Late at night, a man and a woman were walking on the quiet streets of Konoha. The blonde girl was in a very good mood, and her hearty laughter resonated through the street at every turn.
Tsunade felt relieved. Ren had helped her get her revenge again! Not only did he win back her initial capital of 10 million Ryō, but he also gained an extra 20 million Ryō... Although the huge sum of 20 million Ryō wasn't directly given to Tsunade, she was still very happy! Because the casino that had made her so uncomfortable... was defeated by Ren!
"Ren, it's all thanks to you this time!"
"Not only did I get my money back, but I also broke that casino!"
"You said... how should I repay your favor?"
Under the rare moonlight, Tsunade blinked her watery eyes and looked at Ren, with a special twinkle.
"No... you have nothing to repay me." Ren responded indifferently.
"Oh?"
"Boy, I, the dignified Tsunade, can't repay your kindness?" Tsunade's tone changed.
Ren felt a bad premonition and immediately blurted out: "Then, I ask Lady Tsunade to guide my sister's practice!"
"Your sister?" Tsunade paused. She remembered Tenten, who had been a little prickly towards her...
"Ten million this time... plus the previous two..." Tsunade muttered a few words, then nodded.
"Fine..."
"I promise."
Ren's mouth twitched... 'What the heck?! Did she even count all the money he helped her win back? Is it that difficult to guide a kid's practice...?'
When he got home, Ren got into the forging room again. It was at a critical moment in the production of his "Earth Resentment" puppet. He wanted to quickly try to create the Earth Resentment Yu (referring to the puppet).
The next day, it was already bright for a long time, but Ren hadn't gotten up yet. Last night, he had worked too late in the forging ground on the Earth Resentment Yu, and Ren didn't sleep until dawn. He hadn't slept for long when he was woken up by Tenten!
"Brother!"
"Did you ask me to become Lady Tsunade's apprentice?!"
"No, no, I don't want to!"
When he groggily got up from bed, he heard Tenten's loud complaints.
"Apprentice?"
"Wait, I'm slow..."
Sitting up from the bed, Ren paused for two minutes before he remembered. Last night, he had told Tsunade that if she wanted to repay him... she should guide Tenten's practice...
'Apprenticeship... Oh.'
Tsunade had misunderstood! Ren couldn't help but laugh and cry. "No wonder she was so preoccupied with the calculations last night, so that's what happened!"
Understanding the situation, Ren said to Tenten: "It's a good thing that Lady Tsunade agreed to accept you as a disciple, why are you still not happy?"
Tenten pouted. After a long while, she spoke slowly, full of grievances: "I don't want to be a gambler in the future."
"What does being a gambler have to do with taking Tsunade as a teacher?" Ren wondered.
"I went to the casino with you that day... I heard someone call her the 'Big Fat Sheep,' saying that she perfectly inherited the gambling addiction and gambling luck of the First Hokage..."
"If I take her as my teacher... she will infect me with this habit!!"
"I don't want to be such a useless adult!"
"Rumor, this is a rumor, don't believe this rumor!" Ren couldn't help but laugh and reached out to pat Tenten's little head. At the same time, he also felt... the people in that casino were really bold. 'They dare to say such things, aren't they afraid of causing trouble for themselves?'
"Everyone's habits are developed by themselves. You don't want to be a gambler. Others can't control you, let alone... contagion." A child is still a child. Children in the Naruto world are precocious, but their knowledge isn't always comprehensive.
"Yes, but I..." Tenten still pouted. Ren didn't know Tenten's careful thoughts.
"Tenten, Tenten!" From downstairs, the loud voice of Ren's father, Tatsuo, came.
Step, step. The sound of heavy footsteps approached.
"Tenten, come down quickly!"
Tenten still hesitated: "I..."
Ren's father pressed on: "Come down!"
"How many people want to be accepted by Lady Tsunade without success? Go, go, go, you won't suffer by becoming Lady Tsunade's disciple."
Ren also persuaded Tenten.
"Then... alright then..."
"I hope Lady Tsunade's gambling addiction won't spread to me..."
"How dare you talk like that! You should call her Lady Tsunade!" Ren's father scolded Tenten. "Oh, no... you have to call her 'Teacher Tsunade' from now on."
After speaking, Ren's father took Tenten downstairs to pay his respects.
In the room, Ren just smiled. He had been woken up by Tenten. Although he had only slept for three or four hours, he felt almost rested. After getting up to wash, Ren was ready to go to the forging room.
'Hmm... Tsunade taking an apprentice... This isn't like helping her win money, or a favor that can be measured by money.'
Ren wanted to create another item for Tsunade. He wanted to treat Tsunade as a friend, and helping between friends was fine... But the value of the two helping each other and giving back to each other was too unbalanced, which could be detrimental to their friendship.
'Hmm... build what?'
As soon as he went downstairs, he saw Tenten bowing to Tsunade, who was sitting in the upper position, and serving tea. She was performing the ceremony of apprenticeship. This wasn't like the ninja academy, where you were simply assigned a ninja mentor after graduation. What Tenten was performing was the apprenticeship ceremony in the true traditional sense, which had been handed down from the Warring States Period. It was very strict. This was what Ren's parents had asked Tenten to do.
Tenten, who was serving tea to Tsunade, still pouted, as if she wasn't very happy. Tsunade reached out to take the teacup and took a symbolic sip.
"From today onwards, you are my disciple, Tsunade Hime's, and you will call me 'Teacher' from now on!"
"Yes..."
"Hahaha!" Seeing Tenten's aggrieved appearance, Tsunade didn't feel any unhappiness, but instead laughed out loud.
"Just kidding!"
"Look at how I'm going to whip you into shape!"
"Follow me!" Domineeringly, Tsunade stood up from her seat and walked out.
"Where?" Tenten asked.
"Since I'm your teacher now, I'm naturally responsible for you."
"Before I guide you, go to the training ground and let me see your strength!" Tsunade strode out and left without looking back.
And Tenten... just paused, then followed Tsunade out.
When Ren's parents saw that their daughter Tenten had officially apprenticed to Tsunade, both of them were overjoyed. Ren also chatted with her parents for a while before heading into the forging room.
After two hours, at Konoha's Training Ground No. 1, Tenten was sweating profusely, panting heavily. And the dozens of training targets in front of Tenten... were all covered with kunai, shuriken, and other ninja tools.
"Is that all there is to it?" Tsunade frowned... seemingly dissatisfied with Tenten's performance. She thought that with such a "perverted" brother like Ren, Tenten would be extremely gifted...
But Tenten's performance... wasn't bad either. At least she could come out on top at the Ninja Academy. However, it was still too far from Ren.
"Humph!" Seeing Tsunade's dissatisfied appearance, Tenten snorted angrily. She was now Tsunade's disciple. She couldn't refute her teacher, and she understood that much. Tsunade... had brought her to the training ground and started training directly... In two hours, Tsunade had never stopped pushing her! A high-intensity trial... and a two-hour high-intensity trial... If Tenten could make no mistakes, she was already a top-ranked figure in Konoha, but Tsunade... was still not satisfied?!
Tenten was dissatisfied with Tsunade, her teacher.
"Get out of the way!"
"I want to use this training ground!" In the distance, a dog-like ninja who was a few years older than Tenten walked arrogantly and domineeringly.
Seeing this man, Tenten's eyebrows furrowed tightly. All her dissatisfaction with Tsunade disappeared, replaced by dissatisfaction with the dog-like guy.
"Teacher, let's go." Tenten urged Tsunade.
"Go? Where are you going?"
"The trial isn't over yet! Don't try to cheat and play tricks. If you want to keep up with your brother's footsteps, you can continue the training for me!" Tsunade responded unceremoniously.
Tenten took a deep breath, calmed herself down, and then explained to Tsunade. "Teacher, it's not that I'm cheating..."
"That person is from the Shimura clan. Every time he comes over, he requisitions the training ground... If we don't leave, he will trouble us."
"Ah." Tsunade sneered. "Requisition Training Ground No. 1 for public use?"
"Could this Konoha belong to his family?"
"Just stay here and continue training, I'll see how he troubles us!"