Power 23: Chapter 23: Speed vs.
Power In the clearing behind the commercial street, the sun shone brightly.
Puddles of rainwater pooled at their feet, reflecting the blue sky and white clouds.
Distant cries of street vendors drifted over, faint and muffled, as if from another world.
This clearing, at this moment, belonged to two people.
A massive boulder stood at the center, about waist-high and wide enough for two people to wrap their arms around, its surface covered in moss and rain stains.
No one knew who had brought it there, standing so abruptly in the clearing, as if it had been placed specifically to referee this contest.
Tsunade stood on one side of the rock, one hand flat on its surface, her elbow braced firmly against the stone.
The Fourth Raikage stood on the other side, in the same posture, his elbow planted on the rock.
One dark.
One fair.
One massive.
One slender.
The contrast was stark enough to sting the eyes.
Souji stood nearby, the Six Eyes beneath his black cloth fixed on those two hands.
Tsunade’s hand was pale and slender, fingers long and elegant, nails neatly trimmed and painted a deep red.
It was a hand that looked like it should be holding a wine cup or flipping through medical charts, utterly unrelated to the concept of strength.
The Fourth Raikage’s hand was something else entirely.
Brown skin, thick knuckles, his palm solid as an iron plate.
Five thick, powerful fingers, calluses covering his fingertips, the marks of decades of clenched fists and thrown punches.
When the two hands clasped together, the Fourth Raikage’s palm nearly swallowed Tsunade’s entirely, like a beast gripping a small bird.
Amai stood not far behind the Fourth Raikage, the corners of his mouth already curling upward.
Was there even a contest here?
Such a slender wrist, how could it possibly withstand the Raikage-sama’s strength?
Souji said nothing.
He just watched Tsunade’s profile.
There was no tension on that face, only a lazy, casual smile, as if this were nothing but an amusing game.
“Kid.” Tsunade spoke without turning her head.
“Give the signal.” Souji nodded, took a deep breath.
“Ready…” Both their arms tensed simultaneously.
“Begin!” The moment the word left his mouth, BOOM!
Golden chakra and blue-violet lightning exploded at the same instant.
No testing.
No hesitation.
Both went all out from the very start.
Tsunade’s chakra was golden, dense and heavy as tempered steel, instantly enveloping her body.
That gold wasn’t burning flame.
It was hard armor, her unique inheritance from the Senju Clan’s raw, brute strength.
The Fourth Raikage’s chakra was blue-violet, wild and explosive as lightning, crackling and dancing along his arm with sharp snaps.
That was his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, his proudest absolute power.
The two chakras collided violently above the boulder, the air burst apart with a dull, booming crack.
Amai’s smile froze on his face.
Because he could see the Raikage’s arm trembling, not from fear, but from the involuntary shudder of muscles pushed to their absolute limit in a contest of raw strength.
And Tsunade’s arm didn’t move an inch.
That slender, pale wrist stood as immovable as a mountain, no matter how the blue-violet lightning battered it.
Then she began to push.
Slowly.
Steadily.
Inch by inch.
The Fourth Raikage’s wrist was being forced down toward the stone, millimeter by millimeter.
Amai’s eyes went wide.
How was this possible?
The Raikage-sama’s strength could split lightning with his bare hands and shatter mountains with a single punch.
How could he be overpowered by a woman?
But the evidence was right before his eyes.
Veins bulged on the Fourth Raikage’s forehead.
His teeth were tightly clenched.
Every muscle in his body roared.
That nearly perfect combat body, every muscle was roaring.
But it wasn’t enough.
Tsunade’s hand kept pressing down.
Golden chakra hung over his hand like a mountain, heavy and immovable.
“Raikage-sama…” Amai stepped forward nervously.
“Stay back!” The Fourth Raikage’s roar stopped him in his tracks.
His eyes were locked on Tsunade.
Those hawk-like eyes burned with fierce fighting spirit.
Tsunade smiled.
“Still going to hold on, Fourth?” Her voice was as casual as if they were chatting.
“Keep this up, and you’ll lose the use of that hand.” The Fourth Raikage said nothing.
He just stared at her.
Silence stretched for a second.
Many thoughts raced through his mind.
“HAAAH!” The Fourth Raikage suddenly roared.
He yanked his hand back, his entire arm withdrawing in an instant.
Tsunade’s hand, suddenly without resistance, surged forward under its own momentum, and in that instant, the blue-violet lightning flashed.
The Fourth Raikage’s arm vanished.
But Souji’s Six Eyes caught it.
It wasn’t disappearance.
It was speed.
Speed pushed to its absolute extreme.
So fast that the eye couldn’t track it.
His arm had pulled back for only a heartbeat, then slammed down again at even greater speed.
His palm once again gripped Tsunade’s hand, but this time, the angle was different.
The angle of his arm’s descent, the lean of his body, he had thrown his entire weight into it.
BOOM!!!
The massive boulder exploded.
Stone fragments flew in every direction.
Dust and smoke billowed upward.
Amai was driven back two steps by the shockwave, raising his arm to shield his face.
Dust filled the air.
Nothing was visible.
Only blue-violet lightning flickering through the haze, like lightning in a storm.
Who won?
Shizune and Amai stared with wide eyes.
The dust slowly settled, revealing three figures.
The Fourth Raikage stood in place, breathing heavily, his chest heaving.
Blue-violet lightning flickered unsteadily across his body.
Sweat streamed down his cheeks.
His right hand pressed down on the stone surface.
The surface was shattered.
That massive boulder was now nothing but a pile of rubble.
And on top of the rubble, Tsunade’s right hand was pinned beneath his.
But that hand wasn’t touching the stone.
Between the back of her hand and the rubble was another hand.
A young man’s hand.
Pale, slender, with distinct knuckles.
The veins on the back of his hand bulged slightly, clearly bearing immense pressure.
At some point, Souji had already rushed between them, placing his right hand beneath Tsunade’s while gripping his blind cane with the other.
His body was tilted forward, a black cloth covering his eyes and concealing his expression, while his jaw remained tightly clenched.
Tsunade stared down at the hand beneath hers, her gaze flickering.
“Kid…” The Fourth Raikage was stunned too.
He looked at the silver-haired boy, his brow furrowed.
When had this boy moved in?
His speed wasn’t particularly fast, but his timing was flawless.
Exactly at that instant.
Exactly when both their arms were about to hit the stone.
As if he had known exactly what would happen.
Souji wasn’t looking at anyone.
He just kept his head down, feeling the pressure on his palm.
Heavy.
Part of the Fourth Raikage’s strike force had transferred to his hand.
His arm trembled slightly, but he didn’t pull back.
As expected of the Fourth Raikage.
Speed truly is power.
Three seconds of silence passed.
“This one goes to you, Fourth.” Tsunade’s voice was calm, as if commenting on the weather.
She withdrew her hand and pulled Souji’s back along with it.
The Fourth Raikage also pulled his arm back and straightened up.
First he looked at Tsunade, then at the silver-haired boy.
“You…” he began.
“I lost.
That’s all there is to it.” Tsunade cut him off, brushing stone chips from her hand, her tone casual as if discussing daily chores.
“Come on.
Take me to your patient.” She turned and walked away.
After two steps, she stopped, not looking back.
“Kid.
What are you standing around for?
Keep up.” “Coming!” Souji answered, gripping his blind cane and quietly followed after her.
As he passed the Fourth Raikage, he paused for a moment.
The Fourth Raikage was watching him, those hawk-like eyes now holding something like curiosity.
“What’s your name?” the Fourth Raikage asked suddenly.
Souji tilted his head slightly.
“Yamada Souji.” He answered briefly, then continued forward.
His cane tapped the ground.
Tap, tap, tap.
The sound echoed across the empty, rain-soaked clearing, unusually crisp.
The Fourth Raikage stood in place, watching that thin silhouette recede into the distance.
Sunlight fell on his silver-white hair, casting a soft glow.
Amai crept closer cautiously.
“R-Raikage-sama…
are you alright?” The Fourth Raikage didn’t answer.
He just watched that retreating back.
After a long moment.
“Amai.” “Yes!” “That boy…” He paused, his eyes narrowing slightly.
“That boy…
is no ordinary kid.
When we return to the Hidden Cloud, look into his background.” Amai blinked, looking at the distant, thin figure, then bowed his head.
“Yes!” “But…
he’s probably Lady Tsunade’s disciple.
There’s no way he’d join the Hidden Cloud…” Tsunade’s voice drifted from afar, carrying her usual lazy impatience.
“Stop wasting time.
Are we treating him or not?” The Fourth Raikage tore his gaze away and strode after them.
The sun shone brightly.
A gentle breeze swept across the rubble-strewn ground, stirring up a wisp of fine dust.