The sun set in the west.
Night had completely fallen.
After asking the inn's landlady to hire an obasan about her age to take care of Jiraiya, Ren and the others stopped bothering with the man who was currently questioning his life choices.
They went straight downstairs into a private dining room to enjoy a lavish dinner.
Inside the private room.
Tsunade's expression turned cold.
Squinting slightly, she scrutinized Ren.
"You brat… when exactly did you learn Sage Arts?"
"You mastered Sage Mode on your own at eight years old? And you kept it from me for so long!"
Grinding her teeth in irritation, she stepped forward and reached out to grab his ear.
"Do you even know how violent natural energy is? One mistake and even if you don't die, you could end up crippled!"
"Don't be angry, Tsunade-nee. I mastered it not long before you and Shizune returned to the village…"
Dodging Tsunade, who looked ready to pounce, Ren quickly explained.
"Because of my Wood Release, I sensed the existence of natural energy very early on. So after making sufficient preparations, I tried letting a Shadow Clone absorb natural energy into its body, combining it with spiritual energy and physical energy."
"Unexpectedly, I accidentally refined senjutsu chakra, and just naturally learned Sage Arts."
"At first, I didn't even know that was Sage Arts."
"Later, after reading the records collected by the Uchiha clan, as well as the Wood Release scroll left by the First Hokage that you gave me, I confirmed that it should indeed be senjutsu chakra."
He shrugged helplessly, speaking half-truthfully.
"Hmph. Then why didn't you say so earlier?"
Tsunade rolled her eyes and didn't pursue the matter further.
Originally, she had planned that in a couple of years she would send Ren to Shikkotsu Forest to learn Sage Arts.
And if there was a chance later, he could also go to Mount Myoboku to study their Sage Arts.
Perhaps—like the First Hokage—he could integrate the traditions of the two sacred lands and develop his own unique Sage Arts.
But she hadn't expected that Ren would figure it out on his own.
At eight years old, he had already stumbled upon and developed Sage Arts by himself.
Not only could he enter Sage Mode instantly, but it also seemed quite powerful.
It was honestly hard to believe.
"Well, at first, since you were still unfamiliar to me, I couldn't just have zero precautions," Ren said, spreading his hands.
"And later… I was mainly afraid of scaring you."
"After all, I'd already given you plenty of surprises."
"More like shocks."
Shizune corrected him from the side.
Ever since meeting him, her entire worldview had been overturned.
From medical ninjutsu, to Wood Release, to the Mangekyo Sharingan…
She had never seen such an absurd prodigy.
And now she learned that Ren had mastered Sage Mode at eight years old.
It was simply unbelievable.
"Fine, you pass."
Tsunade knocked lightly on Ren's head.
"Alright, let's eat."
She patted her disciple's shoulder, praising him with satisfaction.
"But you did well earlier. That guy Jiraiya deserved a proper lesson."
"Wasn't that a little too ruthless?"
Shizune said with a smile from the side.
"Tsk tsk, I didn't expect even Lord Jiraiya to get fleeced by you, Ren."
Now that Tsunade had two disciples—Ren and Karin—she devoted most of her energy and effort into teaching them.
Although she still couldn't completely quit gambling, she had restrained herself considerably.
This was also related to the fact that she had resolved the knot in her heart and was no longer as depressed and repressed as before.
Nowadays, as the group's "Minister of Finance," Shizune was always smiling.
She no longer had to worry about money all day like she used to.
Over the past two years, Tsunade's massive debts had gradually been completely repaid.
She even held quite a large sum of money now.
Even without Ren's help, their daily life was fully secure.
Compared to the past—when they had to follow Tsunade around avoiding debt collectors and sometimes sleep out in the wild—life now was naturally far more pleasant.
Moreover, under Ren's subtle influence, Shizune had grown bolder.
She frequently rejected Tsunade's requests for gambling money with stern words.
It made Tsunade grind her teeth in frustration.
But there was nothing she could do about it.
"Ton~ ton~"
Beside Shizune, Tonton squealed, unwilling to be left out.
Karin counted on her fingers and calculated,
"Thirty million ryo… that's enough for two or three months of our travel expenses!"
In truth, Jiraiya wasn't the only rich one.
As one of the most famous medical masters in the ninja world, if Tsunade hadn't been addicted to gambling, the wealth she could have accumulated would have been astonishing.
Her fortune would certainly have surpassed Jiraiya's by far.
After all, when nobles and high officials invited Tsunade to treat them, the payment they offered was extremely generous.
Because the cases were usually severe illnesses or even ones declared incurable by other doctors.
Yet she pulled those patients back from the brink of death.
Whether out of gratitude or the desire to build connections…
Most nobles paid extremely handsomely.
Only a few narrow-minded and stingy individuals failed to do so.
Thirty million ryo.
For ordinary people, that was an enormous sum.
Something they might never earn even in several lifetimes.
But for Tsunade, it really wasn't that difficult.
The title "Medical Master" itself was a golden signboard.
There were always people eager to throw money at her.
Sometimes they even worried they wouldn't be able to find her.
When Karin said "two or three months," that was already considering that the group spent most of their time traveling, and Tsunade also spent a lot of time teaching them.
Of course, they weren't the kind of people who chased money.
They didn't only treat wealthy nobles.
During these two years of traveling, they frequently treated ordinary people for free.
Just like earlier, when Tsunade had sent Karin to treat civilians suffering from illnesses.
It wasn't that they were blindly saving everyone they met.
But while using those opportunities to train their medical ninjutsu—
they were indeed helping people.
Calling patients "lab rats" was just a joke.
They didn't truly treat them like test subjects.
Tsunade only allowed Karin to practice because she believed her disciple had reached that level.
And both she and Shizune watched closely from the side.
"That amount of money is nothing to him."
Ren showed no guilt at all about fleecing Jiraiya.
Smiling, he said,
"And honestly, if it weren't for the fact that Tsunade-nee knows him, he'd have lost far more than just that."
"Mm, that guy does deserve a lesson."
"Alright, enough about him…"
As if suddenly remembering something, Ren smiled at Shizune.
"Oh right, Shizune-senpai. Come to my room later tonight. I suddenly have a bold idea…"
After mastering the Spirit Transformation Technique earlier that day—
and thoroughly testing it that afternoon—
he wanted to try something on Shizune.
"Eh!?"
Shizune froze instantly.
Her eyes widened as she looked at the handsome Ren, her face turning bright red.
"T-this…"
Ren wanted her to go to his room after dinner?
How could that possibly be okay?
Actually… maybe… it wasn't completely impossible…
"No!"
Karin clenched her fists.
Her cute little face flushed red as she glared angrily at Ren.
"You jerk, Ren! Don't even think about doing anything bad to Shizune-senpai!"
Her tsundere personality would never admit it.
But deep in her heart, Ren's figure had long been etched there.
If Ren had said those words to her instead—
whether she would object or not…
was actually hard to say.
"A bold idea?"
Tsunade smiled mischievously.
Clearly enjoying the chaos, she teased,
"Ara ara~ Ren has grown up, huh? Wanting to make a move on your senior sister?"
But when she suddenly remembered yesterday's absurd incident—
her beautiful face couldn't help turning slightly red.
For some reason, she felt a bit guilty.
"..."
Ren's mouth twitched.
What were these people even thinking?
He was only ten years old, okay?!
"What I meant was that I just learned the Spirit Transformation Technique…"
Seeing Shizune blushing so hard she looked like she might start steaming, clearly misunderstanding him, he had no choice but to explain.
"This technique is quite special. It allows the user to control another person's body."
"I want to try attaching my spirit to Shizune-senpai's body and see if I can help her form the Yin Seal."
"That's still not—… eh?"
Karin, who had just been ready to angrily scold him, suddenly froze.
A moment later, she reacted.
Her face filled with surprise and joy.
So she misunderstood?
Of course!
She knew Ren wasn't that kind of person.
"Spirit Transformation Technique? Isn't that my uncle's—"
As the person involved, Shizune had also realized she misunderstood.
She felt both embarrassed and mortified.
Under normal circumstances, she would have wanted to bury herself underground out of shame.
But now—
she stared at Ren with astonishment and disbelief.
The Spirit Transformation Technique.
She was extremely familiar with it.
Because her uncle, Kato Dan, had been most famous for that very technique while he was alive.
He had once used it to slaughter enemies on the battlefield.
His name had struck fear into countless foes.
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