In Naruto: Reborn with Talent

Tsunade looked out of the window of her house in the Senju Compound and sighed at the sight of Kurenai Yuhi practicing her chakra control at such an early hour.

Taking the girl as her apprentice was one of the better choices Tsunade recently made. Kurenai was dedicated, she had a proper drive because she wanted to achieve her dream of showing she could be a good kunoichi. That coupled with a lot of talent and Kurenai was quite easy to teach. Fortunately, that meant Tsunade did not need to spend much time with the girl. She only needed to be steered in the right direction and showed the right exercises. Other than that, the girl would practice by herself till she dropped.

Honestly, Tsunade hated holding her apprentices' hands so Kurenai was ideal for her. After all, she was her mentor... not her mother. If she had to push her to train, then naturally, that meant the girl did not deserve her tutelage.

A yawn tore out of Tsunade's mouth, causing her mood to plummet as she noticed the stack of paperwork she finished last night with her shadow clones. Rei was right. It didn't appear as much work individually but her duties as Konoha's ruler and the Biri-Biri president added up to her necessary free time with her family, creating a killer schedule.

Fortunately, she had Shadow Clones...

Tsunade grinned at that thought, her mood restored.

Shikaku always bothered her about her secret for paperwork. To be honest, she gave him enough hints. After all, he was supposed to be a Nara so telling him, 'The clue is shadows...', should have been enough.

Alas, even after three years, the man simply couldn't get it.

It was simply hilarious. Especially since Shadow Clones was the only technique the Nara clan couldn't utilize well because of its immense chakra cost. Oh, they tried. The technique had 'Shadow' in its name so the Nara clan naturally wanted to master it. When her uncle Tobirama made the technique, the Nara clan instantly tried to implement it in their combat style. Nobody ever told them Tobirama named it Shadow clones on purpose.

Needless to say, the Naras failed miserably.

Well, figures. Tobirama made damn sure the technique spent so much chakra, a clan with innate low reserves and lazy attitude would be hard-pressed to utilize it.

Nara Jonins could make Shadow Clones. That was not the problem. The problem was what came after that. They simply would not have enough chakra to efficiently fight with the shadow techniques.

In the end, the Shadow Clones fell into obscurity where they stayed even till these days.

In Konoha, there were at most around twenty ninjas who actually knew Shadow Clone Technique. And not even half of them used the technique in their fighting style.

For example, Jiraiya.

He knew the technique. Not because it was helpful to him in a fight. He knew it because it was safe to peek at bathing kunoichi with it.

As for using it in his fighting style... that was simply asking for too much. Even with Jiraiya's chakra reserves, he couldn't waste his chakra for shadow clones. He was primarily a Summoner and ninjutsu user. Both needed a lot of chakra to work efficiently, hence, shadow clones became more of a hindrance in a fight.

As such, Jiraiya seldom used the technique in an actual fight.

Somehow, Tsunade could clearly picture Jiraiya getting a new apprentice who was good at the shadow clones while the old coot would totally forget they could be used for training too. With his porn on his mind, the usage of an obscure technique like shadow clones would be the last thing on his mind.

The same with Sarutobi.

The man knew so many techniques. He was primarily a ninjutsu powerhouse. Tsunade doubted Hiruzen actually used the Shadow Clones more than a couple of times in his life. Why would he use them when it was much more cost-efficient to use a devastating ninjutsu instead?

It was no wonder the old monkey had no idea they could be used for paperwork. He simply did not think about it as subconsciously, he already wrote the technique off as useless luxury that is better not used in any way because of its cost.

Thinking about Hiruzen Sarutobi brought Tsunade's mind on the track towards a happier topic.

Shimura Danzo.

During the last three years, she was using the old schemer as a stress relief. Every time she was too stressed, poor Shimura would lose something. Whether it is a new ally in the political sphere, some of his hard-fought influence, or an arm.

Taking away his mokuton arm was such a delight!

It wasn't even hard. As a mokuton user herself, Tsunade could simply overtake the arm and change it into a bonafide wood. After all, while it was similar to a human hand, at its base, it was still wood.

Watching Danzo's arm suddenly separate from his shoulder during one of the council meetings was golden.

'His exasperated expression made my day. A pity the old coot is done for.' Tsunade sighed.

Unfortunately, she already finished with Danzo. After the man lost every way to revert the momentum against him other than actually leaving Konoha and building his power-base outside the village, Tsunade decided she had enough fun. She locked his chakra, crippled both of his legs and his last arm before she ripped out Shisui's eye from his eye socket.

That eye was the only reason why Danzo had enough determination to fight back against Tsunade's machinations despite how hopeless it all seemed. That was the entire reason why she let him keep it so long.

'He must have thought he could just get me under his control if he really lost all options.' Tsunade amusedly mused.

She didn't kill the man, however. Right now, Danzo Shimura was a permanent guest at Konoha's Asylum for the Elderly. The only way he could run was to have somebody wheel him out on his wheelchair and the only way he could eat was by having somebody feed him.

That was much worse than death, considering the man was a ninja his entire life. Living in such a hopeless and helpless state would be worse than torture for him.

Danzo no longer posed a threat to any development she decided to implement in Konoha. Honestly, there was nobody who posed a threat anymore. Sarutobi tried whenever he found something not according to the 'Will of Fire', but he didn't get far with his complaints. After all, he was retired. His opinion no longer mattered.

Especially since Tsunade worked hard to get the neutral clans under her influence.

Her very first target was the Kurama clan. That was an easy one. She even got Kurenai's eternal loyalty and gratitude by fixing Yakumo Kurama up and enabling the girl to be a kunoichi. That was really all it took for the clan to accept Tsunade as their Daimyo.

Even to this day, Tsunade is bewildered at how easy that was.

From there, Tsunade went onward to the Aburame clan, which was tedious at best since they desired recognition more than anything else...

And after the Aburame clan, there was the Inuzuka clan, which really only required Tsunade to slap the ever-living daylight out of the entire clan, showcasing her dominance.

Thankfully, the Akimichi and Yamanaka clans followed the Nara clan so Tsunade didn't have to do much when these two were concerned.

As for the Uchiha clan... they no longer mattered. No matter what the civilians believed, one underage boy did not qualify as a clan. Sasuke would become important only when he grows up and even then, he would first have to become important for the village in some way other than breeding stock. Only then would Tsunade start paying attention to the Uchiha 'clan'.

Alas, it was still a work in progress. Rei forbade Tsunade from implementing many reforms in Konoha simply because her hold on the village was not yet absolute. That was the reason why Konoha lagged behind Kirigakure and Sunagakure when it came to development.

As much as Tsunade hated it... she understood the need for it.

Shikaku Nara certainly suspected Tsunade's loyalties. Then again, that man was smart and lazy enough to not give a fuck while continuing to do his job. Tsunade could only imagine the shitstorm it would cause if the one who realized it was Tsume Inuzuka. The Inuzuka clan would rebel in a week, tops.

Tsunade dramatically sighed, 'Why is it so hard to find smart people in leadership positions nowadays?'

She sat down in her armchair and pulled out a book while creating two shadow clones.

It was time for her clones to continue their paperwork duty...