“Is this Water Release: Water Colliding Wave?”
Tsunade’s expression shifted.
This level of shape transformation was absolutely beyond anything a Chunin could pull off!
She didn’t dare take it head-on; with a tap of her toes, she flashed a dozen meters away in an instant.
“Swoosh!”
The high-pressure water blade cut through the air and struck the huge boulder where Tsunade had been standing a heartbeat earlier.
The unbreakable rock was sliced cleanly in two, as if it were tofu!
The cut was smooth as a mirror.
Tsunade glanced at the gash across the ground, intense shock flashing through her eyes.
This brat.
His control over chakra and his grasp of shape transformation were simply monstrous!
Was this what they called a genius?
Before Tsunade could think any further,
Chiba’s second attack had already arrived.
He formed hand seals again.
This time, even faster.
“Earth Release: Earth Wall!”
Chiba slammed his palms onto the ground.
Rumble!
The ground shook violently.
But—
it wasn’t a single earthen wall that rose up.
Reworked by his God-Level Comprehension,
Chiba had altered the very way Earth Release: Earth Wall functioned.
Four massive walls of earth surged up from the ground—not for defense, but to lock Tsunade firmly in the center!
Right after,
Chiba shifted his hand seals again.
“Earth Release: Earth Dragon Submersion Technique!”
He sank into the ground in an instant and vanished without a trace.
“Interesting.”
Tsunade stood at the center of the four earthen walls, a dangerous curve tugging at the corner of her mouth.
Use Earth Release: Earth Wall to box in the enemy’s space to move.
Then use Earth Release: Earth Dragon Submersion Technique to lurk and strike from hiding.
The tactical thinking was crystal clear.
And the transitions between his techniques were smooth and seamless, without a shred of hesitation.
This kind of combat sense was not something a Chunin should have!
“Still—”
“In the face of absolute power, petty tricks like these mean nothing!”
Tsunade abruptly raised her right foot.
Monstrous Strength erupted!
“Boom!”
She stomped down hard on the ground.
Terrifying cracks shot out in every direction at once, like a spiderweb.
The entire layer of soil below collapsed instantly under the force of that kick.
“Ugh!”
A muffled grunt came from underground.
Chiba was shaken forcibly out of the earth and tumbled to the ground in a sorry state.
He gasped for air.
The chakra inside him was still churning wildly.
“His chakra is enormous—already at the Kage level.”
“Physically tough, with an absurdly high recovery rate; he didn’t even take serious injuries from two of my punches.”
“…”
Tsunade walked slowly over to stand before Chiba.
She looked down at the panting youth and delivered her final verdict.
“But!”
“Your foundation is rotten beyond saving!”
“You’re sitting on a mountain of treasure and only know how to dig at it in the crudest way.”
“Too little combat experience, and a pitifully small stock of ninjutsu.”
“If this is the whole of your ability,”
“then never mind Konoha’s ANBU—any random Elite Jonin could crush you to death with ease!”
Chiba gave a bitter smile.
“You’re right to set me straight, Senior.”
The system’s verdict had been perfectly fair; he really was an unqualified Elite Jonin.
Apart from good numbers on a panel,
his actual fighting ability was a mess.
Watching Chiba take the lesson to heart, a flicker of satisfaction stirred deep in Tsunade’s eyes.
A poor foundation was no cause for fear.
The only real fear was failing to see oneself clearly.
This brat had a tough character and learned fast.
Polished properly, he would become a priceless treasure!
“Starting tomorrow,”
“I’ll draw up a devil’s training plan for you.”
“If you can’t endure it, then clear off early—don’t go dragging the Senju name through the mud.”
Tsunade snorted coldly and turned to go.
But the moment she turned away,
a light that hadn’t shown in years kindled in her eyes.
The Senju Clan had hope of revival!
…
A few days later.
Konoha Village, the Hokage’s office building.
The spacious office was steeped in the faint scent of tobacco.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, sat behind a large desk.
His face was dappled with age spots as he drew a deep pull from his pipe.
White smoke curled upward.
“Hokage-sama.”
An ANBU in an animal mask appeared soundlessly before the desk.
“This is a letter sent back by Lady Tsunade.”
The ANBU held out a sealing scroll with both hands.
“Tsunade?”
Sarutobi Hiruzen’s hand paused on his pipe.
A flash of surprise crossed his cloudy eyes.
Ever since Tsunade left the Village, she’d been lost to gambling all day and dodging debts wherever she went.
It had been years since she’d contacted the Village of her own accord.
Why the change of heart today?
He broke the scroll’s seal and unrolled the letter.
The handwriting was sloppy, radiating an impatient, careless air.
Sarutobi Hiruzen read it word by word.
His brows, however, drew closer and closer together.
“Ran into a Konoha Chunin in Tanzaku Town.”
“Figured the kid had decent chakra control.”
“Has a talent for Medical Ninjutsu.”
“Planning to keep him around and teach him a while?”
Sarutobi Hiruzen finished the letter, thoroughly bewildered.
Tsunade wanted to take an apprentice?
Impossible!
Ever since Kato Dan and Nawaki died, Tsunade had suffered from severe hemophobia.
She couldn’t even hold a scalpel—how could she teach anyone Medical Ninjutsu?
Unless…
there was something truly special about this Chunin named Chiba!
“Go.”
Sarutobi Hiruzen set down his pipe and gave the order in a low voice.
“Bring me this Chiba’s file at once.”
“Yes!”
The ANBU vanished on the spot.
In under five minutes,
a thin file was laid before Sarutobi Hiruzen.
He put on his reading glasses and began to read closely.
〔Name: Chiba
Age: 16
Identity: Konoha Chunin
Parents: Konoha civilian ninja, died on a B-rank mission.
Background: Born in a Konoha orphanage in Year 36, entered the Ninja Academy in Year 42, below-average grades.
Konoha Year 46: graduated early, assigned to the Third Shinobi World War’s cannon-fodder battalion, survived to this day by sheer luck…
Ninjutsu mastered: Three Academy Jutsu, Water Release: Water Colliding Wave, Earth Release: Earth Wall, Earth Release: Earth Dragon Submersion Technique.
Overall Evaluation: Mediocre aptitude, lacking potential.〕
Sarutobi Hiruzen read it over three times.
But it was, indeed, an utterly ordinary file.
The boy’s parents were mere civilians, without any Kekkei Genkai.
“Strange…”
Sarutobi Hiruzen took off his glasses and rubbed his dry brow.
“Just what did Tsunade see in him?”
“Medical talent?”
“A Chunin who hasn’t even worked out nature transformation—what medical talent could he possibly have?”
Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head.
In his eyes,
in the ninja world, bloodline and heritage decided everything.
Uchiha, Hyuga, Ino-Shika-Cho.
These great clans were the foundation of Konoha.
A civilian orphan, no matter how hard he struggled, had a ceiling of Special Jonin at best.
“Perhaps…”
“Tsunade’s simply bored and found herself some brat to pass the time.”
Sarutobi Hiruzen tossed Chiba’s file into the wastebasket at his side.
He picked up his pipe again and took a deep draw.
Either way.
As long as Tsunade didn’t come back to the Village to stir up trouble, she could do as she pleased.
…
Meanwhile.
Deep beneath Konoha Village.
The Root base that never saw the light of day.
The damp air was heavy with a faint smell of blood and rust.
A few dim candles barely lit the vast underground hall.
“Tap…
tap…
tap…”
The strike of a cane against the floor echoed through the empty hall.
Shimura Danzo, half his face wound in bandages, walked slowly out of the shadows.
His one remaining left eye, cold as a viper’s, fixed on the Root ninja kneeling before him.
“What did you say?”
“Tsunade took a civilian Chunin as her apprentice in Tanzaku Town?”
Danzo’s voice was hoarse and grating, carrying a bone-deep chill.
“Yes, Lord Danzo.”
The masked Root ninja bowed his head, his tone stripped of all emotion.
“Hokage-sama has already received the letter.”
“The ANBU retrieved the file on the one called Chiba.”
“But after reading it, Hokage-sama gave no instructions.”
“…”
Danzo snorted coldly.
Leaning on his cane, he made his way to a stone table.
On it lay the file the Root ninja had just delivered.
Danzo narrowed his single eye and swept quickly over the text.
On the surface,
this Chiba really was worthless.
But Danzo was suspicious by nature.
He never believed in coincidences!
Who was Tsunade?
Granddaughter of the First Hokage, one of the Sannin!
With her proud character, how could she ever take a liking to a civilian piece of trash?
“Kinoe.
Kino.”
Then,
Danzo spoke coldly.
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Two black shadows appeared in the center of the hall, dropping to one knee.
“Go to Tanzaku Town.”
“Keep watch on Tsunade and that brat named Chiba.”
“I want to know exactly who they meet each day, what they say—even what they eat!”
“And if the brat proves suspicious…”
“kill him at once and bring back the body.”