---

  The tremor woke Tsunade before dawn.

  She jolted upright, her hand instinctively reaching for a weapon that wasn't there. The bed shook beneath her—not the gentle sway of an earthquake, but something rhythmic and deliberate. Something wrong.

  Tsunade's eyes snapped open. She was out of bed in seconds, moving to the window just as the shaking stopped.

  A crater had appeared in the training ground. Deep. Perfectly circular. Radiating outward from its center, cracks spiderwebbed across the earth like someone had dropped a boulder from the sky.

  "Huh."

  Tsunade crossed her arms, a slight smile playing at her lips. "The brat finally did it."

  Below, Hanekawa stood in the center of the destruction, looking up at her window. He waved.

  She waved back, already heading for the door. By the time she reached the training ground, he'd managed to look only slightly less pleased with himself.

  "A year," Tsunade said, circling the crater. "It took you a year to master that technique."

  "In my defense," Hanekawa replied, "I was also learning three other styles, genjutsu, and swordsmanship."

  "Excuses." Tsunade ruffled his hair—he immediately swatted her hand away, which she found deeply satisfying. "But I'll allow it. This is good work."

  She could feel the residual chakra in the air, the way the ground still hummed with displaced energy. The technique was clean. Controlled. A nine-year-old shouldn't have been able to pull this off, but then again, a nine-year-old shouldn't have been able to do half the things Hanekawa could do.

  "I got some new abilities from the system," he said, pulling out a small notebook where he'd started tracking his entries. "A-Rank Superhuman Strength. Three C-Rank elemental chunin entries. And Lightning Chakra Activation."

  Tsunade scanned the list, her eyebrows rising slightly. "Lightning Chakra Activation? That's ambitious."

  "I want to learn Lightning Style jutsu," Hanekawa said. "Properly, I mean. Not just the basics."

  She considered this. The kid had the aptitude—that wasn't in question. But Lightning Style was demanding, even for prodigies. Still, if anyone could handle it...

  "I'll ask Hiruzen for some scrolls," she decided. "You've got final exams these next two days. After that, we're taking a mission."

  Hanekawa's expression shifted—that particular blend of resignation and curiosity he got whenever she announced a new assignment. "How long?"

  "Shouldn't be more than a month." Tsunade started walking back toward the house. "Get some breakfast. You've got theory exams in an hour."

  ---

  The Hokage Building's mission hall was crowded that morning, as it always was. Tsunade was halfway through the stack of available assignments when a familiar voice interrupted her.

  "Lady Tsunade."

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  Minato Namikaze stood nearby, mission scroll in hand, looking like he'd just been handed the world's most complicated puzzle.

  "Let me guess," Tsunade said, not looking up. "The old man's dumping something impossible on you?"

  "Something like that." Minato laughed, that easy, good-natured sound that made him popular with everyone. "Actually, I was hoping to find a team. This mission needs at least four people."

  Tsunade glanced at the scroll he was holding. "What is it?"

  "The ancient Kingdom of Loulan," Minato explained. "There's intelligence suggesting their minister is trying to weaponize something called the Dragon Veins. Hiruzen wants it investigated before it becomes a problem."

  Tsunade took the scroll and read through it quickly. Dragon Veins. Loulan. A minister with delusions of grandeur trying to unify the ninja world. It was the kind of mess that usually ended with someone getting hurt.

  "I'll do it," she said, handing it back. "But I'm bringing Hanekawa."

  Minato's face brightened immediately. "Really? That's perfect. I was hoping—"

  "Don't get excited," Tsunade cut him off. "This is training. He needs field experience against real opponents, not just sparring partners."

  "Of course." Minato nodded seriously, though his eyes still held that hopeful gleam. Tsunade recognized it immediately—the look of someone thinking about someone else. Kushina, probably. The sooner this mission was done, the sooner he could get back to her.

  "We start the day after tomorrow," Tsunade said. "After the exams."

  ---

  Hiruzen's office smelled like pipe smoke and old paper. He was reading something when she entered—something he quickly shoved into a drawer with the guilty speed of a man caught doing something he shouldn't.

  Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Do I want to know?"

  "The weather's been warm," Hiruzen said, his face suddenly very red.

  "It's spring."

  She watched him sweat for another moment, then decided she didn't actually care enough to press the issue. "I need Lightning Style scrolls for Hanekawa."

  Hiruzen blinked, clearly relieved at the change of subject. "Lightning Style? Doesn't he already have enough on his plate?"

  "He learned Superhuman Strength," Tsunade said flatly. "He's also picked up Lightning Chakra Activation. The kid's got the aptitude. I'm not going to waste it."

  "He's nine years old."

  "And he's already better than most chunin." Tsunade crossed her arms. "So? Three scrolls. Basic techniques."

  Hiruzen sighed—the long-suffering sigh of a man who'd learned not to argue with her. He called for his ANBU aide, gave the order, and within minutes, Tsunade had what she needed.

  "He's going to be something special," Hiruzen said as she turned to leave.

  "He already is," Tsunade replied.

  ---

  The practical exams were scheduled for the next day. Hanekawa breezed through them with the kind of casual competence that made his instructors simultaneously proud and slightly unnerved. By evening, he was back at Tsunade's house, reading through the Lightning Style scrolls she'd acquired.

  "Basic Lightning Bolt," he muttered, scanning the first one. "Lightning Strike. Lightning Armor."

  "Don't try anything fancy until you've got the fundamentals down," Tsunade warned from the couch, where she was reviewing the Loulan mission details. "Lightning Style is less forgiving than Fire Style. You mess up the chakra control, you'll hurt yourself."

  "Noted." Hanekawa set the scrolls aside. "So, Loulan. That's in the Land of Wind?"

  "Ancient kingdom," Tsunade confirmed. "Supposedly built on top of something called Dragon Veins. Minato thinks their minister wants to use it to build weapons."

  Hanekawa went very still.

  Tsunade glanced up from her papers. "What?"

  "Nothing," he said carefully. "Just... that sounds complicated."

  She studied him for a moment, then shrugged. Whatever was going on in that head of his, he'd tell her if it mattered. He always did, eventually.

  "It will be," she agreed. "Which is why you're coming. Time to see how you handle real opposition."

  Hanekawa nodded slowly, his mind clearly elsewhere. Tsunade returned to her papers, making a mental note to keep a closer eye on him during the mission. The kid had good instincts, but he was still a kid. And Loulan, whatever it turned out to be, sounded like the kind of place where instincts alone wouldn't be enough.

  She'd make sure he was ready.