Chapter 9 : Training With Tsunade

"By the way, Tsunade, can I bring Mikoto with me?"

Shin, who had been pulled aside into an empty corner by Tsunade, spoke with a calm expression.

Tsunade, having been tormented by him to the point of exhaustion, waved her hand dismissively. "Fine, fine! I give up, you little brat!"

"Alright, I'll go get Mikoto then. Where should we meet?"

"Just come to my house."

With that, Shin, taking the initiative, quickly disappeared.

Watching him leave, Tsunade had a complicated expression on her face.

"That kid… when there are a lot of people around, he'll still give me some respect and call me Tsunade-sama. But his words—ugh, he's venomous and sweet at the same time."

Tsunade crossed her arms beneath her ample chest, sighing with an unreadable emotion.

When he had said he liked her, she had felt genuinely pleased.

Being admired by a kid like him meant she still had her charm!

Besides, Shin was undeniably easy on the eyes. It was obvious that he'd grow up into a handsome man, unlike Jiraiya, whose face made her want to punch him more often than not.

"What were those idiots saying earlier? That I like younger boys?" Tsunade muttered, frowning. "Is that why I'm still single? If I really wanted someone…"

Her voice trailed off as she walked into her home.

Finding a boyfriend wasn't easy for her. As the granddaughter of the First Hokage, most men were too intimidated to approach her.

On top of that, she had high standards. She didn't like ugly men, simple as that.

Ideally, he'd be handsome, strong, and wouldn't nag her about her gambling habits. Not too much to ask, right?

Her thoughts suddenly drifted to Shin. Other than his age, he met all of her criteria.

Tsunade sat down, suddenly restless. Was she really starting to think that way about him? Was she—

"No, no, no," she muttered, shaking her head and pressing her fingers to her temples. "I've just been single too damn long."

But the more she told herself to stop thinking about it, the more Shin's face popped into her mind.

"Tsunade, I'm here!"

Shin's voice rang from outside.

"Ah!?"

Tsunade jolted upright, quickly patting her flushed cheeks before taking a deep breath to calm down.

"I can't believe a little brat actually managed to distract me…" she grumbled, straightening her clothes and heading outside.

When she stepped out, her gaze immediately landed on Uchiha Mikoto, standing next to Shin.

Mikoto, dressed in the traditional Uchiha uniform, looked like the perfect 'girl-next-door' type—cute, composed, and undeniably elegant.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes slightly.

For some reason, she didn't like looking at her.

"No wonder this kid wants to learn medical ninjutsu," she muttered under her breath. "She's just as cute as I was when I was younger."

Tsunade sighed before putting on a smile and welcoming them in.

She could afford to be casual in front of Shin, but with Mikoto here, she found herself instinctively holding back a little.

"Tsunade-sama! I admire you so much! I never thought I'd get to meet you in person like this!"

The moment they stepped inside, Mikoto's excitement was evident. She practically sparkled with admiration.

Tsunade felt a pang of guilt for her earlier pettiness.

"I'm happy to meet you too, Mikoto," she said with a soft smile. "You're adorable—I bet a lot of people like you."

"Uh…"

Mikoto shyly glanced at Shin, who, as always, looked completely unaffected.

"I think we should start training soon," he said flatly.

Tsunade rolled her eyes at his fake indifference and went to grab some books.

"The foundation of medical ninjutsu starts with this," she explained seriously. "If you don't master the theory behind the Mystical Palm Technique, you'll end up killing someone instead of saving them."

She flipped open a thick medical textbook.

"You need to understand human anatomy—organs, pressure points, chakra pathways. Where to stop bleeding, how to temporarily suppress poison, all of it."

Shin remained quiet, but her words reminded him of the wild wolves he had killed in the forest.

"Well, then, I'll start learning," he said simply, picking up the book and scanning its contents.

His left eye—Soul: Reflection—allowed him to internalize knowledge with extreme efficiency. The more he learned, the easier it became to perform advanced techniques.

Medical ninjutsu wasn't just about saving others; it was about survival. If he could heal himself in battle, it meant he could keep fighting longer.

Tsunade watched him with mild surprise.

"This is the first time I've seen this kid so well-behaved… The last time he looked this peaceful was when he was asleep."

A faint memory surfaced—Shin's head resting against her chest as he slept soundly that morning.

Her cheeks burned again, and she quickly averted her gaze.

"Tsunade-sama, what does this mean?"

Mikoto's voice brought her back to reality. The girl was pointing at a passage in the book, looking confused.

"Oh—right, that means…" Tsunade quickly shifted into teaching mode, explaining the text seriously.

The afternoon passed quickly.

Tsunade went from being impressed, to astonished, to just outright numb.

The reason? The stack of books next to Shin.

In mere hours, he had memorized what would normally take months to learn.

Training a medical-nin was far more difficult than training a regular shinobi. But for Shin, the usual barriers simply didn't exist.

After multiple tests, Tsunade confirmed he had genuinely absorbed all of it.

And the practical training? That was even more ridiculous.

With the foundational knowledge solidified, his Mystical Palm Technique was now precise.

He successfully healed an injured fish in a single try.

And after a few repetitions, he performed it flawlessly, with no wasted chakra.

Mikoto, by comparison, was still a prodigy in her own right. In Tsunade's eyes, she was a genius.

But next to Shin?

It took her half an hour of repeated attempts before she could even begin stabilizing chakra flow properly.

Shin, meanwhile, was already on the level of a trained medical-nin.

The Mystical Palm Technique required precise chakra control, adjusting output based on the patient's condition. Too much chakra could damage healthy tissue, causing severe complications or even coma.

Even for Tsunade, a veteran of countless battles, the technique wasn't as effortless as what she was seeing from Shin.

Yet here he was, pulling off medical ninjutsu as if it were second nature.

Tsunade leaned back, rubbing her temples as she sighed.

"Why the hell does this brat make everything look so damn easy…?"