Time flew like an arrow.
In the blink of an eye, two years had passed.
Within the borders of the Land of Fire, inside a picturesque forest—
A delicate wooden house stood quietly there.
"Ahh…"
After finishing washing up, Tsunade yawned.
Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she walked out of the wooden house.
"1992, 1993, 1994…"
Ren had already been training early in the morning.
Completely drenched in sweat, he let out a long breath.
With his sharp eyesight, he noticed the beautiful figure that had just stepped outside and greeted her.
"Whew… morning, Tsunade-nee!"
Even as he spoke, he remained upside down on one hand.
His body rose and fell repeatedly in a steady rhythm.
Tied to his raised feet were lead weights so heavy that they would leave anyone dumbfounded.
"Morning, Ren…"
Tsunade smiled gently and nodded.
After two years, she had long since grown accustomed to this kind of training.
The lead weights tied to Ren's legs were no ordinary weights.
They were unbelievably heavy.
If one of them fell from a height roughly equal to a person's height, it could smash a large crater into the ground.
If an ordinary child dared to train like this at such a young age, there was a high chance it would cause irreversible damage to their body.
But Ren was an exception.
He was born with a powerful physique and possessed astonishing recovery ability.
Tsunade had only agreed to let him train with such weights long-term after repeatedly checking his body.
In fact, compared to the life-threatening taijutsu training he usually did,
this kind of basic physical conditioning was practically child's play.
"What a beautiful day."
Looking at the blue sky and white clouds, Tsunade felt relaxed.
She stretched lazily, her graceful curves on full display.
Rubbing her shoulders—slightly sore from the heavy pendant hanging from her neck—she asked,
"Ren, where are Shizune and that girl Karin?"
Two years ago,
under Ren's suggestion, Karin—who had displayed exceptional chakra control—had officially been accepted by Tsunade as her third disciple.
Tsunade had always had a good impression of the Uzumaki clan.
Their three-person journey had turned into a group of four.
As for Karin's mother, Uzumaki Nanako—
After traveling with them for three months and recovering her health,
Ren had sent her to Konoha using one of his wood clones.
She was arranged to live in Ren's house.
With the recommendation letter Tsunade had given him in advance, he also secured her an internship as a nurse at Konoha Hospital.
Because Tsunade, the princess of Konoha, personally served as her guarantor,
Uzumaki Nanako was only questioned briefly by the intelligence department about her background.
After confirming there were no issues, she was allowed to settle in Konoha.
She wasn't given any trouble.
"1998… 1999… 2000!"
Ren, drenched in sweat and breathing slightly heavily, suddenly exerted force with his palm.
As if completely unaffected by the exaggerated weights on his feet,
he performed a clean aerial flip and landed steadily on the ground.
Shaking the sweat from his hair, he looked at the beautiful Tsunade and smiled.
"Early this morning, Shizune-senpai took Karin out to gather medicinal herbs."
After two years,
Tsunade hadn't changed much.
She was still as beautiful as ever.
Time seemed incapable of leaving even the slightest trace on her.
But Ren had grown from a heart-melting little boy into a handsome young youth.
Although he had just turned ten,
he was already over 1.6 meters tall—not excessively tall, but impressive for his age.
Combined with his still slightly youthful yet incredibly handsome face, and the calm maturity in his eyes,
he looked no different from an ordinary thirteen- or fourteen-year-old boy.
"Tsunade-sama!"
"Ren!!!"
Two voices called out from the distance.
It was Shizune, who had matured quite a bit over the years, though her figure hadn't changed much.
Beside her was a red-haired girl around nine years old, wearing glasses and carrying a small basket on her back.
"Told you how many times already…"
Ren looked at Karin, who ran toward him with a bright smile, hopping energetically with her little medicine basket.
He flicked her smooth forehead lightly.
"You should call me senior brother—or Ren-ge. Have some respect!"
Compared to the timid, malnourished girl she had been two years ago,
Karin had now grown into an adorable young beauty.
Her long crimson hair and delicate features gave her a lively and cute appearance.
With improved meals and the return of proper nutrition, her skin had become unbelievably fair and soft.
Even Shizune couldn't help feeling a little envious.
"I don't want to!"
Karin puffed up her cheeks and snorted.
"Ren, you're only one year older than me!"
"One year older still makes me your senior brother."
Ren tapped her head.
His hand landed on top of her small head,
ruffling her smooth red hair until it became a messy nest like wild grass.
"Hmph, you annoying Ren…"
Karin slapped his hand away.
Her pretty face flushed red.
Angrily, she pounced toward him.
Baring her teeth fiercely, she shouted,
"You messed up my hair again!"
As she spoke, still indignant,
she reached out to pinch Ren's ridiculously handsome face.
But in the next instant—
Ren's right hand twitched slightly.
His fingers instantly transformed into several green vines that shot out like lightning.
They wrapped around Karin completely,
lifting her straight into the air.
She could only struggle helplessly while hanging there.
"You terrible Ren! You tentacle monster… let me go!"
Unable to break free, Karin flailed angrily in midair.
But in the end, she could only complain to Tsunade in defeat.
"Tsunade-sama, look at Ren! He's so mean—always bullying me!"
"Alright, that's enough playing around."
Tsunade stopped their bickering.
Crossing her arms—firmly restraining the curves that seemed ready to burst free—she smiled and said,
"In these two years, we've basically traveled through most of the Land of Fire."
"Next, let's take a trip to the Land of Hot Water."
"The hot springs there are famous throughout the ninja world. I heard they're great for beauty and skincare."
"Eh? Hot springs?"
"Really? That's amazing!"
Both Karin and Shizune's eyes lit up immediately.
Meanwhile, Ren's face turned full of black lines.
Sure enough—
Whenever beauty treatments were involved…
Even a little girl like Karin
couldn't help but get excited.
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