Tsunade refused.
It was too ridiculous to expect a mature woman in her thirties or forties to recognize someone she had just met as her father.
"Gurararara!" Whitebeard didn't mind Tsunade's refusal at all. He laughed, "If you ever want to join this family, the Whitebeard Pirates will always welcome an excellent ship doctor. Then, you will be my child, part of my family, and a member of the Whitebeard Pirates!"
Tsunade was speechless.
Since leaving Konoha, she has wandered around the ninja world for many years. During those years, many people tried to recruit her, including other ninja villages and even some nobles.
But this was the first time someone tried to recruit her by inviting her to be their "child" and join their big family.
A family...
Tsunade felt a bit dizzy. How long had it been since she heard that word?
Did she desire to have a family? Did she long for family members?
To be honest, Tsunade did. Her longing for family was much stronger than many people's, and her feelings for her family were much deeper. Otherwise, she wouldn't have developed an immense fear of blood due to the deaths of Nawaki and Dan Kato.
But she was not a child-like Naruto.
Tsunade took a deep breath.
"Lord Whitebeard, right now, I don't even want to be a ninja, let alone a pirate," she said.
The key was, how could she, a woman, become a son?
Wait!
Why did she think that was the key?
Tsunade was startled by her thoughts.
...
Nightfall came.
Whitebeard and his group decided to rest in the small town for the night. After all, Whitebeard had just undergone surgery.
Both Whitebeard and Naruto slept soundly.
But Kakashi couldn't sleep at all.
Whitebeard's words not only stunned Tsunade but also affected Kakashi, who was an orphan from Konoha.
Ever since his father's suicide, Kakashi had been alone.
Even though he never took off his mask, even when sleeping, one could still see the complex expression in his visible eye. He was troubled and restless.
To be honest, without avoiding his true feelings, Kakashi admitted he was a bit envious of Naruto.
Naruto, like him, had no family and no bonds with anyone in the world. Until Naruto met Whitebeard, this boy formed a deep bond with him.
Whitebeard had proven himself to be a real father figure, not letting Naruto down.
"White-haired kid, be my son!" — Although Whitebeard hadn't said this in several days, tonight, this sentence echoed in Kakashi's mind repeatedly.
He couldn't forget the look in Whitebeard's eyes when he said, "The Whitebeard Pirates are not a force but a family."
"Seriously!"
Kakashi grabbed a pillow beside him and covered his face with it.
...
By the next morning, at five o'clock, Kakashi got up, yawning and with dark circles under his eyes. He hadn't slept at all the previous night.
The reason for getting up so early was that it was time for Naruto's grueling training.
"Gurararara! Idiot son! Run faster!"
Whitebeard's roar made it impossible to sleep.
"Aaahhh! Dad! I'm running as fast as I can!"
Naruto's screams were also hard to ignore.
Despite not being related by blood, this father-son pair was full of energy every day at this time.
Especially Whitebeard.
It was as if he hadn't undergone surgery yesterday or had a night of heavy drinking.
Too energetic!
"Hmm?" Kakashi suddenly noticed something and turned to see Tsunade standing beside him.
Tsunade sighed and muttered, "How can anyone sleep with this racket? It's such a disturbance!"
Even if it had been quiet last night, she wouldn't have been able to sleep. But that didn't stop her from complaining.
"Also..." Tsunade looked ahead.
Watching Naruto being pushed to the brink of exhaustion, her eyelid twitched. "What is Whitebeard doing? Is he trying to kill Naruto?"
"This is their training," Kakashi explained. "Naruto has been enduring this for a long time."
After saying this, Kakashi suddenly paused.
Right!
In his memory, Naruto had been enduring this for almost a month!
This high-intensity training, akin to suicide, would normally cripple a child in less than a day.
But Naruto, despite the intense training, was still full of energy and continued training the next day.
"Naruto is a very resilient child. He works two hundred times harder than others for his dream of becoming Hokage, even if it means risking his life," Kakashi admired.
Tsunade's eyes flashed with a strange light. "Naruto wants to become Hokage?"
Kakashi nodded. "He almost shouts every day that he will become Hokage."
"...So similar," Tsunade murmured.
"Huh?" Kakashi was puzzled.
Tsunade didn't respond.
In her eyes, Naruto's image increasingly overlapped with her memory of Nawaki. Their appearance and personality were strikingly similar.
This coincidence always made Tsunade feel as if her brother had been reincarnated.
But reason told her that was impossible.
At that moment, Whitebeard's voice suddenly rang out: "Gurararara! Idiot son! Want some real combat? Only by fighting and getting beaten up can one become stronger!"
"Real... real combat?" Naruto was shocked. "But Dad, I don't know any jutsu, and I haven't properly learned taijutsu! I can't possibly beat you!"
Although he had been training for almost a month, it had mostly been endurance and strength training.
At most, he had tried extracting chakra in the evenings.
That's all.
He hadn't learned anything else.
"Idiot son!" Whitebeard flicked Naruto's forehead again, making Naruto almost cry out like Tom.
Whitebeard laughed. "When I say real combat, I don't mean fighting me! I'm a pirate, and you're a pirate! When a pirate runs out of money, they go and rob, of course!"
"Rob?" Naruto clutched his head, his eyes lighting up. "Then we'll have lots of treasure again?"
"Gurararara! Of course!!!"
Naruto knew one of Whitebeard's dreams was to hoard a lot of treasure and bring it back to his homeland.
Since it was his father's dream, it was also Naruto's dream.
Naruto was full of enthusiasm!
"Did I hear that right?"
Watching Whitebeard and Naruto leave, Tsunade was stunned. "They're going to rob?"
"Lady Tsunade, you didn't mishear," Kakashi said, with a few black lines on his forehead. "They are indeed going to rob."
Kakashi recalled something and added, "And with Whitebeard's style, it probably won't stop at just robbery."
"What do you mean?" Tsunade asked in confusion.
Kakashi explained, "Whitebeard will likely claim this town as the territory protected by the Whitebeard Pirates. After that, this town will have to pay tribute to him every year. Whitebeard once called it taxation, but I think it's more like... pirates extorting protection money."
"However, Whitebeard usually doesn't target civilians. He mainly goes after the wealthy, especially nobles."
Tsunade was bewildered.
When Tsunade, Kakashi, and Shizune caught up with Whitebeard and Naruto, they found the father and son at a casino in town.
Tsunade's expression became quite complicated.
Because this was the casino where she had lost a lot of money.
And her loan sharks were from this place, too.
The gang members who chased her around yesterday...
We were from this casino.
"Idiot son!"
Whitebeard grabbed Naruto by his clothes.
Under Naruto's wide-eyed stare...
He threw Naruto into the casino, laughing heartily. "Gurararara! This is your first real combat. Don't disgrace the Whitebeard Pirates!"
Naruto thought his dad was going to rob him.
He didn't expect to be thrown in alone!
"Whoa!!!"
Naruto crashed through the casino's window, his small body tumbling inside.
Drawing the attention of all the gamblers.
...
...