Land of Fire.
On the streets of a bustling town, a huge, clamorous chase was unfolding.
“Stop!
Don’t run!”
“That woman in green—stop right there!”
“If you don’t pay up today, I’ll sell you to a brothel!”
“After her!
We’ll turn the whole Land of Fire over if we have to, but we’re getting that money back!”
The roar of the crowd rolled down the streets.
Dozens of gleaming machetes flashed blindingly in the sun.
Tsunade ran at the very front.
Her long blonde hair streamed in the wind, her geta clacking rapidly against the ground.
Shizune followed close behind, clutching the little pink pig Tonton to her chest, running until she was gasping.
“Lady Tsunade!
Why are we running away?!”
Shizune was on the verge of tears.
“Nonsense!
Of course we run when we’ve got no money!
You want to stay behind and wash their dishes?”
Tsunade shouted back without so much as a glance over her shoulder, utterly self-righteous.
Behind the two of them, Chiba sprinted across the rooftops.
His face was streaked with exasperation, veins pulsing at his forehead.
What kind of situation was this?
He!
Senju Chiba!
A cheat who’d awakened the Basic Sage Body and Wood Release.
A man destined to reshape the ninja world.
And now here he was, being chased by a pack of casino thugs?
It was mortifying!
If it wouldn’t cause such an enormous scene, Chiba would have loved to form hand seals and wipe out these bastards with a Water Colliding Wave.
Worst of all, this was the third time this month.
Ever since that day in Tanzaku Town, Tsunade had dragged him and Shizune into a chaotic, aimless drifter’s life.
Casinos.
Taverns.
Hot springs.
Wherever there was fun to be had, that was where they went.
Chiba’s ten million ryo had lasted all of five days before Tsunade gambled every last coin away.
For the rest of the month, they’d been trapped in a vicious cycle: borrow money, gamble, lose it all, run.
The wind whistled past his ears.
Chiba glanced at Tsunade, running out in front.
What on earth was this woman thinking?
Weren’t we agreed that I’m the last hope of the Senju Clan?
Is this how you nurture hope?
Or do you mean to turn me into a fine, seasoned deadbeat?
They ran the length of two full streets.
The cursing behind them finally began to fade.
Ordinary thugs could never match a ninja’s pace.
“Whew…”
In a secluded dead-end alley, Tsunade stopped and leaned against the wall to catch her breath.
Shizune collapsed to the ground.
Tonton wriggled free of her arms and let out two disgruntled grunts.
“Lady Tsunade, we really—”
Chiba dropped down from the top of the wall and landed lightly.
He stared at Tsunade, full of confusion.
But before he could finish, Tsunade’s head whipped around.
It was the terrifying pressure of a battle-hardened Kage-level powerhouse, forged in mounds of corpses.
Almost tangible, it slammed into Chiba’s chest.
Chiba forcibly swallowed the rest of his sentence.
Tsunade stared at him coldly.
Then she cast an almost imperceptible glance toward the rooftop beyond the alley.
It lasted only an instant, but Chiba caught it.
He was a sharp one.
He understood at once—someone was watching them from the shadows!
Chiba clamped his mouth shut immediately.
Then, feigning fury, he began to complain at the top of his voice.
“Lady Tsunade!
You lost every coin I had!
There’s no living like this!
We don’t even have money for a bowl of ramen!”
Tsunade pulled her gaze back and put on a brazen, shameless face.
“What are you shrieking about?
It’s only a few million ryo.
Once my luck turns tomorrow, I’ll win it all back with interest!”
She ruffled Chiba’s hair roughly.
“Come on!
Let’s go catch some wild rabbits outside town!”
Two hundred meters from the dead-end alley.
On the roof of a fabric shop.
Two figures, all but melted into the shadows, lay quietly in wait.
They wore pale animal masks and grey, unmarked jumpsuits—the Root ninja assigned to the surveillance.
Codename A.
Codename B.
“Status of the target?” A’s voice was lowered to the barest whisper through a special communication ninja tool.
“Still complaining about losing his money.” B held a pair of binoculars, reporting what he saw.
“This Chiba’s chakra is very steady.
His stamina’s badly drained and his breathing’s ragged—he fits the profile of a mediocre Chunin exactly.”
A sneered.
“Danzo’s far too paranoid.
The kid’s just cannon fodder who got lucky and survived the war.
And Tsunade’s a waste too—a proud Sannin, reduced to being chased through the streets by loan sharks.”
B lowered the binoculars.
“Log it.
Konoha Year 52, August 7th.
Target has lost all funds and is dodging debt collectors.
No abnormal teaching behavior observed.
Over.”
The next moment, the two figures vanished from the roof like ghosts.
Night fell.
On a stretch of wilderness outside the town, a bonfire blazed.
Shizune was roasting two scrawny wild rabbits.
Oil dripped onto the glowing coals with a sizzle.
Tsunade sprawled on a rock, idly poking at the fire with a twig.
“Hey, kid.” Tsunade spoke up suddenly.
Chiba slowly raised his head.
“Since we’ve no money for the casino, I’ll teach you something to pass the time.” Her tone was offhand, as if it were nothing at all.
Chiba perked up at once.
After a month of playing the deadbeat, it was finally time for the real thing! The source of this chapter is g.com.
“Come here.” Tsunade beckoned.
Chiba walked quickly over to stand before her.
“The foundation of Medical Ninjutsu is absolute chakra control.” Tsunade held out a finger.
A faint but utterly pure green light lit at its tip.
“Like this.
Gather chakra at a single point.
Not too much, not too little.
Try to cut this leaf in two—but don’t shred it.” She plucked a fallen leaf from the ground and tossed it to Chiba.
Chiba caught the leaf.
He closed his eyes, and the chakra within him surged.
God-Level Comprehension activated!
In his mind, countless pathways of chakra flow turned instantly, perfectly clear.
How to guide it.
How to compress it.
How to hold it steady.
As if by instinct, deeply etched into his muscle memory.
In just three seconds, a faint green light lit at Chiba’s fingertips too.
Not as pure as Tsunade’s, but already taking shape.
He pressed two fingers together and lightly swept them across the leaf.
Shk—.
The leaf split cleanly in two, the cut smooth as a mirror.
Watching from beside the fire, Tsunade’s pupils shrank violently.
How was this possible?
First try!
No theory to build on!
One look, and he’d grasped the prototype of the Chakra Scalpel?
This level of micro-fine chakra control was simply monstrous!
Tsunade’s heart lurched.
But not a flicker of it showed on her face.
In fact, she shot to her feet and cuffed Chiba across the head.
Smack!
“Idiot!” Tsunade barked.
“I told you to cut it—why pour out that much chakra?
What a waste!
Don’t you know that for a medical ninja on the battlefield, a single point of chakra is a human life?
Again!”
Chiba staggered from the blow.
He clutched his head, brimming with grievance.
I cut it perfectly, all right!
Cheats have their dignity too!
But he caught the flash of warning in Tsunade’s eyes.
Chiba understood at once.
“Yes, Lady Tsunade.”
For the next two hours, Chiba kept cutting leaves.
Tsunade kept picking faults, yelling, even smacking him.
The whole camp rang with her roaring.
On a large tree far from the camp, A and B watched it all coldly.
“This kid’s pitifully stupid.
Can’t even manage the most basic chakra control.
Tsunade’s clearly livid.”
B jotted quickly on a scroll.
“Target is attempting to learn Medical Ninjutsu.
Aptitude dull.
Assessment: no threat whatsoever.”