"Huh?"
Hyuga Arin looked at Tsunade with a strange expression.
He could tell Tsunade didn't exactly like him, and their only real connection was because of Nawaki.
But he never expected Tsunade to want to take him as her disciple.
Seeing the wary look on Hyuga Arin's face, the veins on Tsunade's forehead twitched.
In Konoha, who didn't want to become her disciple?
Yet this brat was actually suspicious of her.
"Use the Mystical Palm Technique," Tsunade said.
Hyuga Arin raised his hand, green light flickering to life in his palm.
"Like this?"
Mystical Palm could stimulate human cells, accelerate recovery from injuries, cure illnesses, and expel toxins.
It was an extremely powerful healing technique.
That said, a Level 1 Mystical Palm could only deal with minor wounds.
Tsunade took a deep breath and said, "The difficulty of Mystical Palm is very high. You managed to grasp it in an extremely short time—that proves your talent is exceptional."
"If you walk the path of medical ninTechnique, you might not be inferior to me in the future."
She was being sincere. Konoha was in urgent need of medical specialists.
Unfortunately, Sarutobi Hiruzen had never truly pushed to cultivate medical-type ninja.
Those currently studying Tsunade's medical techniques in the hospital generally lacked talent to begin with.
They had no other choice, so they learned Mystical Palm—but at best, they could only heal simple injuries. Anything more complex still required Tsunade herself.
"Sorry, Tsunade-jōnin," Hyuga Arin said calmly.
"Being a medical ninja isn't my ninja way."
Besides, it didn't even give EXP.
He'd only learned it so fast because Tsunade's explanations were thorough.
Tsunade's expression darkened. She raised her fist.
"I'm telling you to learn—so learn. Why so much nonsense?!"
Very Tsunade.
Hyuga Arin turned to run.
In a flash, Tsunade appeared behind him, her hand chopping down on his neck.
Hyuga Arin's eyes rolled back, and he passed out instantly.
The last thought before losing consciousness was—
"This damned old woman… no wonder she never got married!"
"What did you say?!"
Right before everything went black, he vaguely heard Tsunade's furious roar.
It seemed… he might have said his thoughts out loud.
…
When Hyuga Arin woke up, he saw Nawaki carrying something.
"Nawaki?"
Hyuga Arin sat up from the bed.
"Big Bro, you're awake?" Nawaki put down what he was holding and ran over happily.
"What's all this?" Hyuga Arin stared at the pile of scrolls in the room, stacked like a small mountain.
"And… where is this place?"
Nawaki scratched his head and gave a goofy grin.
"These are books my sister told you to read."
Hyuga Arin: "???"
The question marks weren't because he had a problem—
it was because he felt Tsunade definitely did.
At that moment, Tsunade pushed the door open and walked in.
Looking at the awakened Hyuga Arin, she said coldly,
"You need to read through all the books in this room and memorize them."
"They're all case studies, along with my personal research notes."
"This is forced labor!" Hyuga Arin protested loudly.
"I absolutely refuse to submit!!"
Even if he were to become someone's disciple, he'd at least choose someone who could take him grinding missions.
Tsunade smiled—an unmistakably dangerous smile.
"I'm a very democratic person," she said. "I'll give you two choices."
"I'd rather die than learn!!" Hyuga Arin declared firmly, ready to die for his principles.
Tsunade's smile slowly vanished.
"Either you learn all of this," she said coldly,
"or you get a taste of my monstrous strength."
Blatant threat.
Hyuga Arin's face flushed red as he answered stiffly,
"As long as you don't kill me… I'll learn."
A wise man doesn't fight a losing battle.
Only then did Tsunade smile in satisfaction.
"From today on, you'll live at my place. During the day, you come with me to the hospital. At night, you study these."
It also conveniently fulfilled her promise to the Hyuga clan.
Originally, she'd only meant to go through the motions for Nawaki's sake.
Now, she was making it official.
"Remember," she added, "I'll test you later. If you don't pass… heh heh…"
With that, Tsunade turned and walked out.
Hyuga Arin collapsed back onto the bed, looking utterly lifeless.
Why did it feel like Tsunade was taking revenge on him?
Thinking back to what he'd said before fainting—
Had he really spoken his inner thoughts out loud?
"Big Bro, this is great! You can live here from now on!"
Nawaki, the fool, was still grinning happily.
This was blatant house arrest.
Hyuga Arin, a man of legendary reputation, had been imprisoned just like that—with nowhere to complain.
Worse still, it was a joint effort.
He bet Jiraiya would love to trade places with him.
Nawaki continued cheerfully, "Big Bro, this house is currently lived in by me and my sister, plus Grandma Mito and Kushina. I'll introduce them to you later."
Uzumaki Mito—
The First Hokage's wife.
The Nine-Tails' jinchūriki.
Hyuga Arin's thoughts slid instantly down a dangerous slope.
If I killed Uzumaki Mito, would she drop Nine-Tails chakra?
He quickly threw that thought out of his head.
That was a boss he had no business even thinking about right now.
"…Sigh."
Hyuga Arin got out of bed and looked at the mountain of books.
What else could he do?
Study.
"Big Bro, rest well. I'll head out first," Nawaki said, turning to leave.
He took two steps—then froze.
Slowly turning his head, he saw Hyuga Arin gripping the back of his collar, wearing a strained smile.
"Big Bro, I won't disturb you anymore…"
Hyuga Arin snorted.
"I'm restricted, and you think you can run?"
"As my little brother, how can you abandon your boss?"
"I'm telling you—if I have to learn this, so do you!!"
"We share fortune and hardship together."
"Nooooo!!"
…
When Kushina returned home, she heard Nawaki's miserable screams coming from upstairs.
She cautiously glanced at Tsunade, who was sitting on the first floor reading intelligence scrolls.
With tensions rising sharply among the Five Great Ninja Villages, missions frequently turned deadly whenever ninja crossed paths.
That was why Konoha Hospital was overflowing with the wounded—many had barely made it back alive.
Plenty had died on the way.
"Tsunade-neesan, what's wrong with Nawaki-nii?" Kushina asked softly.
"There's a long-term guest staying here," Tsunade replied flatly.
"Don't worry about them."
She also wanted Nawaki to develop into a medical-specialist ninja—at least that way, he wouldn't be in danger.
"O-okay…" Kushina answered quietly.
"I'll go check on Grandma Mito."
She trotted upstairs.
Watching Kushina's cautious figure, Tsunade shook her head.
That child was still far too sensitive.
Putting down the scroll in her hands, Tsunade's expression turned grave.
"The other four villages are getting more and more outrageous…"
According to the intel, ninja from the other four great villages were pushing deeper and deeper into the Land of Fire under the pretense of missions.
This wasn't reconnaissance anymore—it was practically mapping the country.
She rubbed her temples with a headache.
The world was about to grow unstable.
Soon, she wouldn't be able to stay in the hospital forever.
Sarutobi Hiruzen would definitely send her to the front lines—
And the three Hyuga under her command would follow her there as well.
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