Danger!
Hanekawa immediately declared his loyalty: "There's only one teacher in my heart."
Tsunade's killing intent vanished instantly.
Arms crossed, she thought to herself, This little brat knows how to behave.
"Tsunade seems to like Hanekawa a lot," Kushina Uzumaki teased with a sly glance.
"I don't," Tsunade replied flatly. "He's too mischievous."
Kushina merely chuckled, letting the subject drop. Having known Tsunade for years, she understood her better than that.
"Is Minato not here today?" Tsunade asked, changing the topic.
"He's on a mission," Kushina waved it off, joking, "But even if he were, I'd still prioritize spending time with you."
"Liar," Tsunade shot back, smirking. "Who left me hanging last time?"
Kushina cleared her throat awkwardly. "Tsunade, want to play cards?"
"Oh, I'm going to win for sure!" Tsunade perked up.
"Really?" Kushina raised an eyebrow skeptically.
They'd played cards many times before, and Tsunade lost every single time.
"That was the past," Tsunade declared smugly. "I've turned my luck around!"
Since taking Hanekawa along to casinos, her win-loss ratio had flipped in her favor.
"Wait here."
Kushina excused herself to grab a deck of cards.
Hanekawa's lips twitched.
Tsunade clearly hadn't realized the issue—her "turnaround" was thanks to him. But now that he was her opponent, the luck boost wasn't going to work anymore.
"Let's start!" Kushina returned, holding the cards.
"Are we gambling for money?" Hanekawa asked out of curiosity.
"Gambling ruins friendships," Kushina said pointedly, shooting a glance at Tsunade.
"We'll bet with sticky notes instead."
"Fine by me," Tsunade said confidently.
Kushina couldn't help but wonder, Where is all this confidence coming from?
Shrugging, she began shuffling the cards.
"The first round was just bad luck," Tsunade muttered as her grin froze after losing. Still, she refused to back down.
"Hanekawa," Kushina said with a playful glint, holding up a sticky note. "Don't go easy on her just because she's your teacher, okay?"
"Don't worry," Hanekawa replied with a serious tone. "I'm completely impartial."
"Tsunade, you know the rules: you have to take your punishment," Kushina said, enjoying the show.
"Yeah, yeah." Tsunade pouted, bending down slightly due to her height.
Her sleeveless top tightened, accentuating her curves.
Kushina instinctively glanced down at herself, and her smile faded. The comparison was brutal.
Hanekawa, meanwhile, summoned every ounce of willpower to keep his eyes locked forward, resisting the temptation to glance downward.
Reaching out, he placed a sticky note on Tsunade's chin.
Tsunade glared at him, already plotting how she would turn the game around.
But she soon realized she was delusional. The first round wasn't an anomaly—it was the beginning of a streak.
"How did you beat me in just 17 moves?!"
An hour of losses later, Tsunade was utterly dazed.
"Sorry," Kushina said sympathetically, though her tone lacked sincerity.
"Damn it!" Tsunade gritted her teeth in frustration.
"Should we call it a day?" Hanekawa glanced at Tsunade, who was now covered in sticky notes, and cautiously suggested.
"No way!" Tsunade shot back without hesitation. "I'm not leaving until I win at least one round!"
Hanekawa and Kushina exchanged a glance, both sharing a sense of helplessness.
Should we cheat?
A thought sparked in Hanekawa's mind.
But to his astonishment, the moment he considered cheating, his cards became absurdly good—so good that he couldn't lose even if he played randomly.
The morning passed quickly.
"I'm done!"
Tsunade threw her cards onto the table and leaned back, looking utterly defeated.
She hadn't won a single game all morning.
At last, she realized the "turning of luck" was a lie. The only one who had good fortune all along was Hanekawa.
"I'll cook," Kushina said with relief.
She was genuinely worried that Tsunade might keep dragging them into endless card games.
"Need any help?" Hanekawa offered.
"No need." Kushina headed into the kitchen.
Hanekawa turned his attention to Tsunade.
At that moment, she looked like a limp snake slumped across the sofa.
"Sensei, let me help you remove the sticky notes," Hanekawa said, crouching in front of her. His gaze instinctively drifted to the sloping "snowy mountains."
"You seemed pretty happy putting them on me," Tsunade said, narrowing her eyes.
"Weren't you the one who agreed to the rules?" Hanekawa teased as he gently peeled a sticky note from her face.
"Agreeing to the rules is one thing, but your betrayal as my student is another," Tsunade retorted with a sudden grin.
Oh, women!
Hanekawa sighed. "Fine, go ahead."
"Go ahead with what?" Tsunade blinked, confused.
"Aren't you going to get back at me?" Hanekawa paused and added, "But no touching my head."
Without hesitation, Tsunade reached out and messed up his hair into a tangled mess.
"..."
Hanekawa's expression turned lifeless.
Tsunade, however, laughed heartily, her mood visibly lifted.
What a dazzling smile, Hanekawa thought to himself.
Totally worth it.
After lunch, the three of them took a stroll around the area under Kushina's guidance before bidding her farewell.
The next day was still part of the holiday.
Hanekawa went out to purchase workout equipment.
In the original story, there was a scene where weights were placed in the Raikage's office. Hanekawa had assumed the Raikage was just casually exercising but realized it was actually part of a serious training method.
"Where should I put these?"
Hanekawa stared at the pile of gym equipment, deep in thought.
There were small dumbbells, large bench press racks, and more.
The Yūhi residence was quite cramped, both inside and out.
Tsunade's place, then?
Her home wasn't just a single house but an entire row of buildings. According to Tsunade, this area used to be the Senju clan's stronghold but had become mostly vacant over time.
Besides, no one would question him. These types of workouts were common enough.
The key to this training method was the combination of physical exercise and chakra nurturing afterward.
With that in mind, Hanekawa used a summoning scroll to transport the gym equipment to Tsunade's house.
As expected, she hadn't woken up yet. No problem—he had a key.
After a lot of effort, he finally set everything up.
Following the instructions from the Lightning Release: Chakra Activation scroll, Hanekawa began his training.
A moment later, a new entry appeared in his system:
> C-rank Jutsu: Lightning Release: Chakra Activation
Condition Triggered: Begin mastery of Lightning Release: Chakra Activation.
Current Progress: 0%.
It's a C-rank technique?
That meant mastering it could bring him to a chunin-level standard.
It was difficult, but the potential was immense.
Fueled by determination, Hanekawa threw himself into his training.
"What's that brat doing so early in the morning?"
Tsunade, now awake and dressed, approached the window.
She opened it to see Hanekawa training in the yard.
He was completely focused, sprinting at high speed, leaping, and clearing a high-jump bar with ease.
Tsunade watched for a moment, then closed the window and went back to sleep.
Two months flew by in the blink of an eye.
Soon, it was time for the new semester to begin.
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