after all. As for Mihō and Hoshikawa , he was just substituting for Kushina.
It was now noon.
"Want some water?" Tsunade stopped in front of Hoshikawa and handed him a cup.
"Thanks," Hoshikawa said, taking the cup and drinking a few sips. He quickly realized the problem. "Did you already drink from this?"
"I was too lazy to get a new one," Tsunade said carelessly.
"..." Hoshikawa glared at her. Tsunade chuckled, completely unafraid. She just stared at him, as if asking, what are you going to do about it?
"Did you win this morning?" Hoshikawa asked calmly.
"What do you mean by that, you little brat?!" Tsunade's smile froze, and she said, annoyed.
"Nothing," Hoshikawa said, smiling. "Just checking in on my sensei."
"Is that so?" Tsunade clenched her fist, gritting her teeth. "Now we're doing special training!"
"No," Hoshikawa said without hesitation. "I'm learning fūinjutsu."
"I said you have to!" Tsunade said, glaring at him.
Minato's face, not far away, showed a strange expression. Were they really a sensei and a student?
...
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