"That's good. I'll be there in a while." Ryosuke nodded.
He sensed that Black Fang seemed a little uneasy. But Ryosuke didn't plan to comfort him.
Does an old man like him still need Ryosuke to comfort him?
Does he think he's some kind of beauty?
"Yes, then I will take my leave!"
Black Fang had no desire to stay even a second longer.
The moment he finished speaking, he disappeared with the Body Flicker Technique.
Ryosuke didn't head straight for the Hokage building.
He went to the training ground first and made thousands of Shadow Clones.
In an instant, the entire training ground was filled with them.
After equipping the new talent entry yesterday, his vitality had multiplied by six times.
With such a vast vitality, he could now sustain thousands of Shadow Clones without worrying about collapsing from exhaustion.
At most, he'd just get a minor headache.
Hokage's Office
Ryosuke had already left a Flying Thunder God mark here, so he appeared directly inside the office.
"What?!"
Tsunade had just returned to the village and wasn't familiar with its current state.
She was about to walk over to the window to take a better look.
But after taking just two steps, she crashed into someone.
She swore that there had been no one in that spot just a second ago.
There was no way someone could move so fast that even she couldn't see them coming.
Ryosuke was equally confused. He had just arrived, and suddenly, someone crashed into him.
And that softness…
It gave him a strange feeling.
"Wait, is this Tsunade?"
"Did I just bump into her? No! Clearly, she bumped into me!"
Looking at the person in front of him, Ryosuke could now see her clearly.
A green haori over a gray kimono, blonde hair, bright eyes, perfect white teeth, and a face so delicate and youthful she seemed like she was in her early twenties.
However!
Those weren't the most eye-catching features.
What really stood out was Tsunade's most famous trait.
Tsk tsk~!
As expected of Tsunade!
Ryosuke sighed inwardly.
At this moment
"Tsunade, let me introduce him to you. This is Ryosuke, the one I told you about before. Don't be fooled by his age. He's now one of the three Kage-level ninjas in the village, including you and me!"
Jiraiya's eyes lit up when he saw Ryosuke suddenly appear.
He completely ignored the fact that Tsunade had just crashed into him and immediately pulled Ryosuke over for an introduction.
Naruto excitedly said, "Ryosuke! Over here, look over here!"
On the side, Naruto was bouncing excitedly, and waving his arms.
"Naruto, how was your trip outside the village?" Ryosuke greeted him with a smile.
Naruto asked with some expectations, "Ryosuke! Do you notice anything different about me?"
Huh?
Ryosuke looked Naruto up and down.
Naruto looked exactly the same as he was a few days ago.
What change was he talking about?
"My strength! Can't you tell that I've gotten stronger?!" Naruto grinned widely.
'How would I even see that?' Ryosuke thought.
At this moment, Jiraiya smacked Naruto on the head.
"Idiot! Keep it down!" Jiraiya scolded him.
He was just introducing Ryosuke to Tsunade, and Naruto had already interrupted him.
"What the heck! Pervy Sage always picks on me!" Naruto pouted.
But despite his complaints, it was obvious that Naruto and Jiraiya had grown much closer.
There was even a sense of grandfather-grandson camaraderie between them now.
"So, this brat is Ryosuke?"
Tsunade sized him up, then frowned slightly.
After a moment
She turned to Jiraiya and asked, "Jiraiya, you told me that this kid doesn't belong to any clan, right? Why does his chakra feel so similar to my grandfather's?"
"Huh?!"
Jiraiya's eyes widened in shock.
Seeing his reaction, Tsunade immediately realized that Jiraiya was completely clueless.
So, she turned her gaze to Ryosuke and scrutinized him.
"Kid. Care to explain?"
"Ah, I've been found out!"
Ryosuke sighed, looking annoyed.
He helplessly said, "I was hoping to keep it hidden for a while longer. But Princess Tsunade really is a true Senju. No one else noticed, but you did."
Jiraiya stared at Ryosuke with a confused expression. Naruto, standing next to him, looked equally puzzled.
"Wait, Ryosuke, what does that mean? Are you hiding something?" Jiraiya asked curiously.
"Oh, it's nothing special. It's just Wood release." Ryosuke replied casually.
"Oh, I see. Just Wood release—"
Jiraiya nodded absentmindedly.
Then, he suddenly froze.
"Wait! Did you just say WOOD RELEASE?!"
"What's Wood releas?"
Naruto tugged on Jiraiya's sleeve, looking confused.
"That's the ability of the First Hokage, the man who created Konoha!" Jiraiya seriously said.
"Ohhh! So it's the First Hokage's power?! That's amazing!"
Naruto still hadn't fully grasp the significance.
He just assumed it was super strong.
After all, the First Hokage must've been powerful, right?
But was he stronger than the Third Hokage?
Naruto wondered to himself.
"Ryosuke, your Wood release… is it…?" Jiraiya hesitantly asked.
He really didn't want his guess to be correct.
"Oh? Jiraiya-sama, are you talking about Tenzo? No, my Wood release is different from his."
Ryosuke suddenly looked like he had an epiphany. Then he smirked slightly.
"Jiraiya-sama, you've misunderstood. I awakened my Wood release naturally. Unlike Tenzo, I wasn't experimented on."
"You awakened it naturally?!"
Jiraiya was stunned.
"But… you're not from the Senju clan—"
"No, Jiraiya. He has Senju blood in him!" Tsunade suddenly interrupted.
Then, she grabbed Ryosuke's wrist.
Earlier, she had only sensed the immense vitality in him. It had reminded her of her grandfather.
But now that she had direct physical contact with him, she could feel it clearly.
The warm, powerful chakra flowing through Ryosuke's body...
It was undeniably Senju blood.
That's the power of Wood release!
And it is the power of the Wood release of a pure Senju!
It is definitely not what an experiment can accomplish.
"Wait, I see!" Jiraiya suddenly realized something.
He looked at Ryosuke with an incredulous expression on his face and said, "So, one of your ancestors was from the Senju clan?"
In the past, most of the Senju clan had merged into Konoha.
At that time, Jiraiya and the others hadn't even been born yet.
But when he was young, the First Hokage was in charge of Konoha, so he knew about the integration of the Senju clan into the village.
And!
Those Senju who integrated into the village intermarried with commoners.
And Ryosuke was born as a commoner.
Ryosuke's great-grandfather's generation was very likely part of the Senju clan back then.
"So that physique type bloodline limit is actually because you have Senju blood?"
Jiraiya knew that Ryosuke had awakened some kind of bloodline limit.
Although he didn't know much about it, he had read the reports.
Now that he thought about it, everything seemed to make sense.
In reality, it was not a special bloodline limit but Ryosuke awakening the power of the Senju bloodline.
Now, he had become the only Senju since Hashirama to awaken Wood release.
"I'm sorry, Jiraiya-sama." Ryosuke said with an embarrassed expression.
"Even I didn't know what was happening to me. Before this, I wasn't sure if I had the Senju blood. It wasn't until I awakened Wood release that I realized the possibility."
Tsunade asked, "How long has it been since you awakened the Wood release?"
Tsunade looked at Ryosuke gently.
After confirming that he had Senju blood and had awakened Wood release, Tsunade seemed to regard him as family.
Ryosuke was about the same age as Nawaki when he died.
So at this moment, Tsunade was treating Ryosuke as a younger brother.
"Actually, not long. Just this month." Ryosuke replied.
"Then can you use the power of Wood release?" Tsunade asked.
"I secretly learned a few techniques from Captain Tenzo, but I'm not very skilled at using them yet." Ryosuke said modestly.
"It's okay. Since you have Senju blood in you, you are now a member of the Senju clan. I will teach you the Wood release techniques my grandfather left behind." Tsunade said softly.
As expected!
Ryosuke smiled secretly.
The reason he deliberately revealed his Wood release in front of Tsunade was actually to get easy access to Hashirama's Wood release techniques.
He could create them himself.
But why not just take ready-made techniques if they were available?
Previously, Ryosuke had checked and found that Root and Sarutobi Hiruzen had very few Wood release ninjutsu.
They only had a few basic ninjutsu.
Even Yamato's ninjutsus were mostly ones he had improved himself.
For example, his Wood release house-building technique was one of his proudest creations.
The real Wood release ninjutsus of Hashirama didn't seem to be in the hands of Danzo and Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Ryosuke suspected that Tsunade had hidden them.
Now, hearing her words, Ryosuke confirmed that his guess was correct.
He could now learn Hashirama's many Wood release for free. Ryosuke was in a great mood.
At this moment!
Tsunade suddenly reached out and touched his cheek.
???
Ryosuke looked at her with a confused expression.
Tsunade said with a smile, "Since you're this handsome, you must have inherited the excellent genes of the Senju clan.".
Ryosuke: "…"
Ryosuke said, "Tsunade-sama, you're beautiful too."
This wasn't a lie.
Putting aside age, in terms of appearance, Tsunade was indeed a stunning beauty.
And her figure was undoubtedly the best in the world.
She was just a little short.
Right now, Ryosuke hadn't fully grown, so it wasn't obvious.
But in the future, when he grows to 1.9 meters, and stands next to Tsunade, she'll look petite in comparison.
Wouldn't that be the cutest height difference?
"Don't call me sama. Just call me Sister from now on."
Tsunade took Ryosuke's hands and said gently.
Jiraiya: "…"
Looking at how warmly Tsunade was treating Ryosuke and recalling his own past interactions with her, Jiraiya suddenly felt a bit jealous.
He was actually jealous of Ryosuke.
"Grandma Tsunade, why did you ask Ryosuke to call you sister?"
At this moment, an untimely voice suddenly rang out.
Tsunade's expression darkened as she turned to look at Naruto. Her gaze was murderous.
"Gulp!"
Naruto swallowed nervously. Even with his poor EQ, he realized that he might have said something wrong.
He quickly covered his mouth and gave an awkward smile.
Tsunade fiercely said, "Naruto! How many times have I told you not to call me 'Grandma'?!"
Naruto nodded repeatedly, and swore that he would definitely remember and never forget again.
But based on Ryosuke's understanding of Naruto, he would probably remember for today at most.
As for after today?
That's another story.