"Hehe…"
Ren's lips curled upward.
Looking at Tsunade, who had readily accepted the bet, he said playfully,
"You said it yourself, Tsunade-nee. No backing out later!"
"Hmph. I want to see exactly how you're going to master the Flying Thunder God Technique in two or three hours."
Tsunade crossed her arms and glanced sideways at him.
"Let me tell you— the Fourth Hokage had the greatest talent among all the Hokage. The only thing he lacked was special bloodlines like the Uchiha, Senju, or Uzumaki."
"In fact, if he hadn't died young, his achievements wouldn't have been inferior to my granduncle's."
As the princess of the Senju clan,
Tsunade had seen countless geniuses.
Normally she would be extremely critical.
But even she had to acknowledge the talent of the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato.
He was truly a once-in-a-century genius.
And he possessed a charisma that few others could match.
It was just a pity that he died so early.
"Just wait and be amazed."
Ren smiled.
He acknowledged Minato's talent.
But aside from having comprehension that rivaled—or even surpassed—the Fourth Hokage,
he also possessed an advantage Minato never had.
Ridiculous chakra reserves.
Ren sat down.
He opened the scroll containing the Flying Thunder God Technique
and began reading it carefully, word by word.
"If this were the Sealed Book, it might contain the Fourth Hokage's own annotations and cultivation insights…"
Tsunade said with a teasing smile.
"But now that the Third Hokage has started to guard against you, Danzō probably can't access the Sealed Book anymore."
She knew very well that with Ren's comprehension,
if he had Minato's notes and training experience,
he could definitely master the technique in the shortest time possible.
"You underestimate me, Tsunade-nee…"
Ren didn't even raise his head.
He studied the Flying Thunder God Technique seriously.
Half an hour passed.
He carefully analyzed every line,
turning each sentence over in his mind
until it was completely memorized.
"Alright."
Ren smiled.
He suddenly opened the window.
Then he turned back toward Tsunade with a grin.
"See you later. Make sure you're washed and ready for me."
Before the words had fully settled,
he dashed off into the distance.
"You shameless little pervert!"
Tsunade's eyelid twitched after being teased.
She had always known the kid was bold.
But she never expected Ren to actually set his sights on her.
She wasn't stupid.
How could she not notice his intentions?
Or rather—
Ren had never even bothered hiding the fact that he admired his teacher.
At that moment,
one of the wood clones—who had just finished learning a simple low-level sealing technique—looked up with a mischievous grin.
"Heh, Tsunade-nee. The real one really likes you."
"…."
Tsunade pressed a hand to her forehead.
"I'm starting to get a headache dealing with a kid who entered puberty too early."
Contrary to rumors,
she had never actually had any romantic relationship with Dan Kato.
They were simply ordinary friends.
Tsunade wasn't opposed to marriage.
But she had simply never met anyone who truly moved her heart.
Born into a prestigious clan and known as one of the legendary Sannin,
her standards were naturally extremely high.
Up until now,
she had yet to meet someone she genuinely admired.
Of course, Tsunade knew very well how attractive she was to men.
She had always been confident in her figure.
Especially to someone young and impulsive like Ren.
Ren's appearance?
Flawless.
Even among the Uchiha—who were famous for their looks—she had never seen anyone more handsome than him.
And beyond his looks,
there was an indescribable aura about him.
As for strength—
this disciple of hers was a monster that defied common sense.
He could probably defeat her without even using his hands.
His personality wasn't bad either.
Calm, mature, rational, yet still gentle.
A perfect prince on a white horse.
Someone like that
completely matched the kind of partner Tsunade had imagined when she was younger.
But unfortunately—
he was her disciple.
And she herself was already middle-aged.
In her forties or fifties.
If this were the chaotic Warring States era,
she could practically be his grandmother.
Back then, the average life expectancy was around thirty.
Especially for ninja,
who constantly risked their lives in battle.
Even children only a few years old were sometimes sent to war.
To ensure their bloodlines continued,
many families arranged marriages as early as fourteen or fifteen.
Tsunade rubbed her temples and sighed softly.
She began wondering how she could guide this kid properly—
so he wouldn't sink deeper into these feelings.
She couldn't exactly avoid her own disciple every day.
And at this stage,
she definitely couldn't allow Ren to return to Konoha alone.
She was certain that if he did,
he would leave wood clones behind to handle missions
while he himself buried his head in forbidden technique research using Root's resources.
If that continued for too long,
the environment and methods of Root might eventually corrupt him.
"Why can't this brat just fall for Karin instead?"
"Or even Shizune!"
Tsunade had to admit—
if nothing else,
Ren's ridiculously handsome face alone could make anyone lose focus.
Even she occasionally felt a momentary daze looking at him.
No wonder Karin was completely infatuated.
If Ren hadn't noticed it early and deliberately teased her to correct her behavior,
that girl might have rushed into his arms the moment he beckoned.
Even Shizune sometimes looked at Ren with slightly strange eyes.
"What kind of mess is this…"
Tsunade felt a headache coming on.
"But wait… that brat wouldn't…"
She suddenly looked at the wood clones still studying sealing techniques.
A realization struck her.
Her face turned pale.
"Oh no! I've been tricked!"
"I forgot he has the Strength of a Hundred Technique—his chakra is enough to use multiple wood clones to train Flying Thunder God!"
"No wonder he didn't recall the chakra from the clones studying here!"
At first, she assumed that even if Ren used clones to train the Flying Thunder God Technique,
he wouldn't be able to create too many.
After all, the technique consumed enormous amounts of chakra.
But she had forgotten—
Ren's chakra reserves were monstrously large.
His Strength of a Hundred Technique didn't require three years of accumulation like hers did.
Suddenly,
Tsunade felt a very ominous premonition.
Could that brat…
really master the ridiculously difficult Flying Thunder God Technique
within three hours?