On the outskirts of Tanzaku Town.
At Chiba’s words,
Tsunade’s fists clenched tight.
Her long nails bit into her palms, breaking the skin.
A drop of blood trickled through her fingers and struck the shattered stone slab.
But she felt no pain at all, her gaze locked on the boy before her.
Sixteen years old, ordinary in looks, a Konoha forehead protector tied carelessly across his brow.
Who could have imagined it?
That such an unknown brat would have blood of the Senju Clan running so pure in his veins.
“What you said just now…”
“Your name is Senju Chiba?”
After a long silence,
Tsunade finally spoke, slow and terribly hoarse.
Chiba nodded calmly.
He didn’t flinch in the least, meeting this legendary kunoichi’s gaze head-on.
To survive,
he had to borrow strength.
Only by winning Tsunade’s protection
could he live better—and even grow stronger, fast.
“Good.
Very good.”
All at once,
Tsunade broke into laughter.
Her laughter swelled louder and louder, until the stagnant water in the alley rippled with it.
Shizune was terrified off to the side.
She had never seen Lady Tsunade wear such an expression.
It was like ecstatic joy, yet also like grief, laced with endless mockery aimed at Konoha’s higher-ups.
“You want me to protect you?”
“Fine.”
“Hand over every coin you just won!”
The next moment,
Tsunade was standing right in front of Chiba.
She thrust out her right hand, palm up.
“Huh?”
Chiba was caught off guard.
Where had this sudden change of tune come from?
“Huh?
What ‘huh’?”
“To protect you, I have to risk falling out with all of Konoha!”
“What’s wrong with charging you a little protection money?”
“Be quick about it—ten million ryo, not a coin less!”
Tsunade seized Chiba by the collar and leaned in, her look ferocious.
“Lady Tsunade.”
“This is far too rude of you!”
Shizune’s face flushed red; she wished she could burrow into a crack in the ground.
“Quiet!”
Tsunade whipped around and roared at Shizune.
“Haah…”
Looking at Tsunade standing right in front of him, Chiba let out a helpless sigh.
This senior’s greed and gambling habit really were well earned.
He reached into his pocket and drew out a sealing scroll.
It held the cash he’d exchanged from the casino that afternoon—it hadn’t even had time to grow warm.
“It’s all here.”
Chiba handed the scroll over.
Tsunade snatched it away, quick as lightning.
And the ferocity on her face turned in an instant into a radiant smile.
“Consider yourself sensible, kid.”
“From today on, you’re with me.”
With that,
Tsunade turned and strode off toward the mouth of the alley.
“Shizune, let’s go!”
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Shizune threw Chiba an apologetic glance, quickly scooped up the pet pig Tonton, and hurried after her.
Chiba stayed where he was.
Watching Tsunade’s retreating back,
the heart that had been lodged in his throat finally settled for good.
His life was safe.
As for the money?
Money lost could be earned again—but he had only one life.
Up ahead,
Tsunade walked down the street with long strides.
The streetlights fell across her face.
The greedy, mercenary look of a moment ago was long gone.
In its place was an unprecedented solemnity.
Her eyes now were as deep as a cold, still pool.
The Senju Clan had not been cut off after all.
Not only had it survived—it had even produced a spark capable of wielding Wood Release.
No matter the price,
even if it cost her life—
she absolutely would not let those vampires in Konoha destroy this seedling!
The next day.
A desolate stretch of mountains.
Ringed by barren rock, utterly uninhabited.
Tsunade stood atop a huge boulder, looking down at Chiba.
Shizune had withdrawn several hundred meters off to keep watch.
“Kid.”
“Wood Release may be powerful,”
“but it also depends on who’s wielding it.”
“Today, let me see just how much you’ve got!”
Tsunade rolled her wrists, her joints crackling like popping beans.
The next moment,
she leaped down from the boulder.
The instant she landed—
“Bang!”
the ground heaved violently.
The hard, rocky earth was smashed into a two-meter-deep crater under her foot.
Seeing it,
Chiba’s eyes narrowed, every nerve snapping taut.
What terrifying, superhuman strength!
“Come at me with everything you have.”
“Hold nothing back.”
“If you die, it only proves the blood of the Senju Clan was never anything special!”
The moment she finished,
Tsunade blurred into an afterimage and vanished from where she stood.
So fast!
Chiba’s pupils shrank sharply.
After the system’s bloodline purification,
his strength now stood at the level of an Elite Jonin, and his dynamic vision had sharpened enormously.
Even so,
Chiba could only just barely track the path of Tsunade’s movement.
Left!
Chiba spun, throwing his arms up crossed in front of his chest.
“Boom!”
A pale fist crashed hard into his arms.
The sheer force erupted like a tsunami.
Chiba felt as if his arms had been rammed by a battering log.
He was flung backward in an instant, like a cannonball shot from its barrel.
“Bang!
Bang!
Bang!”
Only after crashing through three stone pillars in a row did Chiba finally steady himself.
Chiba shook out his numb arms.
It hurt.
But…
he could still bear it!
The Basic Sage Body’s healing power was on full display in that moment.
His damaged muscle was knitting itself back together at an astonishing rate.
In just a few seconds,
the fierce pain in his arms had already eased by more than half.
“Oh?”
Tsunade stood where she was, surprise flickering in her eyes.
Even holding back, that punch had been enough to lay out an ordinary Jonin.
This brat’s physical strength was more frightening than she’d expected!
“Again!”
Chiba let out a low shout and went on the attack.
He drove off his legs, shattering the ground, and charged at Tsunade like a cheetah.
No flashy moves.
Only the simplest, most direct punches.
“Speed and power aren’t bad.”
Tsunade remarked coldly as she slipped aside.
“But!”
“The way you channel your force is far too crude!”
“You’re just swinging on brute strength alone!”
Tsunade tilted her body a fraction, easily evading one of Chiba’s heavy punches.
Then,
she raised her palm and set it against Chiba’s chest, seemingly without any weight behind it.
Chakra erupted in an instant!
“Bang!”
Chiba was sent flying again, smashing hard into the rock wall.
Rubble clattered down, burying half his body.
“Your Taijutsu is a complete mess.”
“Is that how your old team leader taught you to fight?”
“It’s nothing but openings!”
Tsunade stopped attacking and folded her arms.
Soon,
Chiba clawed his way out of the pile of debris and dusted himself off.
He didn’t argue back.
Because what Tsunade said was the truth.
He’d been coasting in Konoha these past few years and had never learned any real Taijutsu.
He’d survived this far on luck and instinct alone.
“Since your Taijutsu is useless,”
“then let’s try ninjutsu!”
Chiba quickly formed hand seals.
With the blessing of God-Level Comprehension,
his grasp of ninjutsu had long since outstripped that of ordinary people.
Even the most ordinary technique
could erupt with incredible power in his hands.
Rat, Tiger, Dog, Ox, Rabbit, Tiger!
“Water Release: Water Colliding Wave!”
Chiba drew a deep breath and spat out a great gush of clear water.
This was only a C-rank Water Release to begin with.
In an ordinary ninja’s hands, it was a powerful jet of water at best.
But driven by Chiba’s Kage-level chakra,
it was another matter entirely!
Combined with the insight granted by God-Level Comprehension,
the very moment he spat the water out, Chiba compressed its shape to the extreme.
The once-thick column of water
was instantly squeezed into a high-pressure blade as thin as a cicada’s wing, screaming shrilly as it went!
The water blade sliced through the air and swept toward Tsunade at a terrifying speed.