Tsunade felt Shishou's intense gaze and inexplicably blushed but said nothing.
"Tch," Shishou clicked his tongue in disappointment, then looked at Tsunade and said, "I can not only learn senjutsu myself, but I can also teach others to learn it."
Hmm, curse marks also count as a form of senjutsu, Shishou added in his mind.
"Boasting!" Tsunade took a swig from the sake bottle beside her, gave Shishou a disdainful look, and said, "If you can teach Shizune my grandfather's senjutsu, I'll be your woman. Ugh..."
Tsunade downed the rest of the sake, smiled at Shishou, burped, and then collapsed on the floor, asleep.
She was already drunk.
"You said it yourself," Shishou muttered, tucking the senjutsu scroll into his robe and heading towards the door.
Bang!
He flung open the wooden door, revealing Shizune, who was eavesdropping.
This girl might as well be from the Yamanaka clan.
This was the second time...
Seeing Shizune's embarrassed face from being caught eavesdropping, Shishou was speechless.
"I was just checking on Lady Tsunade," Shizune awkwardly explained.
She had just sent Ino and Hinata home and returned to find the lights on in this room, which made her curious enough to eavesdrop.
"You heard everything?" Shishou asked, stepping aside to let Shizune in.
"Yes, I heard a bit," Shizune nodded.
"Once you learn senjutsu, you'll be able to protect yourself. Do you want to learn senjutsu?" Shishou asked. If Shizune didn't want to learn senjutsu, no matter how skilled he was, it would be useless.
Remembering how she almost caused Tsunade's death by dragging her down last time, Shizune nodded firmly, "I do!"
"If you want to learn senjutsu, you'll have to listen to me from now on. Are you prepared for that?" Shishou asked casually while picking through the pile of scrolls.
With Tsunade drunk and Shizune compliant, he felt it was only fair to take some scrolls for himself.
"Yes!" Shizune nodded solemnly, though she hesitated seeing what Shishou was doing.
"I'll leave her in your care. I'll come back to find you later," Shishou said after picking a few scrolls he thought might be useful, then walked over to Shizune and pinched her cheek.
Blushing, Shizune obediently let him pinch her cheek like a docile little rabbit, remembering Shishou's words.
How obedient, truly adorable.
Shishou praised her and then disappeared.
The next day.
Tsunade woke up, blinking her eyes.
Then she widened her eyes in frustration, grabbing her throbbing head.
She remembered the bet she made with Shishou last night.
"This sake is truly harmful!!!"
...
A few days later.
In a forest near the border of the Land of Fire.
"So, how did it go?" Shishou asked the figure before him.
"Lady Tsunade is indeed in Konoha," the figure turned, revealing Uchiha Itachi's face.
After their brief exchange last time, Itachi had not fully trusted Shishou and had used his own information channels to investigate Konoha, confirming that Shishou's words were true before deciding to cooperate with him.
Hearing Itachi's words, Shishou wasn't surprised because everything he told Itachi was true.
Except for hiding his relationship with Mikoto and the identity of Uchiha Izumi.
This wasn't out of concern but because he feared Itachi wouldn't accept it.
"Your strength has increased again..." Itachi observed, pursing his lips.
Last time, Itachi didn't feel it as clearly, but now he could sense the powerful aura emanating from Shishou.
"I've had a breakthrough recently," Shishou admitted, then continued, "I want you to help me find information on Zetsu or locate his secret base."
"Zetsu? You mean Black Zetsu?" Itachi asked, surprised.
"Yes, I want to know where he is," Shishou nodded.
His target was the biggest mastermind in the ninja world—Black Zetsu!
If he wanted to reform the ninja world and prevent the Fourth Great Ninja War, Black Zetsu was a necessary enemy to eliminate.
Hearing this, Itachi shook his head, "He can move quickly with his Mayfly technique, making it impossible to track him, just like how the Akatsuki can't track you because of your Flying Thunder God technique."
Hearing Itachi's explanation, Shishou frowned, then asked, "What are the Akatsuki's recent plans?"
"Recruiting new members and lying low," Itachi replied, glancing at Shishou before continuing, "The leader of the Akatsuki has his eyes on you and plans to recruit you, so be careful."
Recruit me into Akatsuki?
Unless you send Konan to beg me, I won't even consider it.
Shishou muttered to himself, signaling Itachi not to worry.
Before, he would have been concerned about facing the Six Paths of Pain alone, but now, he was eager to fight them and test his current strength.
"Is there anything else?" Itachi asked, narrowing his eyes as Shishou seemed unconcerned about the Akatsuki leader.
Shishou, deep in thought about how to lure out Black Zetsu, suddenly asked, "Is Black Zetsu responsible for reconnaissance in the Akatsuki?"
"Yes," Itachi confirmed.
Hearing this, Shishou thought of a plan.
He wrote something on a piece of paper and threw it to Itachi.
Since they didn't fully trust each other, they maintained a thirty-meter distance.
"Are you sure about this? The leader might come after you," Itachi asked, surprised after reading the note.
The note revealed that Shishou would be in a desert city in the Land of Wind next month, and Itachi needed to leak this information to the Akatsuki.
"I'm sure," Shishou nodded, ready to risk it to lure out Black Zetsu and send him to meet his mother, Kaguya.
Besides, he was genuinely curious to fight the Six Paths of Pain to test his strength.
"If that's the case, I know what to do. Goodbye," Itachi said, burning the note and using the Body Flicker Technique to leave.
He had been away from Kisame for too long and needed to return to avoid suspicion.
"Don't forget what I told you earlier," Shishou called out as Itachi left.
Itachi glanced back at Shishou, said nothing, and swiftly departed.
After ensuring everything was clear, Shishou used the Flying Thunder God to leave the forest and return to his secret lab.
Swish!
Shishou's figure appeared on the teleportation platform, and he walked straight to the lab.
The female assistant had been sent away, leaving the base empty.
Entering the lab, Shishou retrieved the golden caterpillar and the healing bug from the insect breeding space.
His Sharingan spun rapidly, connecting into a pattern.
Mangekyou Sharingan—Left Eye—Takama no Hara—Biological Acceleration: Accelerates or pauses the growth state of the target organism!
Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 338 at patreon.com/Betek.