Chapter 4: The Genin Are Actually the Strongest, You Know
"Ryūun, you really should learn to hold back a little sometimes."
Hatake Sakumo sighed, though even he didn't believe his advice would help.
Still, he hoped—just hoped—Aoyama Ryūun might someday change.
"Tch! What's the point of holding back?"
To him, the whole reason ninjas existed was to bully others.
He even knows he's a menace, Sakumo muttered inwardly.
Otherwise, things wouldn't have gotten this far.
"Just finished a mission?"
Tsunade, with Ryūun's arm casually draped over her shoulder, asked curiously.
"I've been out of the village for a few days and didn't hear anything!"
"Uh…"
Could she even admit that she'd been hiding at home because she'd lost several gambling bets lately
and was avoiding her creditors? Of course not.
"What about the mission reward?"
Since Ryūun never spent any money anyway,
maybe she could use it to pay off her debts.
"The mission failed."
Ryūun said it without the slightest hint of shame.
"Huh?"
"Failed?"
Tsunade looked at him in surprise,
then turned toward Sakumo beside him.
Sakumo, feeling embarrassed, quickly looked away—
he couldn't even meet her eyes.
Seeing that, Tsunade immediately understood.
"Don't tell me—you hit the client again?"
Judging by their faces, this clearly wasn't the first time it had happened.
"Yeah! What's wrong with that?"
"…"
Even though Tsunade was a bold woman,
she still wasn't that reckless!
"A zero-percent mission completion rate… and you have the nerve to say my brother has no talent as a ninja!"
Now she was angry.
The conflict between Tsunade and Ryūun wasn't new.
In truth, Aoyama Ryūun was a man who had traveled from another world.
He'd been living here for more than ten years.
Knowing that Tsunade's younger brother, Senju Nawaki,
would one day die during a mission,
Ryūun had told him directly when they first met:
"You have absolutely no talent as a ninja. Just stay home and live a peaceful life."
And the craziest part—
Nawaki actually listened.
"Come on, the ninja world's dangerous.
I only did it to protect him!" Ryūun said with a shrug.
"Protect him? You call that protecting him?!"
Tsunade was furious.
Seeing that his words had no effect,
Ryūun only smiled lazily, while Tsunade glared at him with blazing eyes.
"Do you have any idea how much effort I've put into training Nawaki?"
As the last male of the Senju Clan,
Tsunade had always regarded her brother as the future of their bloodline.
And now?
Ryūun had completely derailed her plans.
Of course she was furious.
"What's the big deal? With such an outstanding brother-in-law like me around,
even if he doesn't become a ninja, no one in the shinobi world would dare touch him!"
"Tch! Don't 'brother-in-law' me—we're in the middle of a breakup!"
Shameless. Completely shameless.
Even though they were supposedly "breaking up,"
Ryūun didn't seem bothered in the least.
He still acted as if nothing had changed.
"Break up? I never agreed to that."
As he spoke, Ryūun suddenly turned his head and kissed Tsunade square on the lips.
"Hahaha!"
He laughed loudly right after,
while Tsunade's face turned red with anger.
"You jerk! Be serious—I'm angry!"
"Hahaha! Alright, alright. After I report to that old man Hiruzen,
let's grab something to eat."
Hatake Sakumo, standing nearby, rolled his eyes like a dead fish.
Is this how young people date these days?
Well, he had a son of his own,
so he supposed he was too old to be jealous.
…
"Failed again, I see,"
said Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage,
his tone more weary than surprised.
By now, he was used to it.
After all, every single mission that failed under Ryūun's name
had failed because of Ryūun himself.
"Ryūun," the Hokage sighed,
"with a zero-percent mission success rate,
how am I supposed to promote you to Jōnin?"
In terms of strength,
Aoyama Ryūun's abilities were already beyond elite Jōnin level.
But what could he do?
The man hadn't successfully completed even one mission.
No one in Konoha really considered him a Genin anymore,
but officially, that was still his rank.
"What are you talking about? In Konoha, Genin are the strongest of all!"
Ryūun said proudly.
Unfortunately, Hiruzen didn't understand the joke.
To him, it sounded like nonsense.
He simply waved his hand and turned to Tsunade.
"Take him and go. I don't have the energy to deal with this anymore."