Double-transformation: I, Sakura Haruno! Will crush the pirates!

Sakura slightly tossed her hair, revealing her emerald eyes in profile, a flash of red light passing through them.

"Hum hum!"

The burly man dressed in wild clothes, and the men sitting at the same gambling table as him, wore sinister smiles.

A moment later, Jiraiya, who had been fighting his way around the gambling table, suddenly heard a commotion behind him.

He turned around and was immediately dumbfounded.

Behind him, Sakura had already piled up her chips higher than she was.

Beside the gambling table were rows of men who had been drained dry. The five men who had first invited her had even lost their clothes to Sakura, leaving them stripped down to only their underwear, which hung shivering in the cold wind.

"Sigh, I can't relax at all, and I'm even more tired now."

Lazy Sakura tossed her chips aside, piling them up on the small hill behind her.

Regardless of the form of the bet, Sakura's Observation Haki, which allows her to read minds, is a game-changer in the casino.

Gradually, the name of the God of Gamblers became known in the venue, attracting many wealthy gamblers who frequented the place.

Snapped!

A blonde woman wearing a green coat sat down opposite Sakura with an air of authority.

"Kid, I heard you're the God of Gamblers?"

"Come on, play a couple of rounds with me!"

The blonde woman exchanged the borrowed money for chips and slammed them onto the gambling table.

Full of confidence, she took over the job from the dealer and dealt cards to the players on the table.

—Sorry kid, I'm using your name to break my nickname "Big Fat Sheep" today! Don't blame me, the cruel adult world is just like that...

"I win again!"

Sakura swiped all of Tsunade's last chips in front of her, making her the only one left with chips at the table.

"hateful!"

The blonde woman, who had lost ten hands in a row, stood up and slammed the cards in her hand onto the table.

"That's outrageous, Tsunade! Losing and throwing a tantrum like a child!"

With a teasing tone, Jiraiya's voice rang out behind Tsunade.

"Hmph, Jiraiya." Tsunade crossed her arms. "I don't have any money to entertain you. I lost it all to that brat over there."

"Haha, this is my new disciple. What do you think? Not bad, right?"

Jiraiya wore a smug expression and pointed to the izakaya across the street: "Shall we go chat over there?"

Sakura Haruno exchanged the chips for cash and added at the opportune moment, "It's on me, Tsunade-neechan."

"Hmm, kid, you've got potential!"

Hearing the girl's words, Tsunade felt secretly pleased.

The unpleasantness at the gambling table vanished instantly. Even though this brat won a lot of money from me, she called me "sister"!

The magnanimous Tsunade patted Sakura on the shoulder and chatted and laughed with them as they walked toward the izakaya.

Glug glug glug! Ah!

"After a trip to the casino, you really need a drink to feel refreshed!"

The izakaya waiter served all the dishes, and Tsunade immediately grabbed a drink and drank it heartily.

"So, what's your purpose in bringing this child here to ambush me? Don't tell me it's to catch up with old friends or to show off your disciple."

Tsunade picked up a pinch of salted dried anchovies with her chopsticks and chewed them.

"Tsunade-neechan, I wanted to learn medical ninjutsu, so Jiraiya-sensei brought me here to find you."

Seeing Jiraiya hesitate for a long time, Sakura answered decisively.

"Then why did you take this guy as your master?"

"Come on, what's wrong with becoming my disciple! I'm pretty amazing too!"

Tsunade pointed disdainfully at Jiraiya, who retorted unwillingly.

"Forget about that. The village has medical ninjutsu too, why bother coming all the way to me?"

"Because I want her to learn the best..."

Jiraiya blushed, looking embarrassed.

"Of all the medical ninjas I know, you're the best! So..."

"Please, Tsunade!"

Jiraiya clasped his hands together and lowered his head heavily.

Tsunade stared at her old comrade-in-arms for a long time.

"Alas, time is truly an incredible thing. I never thought that you, a lecherous fellow, would one day humble yourself to this extent for your disciple."

Tsunade took the wine that Jiraiya had poured for her and then turned her gaze to Sakura Haruno.

"Alright, I can help Jiraiya take care of you for a while."

"But let me make this clear beforehand, my teaching style is very strict!"

"If you don't have the talent or can't endure hardship, I won't hesitate to fire you!"

Sakura's eyes lit up after hearing Tsunade's words:

"I can't ask for it!"

Chapter 53 Medical Ninjutsu and the Slug Sage

The next day, Sakura Haruno began her formal training.

Tsunade took her to a fresh food market outside Tanabata Street and bought a lot of live fish.

"What does medical ninjutsu look like to you?"

Tsunade, having heard Jiraiya describe Sakura Haruno's genius, decided to test her.

"do not know!"

Sakura Haruno gave a very straightforward answer, even though she had read the notes Tsunade had given her.

But she felt that this ninjutsu was more like a science, encompassing disciplines such as techniques, pharmacology, pathology, and clinical science.

Therefore, as a newcomer, not making arbitrary definitions about unfamiliar fields is the most basic humility for Sakura as a student.

After listening, Tsunade pondered for a moment and said, "In other people's eyes, we medical ninjas cannot fight, our techniques are extremely difficult and complex, and our knowledge is vast and tedious. We stumble and fall when we learn them, all because we haven't grasped the essentials of medical ninjutsu!"

Tsunade raised a finger and gently touched Sakura's forehead. Green chakra lit up, and a warm current flowed into Sakura's body through her finger.

"The essence of medical ninjutsu is very simple. To put it bluntly, it is the ninja's use of their own Yang Release chakra. All the techniques above that are just Yang Release chakra nature transformations!"

Tsunade had explained it to this extent, and Sakura roughly understood what she meant.

"The essence of ninjutsu?"

Hearing Sakura's hesitation, Tsunade's eyes lit up: "That's right!"

"Chakra is a product of the balanced mixing of two energies. During the extraction process, it is inevitable to mobilize the body's energy. This energy is extracted from the chakra to stimulate the patient's cells. This is the original medical ninjutsu!"

"Therefore, the essence of medical ninjutsu lies in the ninja's control over their own chakra. The more precise the operation, the more energy can be extracted from the body, and the better the effect of medical ninjutsu!"

"However, you should also be aware that stimulating cells can also consume the patient's life to some extent, so the practice of medical ninjutsu must focus on subtle manipulation."

After explaining the essence of medical ninjutsu, Tsunade stood up and took out a small jar from between her breasts.

The liquid inside was poured into a wooden bucket containing live fish. The paralyzing poison entered the fish's bodies, and the entire bucket of fish floated belly up on the surface of the water.

"Today I'll start by teaching you the easiest of all medical ninjutsu—the B-rank ninjutsu, the Fine Ailment Extraction Technique."

As she spoke, Tsunade took a fish out of the bucket, formed hand seals, and directly gathered the toxins from the fish's body into her hand, forming a small droplet.

"Your task for today is to extract all the toxins from that bottle, and make sure the fish doesn't die."

"How's it going? Can you keep up? If you can't, I'll have to send you back!"

"Don't worry! There's no ninjutsu in this world that I can't learn!"

Sakura had already used her Observation Haki to sense every flow of Tsunade's chakra. She tried to separate her body's energy from the chakra, and a green hue appeared in her palm.

He took a few steps forward, took the fish from Tsunade's hand, and began to practice.

Watching the girl practicing diligently, Tsunade also jumped onto the rooftop nearby.

Her disciple Jingyin, who had been by her side for many years, rushed over and brought her a pot of sake.

"Lady Tsunade, you're so mean."

Shizune held Tun Tun in her arms, looking down at the girl with pity.

"Although the Fine Ailment Extraction Technique is easy to learn, its requirements for sensory perception are no less than those of other A-rank medical ninjutsu!"

"Hmph, I'm going to make this kid give up."

Tsunade held a glass of sake and munched on some dried fish as a side dish.

"Jiraiya just handed me his disciple without saying a word, and then put on that act in front of me, so I couldn't refuse."

"Now let's find a ninjutsu with a hidden difficulty level, so that the kid will run into a snag. After weighing the options, such a genius will quickly back down."

“I’m too lazy to do something as troublesome and laborious as training disciples.”

In high spirits, Tsunade downed the entire jug of sake in one gulp, secretly praising herself for her cleverness.

"Huh? It worked!"

Sakura put the fish from which the poison had been extracted back into the bucket, and the bottle of poison that Tsunade had just poured into the fish's belly had been completely separated.

Sakura Haruno raised the live fish that had begun to tremble in her hand and waved at Tsunade, who was standing blankly on the roof.

"Tsunade-neechan, look, I did it!"

"Shizune!"

Tsunade's gaze sharpened; the pink-haired little girl in front of her seemed more and more pleasing to her eyes.

She has a pleasant voice, is adorable, possesses superb gambling skills, and has unparalleled talent in medical ninjutsu.

Damn it, how did that good kid get snatched away by that bastard Jiraiya?!

Fortunately, the child was willing to learn medical ninjutsu, which is my chance!

"What's wrong, Lady Tsunade?"

Confused, Shizune bent down and put her ear close to Tsunade's.

"Would you mind having another junior sister?"

Tsunade chewed the salted dried fish in her mouth with great force, making a crunching sound.

"Huh? Didn't you just say you didn't want to take on any disciples?!"

"But then again..."

At this moment, Tsunade was already fantasizing about taking this little girl away.

From now on, when the master and apprentice go to the casino, Sakura will be in charge of making money, and she'll be in charge of having fun!

Wiping the drool from the corner of her mouth, Tsunade took a step forward and landed on the roof.

"Your name is... Sakura, right!" Tsunade covered her mouth with her fist and coughed. "Do you want to learn more powerful medical ninjutsu?"

"Even more powerful?"

Sakura roughly guessed what Tsunade was planning, but still widened her innocent emerald eyes.

"Yes, a medical ninjutsu that can heal hundreds of people at once!"

Taking a deep breath, Tsunade couldn't help but show a hint of pride on her face.

During the Fourth Shinobi World War, he single-handedly cured hundreds of poisoned ninjas, thwarting the Sand Village's attack on Konoha.

"I studied!"