https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-583-The-Choice-for-the-Next-Hokage/12558866/
Chapter 582: Mu Yue's Daily Life with Tsunade
Chapter 582: Mu Yue's Daily Life with Tsunade
At 5 p.m., Mu Yue set down the scroll containing the sealing technique he had been studying and headed out to the market.
He was on his way to Tsunade's place, and he knew that she would be delighted, especially if he brought ingredients for a meal.
With practiced ease, he made his way to Tsunade's compound, where Shizune was practicing her taijutsu in the courtyard. Spotting Mu Yue, she immediately broke into a cheerful smile and approached him.
"Teacher Mu Yue, you're back."
"Mhm. How's your medical ninjutsu training going?" Mu Yue asked, reaching out with his free hand to ruffle Shizune's hair affectionately.
Though not officially his disciple, Shizune was still someone he cared about and guided.
"Let's talk inside. I'll help you with those," Shizune offered, reaching for the bags of groceries.
Mu Yue lifted the bags higher, just out of Shizune's reach, even if she jumped.
"Hey!" Shizune looked at him, puzzled.
Mu Yue lightly tapped her forehead with his index and middle fingers. "Your teacher Mu Yue isn't that lazy. I've been carrying these for a while, and it's not like I can't manage the extra distance to the kitchen."
Hearing Mu Yue's words, Shizune couldn't help but think of Tsunade.
Even though they were both adults, and Tsunade was older, Mu Yue was far more dependable and reassuring.
"Lady Tsunade, Teacher Mu Yue is here," Shizune said as she headed back inside to inform Tsunade and prepare some tea.
"Oh, he's here," Tsunade replied, lying listlessly on her bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
It wasn't as if she had just woken up; she had been up since 11 a.m., despite her drunkenness the night before.
She had taken a nap in the afternoon because she felt bored and a little sleepy, and she had only recently woken up from that nap.
"Teacher Mu Yue brought a lot of ingredients!" Shizune called out.
Whoosh!
A gust of wind rushed by, and in the next moment, a fully dressed Tsunade appeared before Shizune.
"So fast!" Shizune exclaimed, her eyes wide as she watched Tsunade seemingly teleport in front of her.
"Where are they? Let me see what he brought. If anything's missing, we can send Shizune to get more while it's still early," Tsunade said, scanning the area and spotting Mu Yue at the kitchen door.
Before Shizune could interject, Tsunade strode over to Mu Yue and unceremoniously began rummaging through the bags of groceries.
"Hmm, this looks good. No need to send Shizune out again," Tsunade nodded in satisfaction.
"You're quite thoughtful, you know. You've only just returned to Konoha, and yet you thought of me," Tsunade said to Mu Yue.
Tsunade, in her current state of disinterest in worldly affairs, didn't pay much attention to village matters. But with so many people discussing the goings-on in Konoha, she had inadvertently picked up on some information.
"I only arrived today. I didn't expect you to miss me so much, Lady Tsunade. It makes me feel like never coming back," Mu Yue sighed.
Tsunade shot him a look, her face a mix of exasperation and amusement. "If you don't come, I'll just come to your place for meals instead."
She rather liked the idea—no dishes to wash, no tables to clear.
"Lady Tsunade, as one of the Sannin, aren't you taking advantage of your junior here?" Shizune interjected, unable to keep quiet any longer.
"What's being a Sannin got to do with anything? Can I eat that title?" Tsunade retorted, clearly unconcerned about her reputation.
She didn't even feel like being a ninja anymore, so the Sannin title held little weight for her.
"Joke time's over. Both of you, out. I'm starting to cook," Mu Yue said, ushering them out of the kitchen.
Tsunade might be stubborn about other things, but when it came to Mu Yue cooking, she was all for it. She immediately retreated to the living room, as Mu Yue had instructed.
Since one of the dishes required some simmering, Mu Yue took the opportunity to rest in the living room for a while.
"Mu Yue, have you been thinking of creating any new ninjutsu lately?" Tsunade asked, unable to contain her curiosity.
In the past, their interactions had been somewhat transactional. Mu Yue brought her culinary delights, and in return, she taught him medical ninjutsu and helped him develop sealing techniques.
Now that the Yang Seal was complete, Tsunade felt like she was getting a free ride.
While freeloading was enjoyable, it wasn't a sustainable strategy.
After all, Mu Yue probably wouldn't be so generous as to cook for her indefinitely without expecting anything in return.
"Yes," Mu Yue replied, nodding.
"What type of ninjutsu?" Tsunade asked, intrigued.
"Wood Release."
"You!" Tsunade exclaimed, picking up a throw pillow from the sofa and tossing it at Mu Yue.
It was a gentle throw, and Mu Yue easily caught the pillow.
"I'm being serious here," Tsunade added, rolling her eyes.
Clearly, she thought Mu Yue was joking.
The excuse of developing Wood Release wasn't something Mu Yue had decided on a whim; it was a well-thought-out plan.
The Mu Yue of today was far from the obscure Root member and unremarkable jonin teacher at the Ninja Academy.
His reputation as the foremost prodigy of the new generation wasn't just hot air—he had earned it on the battlefield, step by step, with Jiraiya, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Minato Namikaze as witnesses to his rise.
Now, he had both the connections and the recognition of his extraordinary talent.
In the past, there had indeed been no cases of anyone developing Wood Release.
But there had also been no Konoha ninja who had developed Ice Release, and no one had yet to master the Byakugan's ability to perceive the invisible.
While it was indeed extraordinary for a once-in-a-century genius to manifest Wood Release, it wasn't entirely impossible.
Tsunade stared intently at Mu Yue's face, seeing no hint of jest, and couldn't help but say, "What an outlandish idea."
In essence, Wood Release wasn't too different from other kekkei genkai, being the product of mixing two basic chakra natures.
The reason it was treated so specially was mainly because Wood Release was extremely rare, and its users were incredibly powerful.
Prior to Hashirama Senju, no one had ever seen Wood Release, and after him, no ninja was unaware of its existence, nor had any other user appeared.
Some might assume that Wood Release was the Senju clan's kekkei genkai, but that wasn't the case.
In all the years since, only Hashirama Senju possessed Wood Release within the Senju clan.
The Senju clan's bloodline power lay in their abundant chakra and vitality, inherited from their ancestor, Ashura Otsutsuki, in the form of a Sage Body.
"It does sound like something you'd come up with," Tsunade remarked.
The impression Mu Yue gave her was that he was unbound by conventional thinking, which was why he had dared to attempt creating the Yang Seal.
"After all, there's already a precedent with Ice Release. It feels worth a try.
At its core, Wood Release is just a new nature transformation that arises from mixing Water and Earth chakra attributes. It's no more special than other kekkei genkai," Mu Yue said with a faint smile as he picked up the tea Shizune had poured for him.
"You understand it quite thoroughly. But it's one thing to understand it and another to actually do it," Tsunade said, crossing her arms.
In theory, that was how it worked, but Wood Release did seem to be a bit more peculiar than other kekkei genkai, appearing far less frequently.
"How about I help you look through some of my grandfather's things? They might be of some use to you."
With Mu Yue's intention to develop Wood Release, Tsunade knew she couldn't directly lend a hand herself; the most she could do was help him find some relevant information.
When it came to developing a kekkei genkai, she truly had no experience, and any attempts to help might end up doing more harm than good.
"Then I'll thank you in advance, Tsunade-sama," Mu Yue said without any pretenses, readily accepting.
Although Asuma Sarutobi had already promised to provide him with information, having Tsunade's assistance as well meant that he now had the backing of the Senju clan's direct descendant.
After all, Tsunade was Hashirama Senju's granddaughter.
After the meal, at Tsunade's request, Mu Yue didn't leave but stayed to play Ninja Killer with her for two hours.
With only three people, they played a 1v2 mode similar to the Landlord game.
Basically, there was only one "Landlord" and two "Peasants" on the field.
Tsunade had already been playing Ninja Killer for some time, but compared to Mu Yue, who had played tens of thousands of games in his past life, she was still a novice.
In the first game, Mu Yue drew the "Landlord" role and became the Landlord, choosing Akimichi Chouji as his ninja.
His skill was the Double Size Technique, which allowed him to reveal the top three cards from the deck when drawing, keeping only the basic, weapon, or duel cards, and increasing the damage of kills and duels by one for the next turn.
In the first round, Mu Yue didn't use his skill but simply drew and played a kill card against Tsunade.
In the second round, since he still had a kill card in hand, he directly used his skill.
However, Mu Yue didn't kill Tsunade directly but used Shizune's weapon against her in a borrowed kill.
Shizune's weapon was the Kusanagi Sword, which allowed the player to play another kill card if the target dodged.
Naturally, Tsunade didn't want the Kusanagi Sword to fall into Mu Yue's hands, as the Double Size Technique's damage boost, combined with such a weapon, would be devastating.
So, she had Shizune play a kill card, dropping one health point instead of risking Mu Yue getting a suitable weapon.
Moreover, none of the three cards Mu Yue revealed when he used his skill were kill cards, so they might not even be able to damage her.
Tsunade also considered the worst-case scenario, where Mu Yue had two or more kill cards from the previous round.
However, she remained unfazed, as even though she was a three-health ninja, Mu Yue could kill her directly if he had a kill card.
The effect of the Bingo! card was to increase the damage of the Kill card by one, and the player could save themselves from a near-death state.
With the additional effect of Mu Yue's ninja ability, the damage of this Kill card was three drops, causing Tsunade to immediately fall into a one-drop deficit.
"Shizune, save me!" Tsunade quickly turned to Shizune, worried that this was just the beginning.
Shizune threw out two red cards to restore Tsunade back to one drop of health.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Mu Yue immediately played another card.
The effect of this card was that all other players had to play a Dodge card, or they would lose one drop of health.
Tsunade, who didn't have a Dodge card, looked to Shizune for help.
Shizune spread her hands helplessly at Tsunade. As a three-health ninja, she could only hold three cards in her hand, and she had already used them all. She couldn't save Tsunade this time.
Without her teammates' support, Shizune couldn't hold off Mu Yue's attacks, especially with his enhanced Landlord skills, and soon fell into a deficit herself.
"You just got lucky last round. Let's go again!" Tsunade said, her competitive spirit flaring.
"With my connection to Grandpa, there's definitely a card of him in this ninja deck!" Tsunade slowly picked up the few ninja cards that had been dealt to her.
Seeing the names 'Hyuuga Neji' and 'Uchiha Shimura', Tsunade couldn't help but frown in disappointment.
Not only was she bored of these early-era ninjas, but their strength was also mediocre compared to the later releases of 'Senju Hashirama' and 'Uchiha Madara'.
"Could playing Ninja Killer be considered gambling?" Shizune thought to herself as she watched Tsunade lose time and time again.
When Tsunade was the Landlord, Mu Yue won. And when Mu Yue was the Landlord, he still won.
Shizune had reason to believe that Tsunade had triggered some sort of 'always loses when gambling' passive skill.
...
Uchiha Clan Territory.
After finishing dinner, Itachi first took a stroll around the clan grounds with Sorotik.
As Sorotik was now quite large and didn't look as cute as before, Itachi asked him to maintain his illusion form.
This way, others would see Sorotik as an ordinary Uchiha youth and not be scared off.
After their walk, Itachi was planning to return home to cultivate, but then he remembered his previous agreement with Uchiha Fugaku, so he headed towards Fugaku's courtyard instead.
The Fugaku family had just finished their dinner as well, and they were all spending time together in the courtyard.
"Itachi, who's this?" Uchiha Fugaku looked at Sorotik, feeling something was amiss.
Logically, as the clan leader, he should recognize such a large Uchiha youth.
"Sorotik, you can drop the illusion here." Itachi spoke up.
"Oh, it's the summoning beast from that day." Uchiha Fugaku recalled the battle during the clan meeting.
Back then, Itachi had been the most impressive, but Sorotik's unique illusions had also left a deep impression on the Uchiha clan members.
"Itachi."
Uchiha Sasuke ran over and stood beside Itachi without saying a word, simply looking at him.
"Uncle Fugaku, I'm here to see Sasuke today." Itachi smiled and nodded at Uchiha Sasuke before turning to Uchiha Fugaku.
Although Uchiha Sasuke hadn't spoken, Itachi could guess what he was thinking.
Sasuke was probably asking: "You didn't forget our agreement again, did you?"
"Then you young folks chat amongst yourselves."
Uchiha Fugaku smiled and nodded, then led Uchiha Mikoto into the living room, leaving the space outside to Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke.
"I didn't forget this time." Itachi squatted down to be at eye level with Uchiha Sasuke and smiled.
"Mm." Uchiha Sasuke's lips curled up slightly, appearing to be in a good mood.
"Last time, I think I left off talking about when I became an intern ninja, right?"
"Mm."
"Ahem, then let me continue from there." Itachi coughed lightly and began to recall what he wanted to say.
"My intern teacher was Teacher Mu Yue, and my two teammates were the ones I mentioned before, Mitarashi Anko and another full-fledged ninja, Shizune."
"As ninjas, unless there's a huge gap in strength, teammates are very necessary." Itachi added as a reminder.
Uchiha Sasuke, who would go on to wipe out his entire clan, was undoubtedly a genius.
Itachi didn't want Sasuke to develop the habit of acting alone just because those around him were weaker.
Even Maito Gai needed the help of Kakashi and Obito during missions.
PS: My health is mostly recovered now, so tomorrow's update should be longer.
And the content won't be pure slice-of-life like this either.
I wanted to write some daily life chapters after a long stretch of war-focused chapters to mix things up a bit.
(End of Chapter)
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