Chapter 73 - 66: Senju Hunt

Absolute control over elements using mana, to this day, Hikaru still cannot do that. He may control his flame to a certain degree but that's it, he still can't control other elements through mana the same way he controls his flame.

That's why, to boost his control over the elements, he will need to hunt down over five gods that control over the five elements here on the Elemental Nation. They are just Minor Gods, so it will be an easy hunt. Gods here don't use chakra, they use mana, the same as him.

But he will need to postpone his trip first. It's been almost a month since the Chunin Exams and it's almost Azumi's birthday, October 10.

He is currently hunting for Tsunade Senju to bring her back to Konoha, not for her to become the Hokage but to make her meet Azumi as her Godmother.

Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade were supposed to be Azumi's godparents. But not long after they made that promise, they left. Jiraiya, because of his duty as the spymaster of Konoha. Orochimaru, well, we know how he turned out. And there's Tsunade, who completely ignored her duty to Azumi because her lover and brother died in the war.

Hikaru's not gonna criticize her because if that happened to him, he might leave as well. But the thing that makes Hikaru mad the most was that she just left Azumi there, alone with the raging mob of Konoha.

He also brought Jiraiya and Azumi along with him. The two of them forced him.

Jiraiya and Azumi had formed a good bond, like a parent to their children. The toad sage can finally ignore his duty as the spymaster of Konoha because there is no more war and such coming to Konoha.

Of course, Team 7 had to do some missions as well for the village. The one that really stood out amongst all of them was the mission to the Land of Snow. But Hikaru took care of it easily, he just flew towards the Land of Snow while his team was briefing about the mission, decapitated Doto, made Koyuki the Daimyo of the Land of Snow before he came back to his team. Of course there's a lot more to it but that's a story for another time.

By the way, it just took him a full day just to do all of those. His team still hadn't left the village ever after he was finished by that time. They got the reward directly from Koyuki herself and she said that she wanted to meet Hikaru again, which he just declined.

Anyway, they have now reached Tanzaku Quarters, where they will be searching for Tsunade. Well, Hikaru just took care of it with his chakra sensor ability and quickly found Tsunade, who was currently running away from the small town.

"She;s running away? Well, not a surprise there, she must've won at a gamble and whenever she wins something she will immediately know that something bad will happen. But you can catch her, right?" Jiraiya explained.

Hikaru smirked and said, "Who do you think I am? If I want to catch somebody, no one in this world can escape from me. Just take care of Azumi, I don't want Akatsuki doing something." As soon as he finished saying that, he vanished completely.

"Darling is really amazing, isn't he?" Azumi said in amazement.

"Well, uh, yeah of course. So, are you guys really doing the thing?" Jiraiya asked with a nervous expression.

"The thing?" Azumi tilted her head in confusion.

"You know, the thing! Like, when a girl and a boy do things in bed." He knew this wasn't something he should be asking his goddaughter, but he just really wants to find out.

"Ah! You're asking if Hikaru and I are having s.e.x? Yeah, we are." Azumi answered his question casually.

Jiraiya suddenly looked like he aged over a decade, 'Minato and Kushina will kill me in the after life. Especially Kushina, she specifically said while she was pregnant that her daughter wouldn't get a boyfriend before 18. I'm doomed.' Jiraiya thought while crying inside.

(With Hikaru)

Tsunade and her apprentice, Shizune, were on the other side of the village. They are now escaping through the forest but this isn't a problem for Hikaru.

With great speed that surpasses the speed of sound, he arrived in front of Tsunade within seconds.

He appeared in front of them while they were jumping on top of the trees, and so, they fell to the ground to their surprise.

"Yo, Senju. I am Hikaru Hiroaki, nice to meet you." Hikaru greeted them with a very friendly expression.

Tsunade and her apprentice quickly stood up and soon put on their guard.

"Who are you?" Tsunade asked very cautiously. Even though Hikaru looks like a kid right now with very long hair, looks can be deceiving. She'd seen countless children murdering full grown shinobis back in the second great ninja war.

Tsunade is a fair-skinned woman with brown eyes and straight blonde hair that parts above her forehead. Her hair has shoulder-length bangs that frame her face and the rest reaches her lower-back. She has a small violet diamond thingy on her forehead, which Hikaru quickly recognized as her Strength of a Hundred Seals. She wore a green-grass haori with the kanji of "Gamble" printed on the back, underneath she wears a grey, kimono-style blouse with no sleeves, held closed by a broad, dark bluish grey-obi that matches her pants.

"Haven't I told you my name just now? You must be going senile since you are already this old." Hikaru said to her directly.

"Pretty strong words there, for a brat like you. Do you think I can't take care of you easily?" Tsunade is now angry due to Hikaru commenting on her age.

Hikaru chuckled and said, "Me? Taken care of easily by you? You must be having delusions, old hag. I can see your true appearance, don;t hide it." As soon as he finished saying that, Tsunade appeared in front of him with her fist already near his face.

Hikaru easily blocked her punch with his right palm while still having that friendly expression on his face.

Boom! Whoosh!

Her punch caused everything close behind him to blow away. Hikaru can tell, she definitely didn't hold back on that one.

"For someone like you to have this much physical strength, congratulations. But... " Hikaru smiled a little more threateningly, "Did you really think something like this will hurt me? I'll show you how much you lack."

The next thing she knew, she was already throwing up blood and the boy she just tried to punch earlier was still in front of her with a dark and malicious smirk. The boy had punched her, but the strength of that punch, she didn't know. But one thing she knew is that his punch is stronger than her earlier one.

Hikaru punched her three more times in the guts before she finally got knocked out. She was already throwing up blood, evidence of his stronger physical capability.

Shizune quickly rushed towards her master in tears.

Shizune is a fair-skinned woman of average height and slender build with onyx eyes and jet-black hair; her hair is straight and shoulder-length with bangs that cover her ears and frame her face. She wore a long bluish-black kimono with white trimmings, held closed by a white obi, and open-toed sandals with low heels. She held her pet pig in her hands as she rushed towards her master.

"Tsunade-sama!" She knelt down to try and heal her.

Hikaru, still putting on that friendly expression, walks towards her as he says, "I can heal her, if you want to. I just have one condition, return to Konoha along with Senju-san over there. "

"Konoha!? You're from Konoha!? Then why would you do this to her!?" Shizune couldn;t help herself but yell at Hikaru in anger. She is normally calm and rational, but seeing her master in this state, she just couldn't help but panic.

"What do you mean? She attacked first, you know? What should I have done? Sit back here as she tries to pummel me to the ground? I might be technically invincible but insects who keep trying to annoy me are still annoying. Like, when a fly is hovering around you and tries to go over your ear, you'll try to crush it to mincemeat, right? It's just like that with Tsunade, she was being annoying." Hikaru said a little bit more coldly. He's still mad at the fact Tsunade left Azumi in the village with all those who hated her.

Shizune glared at him before saying, "Fine, we'll go back to Konoha. Just heal Tsunade-sama." She gave in.

"Perfect! We can now peacefully go back to Konoha without any trouble. So here." Hikaru tossed a bottle of Divine Blessing towards Shizune. She caught it easily.

"Just let her drink that and she'll be okay in an instant." Hikaru said.

With a bit of hesitation, Shizune opened the cap of the bottle and poured it in her master's mouth. Slowly, she can feel her master's pulse becoming stronger and stronger.

And with that, the hunt for Tsunade Senju is now finished.