27

That day, Tsunade did have her fun, but at what price? The unaware Nawaki was not ready for his sister's training and energy. For the first time, he felt that having the physique of the Senju was a bad thing. Even if he wanted to quit, Tsunade, who knew how much vitality they have as part-Senju, part-Uzumaki, didn't let him rest until she was very satisfied. But what hurt him the most were her last words: "Nawaki, your chakra control is really bad. Look, all of us in the family have good chakra control. You are bringing our average down, so from now on, as your elder sister and part of this family, I will take the duty to improve this. You don't have to thank me." Upon hearing this, the last trace of resistance in Nawaki was wiped out, and he passed out. But even that didn't help him, as Tsunade just looked at him and said, "Well, just take him to his room. By dinner time, he should be fine."

And with that, Nawaki's fate was sealed to be his older sister's punching bag until further notice.

Haru felt a little guilty, but after he saw Tsunade's improved treatment of him, all of those feelings were wiped out immediately.

In the next couple of days, Haru trained in using basic first aid without the use of chakra, as Tsunade said, "If you can heal it without using chakra, then don't use it." The amount of chakra a shinobi has is limited. If the wound isn't very dangerous and won't hamper the ninja, then don't use medical ninjutsu and waste your chakra, as you don't know if there will be any enemies, especially if you are on a mission. This also applies in wars, as the number of injured ninjas a medical ninja will have to heal can be quite big. So, it's very important to master first aid techniques and to know when to use them.

Haru agreed with Tsunade's view, as he knew best how much can be saved with first aid alone. In his previous life, many patients would have had a far better chance of survival if someone who knew first aid was close to them when an accident happened. Therefore, he was doing his best to train. His current target was some small animals that were injured, such as birds, cats, and the like. He has very good first aid skills, not just from his previous memories but also because he made sure to train in this aspect in the past couple of years. Since he and Nawaki often got wounds from training, he was mostly the one who cleaned and bandaged them.

So, today when he was tending to a little wound on a cat's leg, Tsunade was beside him, nodding her head at his techniques. From cleaning to bandaging the wound, Haru did it all very meticulously and with a very calm attitude, being careful not to increase the cat's pain.

After seeing Haru finish tending to the cat's wound, Tsunade asked him about some herbs that could be used to improve the healing process. Haru answered correctly, and upon seeing this, Tsunade said, "Well, your first aid skills are already very good. From our next lesson, we'll start learning some simple medical ninjutsu." Haru nodded and forced a smile. Seeing his smile, Tsunade said, "It seems you're excited. Unfortunately, our class time is over. Now it's Nawaki's turn. Let's go; he should be waiting for us." Haru agreed and muttered a prayer for Nawaki. It seemed that Tsunade enjoyed messing with him more than he had anticipated, especially since she had no missions for the time being.

After entering the house, they found Nawaki waiting in the yard while Mito was having her tea on the side. Haru joined Mito, and Tsunade made her way to Nawaki to start his training. Unlike Haru, Nawaki was allowed to move since he didn't have enough chakra control to do the training with just chakra threads. Even so, he was still being hit as Tsunade threw pebbles from various angles and used chakra threads to change their trajectory, making them very difficult to predict and dodge.

But if you compare Nawaki to the first time he started, he has already made progress. Now he is able to push some pebbles using chakra threads, even if it was just for a few times. That was already a very good improvement. Upon seeing his slightly better performance, Mito nodded her head, as the training really did pay off. Nawaki was the type of person who could improve very quickly when he is pushed into a corner.

Nawaki was very focused, and he felt like he was getting the hang of it when suddenly a small pebble hit him in the back of his head. He was very puzzled as he was sure that his eyes didn't leave Tsunade for a second. He looked around at Tsunade, who sighed and gestured with her head towards Mito's place. It took a couple of seconds before he figured out what she meant, and then came his loud complaints, "Grandma, that's not fair. This is supposed to be just Tsunade. Why are you joining now?"

Mito ignored his face, which was about to cry, and replied, "Well, when you are outside, enemies wouldn't wait for your approval before attacking." Nawaki wanted to argue, but when he saw his grandma's serious and calm eyes, he stopped and remained silent. He knew that face well; if he continued to talk, things would only get worse. So he shifted his gaze to Tsunade and pleaded with his eyes.

Seeing her little brother's tattered look, some sympathy came to Tsunade, so she said, "Well, then our training for today is over." Before Nawaki had time to be happy, she continued, "You've improved a lot. From tomorrow on, I will increase the difficulty until I'm satisfied with your chakra control." Nawaki's happiness shattered, and he began to despair. Seeing Haru enjoying his tea there, he realized for the first time how hard it is to be with a group of monsters. He swore that his control wasn't bad at all. In fact, in his age group, it's quite high. But now he is being compared to the best sealing master and one of the best medical ninjas currently, and that bastard Haru, who always has excellent control. His little heart couldn't take all of this, and suddenly tears started coming from his eyes. But all that faced him was his family's calm expressions. Life was really hard sometimes, even for the Little Prince of the Senju.

Over the next few days, Haru began learning basic medical ninjutsu, such as Gantai no Jutsu (Bandage Technique) and Sansokyoukyuu (Oxygen Supply). These are simple D-ranked jutsu, which are essentially first aid techniques that are enhanced with chakra to increase their effectiveness and allow them to be used even when necessary tools are not available. For example, the Bandage Technique uses objects from the surrounding environment, such as water, grass, or sand, to create a temporary bandage using chakra. While these bandages will only last for around five minutes without the medical ninja's chakra, they can still be very helpful in emergency situations.

While performing the ninjutsu on some fish, Haru couldn't help but notice Tsunade's dazed look. Since he started learning those ninjutsu, she paid less and less attention during class. Learning them was easy for Haru due to his control. Tsunade would simply give him the scroll, and he would learn it on his own. If he had any questions, he would ask her himself. Other than that, she would just grade his techniques at the end of class.

It was obvious that something was on her mind, but since she didn't ask him, Haru didn't get involved. Today, after class, Haru was headed to the village to sell some explosive tags he made. When he was leaving, he noticed Tsunade was also heading out, so they went out together. After Haru sold what he had to one of the ninja shops, he saw Tsunade still waiting for him, so he went with her. They both kept mostly silent as Tsunade was busy thinking, while Haru figured she just wanted company and didn't bother her.

After walking around the village for a while, they arrived at the riverbank where Tsunade sat down, and Haru joined her. After some time, Tsunade asked, "Are you really not curious at all? Most people would have already been asking questions, but you just remained silent." Haru looked at her calmly and replied, "Well, I guessed that something is bothering you, but since it's something Tsunade-nee can't solve, I don't think I can either. Since I didn't have anything to offer, I figured it was better to remain silent."

Tsunade chuckled and ruffled his hair before saying while clicking her tongue, "You brat, with this attitude, you won't be popular with girls, you know. Even if you can't help when you see a girl having a problem, you should offer to at least listen." Before Haru could respond, she sighed and said, "Aaah, you are too practical sometimes, you know." Haru listened and acknowledged what Tsunade said, but he preferred to be this way. Even though he spent time with her, he really didn't know Tsunade too well and didn't know what her problems were or if she needed anything. He didn't know her well enough to read her like he could with Nawaki and Mito. Even though she appeared to be simple, she had a lot on her mind.

Noticing Haru's silence, Tsunade said, "Well then, today is your training on how you should listen." Then she started talking about her problem. Haru kept silent and listened attentively. In the end, Tsunade's problem was her hesitation about her future. She acknowledged Mito's advice and agreed that if she wanted to improve her medical ninjutsu, the hospital would be the best place for her. But at the same time, she still wanted to be free and explore the world outside the village.

Haru looked at Tsunade's frustrated face and thought for a while before speaking. "Well, I think both options are available to you. You're still very young, and it all depends on your current priorities. You can start with either one and then pursue the other."

Tsunade listened to Haru and thought for a while. He was right. Doing either of the options didn't mean giving up the other. Deep down, she already knew this. Her choice was already there. Neither she nor Haru said it, but both of them knew about Mito's lack of time. Tsunade already knew that she should start going to the hospital and improving her medical ninjutsu to not fail Mito's expectations. But deep down in her heart, she hoped that if she didn't grow up, then Mito would spend more time with them and wouldn't make the next jinchuriki soon. As a medical ninja, she knew best that sometimes having an obsession can make someone want to live a lot longer. And she hoped that her lack of growth would allow Mito to live for more time.

She took a deep breath and said, "Haru, do you know about Grandma being the Jinchuriki?" Haru nodded his head. Of course, he knew. Being her disciple in sealing, they had studied a lot of seals in this topic. Haru could guess that Tsunade was thinking a little. In the end, Mito was her family. Even if she knew that eventually Konoha would need a new Jinchuriki, she still couldn't accept it.

After a while, she asked again, "How much do you think Grandma can last?" Haru was surprised by the question but thought for a while before replying, "I don't know. She is an Uzumaki, so theoretically, her vitality is very strong. But what I do know is that the tailed beast chakra is very strong and overwhelming, even for someone with the Uzumaki bloodline. And with age, it will become harder and harder for her, and the danger to her and the village would increase. Even if she can last for another ten years, by that time the tailed beast chakra would bring a lot of pain to her, and it would be very dangerous from the standpoint of the next seals. I don't think Grandma will wait until she is very weak."

Mito is a very strong and intelligent woman. She knows that what the village needs is the power and deterrent of the Jinchuriki, to show their strength to other villages. She also knows that once she becomes older and her power begins to decrease, the village's opinion of her would shift. Even if the Hokage wouldn't force her, she herself wouldn't let herself reach that point.

Upon hearing Haru's answer, Tsunade took a very deep breath but didn't oppose his view. She also knew her grandmother and understood how difficult it was to be the Jinchuriki, especially in her older body. As her vitality decreased, the pressure from the tailed beast chakra on her would increase.

They both remained silent for a while, lost in their own thoughts, before heading back. Today would be a very long night filled with decisions to make, at least for Tsunade.