"So who is this person you're talking about? I've been traveling outside for so many years - maybe I know them too."
Although she did not suspect anything, Furina's mysterious attitude still piqued Tsunade's curiosity. Who exactly could be compared to her?
"That person is... a secret! Everyone has their little secrets, right? Lady Tsunade, please don't pry too much. It puts me in a tough spot~"
"Fine, fine. If you little brat don't want to say, then don't. Acting like I'm dying to know."
Since Furina had outright refused, Tsunade naturally would not be tactless and keep pressing. She really did not understand what there was to hide anyway. It was baffling.
Looking at Tsunade's disdainful expression, Furina could not help but feel a bit helpless. Even if I told you, you wouldn't know her. Do you know Otsutsuki Kaguya? Of course you don't.
Of course, the main reason was still that her strength was not yet strong enough. Names like that could not be thrown around carelessly. If some thousand-year-old monster overheard, it would be bad news.
As for what her goal regarding Otsutsuki Kaguya was, did that even need saying? Naturally, it was strength. Everything else was something the other party should aspire to in relation to her.
...
After returning to the village, Tsunade naturally took over the position of Hokage. With Jiraiya not competing, no one in all of Konoha was more suitable than her - and that included a certain old man of Konoha.
In the Hokage's office
"Danzo, from now on, stay out of Karin's affairs. She is now a comrade of the village just like anyone else. If you insist on not listening and take action against a comrade,
then I won't be polite to you either. Sensei Sarutobi had a good relationship with you and tolerated everything you did, including your Root. But I'm not like him."
In the office, Tsunade stood with her arms crossed, coldly staring at the gloomy old man opposite her with bandages wrapped around his face - Danzo.
After listening to Furina's exaggerated retelling of Karin's story, Tsunade had no doubts at all. She immediately summoned Danzo here for a warning. She knew exactly what kind of person he was.
"Tsunade, I'm also thinking of the village. As long as you hand Karin over to me, I guarantee I can make her absolutely loyal to the village. That way, even if something happens to the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, we can still..."
"Bang!"
Before Danzo could finish speaking, Tsunade stomped down hard. The massive sound directly interrupted him. Looking at the huge crack in the floor, Danzo could not help but frown tightly. When Hiruzen was still around, he would never have been interrupted like this.
"Stop targeting comrades, Elder Danzo. This is my final warning to you."
Tsunade did not care whether Danzo frowned or not. She directly issued him an ultimatum. If he still refused to see reason, she would not mind taking action against him - starting with Root.
Through Tsunade's ice-cold beautiful eyes, Danzo could roughly guess her intentions. In the end, he could only give up. Even though he controlled many elite ninjas in Root, he still could not compare to Tsunade, who had become Hokage.
"Tsunade, you will regret this."
"Danzo, I am the Hokage!"
Hearing Tsunade's familiar response, the gloom in Danzo's heart eased slightly. But he also knew there was no point in staying any longer. He took a few steps to the door and pulled it hard.
"Thud"
Looking at the tightly locked door, the coldness on Tsunade's face gradually faded, replaced by a smile. Heh, it felt pretty good. No wonder so many people wanted to be Hokage.
However, Tsunade's smile only lasted a moment before disappearing. The huge crack in the floor reminded her that she would need repairs again. She had already lost count of how many times this had happened.
If it were just patching up the damage, she would not mind. What she minded was that she was probably going to get nagged again.
"Tsunade-sensei, I'm here! I just saw that guy Danzo storm out angrily from outside. I guess your talk went really smoothly, huh?"
"Here we go, the person has arrived."
Hearing the sound of the door being pushed open and the questioning voice coming from outside at the same time, Tsunade's suspended heart finally settled. This little brat had really been squatting outside the whole time. Did she really not trust her teacher that much?
After returning to Konoha, Tsunade had expressed through Jiraiya her desire to take Furina as her disciple. Furina was naturally delighted. She had been thinking about how to build a good relationship with her anyway.
Now that a pillow had been delivered just as she was dozing off, of course she would not refuse. It was a case of mutual affection. So, with Kakashi as witness, the two established their master-disciple relationship on the same day.
As for whether Kakashi would feel any resentment because of it, naturally he would not. He was happy that his disciple could have better development.
After all, as Furina's strength progressed, Kakashi had realized he could no longer teach her much. Having a better master take over her training without delaying her progress suited his wishes perfectly.
"Of course. Don't you see who your master is? Speaking of which, how's your practice going on the ninjutsu I taught you?"
After smoothly praising herself following Furina's words, Tsunade shamelessly changed the subject - though the transition was a bit stiff.
"Oh~ You mean that? Of course I've been practicing the ninjutsu you taught me properly, Sensei. I've pretty much mastered them all by now. It's just that it's not really suitable to perform here."
Although Furina's words sounded ordinary, to Tsunade they always felt like the other was teasing her. There was no helping it - after this period of interaction, the other's frivolous and mischievous personality had already left an impression on her.
But now was not the time to think about that. She truly had not expected her disciple to master her Yin Seal in such a short time. Although she had known about the other's talent before, seeing it now still left her inevitably surprised.
"Then hurry up and show me. The Yin Seal shouldn't cause any issues here, right?" Although she knew Furina did not like to brag, Tsunade still wanted to confirm it herself. After all, this was somewhat earth-shattering.
Hearing this, Furina naturally would not refuse. Or rather, even if Tsunade had not asked, she would have shown her anyway. This way, when she later asked for the training method for Sage Mode, she could avoid being seen as overly ambitious.
Looking at the diamond-shaped black mark slowly appearing on Furina's forehead, Tsunade confirmed that the other was not bluffing. She then prepared to ask about her progress on creating the Creation Rebirth - Strength of a Hundred Technique.
You might have learned the Yin Seal in a few days, but surely you could not have learned this one too? While there was still a chance, she as the teacher could still guide her a bit.
"What?!"
"Creation Rebirth - Strength of a Hundred Technique!"
Watching the curse mark spread from Furina's forehead across her entire body, Tsunade's eyes instantly filled with disbelief. What kind of joke was this? She had even mastered this - and without her guidance?
Suddenly, Tsunade felt she understood Kakashi. She now knew why he had looked at her with such a meaningful gaze back then.
Having a disciple who was too much of a genius could be really depressing for the master. Turned out her only role was to hand over the ninjutsu, and after that she had nothing left to do. What was this even?