"Wuuuu—"
The wind roared.
The massive sunflower spun continuously.
Powerful gusts of air pressure propelled the Ren–brand helicopter rapidly toward the distance.
"That's quite a convenient technique…"
Watching the clouds rushing past outside, Tsunade stared deeply at Ren—only eight years old, yet monstrously talented.
As if she had made up her mind about something, she suddenly spoke to him.
"Come to think of it, I haven't given you a meeting gift yet, Ren."
"A meeting gift?"
Ren was stunned for a moment.
Then he smiled.
"That's not necessary. Being able to become your disciple and learn medical ninjutsu from you, Tsunade-nee, is already more than enough for me."
He truly didn't care about any gift.
Even if Tsunade gave him the crystal necklace she wore around her neck—the one containing the Wood Release chakra of the First Hokage—
It wouldn't be of much use to him.
After all, he was already a Logia-type Mori Mori Fruit user.
If he really wanted to, he could probably condense a similar crystal using Wood Release chakra himself.
Of course…
If it were those two heavy pendants on her chest, that would be a different matter entirely.
"Eh?"
Ren blinked as he watched Tsunade close her eyes.
She bit her finger and began forming hand seals rapidly.
"Lady Tsunade, are you going to—"
Shizune's pupils shrank slightly as she seemed to guess something.
"Summoning Technique!"
Because of her hemophobia, Tsunade had to keep her eyes closed as she completed the hand seals.
She pressed both hands onto the ground.
Under Ren and Shizune's surprised gazes—
A large summoning formula spread across the ground.
"Bang!"
Smoke filled the air.
A half-human-tall blue slug appeared.
"So this is the Summoning Technique?"
Ren looked at it with curiosity and great interest.
Through such a technique, one could summon a creature from an extremely distant place.
It was truly incredible.
"Lady Katsuyu, hello… Lady Tsunade, I'll treat your wound!"
Having recovered from the surprise, Shizune politely greeted the slug.
She quickly stepped forward to treat Tsunade—who suffered from hemophobia—and wiped away the blood.
As Tsunade's disciple,
Shizune naturally knew the name of her summoning beast.
Slug was merely its species.
Katsuyu was its true name.
It was a divided body separated from the Slug Sage, the ancestor of Shikkotsu Forest.
According to legend, the real Slug Sage's true body was unimaginably enormous.
Even if Lady Tsunade used her full strength, she still couldn't summon even one-tenth of its original body.
"Lady Tsunade, Shizune—it has been quite a while."
Katsuyu spoke gently.
"Katsuyu, this is my newly accepted disciple, Senya Ren. I want him to sign the summoning contract of Shikkotsu Forest."
Tsunade said directly.
"Lady Tsunade's new disciple?"
Katsuyu looked at Ren with surprise.
"Lady Katsuyu, Ren is a descendant of the Senju Clan, and he possesses Lord Hashirama's Wood Release!"
Shizune added.
"The First Hokage's Wood Release? How impressive…"
Katsuyu sounded shocked.
She hadn't expected that the child before her—only eight or nine years old—
Had awakened the Wood Release of the First Hokage.
"So this is your summoning beast, Tsunade-nee?"
Ren examined Katsuyu.
He understood Tsunade's intention.
Although he personally preferred more majestic and domineering summoning beasts, he had no intention of rejecting his teacher's goodwill.
After all, there was no rule stating that one could only sign a single summoning contract.
As one of the three great summoning holy lands of the ninja world,
Katsuyu's excellent healing ability and combat capability were quite impressive.
And in the future, he also wanted to see for himself—
What was special about the sage arts of Shikkotsu Forest.
After all, the Sage Mode he possessed had been something he explored on his own.
It was different from the sage arts of the three great holy lands.
Perhaps he could even learn something from them.
That made it even harder to refuse.
"Since it is Lady Tsunade's request, we naturally will not refuse."
As she spoke,
The half-human-tall Katsuyu wriggled her abdomen.
A damp scroll was spit out and rolled toward Ren.
It unfolded directly in front of him.
A long list of names covered the scroll, dazzling to the eyes.
At the very end—
Was Tsunade's name.
"Lord Ren, please write your name on it and leave your handprint."
Katsuyu said.
"Tsunade-nee, this…"
"You don't want to?"
Tsunade asked with a smile.
"Although Katsuyu's appearance isn't particularly imposing, both her healing ability and combat power are outstanding among summoning beasts."
There was something she didn't say.
The real reason she wanted Ren to sign the contract—
Was that Shikkotsu Forest, a sacred land equal to Mount Myōboku and Ryūchi Cave, possessed a long inheritance of sage arts.
Even she herself had not yet mastered the sage arts of Shikkotsu Forest.
But she believed that someday, Ren definitely could.
"No, I'll sign it… but please close your eyes first, Tsunade-nee."
Ren smiled.
Without hesitation, he bit his finger.
He wrote his name on the summoning contract and pressed down his fingerprint.
Moments later, after wiping away the blood—
The small wound had already disappeared.
"Please take care of me in the future, Lady Katsuyu."
Seeing how humble and polite her new contractor was,
Katsuyu sounded pleased.
"Hello, Ren-kun."
Tsunade, who had turned her head away early to avoid seeing blood, turned back after Shizune reminded her.
She spoke frankly.
"Katsuyu, I didn't summon you only for Ren to sign the contract…"
"There's also that special secret technique scroll I left with you before."
"Understood, Lady Tsunade."
Katsuyu nodded.
Her abdomen wriggled again.
Another scroll—half a meter tall—was spat out.
"What is this?"
Ren was shocked.
"Yes. My grandfather gave this to me before he passed away. Inside are all the Wood Release ninjutsu he created in his lifetime…"
Tsunade took the scroll.
A trace of nostalgia appeared on her face as her expression turned complex.
"The one left in Konoha is only a copy. The one I have here is the original—and it's more complete."
"But unfortunately, neither I nor anyone else in the Senju Clan has been able to awaken the Wood Release bloodline limit."
Tsunade's words shocked Ren.
So it turned out—
The Wood Release ninjutsu held by the Third Hokage and Shimura Danzō were incomplete.
He had even been considering whether he should take the Wood Release techniques developed by the First Hokage from Danzō someday.
"Now, I'll give it to you, Ren."
With a serious expression, Tsunade handed the half-meter scroll to him.
"This…"
Ren stared at her blankly.
He had guessed that Tsunade might possess scrolls related to Wood Release ninjutsu.
But logically, she shouldn't be handing them to him so soon.
After all, he had only recently become her disciple.
Tsunade wasn't the type of person to act irrationally.
At the very least, it should take two or three years before he truly gained her full trust.
"Kid, never give up on your dream."
Tsunade looked straight into Ren's stunned eyes.
She gently patted his handsome cheek.
Filled with expectation, she smiled warmly.
"I'm looking forward to returning to the village someday to attend your inauguration ceremony as the Fifth Hokage."
If it's you—
You will definitely become Hokage.
Along with Nawaki's dream as well.
Ren.
"Lady Tsunade!"
Shizune looked shocked.
Then she revealed a hopeful smile.
"Junior Brother Ren, you have to work hard!"
Ren: "…"
The earnest expectation and complete trust from Tsunade and Shizune
Made him feel that the two of them had misunderstood something.
Become Hokage?
What he had originally said was that he wanted to become the man of the Fifth Hokage, not the Fifth Hokage himself!
…
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