Touye and Shizune let out a simultaneous sigh of relief, sharing a look of sheer luck.
The patient himself, however, remained calm and unfazed through it all.
The girl extended her hands, joining Shizune in using medical ninjutsu to stop the bleeding and heal the ninja.
Finally, they applied medicinal powder, wrapped his wound in bandages, and draped his clothes over him before starting to clean up their tools.
A short while later, with the tools put away and the bloodstains cleaned, the girl walked out of the cave.
The Raikage rushed over anxiously, like a family member waiting outside an operating room in her past life. "How is he? Was the surgery a success? (Are the mother and child okay?)"
And the girl, playing the part of the diligent nurse, replied with a perfectly straight face, "Don't worry, the surgery was a success. (The mother and child are both safe and sound. And, it's a boy~)"
Beside them, Tsunade didn't turn around, but the corners of her mouth curled into a faint smile.
***
Two days later, though the injured Cloud ninja's condition had only slightly improved, the Raikage announced their intention to leave. Tsunade said nothing.
The injured ninja and the young medical-nin expressed their profuse thanks. The Raikage, however, remained silent, merely staring at Tsunade with a complicated expression for a long moment before turning to depart.
Touye stroked her chin. *Could he have fallen for Lady Tsunade? He's a blunt, unromantic brute, but Tsunade's charisma, looks, and temperament are all top-tier. Plus, she did him a great service. It wouldn't be surprising if he developed feelings for her... Unfortunately, it seems Lady Tsunade has no interest in him that way... Looks like the poor guy is destined for unrequited love...*
The girl shamelessly concocted a romance between Tsunade and the Raikage in her mind, completely ignoring the fact that Tsunade had saved her life several times...
"Well now... you've had quite the encounter with an impressive figure... Tsunade..."
A deep male voice suddenly sounded behind them. Both Touye and Shizune tensed up, though Shizune relaxed after only a moment's surprise.
The girl spun around, a crystal-clear ice katana already in her hand, pointed at the newcomer.
The man before her was in his late forties or early fifties. A mane of long white hair cascaded down his back, spiky like a white porcupine's quills. Strange red lines were painted on his face. Though not handsome, his weathered features and the slight curve of his lips gave him the charm of a mature man—the kind you could tell had lived a full life. If he took himself a little more seriously, he would surely attract a lot of women.
He was tall and powerfully built, dressed in clothes that looked like they belonged in a period drama. A sturdy steel plate was strapped to one arm, and from his other wrist, she could see he wore a ninja's mesh undershirt beneath his strange attire. He wore grayish-blue trousers but had on wooden geta sandals. His whole outfit was a mismatched mess. Even the forehead protector he wore bore not the symbol of a hidden village, but the kanji for "Oil."
Seeing his clothes and appearance, the girl's face went blank. "This is..."
Beside her, Tsunade didn't even turn around. Still leaning on the inn's railing, she spoke with clear annoyance. "If you only came here to say that, then you can get lost now, Jiraiya."
*It really is him!*
The girl looked excitedly at the mature man before her. Though his personality and actions were a bit eccentric, he was undeniably a crucial figure. In the original story, his help to the protagonist, Naruto, was undeniable. While the girl herself wasn't a fan of his, she held him in high esteem.
And his strength was nothing to scoff at; among the three Sannin, Jiraiya was likely the strongest.
The tip of her sword, trembling with excitement, was noticed by the man. He mistook it for a prelude to an attack. Jiraiya quickly held up his hands. "Uh... wait a minute! I'm not an enemy... You know... a sword's a dangerous thing. Could you maybe put it down?"
Tsunade still didn't turn. "He's right, Xiao Ye. He's not an enemy. You can relax."
Realizing her mistake, the girl awkwardly lowered the ice katana.
On Tsunade's other side, Shizune also bowed respectfully. "Lord Jiraiya..."
Jiraiya grinned brightly at Shizune. "Yo, Shizune, long time no see. You've grown into a fine young woman..."
He walked forward and casually patted the girl's head. "Is this little one your new apprentice? She's got some real potential..."
Hearing Jiraiya praise Touye, an almost imperceptible smile touched Tsunade's lips before she said sternly, "No, she's still a long way off."
Jiraiya chuckled, ignoring Tsunade's feigned humility. His expression turned serious as he looked at her. "What did you think of the Fourth Raikage's strength?"
After a moment of silence, Tsunade turned to look at Jiraiya seriously. "He's strong. Very strong. I'm no match for him, and Orochimaru probably isn't either. As for you... I haven't been able to gauge your true strength for a long time now. You probably wouldn't have much trouble fighting him. The only person I've ever seen who could definitely beat him—and is still alive—is you, and the old man. And I mean the old man in his prime. If Hiruzen faced him now, he'd be in for a rough time..."
Jiraiya nodded. "I see. Anything else?"
"He's quite a bit weaker than me in terms of raw power, but he's by no means weak," Tsunade continued. "And he's much faster than me. In a real fight, my chances wouldn't be good."
Jiraiya sank into deep thought.
Tsunade's gaze drifted to the girl standing nearby, and a sudden idea struck her. "Hey, Touye. Your Ice Release chakra is a mix of wind and water, right?"
Touye froze, confused as to why the conversation had suddenly turned to her. "Oh? Uh, yes... I can use both Wind and Water Release, but I've never really studied them..."
A pleased smile touched Tsunade's lips. "I say, Jiraiya, why don't you teach Touye the Rasengan?"
Jiraiya wasn't annoyed at having his thoughts interrupted. He just grinned and looked the girl up and down before nodding. "Alright. If you approve of her, she must be a good kid. It's rare to find such a promising sapling. I don't want to take his techniques to the grave with me. Teaching her is fine. But I won't be able to stay here for long. How much she learns will be up to her..."
The girl was overcome with surprise and joy. She quickly bowed to Jiraiya. "Thank you so much! I will do my utmost to learn..."
Jiraiya nodded, extremely pleased with her attitude.
In truth, Touye had tried to practice the Rasengan before. She remembered the training method from her past life, but an A-rank jutsu was obviously far more complex than the few lines of description in the original story suggested. As a result, she had never been able to replicate the incredibly useful technique on her own.
How could she not be ecstatic to have the chance to learn it now?
Though her own attempts at mastering the Rasengan had failed, she had managed to figure out a great deal through trial and error. The first and second stages were no problem for her. It was the third stage she could never complete.
The third stage involved condensing the sphere of chakra inside a balloon, compressing and stabilizing it while maintaining maximum power. But whenever Touye had tried, she found that the moment her Rasengan hit a target, its internal balance was immediately shattered. The chakra would dissipate instantly, unable to cause any significant damage. She couldn't properly contain the chaotic energy. After many failed attempts, she realized it wasn't that she was doing it wrong, but that there must be some knack to it that the original story never mentioned. Unable to figure out the trick, she had no choice but to give up on the extremely practical jutsu.
Looking back, she understood now. Mastering the Rasengan wasn't so simple. Otherwise, Tsunade wouldn't have made that bet with Naruto in the original story, and there wouldn't have been so few people who could use it. As for Naruto... he was just a total cheat!
***
The next morning, Jiraiya took the girl to the outskirts of town. On the way, he bought a large number of water balloons, rubber balls, and the like.
After directing her to set the pile of props aside, Jiraiya began to explain. "The Rasengan is a jutsu that's simple in principle but difficult in practice. It's very hard to train, but its practicality is extremely high, which is why it's classified as an A-rank ninjutsu. I've broken the training process into three parts. For now, I'll only teach you the first stage. Only when you've mastered it will I teach you the second. This is to keep you from getting ahead of yourself. These balloons and things are the tools you'll be using for your training."
The girl stood quietly to the side, listening intently to Jiraiya's explanation. Even though she already knew all this, she reviewed it again with great seriousness.
Her attitude pleased Jiraiya greatly. He went on to carefully explain the characteristics of the Rasengan, then took a water balloon to demonstrate. "Stage one: chakra release. You release chakra from your body and gather it inside the water balloon, making it spin in a bidirectional vortex. When the rotational speed reaches a certain point, the water balloon won't be able to take it anymore and will explode. Your goal right now is..."
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