Xingye looked at Tsunade's puffed-out cheeks and the spark of genuine interest in her eyes. The adult side of his soul couldn't resist the urge to poke the bear. He leaned back, adopting an air of mysterious refinement.
"Oh? So you saw everything?"
Tsunade nodded eagerly, her eyes following his fingers. Xingye picked up a pen from his desk and sent it into a lazy, mesmerizing spin across his knuckles.
"Want to learn?"
Tsunade's head bobbed like a mechanical toy. Her "fierce" mask had completely melted into pure, childish greed for the trick. But just as she reached out, Xingye snapped his fingers closed, pocketing the pen.
"I don't think I want to teach you."
"You... you...!"
Tsunade's face turned a shade of red that rivaled a ripe tomato. She was the Princess of the Senju; no one had ever denied her so much as a sweet, let alone a skill. Her small fists trembled, and for a second, Xingye wondered if he was about to test the durability of his desk against her monstrous strength.
But she took a deep breath. Grandma Mito said no fighting at school, she reminded herself. If she couldn't break him, she'd break his ego. She squinted her eyes, a crafty glint appearing in her amber gaze.
"Hmph. I get it. You're just scared," she sneered, crossing her arms. "You're afraid that once I learn it, I'll be better than you. Do you dare to make a bet? I bet I can master that spin in three days—and do it better than you ever could."
Xingye almost laughed out loud. Betting against Tsunade was like betting that the sun would rise in the East; it was the safest investment in the elemental nations.
"And if you lose?" Xingye asked, leaning in.
Tsunade tapped her chin. "Then I'll grant you one favor. One condition. Nothing too crazy, but I'll do it. But if I win, you have to do whatever I say. Deal?"
Xingye's mind whirred. Money was useless to him, but the Senju archives? That was a different story. The Shadow Clone Technique was a B-rank jutsu in the scrolls, but in the hands of a System-user, it was a cheat code for exponential experience.
"Deal," Xingye said, masking his excitement with a calm nod.
Just as the pact was sealed, the bell rang, and the classroom transformed from a silent tomb into a chaotic playground. Xingye turned his seat around, officially beginning the "tutorial." Jiraiya and Yako leaned in, their eyes wide as Xingye broke the movement down into slow, surgical segments.
"I've got it," Tsunade muttered, her eyes tracking the pen. "My brain knows exactly what to do."
She tried to flick the pen. It immediately flew off her thumb and hit Jiraiya in the forehead.
"Ugh!" She pouted, her frustration rising. "It's not working! Grandma Mito always says that for complex hand signs, you have to guide the hands. Here—hand-teach me!"
Yako gasped, grabbing Tsunade's sleeve. "Princess! No! My mom says if a boy holds your hand, you'll have a baby!"
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Don't be stupid, Yako. The doctor at the hospital takes my pulse all the time and I don't see any babies. Grandma says babies only happen when people who like each other sleep together."
Without another word, Tsunade grabbed Xingye's hand and slapped it onto her own. "See? Nothing happened."
Jiraiya stared at their joined hands, a look of pure, unadulterated envy on his face. "If it's just an experiment, why couldn't I be the one holding..."
Xingye didn't listen to the mumbling. He focused on guiding her fingers. Her hand was soft, small, and warm—a stark contrast to the cold hilt of a sword.
But across the room, the temperature had dropped to sub-zero. The boys of Class A watched the scene with murderous intent.
"Look at him," one hissed. "He's smiling like a pervert. Why is he the one holding her hand?"
"He's not even that handsome," another grumbled, clutching his desk until the wood creaked. "Wait until the combat trials. I'm going to break him."
In the center of the room, Uchiha Iwa watched them with narrowed eyes. He had already decided Tsunade was out of his reach due to clan politics, but that didn't mean he enjoyed watching a "nobody" like a Gekkō consolidate power so quickly.
He's getting too arrogant, Iwa thought, his fingers tracing the Uchiha crest on his sleeve. I'll have to remind him where the true power in this village lies.
Tsunade, sensing the mounting pressure and the dozens of eyes boring into her back, suddenly felt a flush of embarrassment. She pulled her hand away, grabbed the bewildered Yako, and bolted for the door. "Bathroom! We're going to the bathroom!"
Xingye watched her go, a faint smile on his lips. He knew he had just painted a target on his back, but that was fine. A target just meant more people would come to challenge him—and more people meant more experience.