"Huh?"
Hyūga Ming stared at Tsunade with a deeply puzzled expression.
He could clearly tell that Tsunade didn't exactly like him.
Their connection existed almost entirely because of Nawaki.
But still—
He never expected her to suddenly say she wanted to take him as a disciple.
Seeing the wary look on his face, the vein on Tsunade's forehead twitched.
In all of Konoha, who wouldn't want to become her student?
And this brat was actually suspicious of her?
"Use the Mystical Palm Technique," she said curtly.
Hyūga Ming raised his hand.
A soft green glow lit up his palm.
"This?" he asked.
The Mystical Palm Technique stimulated cells, accelerated recovery, healed injuries, cured illnesses, and expelled toxins.
It was an extremely powerful healing technique.
That said, at level one, it could only handle minor wounds.
Tsunade took a deep breath.
"The difficulty of the Mystical Palm Technique is extremely high," she said seriously.
"You mastered it in such a short time. That proves your talent is exceptional."
"If you walk the path of medical ninjutsu, your future achievements may not be inferior to mine."
Her tone was sincere.
Konoha desperately needed ninja with medical expertise.
Unfortunately, Hiruzen had never seriously promoted the cultivation of medical specialists.
Most of the ninja learning medical ninjutsu under Tsunade lacked real talent—they had simply had no other choice.
At best, they could treat surface wounds.
Anything more complex still required Tsunade herself.
"I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama," Hyūga Ming said firmly.
"But being a medical ninja is not my ninja way."
More importantly—
It didn't give him much EXP.
He had only learned it so quickly because Tsunade's explanations were extremely clear.
Tsunade's expression darkened. She raised her fist.
"If I tell you to learn, you learn. Why are you talking so much nonsense?"
Very Tsunade-like.
Hyūga Ming immediately turned to run.
In the next instant, Tsunade flashed behind him.
A sharp chop landed on the back of his neck.
Hyūga Ming's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed unconscious.
The last thought that crossed his mind was—
This damn old woman… no wonder she never got married!
"What did you say?!"
Just before everything went dark, he vaguely heard Tsunade's furious roar.
It seemed he'd accidentally said that out loud.
When Hyūga Ming woke up, the first thing he saw was Nawaki carrying something across the room.
"Nawaki?" Ming sat up abruptly.
"Big bro, you're awake!" Nawaki dropped what he was holding and ran over, delighted.
"What are those?" Ming asked, staring at the piles of scrolls stacked like a small mountain in the room.
And… where even was this place?
Nawaki scratched his head and grinned foolishly.
"Those are the books my sister told you to read."
Hyūga Ming: "???"
If question marks could physically appear, his head would be full of them.
This wasn't a him problem—this was clearly a Tsunade problem.
At that moment, Tsunade pushed the door open and walked in.
Looking at the newly awakened Hyūga Ming, she said coldly:
"You need to read every book in this room and memorize them."
"They're all case records and my personal research notes."
"You're forcing a sale here!" Ming shouted in protest.
"I absolutely refuse to submit!!"
Even if he was going to become someone's disciple, it should at least be someone who could take him out on missions.
Tsunade smiled.
A very dangerous smile.
"I'm a very democratic person," she said pleasantly.
"I'll give you two choices."
"I'd rather die than learn this stuff!" Hyūga Ming declared heroically, determined to stand by his principles.
Tsunade's smile vanished.
Her voice turned icy.
"Either you learn everything here—
or you experience my monstrous strength."
That was no longer a suggestion.
That was a threat.
Hyūga Ming's face flushed red as he spoke through clenched teeth:
"As long as you don't kill me… I'll learn."
A wise man does not suffer unnecessary losses.
Tsunade finally looked satisfied.
"From today on, you're living at my place," she said.
"During the day, you follow me to the hospital. At night, you study these."
She had already promised the Hyūga clan.
Originally, she'd just been going through the motions for Nawaki's sake.
Now, she was making it official.
"Remember," she added coolly,
"I'll test you later. If you don't pass… heh."
With that, she turned and left.
Hyūga Ming collapsed back onto the bed, utterly lifeless.
Why did this feel suspiciously like retaliation?
Thinking back to what he'd muttered before passing out—
I didn't actually say it out loud, did I…?
"Big bro, this is great!" Nawaki said cheerfully.
"You can live here from now on!"
The idiot was still smiling happily.
This was blatant house arrest.
Hyūga Ming, a man of legendary ambition, had somehow ended up imprisoned—with no way to even complain.
He was fairly certain Jiraiya would be thrilled to trade places with him.
Nawaki kept grinning and said:
"Big bro, this house is shared by me and my sister, Grandma Mito, and Kushina. I'll introduce you later!"
Uzumaki Mito—
the First Hokage's wife.
The Nine-Tails' jinchūriki.
For a brief moment, a dangerous thought crossed Hyūga Ming's mind.
If I farmed her… would Nine-Tails chakra drop?
He quickly shook his head and forcibly discarded the thought.
That was a boss far beyond anything he could handle right now.
"…Sigh."
Ming climbed out of bed and looked at the mountain of books.
What else could he do?
Study.
"Big bro, I'll leave you to it," Nawaki said, turning to go.
He took two steps—
And stopped.
Slowly, stiffly, he turned his head.
Hyūga Ming had grabbed the back of his collar with one hand, wearing a strained smile.
"Big bro, I won't bother you…"
Ming snorted coldly.
"I'm being restricted, and you think you can just run?"
"What kind of little brother abandons his big brother?"
"If I have to learn, you're learning too."
"We suffer together."
"Nooooo!!"
When Kushina returned home, she heard Nawaki's miserable screams coming from upstairs.
She glanced cautiously at Tsunade.
Tsunade was sitting on the first floor, reading intelligence reports.
The Five Great Nations were growing increasingly hostile toward one another.
During missions, encountering enemy ninja now often meant fights to the death.
That was why Konoha Hospital was overflowing with wounded—
many didn't even make it back alive.
"Tsunade-neesan… what's wrong with Nawaki-niisan?" Kushina asked quietly.
"A long-term guest moved in," Tsunade replied flatly.
"Don't worry about them."
She had also considered steering Nawaki toward becoming a medical specialist.
At least that way, he wouldn't be sent into danger.
"O-okay…" Kushina replied softly.
"I'll go check on Grandma Mito."
She hurried upstairs.
Tsunade watched her retreating figure and shook her head.
The girl was still too sensitive.
Putting down the scroll in her hand, Tsunade's expression turned grave.
"The other four villages are getting more and more reckless…"
The intelligence showed ninja from the other Great Villages steadily pushing deeper into the Land of Fire during missions.
This wasn't normal task execution—
It was reconnaissance.
She rubbed her temples, a headache forming.
Peace was about to break.
Soon, she wouldn't be able to stay in the hospital any longer.
Hiruzen would inevitably send her to the front lines.
And as her subordinates—
The three Hyūga brothers would go with her.
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