32. Consider As Student

Hanekawa instinctively looked up at Tsunade, her face reflected in his eyes.

At that moment, his right eye twitched, and his entire field of vision transformed.

Hanekawa was struck with awe—so flawless!

Her delicate collarbones, smooth skin—everything was vividly clear under the magnification of his right eye.

For most people, viewing skin under 8x magnification would reveal imperfections not visible to the naked eye.

But Tsunade was different—she had the Strength of a Hundred Seal, an S-rank medical sealing technique.

This technique offered numerous benefits, such as instant healing, enhanced physical attacks, and increased speed.

However, its most coveted feature among kunoichi was its ability to maintain the body at peak condition, effectively preserving youth and beauty.

Considering Tsunade was only in her thirties, her skin was exceptionally flawless.

"What are you staring at?" Tsunade asked, her expression hardening as she noticed his gaze.

While she was typically carefree, she took teaching very seriously and never tolerated slacking during lessons.

"Yes, ma'am!" Hanekawa immediately deactivated the 8x zoom.

After briefly testing it out, he had a solid grasp of how the ability worked:

1. The 8x zoom activated automatically when holding a ninja tool. Earlier, he had been holding the scalpel, which triggered the effect. Not his fault—blame the system for being so intrusive.

2. Only the right eye had the 8x zoom feature.

This wasn't a drawback; if both eyes zoomed in, it would be easy to lose track of nearby targets.

With one eye zoomed and the other in normal vision, he could balance long-range and short-range perception. However, adapting to the difference would require practice, as mismatched magnification could cause disorientation.

"Hm?"

Tsunade squinted slightly, scrutinizing Hanekawa.

She noticed that his proficiency with the scalpel had improved significantly in just a short time.

Although the E-rank talent "Seven Ninja Tools" had been synthesized into the higher-ranked "Ninja Tool Mastery," its 10% power boost for all tools was still active.

Naturally, this included the scalpel.

Unaware that Hanekawa had a hidden advantage, Tsunade simply attributed his rapid progress to his innate talent.

This kid's skills were exceptionally well-rounded—from genjutsu to swordsmanship, and now medical ninjutsu. He was excelling in everything.

Tsunade suddenly remembered what Shikaku Nara had said at the barbecue restaurant.

A talent like this truly deserved to be her student.

But… it still wasn't enough.

As a medical ninja, what Tsunade valued most was outstanding aptitude in medical ninjutsu.

While Hanekawa had shown promise, it hadn't been extraordinary enough to convince her that he was irreplaceable.

"That's it for tonight," Tsunade said after observing him for a while. "If you want to improve further, you'll need to perform as the lead medical ninja in surgery."

"Thank you, Lady Tsunade," Hanekawa said sincerely, putting down the scalpel.

"It's nothing."

Tsunade chuckled softly, reaching out to ruffle his hair. "Honestly, I've benefited more from this arrangement."

She was, of course, referring to gambling.

The money she had won during this time had already exceeded one million ryo.

If Hanekawa really wanted to learn, he could easily hire a medical ninja as a tutor with that money.

Teaching scalpel techniques wouldn't even cost a million—probably just one or two hundred thousand ryo.

"But you're different, Lady Tsunade," Hanekawa said as he smoothed his hair back down.

"Oh?" Tsunade tilted her head, feigning a cute expression. "How am I different?"

Why are you pretending, old lady?

Cough.

Hanekawa's expression turned serious. "Because you're the greatest medical ninja."

"You sure know how to talk," Tsunade teased, her red lips curling into a playful smile.

"You're going to fool a lot of girls in the future."

"That's slander!" Hanekawa retorted in mock indignation.

Tsunade laughed even harder at his response.

As Hanekawa watched the lively sway of her figure, he was briefly tempted to activate his 8x zoom again—but ultimately refrained, reminding himself that he was a gentleman.

After finishing his scalpel lesson, Hanekawa bid Tsunade farewell and stepped out of her house.

The sky had darkened, but it wasn't completely black thanks to the streetlights.

He glanced at a streetlamp in the distance and activated his 8x zoom.

After a series of tests, he had a better understanding of its range:

Objects within 200 meters were the clearest.

Beyond that, the image became increasingly blurry, and after 400 meters, it was no longer effective.

"Throwing a kunai at someone 800 meters away like Kakuzu did is definitely a challenge," Hanekawa mused.

He also remembered the exaggerated claim about hitting targets 400km away—a joke, of course.

"Hanekawa!"

A voice interrupted his thoughts, and Kurenai Yūhi appeared before him.

"Were you waiting for me?" Hanekawa asked.

"Hmph, of course not!" Kurenai pouted, placing her hands on her hips. "I'm here to announce something: I've mastered Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique!"

Though not quite at Hanekawa's level, Kurenai was undeniably a genjutsu prodigy for her age.

"Impressive. That's amazing," Hanekawa said with a smile, recognizing her subtle plea for praise.

"Of course it is!" Kurenai puffed out her chest proudly.

Cute.

Unable to resist, Hanekawa reached out and patted her head.

"Don't mess up my hair!" Kurenai protested, pouting.

"Got it," Hanekawa replied halfheartedly, continuing to ruffle her hair.

Turns out, patting someone's head is way more fun than being patted.

Frustrated by his persistence, Kurenai shot him a glare before running inside.

Hanekawa chuckled to himself as he followed her into the house, changing his shoes at the entrance before stepping into the living room.

"You're back?" Kurenai's father, Shinkuro Yūhi, looked up and asked, "Did you eat yet?"

"I ate at Lady Tsunade's place," Hanekawa replied casually.

"You've been spending a lot of time with Lady Tsunade lately," Shinkuro said, his curiosity piqued. "How's that going? Do you have a chance at becoming her student?"

Thanks to Tsunade's mentorship, Hanekawa had started to attract attention. Combined with his focus on medical ninjutsu, it wasn't surprising that people were speculating about his future.

Tsunade was a student of Hiruzen Sarutobi. If Hanekawa became her apprentice, he'd automatically be linked to the Hokage lineage, a connection that could skyrocket his prospects.

Shinku, of course, would be delighted by such a development.

"That's a secret," Hanekawa replied mysteriously.

"..." Shinku was speechless but didn't press further—it was clear the answer wasn't affirmative.

"I'll teach you a new genjutsu tomorrow," Shinku said after a moment of thought. "Medical ninjutsu is useful, but it lacks combat potential. Genjutsu is your true strength."

This was true, but it was also an opportunity for the Yūhi clan to promote their expertise in genjutsu.

"Can we do it the day after tomorrow?" Hanekawa asked. "Lady Tsunade needs me for something tomorrow."

"Take care of her request first, then," Shinkuro said with a wave of his hand.

Hanekawa nodded.

It had been nearly two months since he last studied genjutsu—long overdue for a new lesson.

Thankfully, he no longer needed to spend time practicing ninja tool techniques.

The D-rank talent: Ninja Tool Mastery he gained earlier had no further synthesis paths, meaning he'd reached the limit of its potential.

As a ninja, ninjutsu remained the most critical skill—ninja tools were just foundational.

In the late stages of mastery, the usefulness of ninja tools dwindled, serving only as complements to techniques like explosive tags or the Flying Thunder God Jutsu.

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