When school let out, the gates of the Ninja Academy bustled with parents and guardians picking up their kids.

  Natsume spotted Uchiha Itachi leaving alongside a teen boy.No surprise there—Uchiha Shisui.

  By now, Shisui was already famous across the vilge, nicknamed "Shisui of the Body Flicker." He was the most brilliant prodigy of the Uchiha cn in recent memory.

  After spending a full day at school, Natsume had more or less learned everyone's names.

  Besides Uchiha Itachi, there was one other familiar face from the story—Inuzuka Hana.

  Big sister to Inuzuka Kiba, one of the future Konoha Twelve, and currently a veterinary ninja.

  Not gonna lie…She didn’t get much screen time in the original plot.

  Which left Natsume unsure how to even start changing her fate.

  "Stop right there!""Pay us back!"

  Sudden shouting snapped him out of his thoughts.

  Natsume looked up—and his jaw nearly hit the floor.

  An elderly woman with snow-white hair was sprinting like a damn wind spirit.Behind her, six burly men were giving chase—and utterly failing to keep up.

  As the old woman dashed past the school gates, she shot Natsume a pyful wink.

  If you ignored the age and wrinkles… honestly, kinda cute?

  Natsume instinctively took a few steps back, a chill running down his spine.

  Had his charm reached this level already?

  But then it hit him.Wait.Wasn’t this that infamous "Tsunade running from debt collectors" scene?

  He sighed.

  Being Tsunade’s adopted son and official apprentice, he had a bad feeling about his future.

  Just imagining it—getting chased around with Shizune, dodging debt like a daily exercise—“Me, Natsume, shall never coexist with gambling and addiction!”

  Natsume narrowed his eyes. He needed to find a way to earn some money. Fast.

  The noise gradually faded into the distance.

  Roughly seven or eight minutes ter, the "old dy" returned and morphed right in front of him—back into Tsunade.

  “How was your first day at school?”

  “Not bad,” Natsume replied.

  He took her soft hand and asked, “Who were those guys chasing you?”

  “Oh, just some creditors.” Tsunade waved it off like it was nothing. “I borrowed a little money from them. It’s not like I won’t pay it back. But they just have to chase me around.”

  Natsume twitched at the corner of his mouth.

  "A little money," huh?

  If he remembered correctly, her IOUs could probably fill several crates.

  “Let’s not talk about that,” Tsunade beamed. “You started school today—we should celebrate. Let’s go buy some drinks!”

  You mean you want to drink, right? Don’t use me as an excuse.

  “Alcohol’s not great for your health, you know,” Natsume advised.

  “Oh, you underestimate your big sis.”

  Tsunade squatted down, tapping her forehead with a finger. “Let me tell you a secret. See this diamond mark? It’s a super powerful jutsu called the Strength of a Hundred Seal. Know what it does?”

  “No idea.” Natsume shook his head.

  A lie, of course. He absolutely knew.

  But no way was he admitting that. Too suspicious.

  “It keeps my body in peak condition, no matter what. Booze? Toxins? Nothing affects me.”

  Tsunade looked smug as ever.

  “Wow, sis, that’s amazing!”Natsume’s eyes lit up in feigned awe, ying it on thick.

  Tsunade’s expression softened. That look on his face—too precious.

  She nuzzled her cheek against his like a cat, grinning. “And that’s not even all. Big sis has lots of secrets. You’ll find out in time.”

  Natsume turned red, her perfume invading his nose and making his brain short-circuit.

  Seeing his blush, Tsunade’s grin widened.

  Oh? You’re blushing? Let me get a closer look.

  But given that it was still broad daylight, she reluctantly held back.

  They picked up two bottles of sake from a roadside tavern on the way home.

  Shizune was already cooking when they arrived.

  As an orphan, her cooking skills were top-notch.If Tsunade weren’t so obsessed with pying "big sister" to Natsume, she’d probably have Shizune handle breakfast too.

  Dinner that night was a feast: miso soup, tempura, spicy minced tofu, salmon rice bowls.Natsume ate with glee.

  Tsunade was even happier—since she was the only one drinking.

  Both Shizune and Natsume were underage, and she’d banned them from touching alcohol.

  After dinner, Shizune took the dishes to the kitchen.

  Tsunade, now visibly tipsy, lounged on the couch, cheeks flushed like a ripe apple.

  A few minutes passed.

  Suddenly, she cracked one eye open and looked toward Natsume, who was practicing a ninjutsu on the side.

  “Naatsume”

  Her voice dragged out, unusually soft and whiny.

  She tottered closer and hugged his head. “Big sis really likes you~”

  “…”

  There went his ability to concentrate.

  Women… truly the ultimate distraction from studying.

  Sure, the hug felt nice. But all this bottled-up emotion with no outlet? Torture.

  “Sis, you’re drunk. You should go lie down.”

  Natsume knew firsthand how much of a handful a drunk Tsunade could be.

  And if he wasn’t careful, he’d get puked on again.

  “I’m not drunk!”

  Tsunade pinched his cheeks with her delicate fingers.

  “Only drunk people say they’re not drunk,” Natsume muttered, shaking his head. “Come on, go rest.”

  “Oh, so now you’re sick of me? Fine, I’ll go!”

  She staggered to her feet, wobbling toward her room…

  …then promptly turned around.

  “…?”

  Natsume tilted his head.

  The next second, Tsunade scooped him up like a stuffed toy.

  “You’re coming with me.”

  This service is NOT in the brochure!

  Natsume squirmed, but as, when your captor is a double-A-rank powerhouse in strength and speed, there’s no escape.

  Once inside her room, she finally set him down.

  Just as he was about to make a clean getaway—Boom.

  A full view of her unclothed curves hit him like a genjutsu to the face.

  Red. White. Bck.

  Natsume spun around and left the room without a word.

  Their current retionship hadn’t reached that level.

  He wasn’t about to ruin everything just for a moment’s thrill.

  “…Forget it. I’ll go find Orochimaru.”

  Time to redirect his brain elsewhere.

  Since Yamato’s fate had already changed, that meant he and Orochimaru had likely reached a preliminary agreement.

  Still, acquiring Hashirama’s cells was no simple task.

  One wrong move and his true body could be exposed.

  But those cells were vital.

  The boost to Wood Release was just too big to ignore.

  While Natsume had awakened a Wood Release affinity, he cked the vast chakra reserves and Sage Body needed to truly wield it.

  Which made Hashirama’s cells a necessity.

  As for the test subject?

  Natsume had someone in mind—Kabuto Yakushi.

  Orochimaru couldn’t be trusted. Tsunade wouldn’t cooperate.Kabuto was the only option.

  “Shizune-sis, I’m heading to bed,” Natsume called out. “Later, can you check on Tsunade-sis for me?”

  Shizune always addressed Tsunade formally.Natsume used “big sis.”

  At first, Shizune couldn’t wrap her head around it—until Natsume told her,“It’s fine, we each call her our own way.”

  He didn’t add the rest:Who knows, you might be calling me “master’s wife” someday.

  Tsunade was Shizune’s master.If Natsume ended up with her, he’d technically be “Shizune’s shishou’s wife.”

  …Yeah, not a line he could drop out loud. Yet.

  Orochimaru’s hideout.

  Natsume’s Wood Clone arrived once again.

  In the underground b, Orochimaru was still busy tweaking and brainwashing Yamato.

  The man was a charismatic vilin through and through—maniputing kids was second nature to him.

  The only snag?Yamato had been trained by Shimura Danzo. His head was already full of twisted ideology.

  So Orochimaru had to rewrite that, one yer at a time.And in the meantime, do some juicy Wood Release research.

  Yamato’s success had sparked a whole new concept in Orochimaru’s mind.

  He no longer needed to possess bodies with kekkei genkai.He could just upgrade his own.

  The key?

  Perfect integration of Hashirama’s cells.

  Not like Danzo’s grotesque patchwork.The real deal.