50 Feeling Unwell? Take an Apple

The village's exit seemed to go smoothly, too easy if you ask me.

This is one of those situations where you know that it's NOT normal for everything to have gone according to plan. You feel uneasy because you expect or know that someone will do something, but it seems they have some plan that ends up being a major hassle.

As expected, half an hour after our departure, I could sense with my Mantra several responses from the forest around us, as well as a couple of them underground.

Some technique like Kakashi's Earth Decapitation, most likely.

I think I understand their plan. They couldn't find information about our village, and this must be driving them crazy, so they intend to follow us there to find its location or lose our trail to estimate it on the map.

A simple direction would save them months of effort, and they could focus their spies on other areas of the map.

Too bad for them, there's no path to Seimeigakure other than the Kinton clouds or me.

"They're following us," Tsunade comments as she continues walking beside me as if she hadn't noticed anything.

"I know," I replied. "Six in the forest, two underground."

Tsunade gave me a look, clearly wanting to know how I can know that when I don't have chakra.

"No," I added, remembering something else. "It's not natural energy; I think Katsuyu must have confirmed it for you."

"So you noticed..." Tsunade scratched the back of her neck, feeling a bit uncomfortable about being caught. She had suspected I was a sage, but apparently, she forgot a small detail.

"Remember that Senjutsu requires maintaining a balance of natural energy with chakra. I don't have chakra, so I can't use that either by extension," I explained.

Tsunade rubbed her chin, not seeming to realize that I knew a lot about it for someone who can't use chakra.

"Perhaps there's a third type of energy you're tapping into?" she theorized a few seconds later.

Brilliant, it must be admitted that when Tsunade puts aside drinking and gambling to think seriously, she has undeniable talent and a terrifying perception.

"You could say that," I neither confirmed nor denied anything, but I think her interest in my abilities might be higher than I expected.

The expression she has right now seems to say, "Challenge accepted!"

Another half hour passed, and she continued to ask me some quite intelligent questions, to which I only nodded or shook my head.

"What should we do about those following us?" I asked Tsunade and Shizune, wanting to know their attitude about it and recalling their presence.

We can return much faster if I carry them, and Haku follows us with the Kinton cloud.

"Are they following us?" Shizune almost turned around, but Tsunade managed to stop her in time to pretend she stumbled.

I forgot that this isn't the Shizune from several years later; it's clear she still has a lot to refine to reach that point.

"They've been following us for so long; could the village be located?" Tsunade asked a bit worried, knowing the importance of that information.

The truth is, I spent part of that half-hour thinking about how to deal with their observers.

Although I had "broken up" with the village founded by her grandfather, the break was recent. I couldn't desensitize myself to the place where I grew up in just a few minutes.

"There's no need to worry about that," I assured her. "We can simply lose them, but you're both too slow. I'll have to hold onto you if we want to prevent them from pursuing us when they react."

"Are you underestimating us?"

"Remind me who won the race."

"...Fine!" Tsunade responded, steam puffing from her nose. "But you better not try anything!"

"I have a fiancée," I replied with a dry tone, making it clear that she shouldn't get her hopes up.

"That's true," Haku chimed in to support me as she sat on my shoulders and wrapped her arms around my head, understanding what I was going to do and taking her place.

She's heavier than last time, which is good. Although in a couple of years, she probably won't want to do this when she's grown up, so I'll let her enjoy it for now.

"Haku, what are you doing?" Shizune asked, puzzled to see Haku climb up to my shoulders so casually.

"Mr. Enel only has two arms," Haku replied as if it were obvious.

Shizune understood and laughed while scratching her cheek a bit embarrassed. If I carried both of them, Haku would have to hold on in some way, or they would have to leave him behind.

The two of them approached my side, and I bent down a bit to hold them by the back of their necks, preventing them from getting whiplash due to the acceleration they would experience shortly.

"Keep your mouth and eyes closed," I reminded them kindly before elementalizing and shooting off at high speeds.

I'm not using all my strength since Shizune and Haku wouldn't handle it safely, and I'd rather they didn't have any lasting effects.

Ten seconds.

That's the time I traveled before gradually slowing down to avoid abruptly stopping and having everyone thrown by inertia.

"Can we do it again?!" Haku asked somewhat dizzy but with a smile.

Thank goodness they didn't get nauseous, or I would really have to hurry to take a shower.

"Blerrgh!"

Oops, I spoke too soon.

Shizune seems to have some color back in her face and rushed to vomit behind a tree. Tsunade, on the other hand, shook her head to reorient herself a bit and applied medical chakra as I could see by the green energy in the palm of her hand on her head.

"No wonder you won the race!" she exclaimed as she approached her student and helped her recover. "Maybe only the Raikage can match your speed."

"I wasn't even going that fast," I shook my head, making it clear that I barely exerted myself.

I stayed within the speed of race car drivers, around 250 to 300 kilometers per hour because I know their bodies are robust from ninja training.

Haku had me to shield her from the wind pressure, Tsunade is a Senju, and Shizune... well, she had the worst experience. I'll keep that in mind for next time; these are things you find out by living them.

"Let's take a couple of hours for her to recover and then continue on the path," Tsunade suggested as she gave me an eye twitch upon hearing my response.

Shizune looked at me with a mix of pleading and fear, while Haku looked around bored now that her adrenaline rush had worn off.

Ah, I really don't want to wait that long. I want to kiss Ameyuri, and then I'll have to accommodate Tsunade, and I have more things to do afterward.

"Don't worry; I have something here to help her recover quickly," I told Tsunade while waving my hand holding something.

"A gold apple?" Tsunade looked at me as if she expected me to say it was a joke.

I think it's time to break her preconceived ideas.

---------------------

It turns out that Patreon now allows you to join for free as followers, so if you want to support me in another way or keep up to date with my latest work, you can join like this.