The incident with Might Dai and Guy cleared up one of Tanya’s long-standing misunderstandings.
They weren’t nobles.
They weren’t members of a powerful clan.
They were ordinary civilian-born ninja.
That realization surprised her.
In her previous assumptions, the level of training Dai and Guy performed daily required enormous resources.
Food.
Recovery.
Time.
Physical conditioning.
Everything cost money.
Yet somehow, an ordinary genin and his son had managed to maintain such an intense training regimen.
It spoke volumes about both their determination and the income available to active shinobi.
Still, Guy’s reaction left Tanya feeling uneasy.
“Tanya, you’re amazing!”
The boy’s eyes sparkled with admiration.
“You defeated a chunin with a single attack!”
A bad feeling immediately surfaced.
Tanya subconsciously turned toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The Third Hokage merely watched her with his usual gentle smile.
There was no visible suspicion.
No alarm.
No indication that anything had gone wrong.
Only then did Tanya relax slightly.
Perhaps I was overthinking things.
Guy is still inexperienced.
That must be why he thinks the attack was extraordinary.
After all, the chunin named Takuya had been astonishingly weak.
From Tanya’s perspective, the entire encounter was strange.
According to the books she had read, the First Hokage and the Second Hokage possessed power so overwhelming that they seemed almost mythical.
The current Hokage was said to be their equal.
If even ordinary chunin possessed a meaningful fraction of that strength, then Takuya shouldn’t have been defeated so easily.
The gap was too large.
Far too large.
In military terms, it made little sense.
If the strongest individuals could completely dominate battlefields alone, then what purpose did ordinary soldiers serve?
Wars should have become contests between a handful of monsters.
Yet that clearly wasn’t the case.
The Five Great Nations still maintained vast military forces.
Shinobi still fought in armies.
Villages still competed for resources and missions.
Which meant reality was more complicated than the stories described.
The legendary figures existed.
But they were exceptions.
Not the standard.
That realization only increased Tanya’s sense of urgency.
I’m still far too weak.
Beside her, Guy suddenly stepped forward.
He bowed deeply.
“Tanya.”
His voice was completely sincere.
“Thank you for helping us.”
Then he immediately turned toward Hiruzen.
“Thank you, Hokage-sama, for protecting us!”
Hiruzen’s expression softened.
He stepped forward and placed a hand on Guy’s shoulder.
Then he looked toward Might Dai.
“Dai.”
A trace of self-reproach entered his voice.
“As Hokage, this is partly my responsibility.”
“Konoha’s shinobi should support one another.”
“Yet some choose to bully their comrades.”
“I have failed to properly guide them.”
Might Dai’s eyes widened.
“No!”
He shook his head vigorously.
“Hokage-sama, this is absolutely not your fault.”
A bitter smile appeared on his face.
“The problem is my own lack of ability.”
“I remained a genin all my life.”
“People look down on me because of that.”
His expression darkened slightly. You are reading on novelping.com, the official source.
“And because of me, Guy has suffered as well.”
Dai placed a hand on his son’s shoulder.
“Guy.”
The boy immediately straightened.
“Thank Hokage-sama properly.”
Guy nodded without hesitation.
His voice rang out loudly.
“Thank you, Hokage-sama!”
His fists clenched.
The humiliation from earlier still lingered in his heart.
But now it had transformed into determination.
“I’ll train harder!”
“I’ll become stronger!”
“And one day I’ll protect Konoha!”
His eyes had become slightly red.
Yet there was no weakness in them.
Only conviction.
Hiruzen fell silent.
He understood Dai.
Perhaps better than most.
The man lacked natural talent in conventional ninjutsu.
He lacked clan support.
He lacked status.
Yet he possessed extraordinary perseverance.
Unfortunately, perseverance alone could not solve every problem.
Konoha’s resources were limited.
The village could not personally nurture every struggling shinobi.
After a long pause, Hiruzen finally sighed.
“I have other matters to attend to.”
His voice became gentler.
“If anything similar happens again, come to the Hokage Building.”
“I’ll handle it.”
Dai’s eyes widened.
Then he bowed deeply.
“Thank you, Hokage-sama.”
Hiruzen nodded.
Then he reached down and took Tanya’s hand.
The two continued walking toward the training grounds.
After several minutes, the question that had been occupying Hiruzen’s mind finally surfaced.
“Tanya.”
“Hm?”
The Hokage glanced down at her.
“The technique you used earlier.”
His eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
“Was it a Bloodline Limit?”
The question instantly caused Tanya’s heart to skip a beat.
Bloodline Limit?
The unfamiliar term immediately raised alarm bells.
A bad premonition appeared.
The simple chakra attack she had casually improvised apparently wasn’t as simple as she had assumed.
Oh no.
Hiruzen noticed her confusion.
Naturally, he interpreted it differently.
He assumed she simply didn’t know the meaning of the term.
Smiling gently, he began explaining.
“A Bloodline Limit, or Kekkei Genkai, is an inherited power.”
“Most are created through the combination of multiple chakra natures.”
“The abilities are usually passed down through bloodlines and cannot normally be learned by outsiders.”
As he spoke, he reached into his robes.
A small strip of special paper appeared in his hand.
Chakra paper.
The Hokage handed it over.
“This can determine your chakra affinity.”
“Try channeling chakra into it.”
Tanya accepted the paper.
Her fingers trembled ever so slightly.
A familiar feeling surfaced.
One she hated.
The sensation of standing before an important examination.
This development felt suspiciously similar.
Very suspiciously.
Meanwhile, Hiruzen found her reaction rather endearing.
Despite her maturity, she was still a child.
Nervousness was natural.
He crouched down and gently patted her shoulder.
“Don’t worry.”
His smile widened.
“With talent like yours, you may possess multiple chakra affinities.”
Tanya silently nodded.
Then she followed the instructions.
Chakra flowed into the paper.
The result appeared instantly.
Rip.
One section split cleanly apart.
Crackle.
Another portion crumpled.
Drip.
A third section became damp.
Fwoosh.
Flames ignited along one edge.
Finally—
The remaining portion turned to fine powder.
Tanya stared at the chakra paper.
Her expression remained calm.
Inside, however, she was screaming.
Five chakra natures.
All five.
She immediately knew who was responsible.
Existence X.
That insufferable entity.
The same being that had dragged her into this world.
The same being that constantly attempted to force her into situations of conflict and struggle.
This wasn’t a blessing.
It was bait.
A trap.
An invitation to become involved in even larger battlefields.
Exactly the sort of situation she wanted to avoid.
Existence X, I ********
Tanya maintained her expression with military precision.
Not even a hint of her inner fury escaped.
Hiruzen, meanwhile, was staring at the chakra paper with growing astonishment.
The results exceeded even his expectations.
Five chakra natures.
At her age.
Combined with the unusual chakra technique she had demonstrated earlier.
Combined with her absurd learning speed.
The Third Hokage suddenly found himself entertaining an unusual thought.
Perhaps…
Perhaps he should personally teach this child.
Even Orochimaru had not displayed this level of natural potential at such a young age.
The more he thought about it, the brighter his eyes became.
Finally, he laughed.
A rare, genuine laugh.
“Tanya.”
The Hokage placed a hand atop her head.
“You truly are a once-in-a-century genius.”
His voice carried unmistakable delight.
“Five chakra natures.”
“And possibly a Bloodline Limit.”
“Your future achievements may surpass anything we can currently imagine.”
For the first time in quite a while, Hiruzen felt optimistic about Konoha’s future.
The village lacked enough elite shinobi.
But perhaps this child would eventually become one of the pillars supporting the next generation.
Tanya forced a polite smile.
“Thank you for the praise, Hokage-sama.”
Her voice remained calm.
“I was simply fortunate.”
In truth, she wanted this conversation to end as quickly as possible.
If it continued much longer, she feared she might accidentally reveal exactly how she felt about Existence X.