A Man's Friendship

With every punch and kick Dada threw, dense sparks of electricity crackled around him. In daily life, these sparks were uncontrollable, but in the heat of battle, the more Dada focused his mind and the more he concentrated on the fight, the easier it was for the electricity to manifest, and the greater its power became.

However, these sparks were different from Lightning Release ninjutsu. They were not infused with Chakra; they were more like natural lightning, only significantly weaker in power.

Precisely because of this, Dada had no way to control them like ninjutsu or Nintaijutsu. One had to realize that in Lightning Release ninjutsu, techniques that could curve or even mimic shapes were everywhere, all thanks to the influence of Chakra.

His physical constitution, which far exceeded that of an ordinary person, gave Dada stamina beyond the norm, allowing him to trade blows at high speed for an hour without fatigue. But as A gradually shifted from pure defense to a back-and-forth exchange, Dada felt the pressure surge after only a few moves.

A sidestepped and kicked Dada back, then began weaving hand seals at a speed Dada could not track.

If you take hand seals seriously, you've already lost, Father! No true strongman uses hand seals.

Though he thought this, his body was not slow; he honestly put some distance between them. Unable to use Chakra, he had only two choices when facing ninjutsu: tank it or dodge it. He had no other means of counterplay.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Ball."

A lightning sphere the size of a basketball shot from A's hand, curving in mid-air as it flew toward Dada.

This was the brilliance of Chakra; it could even control the trajectory of lightning and provide automatic target acquisition.

Although he was not known for his ninjutsu, A had already held back significantly. At full power, this technique could be the size of a car.

Dada dodged by the skin of his teeth. Before he could even adjust his posture, A was already weaving seals again, pointing at him.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Ball."

"Lightning Release: Lightning Ball."

"Lightning Release: Lightning Ball."

In the end, A released 17 Lightning Balls in a row, the same number that Uzumaki Hirohiko had released during the Earth Walk...

Some failed to turn in time and smashed into the ground as Dada dodged, but this type of tracking ninjutsu still left Dada in a flurry of chaos.

"You're going too far, Father."

Cold sweat dripped down Dada's face.

However, the neural response capabilities of this body were truly excellent. He managed to dodge and weave through the tracking of over a dozen lightning balls, performing all sorts of incredible, precise evasions.

Ninjutsu ultimately had a time limit and could not exist forever. After holding out until all the lightning balls dissipated, Dada finally plopped down on the ground. He wasn't exactly tired, but the experience was truly exhilarating, requiring intense mental concentration.

A crossed his arms and nodded. "Not bad. It seems you haven't let your cultivation slide. And you, red-haired kid, you're not bad either."

"Yes!" Uzumaki Hirohiko answered loudly. Although he had only been here for a week, Hirohiko already understood the weight of a Kage of a Village. Hearing praise from the Raikage made him incredibly excited.

Dada, on the other hand, gave a fake smile. He didn't usually work very hard; he was more diligent about reading books. Because he lacked Chakra, his cultivation consisted only of punching and kicking.

The people around him cultivated by leaping high and low, using flashy ninjutsu, while his own cultivation method was incredibly dull, no different from the martial arts training of his past life.

This, of course, left Dada with little motivation to train...

His current level was entirely built upon his physical constitution.

But in the eyes of Uzumaki Hirohiko, Dada was simply too amazing.

"Dada, I didn't realize you were this strong!"

"It's alright, I guess..." Dada gave a bitter smile.

According to the clan's estimates, if the problem of being unable to use or accumulate Chakra could not be solved, Dada would only possess the strength of a Special Jonin by adulthood based on his physical constitution alone—though he would be the type of Special Jonin whose skills were lopsided to an extreme degree.

It wasn't that he couldn't beat a Jonin, but rather that he had too many weaknesses, such as being unable to dispel genjutsu on his own.

A Jonin without Chakra?

It was simply absurd...

When the time came, he could consider pretending to be the protagonist of a shonen manga: "Even without Chakra, I will become a ninja! This is my ninja way!"

At this moment, Hirohiko's stomach let out a loud growl. Both A and Dada looked at him, and Hirohiko's face turned red instantly.

Considering he had been too reserved to eat much at dinner, it seemed the constitution of the Uzumaki Clan followed some scientific logic—it couldn't create energy out of nothing and still required replenishment.

"Are you hungry? Should I have the kitchen make something else?" Dada asked.

"No, no, no, don't trouble yourself. Um, I brought rice balls with me..." Hirohiko hurriedly explained, pulling two large rice balls from his bag by the Training Ground.

The two rice balls were well-preserved, round and plump. They were cold now and felt heavy in the hand. As Hirohiko smiled, he felt a pang of sadness. The rice balls were a return gift his mother had specially made for him to thank Dada for the large bag of candy he had given him. They were filled with many good things; Hirohiko himself had never eaten rice balls with so much filling since he was a child...

But at this moment, in the high-walled courtyard of the Yotsuki Clan, he couldn't bring himself to say that this was a gift his mother had specifically entrusted to him.

"What's this? You had good food on you and didn't take it out? It looks delicious," Dada teased.

Uzumaki Hirohiko thought of the smile on his mother's face when she carefully handed him the rice balls, and suddenly, an impulse surged within him.

"Um... actually, my mother asked me to give these to you. It's a thank-you gift for the candy earlier. Dada, you..." Hirohiko regretted it the moment the words left his mouth. At dinner earlier, every dish on the table had been better than the rice balls in his hand...

He surely wouldn't think much of his mother's rice balls. He was so stupid; he should have just kept quiet.

Dada paused for a brief moment, and that short hesitation caused the light in Hirohiko's eyes to fade bit by bit.

Then, he quickly snatched the rice balls away.

"Why didn't you say so earlier? Were you trying to keep the gift from your auntie all to yourself? I've been working out for so long, I'm starving." Dada didn't hesitate to peel one open and take a large bite.

Hirohiko watched Dada wolfing down the food, and the stone in his heart finally dropped. A smile returned to his face.

"Cough, cough. You've been working out for a long time too, you must be hungry. Fine, I'll share one with you." Dada acted as if it pained him, stingily handing the other rice ball to Hirohiko, as if he were giving away some rare delicacy.

"Mm! Thanks! My mom's rice balls are delicious!"

A, standing to the side, watched Dada wolfing down the food with a smile in his eyes. He knew his son had already eaten quite a bit earlier; the way he was so engrossed in the rice ball now was likely an act, and in reality, he was probably feeling quite stuffed.

He reached out with his large hands, ruffling the hair of both little ones, and said, "Red-haired kid, I'm a bit hungry myself. Could you share half with me?"

"Sure! Mm~! Raikage, please try it. My mom put a lot of good stuff in these..." Hirohiko smiled and handed half of his rice ball to A.

Dada glanced sideways at A, thinking to himself that his Father was unexpectedly charming at times like this. The leader of Kumogakure, huh... he really was a reassuring presence.

The most united ninja village, the village that could always pull together as one—the successive Raikage were indeed all individuals of immense charisma, with the Third Raikage being particularly outstanding.

One large man and two small boys sat by the Training Ground, eating rice balls and chatting under the moonlight, undisturbed by the occasional passerby.

That evening, the breeze was gentle and mild.

After seeing Uzumaki Hirohiko off, Dada's expression changed instantly. He rubbed his stomach weakly; he had just forced himself to finish a rice ball the size of a fist.

A fist the size of a Raikage's.

A glanced at Dada out of the corner of his eye and said with a laugh, "Refining Chakra can speed up digestion. If you're feeling uncomfortable, go and Cultivate."

Dada grumbled, "Since you saw through it, Father, why didn't you help me eat half instead of helping Hirohiko? I don't think that guy even got full on his half."

"Don't talk nonsense. That's the friendship of men; how could I help you shoulder that?"

"Tch, showing off again."

[If you enjoy this novel, please share it on Facebook. The author would be deeply grateful.]