"Senior Sister, come again tomorrow!"
Half an hour later, Ren withdrew his right hand with a satisfied smile.
The green glow at his fingertips slowly faded away.
"Got it… but you're not allowed to tell anyone!"
Shizune's face was burning red, as if steam might rise from it.
Holding her slightly disheveled clothes, she fled the room as though escaping.
Who knew what had gotten into her?
She had actually been tempted by that bad kid Ren.
She had even almost cried out loud…
It's over! I won't have the face to see anyone now!
But if she really could become like Lady Tsunade…
—
Creak…
Shizune had just returned to her room.
Because it was already very late, Karin had succumbed to sleepiness and was already fast asleep.
Shizune grabbed a clean set of clothes and hurried straight into the bathroom.
"Finished already?"
Tsunade arrived at Ren's room.
Raising an eyebrow, she asked,
"What exactly did you do just now? Why did Shizune run away so fast?"
She had heard the noise earlier and opened the door to look.
She was about to greet Shizune—
but the girl ran so quickly that Tsunade didn't even have time to speak.
She even slammed the door shut behind her.
That made Tsunade instinctively feel that something was strange.
"It was like this…"
Ren didn't hide anything.
With a mischievous grin, he leaned closer and whispered the explanation into her ear.
After listening,
Tsunade's beautiful face turned slightly red.
She rolled her eyes and glared at him.
"You brat—learning all the wrong things!"
"Hehe…"
Ren hugged her and blinked as he asked,
"At least I helped Senior Sister fulfill a dream. Shouldn't Tsunade-nee reward me a little?"
His words carried a double meaning.
As for which dream, that was hard to say.
"Don't even think about it. Yesterday was the last time!"
Tsunade broke free from his arms.
With a stern face, she rejected him outright.
"I'm your teacher, you little punk!"
She was joking on the surface, but she meant it.
If she let him keep messing around like that, she feared that one day she might truly lose control—
and end up becoming the old cow eating tender grass.
"The last time?"
"Still no!"
As one of the Legendary Sannin, Tsunade had strong resolve.
Once she made a decision, she wouldn't easily change it.
"Five million ryo. I'll accompany you to the casino tomorrow."
Ren's eyes rolled slightly as he switched strategies.
He couldn't just lose his newly restored human body pillow.
"No."
Tsunade shook her head immediately.
Her tone was decisive.
Crossing her arms, she glanced at him sideways.
Just this little benefit, and he thinks he can tempt a Sannin like me?
"We'll secretly go to the casino for two days…"
Ren said with a smile.
"I'll leave behind a shadow clone. I promise Shizune and Karin won't find out."
But seeing that Tsunade was still unmoved—
he increased the offer.
"Three days."
Tsunade's eyelids twitched slightly.
Her delicate face showed a hint of hesitation.
She really wanted to refuse.
But Ren was offering too much.
Thinking back to the irresistible dream from yesterday—
her heart trembled unconsciously.
She felt a little afraid.
Yet at the same time…
there was an unavoidable trace of nostalgia.
Forget it.
This will be the last time.
I'll just indulge this little brat once more.
Her expression shifted repeatedly.
Finally, gritting her teeth, Tsunade made her decision.
"Deal!"
After all, nothing truly outrageous had happened.
Wasn't it just being a body pillow?
It wasn't even the first time.
"Alright!"
Ren nodded with a bright smile.
Inside, he was laughing with delight.
Sure enough—
this approach worked best.
"You brat…"
Looking at Ren's youthful and handsome face, glowing with happiness,
Tsunade sighed softly.
"Ren… this really is the last time."
This strange fate between them—
honestly frightened her a little.
"Then I'll have to treasure it even more."
Meanwhile—
Ren had no idea that outside the town,
on the battlefield where he fought Jiraiya that afternoon,
a strange figure resembling a pitcher plant slowly emerged from the ground.
In the end, Ren was still just a mortal—albeit a powerful one.
Naturally, he couldn't keep his perception abilities active every second of every day.
Living so cautiously would be exhausting.
That wasn't the kind of life he wanted.
The mysterious figure was surprising.
Half of its body was white, while the other half was black.
The white half of its face looked exactly like the White Zetsu clone Ren had previously destroyed.
The sight was rather eerie.
"Ahh, how frightening."
Under the moonlight,
White Zetsu looked around the devastated battlefield with surprise.
"I heard that besides Tsunade-hime, one of the Legendary Sannin, another Sannin—the 'Mad Oni' Jiraiya—also came here."
"It seems the clone you lost contact with was discovered by them."
Observing the surroundings,
Black Zetsu spoke hoarsely.
"And our mission target might have already been killed by them."
"We haven't heard about any murders happening here these past few days."
"Judging by the scale of this battlefield, that Jashin cult member must have been quite strong."
White Zetsu pointed at the wreckage around them.
"I heard someone saw a giant toad appear. Jiraiya probably fought personally."
"No… haven't you noticed?"
Black Zetsu's gaze darkened.
"There are traces of Wood Release chakra here."
"That forest was clearly created artificially."
He stared at the vast forest covering the battlefield.
Even now, he could clearly sense the vigorous Wood Release chakra lingering within it.
For a moment, he felt deeply shocked.
"Wood Release?"
White Zetsu was astonished.
"So was it Tsunade who did that, or Jiraiya?"
"Tsunade is the granddaughter of the First Hokage. The blood of the Senju clan flows in her veins."
"It wouldn't be impossible."
Black Zetsu analyzed calmly.
"Two years ago, there was a shocking battle outside the capital of the Land of Fire."
"At that time, Wood Release traces were confirmed at the scene."
According to the clues gathered by the Akatsuki,
that battle involved Danzo, one of Konoha's top leaders, leading his Root subordinates.
The target of that operation seemed to be Tsunade.
Because on that very day, she had left the capital with her disciples.
But the final result showed that Root had suffered heavy losses and quietly retreated.
At the time, they believed those Wood Release traces had been left by Danzo.
After all, Danzo was rumored to have secret dealings with Orochimaru, who had long been researching the First Hokage's cells.
But now—
it seemed more likely that Tsunade herself had awakened the Wood Release bloodline limit.
"So… should we monitor them?"
White Zetsu asked.
Black Zetsu thought for a moment before shaking his head.
"They were able to detect your clone. That proves their sensory ability is very strong."
"It's better not to act rashly."
"Let's return and report this to Obito first."
Being able to create such a large forest—and leaving behind such powerful chakra traces—
proved that Tsunade's Wood Release wasn't weak.
Clearly, it wasn't like Obito's half-baked version.
"…Let's go."
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