Tsunade’s right hand tightened into a fist.
She didn’t even need to make direct contact.
The force generated by her punch alone caused Isamu’s clone to stumble backward.
The resulting shockwave swept across the training ground, dispersing the remaining smoke and exposing Isamu’s real body.
Is this guy forming hand seals?
All three of them could see Isamu in the middle of the training ground, repeatedly changing his hand signs.
But the sequence was extremely strange.
Normally, the speed at which a shinobi formed hand seals reflected their proficiency with ninjutsu.
Isamu was different.
Not only was he so slow that all three of them could see every hand seal clearly, but his movements also seemed to have absolutely no discernible pattern.
At this point, none of them naturally believed Isamu was simply fooling around.
Instead, they thought of another possibility
A self-created jutsu?
The moment that thought occurred to them, even Jiraiya, who had been drinking and eating meat nearby, changed expression.
He was not even ten years old, yet he could create his own jutsu
Meanwhile, Isamu’s two clones had already arrived.
Using clones to buy himself time to prepare a ninjutsu was a good idea
Unfortunately, he was still far too naive.
If this had been an actual battlefield, someone forming hand seals at this speed would never have had the chance to successfully cast a jutsu.
Tsunade charged straight toward them and punched the clone on the right, blowing it apart.
Her other hand transformed into a knife-hand strike and chopped toward the clone on the left.
But instead of disappearing in a puff of smoke as expected, the clone raised its right arm and forcibly blocked the blow.
Impossible!
Even though Tsunade had used less than half her strength, an ordinary Clone Technique clone shouldn’t have been capable of withstanding an attack like that.
A clone created by the Clone Technique was essentially only a phantom.
Once struck, it would disappear.
“That clone concentrated all of its chakra into its right arm and forcibly blocked the attack”
Orochimaru, who was watching from the sidelines, immediately saw through the trick.
But understanding what had happened was one thing.
How Isamu had actually accomplished it was another.
Smack!
Unfortunately, the clone couldn’t withstand Tsunade’s second strike.
She simply slapped the second clone apart.
At that moment, Isamu in front of them had also completed his jutsu.
He formed the Tiger hand seal at the end, then took a deep breath
It’s only a test.
There’s no harm in letting him demonstrate this “self-created jutsu.”
That was what Tsunade thought.
All three of them could even sense the violent surge of chakra within Isamu’s body.
It was a sign of someone who wasn’t yet proficient with the technique.
Fire Release!
A completely new Fire Release technique!
All three of them thought the same thing.
Just as they believed they were about to witness history
The flow of chakra inside Isamu’s body suddenly became chaotic.
It erupted from him in an extremely violent manner.
In terms Isamu would have used in his previous life, it was as if his chakra pathways had gone into complete disorder, like someone suffering a dangerous backlash from forcing their energy through the wrong channels.
He might even explode from the inside at any moment.
“He forcibly used a ninjutsu he hasn’t mastered yet The technique is backfiring on him.”
Tsunade immediately came up with an explanation.
She was just about to rush forward to help Isamu when
Poof!
Isamu’s body suddenly dispersed.
At the same time, the ground beneath Tsunade’s feet exploded apart.
Isamu’s figure emerged from underground, his right hand reaching directly for the bell hanging from Tsunade’s waist.
At that moment, everyone present instantly understood Isamu’s plan.
The clones, the supposed self-created jutsu
They had all been nothing more than distractions to conceal the sounds and movements of him digging underground.
He had simply taken advantage of Tsunade’s mindset during the test.
She was trying to assess his abilities, so she wasn’t going to use her full strength against him.
This kid is really interesting.
While everyone’s attention was focused on the unusually durable clone and the strange sequence of hand seals that perhaps even Isamu himself didn’t know how to explain
Isamu had used that opportunity to approach Tsunade.
Just as Isamu’s right hand was about to touch the bell at Tsunade’s waist, she caught his wrist and flung him away.
Isamu forcibly twisted his body in midair and eventually landed safely on the ground.
Taking advantage of the crouching position to absorb the impact, he drew two kunai from his ninja tool pouch.
After adjusting his stance, he immediately rushed forward again.
The clones had already demonstrated Isamu’s astonishing chakra control and extraordinary composure.
Jiraiya and Orochimaru, watching from the sidelines, both became slightly more serious as they observed the two people in the training ground.
There was only one reason.
Isamu’s fundamentals were simply too solid.
If his earlier use of clones to distract Tsunade had been somewhat opportunistic, then the overall ability Isamu was demonstrating now was genuinely impressive.
In their eyes, Isamu was still extremely inexperienced.
But among people his age, he was undoubtedly exceptional.
His hand-to-hand skills weren’t bad.
His taijutsu was even comparable to that of an ordinary chūnin.
His movements remained orderly whether attacking or defending.
And with two kunai in his hands, he somehow managed to give them the impression that he was wielding a pair of swords.
He could actually exchange blows with Tsunade for a while even though she was deliberately holding back.
What a promising youngster.
Thanks to his Beginner Taijutsu and Beginner Kenjutsu skills, Isamu earned quite a bit of goodwill from the three of them.
But Isamu himself was nowhere near as relaxed as they imagined.
The enormous gap in strength meant he could barely counterattack while defending.
As the pressure continued to increase, he eventually couldn’t even manage that.
He could only struggle to defend himself while Tsunade watched him with an amused expression.
No.
I have to do something more.
Although Isamu understood that he had probably already achieved the purpose of the test, a competitive streak had risen within him.
He continued searching for a way to break through.
Isamu thrust forward with a kunai.
Tsunade easily sidestepped the attack, then grabbed Isamu’s arm and pulled it backward.
At the same time, she drove one knee upward.
Her long leg shot directly toward Isamu’s abdomen with enough force to clearly end the test.
But Isamu didn’t want to give up.
At the very least, he wanted to struggle a little longer.
He knew he had probably already met Tsunade’s standards.
But
Looking at the bell hanging from her waist, Isamu still couldn’t accept giving up.
BAM!
The tremendous force of the knee strike nearly knocked Isamu unconscious from the pain.
Tsunade released him, sending his body high into the air in a diagonal arc with a twisting rotation.
Isamu endured the pain and formed hand seals with one hand while he was in Tsunade’s blind spot.
Snake Horse Monkey Pig Horse Tiger.
By the time Isamu twisted around to face Tsunade again, the jutsu was already primed.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
Unlike the fake-looking technique his clone had appeared to be preparing earlier, this time the jutsu was genuine Fire Release.
A massive fireball erupted from Isamu’s mouth.
One-handed hand seals!
In less than a second, Isamu had formed the necessary seals and unleashed the Great Fireball Technique.
Tsunade had no intention of taking the attack head-on.
She pushed off with her toes.
The ground beneath her feet shattered with a thunderous crack, and the enormous reaction force launched her backward and out of the fireball’s range.
The fireball struck the ground, sending flames billowing outward.
Above the blazing flames, a streak of cold steel flashed.
Isamu seized the opportunity and launched his final attack.
A kunai flew through the flames, predicting where Tsunade would land.
Its target was the bell at her waist.
Unfortunately, Tsunade wasn’t about to give him that opportunity.
Her hands moved with seemingly impossible speed.
She brought both palms together in front of her abdomen, catching the kunai between them.
With a sharp clang, the weapon was crushed flat.
Tsunade released her hands, and the kunai dropped straight to the ground.
Isamu looked at the flattened tip of the kunai and couldn’t help shaking his head.
She’s a humanoid beast!
There was nothing he could do.
The difference in their strength was simply too enormous.
“It’s over.”
His chakra was already exhausted.
On top of that, Tsunade’s earlier knee strike had left his abdomen in excruciating pain.
There was no chance he could continue fighting.
The test had come to an end.