Chapter 56: The Way to Make Tsunade Return to the Village and Become Hokage!
"Granny Tsunade?"
Byakuya froze for a second upon hearing that.
Then he pretended to be curious and asked, "You mean the one who's one of the Legendary Sannin, Tsunade?"
"Yeah."
Naruto nodded.
Without hiding anything, he explained the whole situation to Byakuya.
"The Pervy Sage originally said he was taking me out for training.
But halfway through, he suddenly said he wanted to go find some granny named Tsunade.
No choice, so I had to follow him—training while searching.
Finally we managed to find Granny Tsunade.
But then…
he told her the village wanted her to come back and become the new Hokage!
It scared the crap outta me!
I almost choked to death on the fish in my mouth!
After that,
she straight-up refused to become Hokage.
Not only that, she even said anyone who wants to be Hokage is an idiot and a moron!
Hmph!
I got super mad and argued with her.
Then we made a bet and went outside to fight.
I never expected her to be that strong.
She beat me with just one finger!
Afterward,
when she saw me use the Rasengan I still hadn't mastered, she started mocking me.
Said there's no way I could ever learn such a high-level ninjutsu.
I got really angry again and argued back.
So we made another bet.
She said if I could master the Rasengan within one week, she'd give me her necklace.
But if I couldn't,
all the money in my wallet would be hers.
I trained like crazy for so long… but I still can't do it.
And Granny Tsunade, even after the Pervy Sage kept persuading her, still refuses to go back and become Hokage.
Ugh!
So annoying!"
Byakuya gave a small nod after listening.
Although Naruto's explanation was full of extra chatter,
he had gotten the general picture.
This time, Naruto's mission was pretty much the same as the original story.
But without Orochimaru acting as the "villain" catalyst,
things weren't going as smoothly.
In the original story,
Tsunade had been moved by Naruto's persistence during the fight and his Talk no Jutsu.
Not only was her hemophobia cured without treatment,
she also agreed to return to the village and become Hokage.
And Naruto mastered the Rasengan too.
A perfect happy ending for everyone.
But now, without Orochimaru as the villain,
Naruto had no chance to show off his Talk no Jutsu or his stubbornness.
The mission to "make Tsunade return to the village as Hokage" had completely stalled.
"Byakuya, do you have any way to make Lady Tsunade go back and become Hokage?"
Kushina curiously studied her son's very first friend.
She herself had thought of all kinds of solutions for getting Tsunade to return.
None of them worked.
So now, she was genuinely curious what kind of method Byakuya would come up with.
"It's simple."
Byakuya smiled and nodded.
He already had a plan in mind.
From his analysis,
the reason Tsunade still refused to return and become Hokage came down to two main issues.
First—her hemophobia.
Because she failed to save her lover back then, Tsunade developed a severe fear of blood.
As an outstanding medical ninja, if she returned to become Hokage,
she would inevitably have to treat heavily injured shinobi.
After all, she was the best medical ninja in Konoha.
But with hemophobia, she couldn't possibly perform surgery on patients.
The moment someone requested her help,
her condition would be exposed.
Then everyone would start gossiping:
"A medical ninja? A Hokage? And she's afraid of blood?"
She wouldn't be able to bear that kind of rumor.
Moreover, every time someone mentioned her hemophobia,
it would force her to remember the lover she couldn't save no matter how hard she tried.
That pain would become even worse.
That was the fundamental reason she left the village in the first place.
Second—lack of courage.
Throughout her life, the two most important people to her were her little brother Nawaki and her lover Dan Katō.
Both dreamed of becoming Hokage.
Both died on the battlefield.
She also had two grandfathers: the First Hokage and the Second Hokage.
Both died protecting the village.
She had a teacher, the Third Hokage.
According to Jiraiya, even he died for the village.
And the Fourth Hokage…
also died fighting for the village.
So in her eyes,
dying for the village was the inevitable fate of every Hokage.
That fate made her feel tired.
It made her feel sad.
It made her want to run away.
In essence,
Tsunade did not reject becoming Hokage.
But these two reasons made her strongly resist it.
Therefore, to make Tsunade return to the village as Hokage…
all they had to do was solve these two problems.
And for Byakuya,
that was very simple.
"You already have a plan?"
"Byakuya!
You thought of a solution that fast!?"
Both Kushina and Naruto stared at Byakuya in shock.
They couldn't understand.
How could a problem that felt so difficult for them
suddenly become such an easy little thing the moment it reached Byakuya?
"Of course~"
Byakuya smiled and nodded.
"But right now isn't the time to start the plan.
I need both of you to keep it a secret that I was here.
Tonight, have Jiraiya take Tsunade out drinking.
Make her drink a lot.
Then tomorrow morning, get up early.
I'll come back tomorrow morning to carry out the plan.
I guarantee I'll solve this problem!"
"What plan?! What plan?!"
Naruto grabbed Byakuya's arm excitedly.
"Tell me! Tell me!"
"If I tell you now, it won't work anymore~"
Byakuya gave a mysterious smile.
"But Naruto,
if you want this plan to go smoothly,
you'll have to help too."
"Okay!"
Naruto nodded repeatedly.
"What should I do?"
"Learn the Rasengan. Win the bet."
"Eh?!"
Naruto's face instantly fell.
"I thought you were gonna give me some cool mission…
But it's just this again…
I swear I can master that jutsu within a week!
So…
just give me something else to do instead!"
"Trust me.
This is the most important task."
Byakuya rejected him outright.
"As for the Rasengan…
I can give you one piece of advice.
Use shadow clones to help you form it.
Alright.
Remember to make Tsunade drink plenty tonight.
See you tomorrow morning~"
With that, Byakuya activated the Flying Thunder God Technique and vanished from the spot.
"What a cheapskate!"
Naruto stared helplessly at where Byakuya had disappeared.
"Ah! Wait a second!"
Kushina suddenly froze, then slapped her forehead as if remembering something.
"He forgot to tell me the hand seals for that technique!"
Naruto rolled his eyes.
"That's not important right now…
But still…
What kind of method is he gonna use to make Granny Tsunade go back and become Hokage?"
Naruto propped his chin on his hand, sinking deep into thought.
Wanna read ahead? Join my Patreon and support the story — you can enjoy 3 new chapters published every day!: patreon.com/ArealMaster