Saving Private Nawaki

Konoha, Senju clan grounds.

Most of the Senju clan members had long since moved to the Land of Fire. Those who remained had also branched out and blended into families throughout Konoha.

Within the clan grounds, apart from Tsunade and Nawaki, only a scattered few elderly Senju remained, stubbornly guarding the place. The air was steeped in an ancient, desolate atmosphere.

"Sis, I'm back!"

Nawaki returned home excitedly, carrying two books.

"Oh, you're back."

Tsunade clearly did not feel like paying attention to him. Immersed in memories of last night, the corners of her lips unconsciously curled upward.

Pouting in dissatisfaction, Nawaki quietly crept up beside Tsunade's ear and shouted:

"Hey! I'm back—!"

With a sharp knock on the head, Nawaki squatted down with both hands clutching his head, tears welling in his eyes.

"You brat, how did class go? I found you the best teacher in Konoha."

Leaning sideways against her lounge chair, Tsunade asked.

"I actually wanted to call him brother-in-law," Nawaki said. Seeing Tsunade's threatening glare, he quickly answered seriously, "Teacher Hanma is really nice. He even gave me two books and told me to study them carefully."

"He also said he'd prepared an S-rank Forbidden Jutsu for me. He said that if I understood these two books, he'd teach it to me later!"

Tsunade looked baffled. A Ninja Academy graduate learning an S-rank Forbidden Jutsu? What did that mean?

Looking at the books in Nawaki's hands, Tsunade felt as though a huge question mark had appeared above her head.

"The Past and Present of Explosive Tags."

"How to Use Explosive Tags Effectively."

And there was that utterly speechless author name: Wandering Hanzo. Could it really be that Hanzo of the Salamander?

And what did Explosive Tags have to do with anything? Was Hanma trying to make Nawaki into an Artisan Ninja? That did not seem too bad, either.

Tsunade thought about it strangely.

Konoha Park.

Minato and Kushina sat in the shade of a tree, each holding a glass of juice and a book as they studied together.

One could tell from Minato's focused expression that he had truly gotten into it.

S-rank ninjutsu—the Flying Thunder God Technique.

He, Minato Namikaze, thirteen years old, could understand it.

Kushina was also reading Hanma's Taijutsu Essentials with great interest. From time to time, her little face tightened as she nodded solemnly and made notes in the book.

This was the model example of top students studying together!

If Nawaki saw this, he would be embarrassed to death. Lord Nawaki would never admit that Tsunade was about to hang him up and beat him for refusing to read.

Minato sighed softly and scratched his head. He had studied this marking for a long time, but he still did not understand it.

Kushina leaned over and looked at the large mark Minato had circled in the book, seeming to realize something.

"It looks really familiar?"

Her eyes suddenly lit up. Patting Minato, she said, "Grandma Mito taught me this marking!"

"This is a Dual Instrument Seal, usually used to stabilize space. This is a Flame Seal, used to lock Chakra."

"You can complete this marking by adding a Five Elements Seal."

Having been taught by Uzumaki Mito, Kushina knew all kinds of seals like the back of her hand. She carefully explained the prerequisite ninjutsu needed for the Flying Thunder God Technique to Minato.

To learn the Flying Thunder God Technique, one first needed to thoroughly understand the smaller Funjutsu that made up its marking. Then, one had to develop a perception of space before even being considered a beginner.

Just reaching the beginner level required extensive knowledge of Funjutsu, spatial affinity perception, wide-range Chakra sensing, and sufficient Chakra.

The threshold for the Flying Thunder God Technique was absolutely no lower than the Mangekyo or Sage Mode. It was a ninjutsu that only truly gifted geniuses could learn.

Bloodline and talent were essential for the strong in the Shinobi World.

As Kushina explained, Minato's eyes grew brighter and brighter. He had already touched that seemingly unreachable threshold.

Uchiha Courtyard No. 2.

Hanma sat at his desk writing lesson plans. For these three little ones, he would fulfill his duties as a teacher.

Although they were all exceptionally talented, his sudden arrival had definitely changed history.

The Shinobi World had never lacked geniuses. What it lacked were geniuses who survived.

Only with resources, bloodline, opportunities, and the heart to forge ahead bravely could one possibly become a Kage-level powerhouse.

Hanma was very satisfied with Minato's tactical instincts in battle. Cautious yet bold, a ninja like that would always have his day.

Nawaki and Kushina, on the other hand, had hot tempers. As ninjas, they still retained a certain innocence in their personalities and needed to be set straight.

They needed to understand their own limits. More importantly, they needed to understand the fragile nature of ninja.

In the original story, Nawaki had been blown to death by Explosive Tags. In truth, this was how most Genin died.

They charged recklessly onto the battlefield, thinking that learning a few ninjutsu made them formidable, only to be killed by simple Explosive Tag traps, thrown ninja tools, or even animal traps.

Ninjas below the Jonin rank were, in some ways, less lethal than fully armed mercenaries.

The gap in combat power among the ninjas of this world was simply too extreme.

Hanma's ears twitched as he heard familiar footsteps.

Tsunade walked in, gave him a clingy kiss, then picked up the lesson plans Hanma had written and began reading them.

Hanma looked at Tsunade and assessed her strength. In truth, she still had enormous room for improvement.

Tsunade's attainments in Funjutsu were absolutely solid. Senju and Uzumaki blood flowed through her veins, she had inherited the Yin Seal, and she had even created the phenomenon-level ninjutsu, "Strength of a Hundred Technique: Creation Rebirth."

She also had Shikkotsu Forest, the most accommodating sage summoning ground. She was highly proficient in medical ninjutsu and possessed extremely refined Chakra control.

In terms of potential, she was unquestionably a candidate for surpassing Kage level. Sage Mode stacked with the Yin Seal, followed by the Eight Inner Gates—there were few people in the Shinobi World who could withstand a Monster Strength Punch like that.

But in the end, because of family, love, and drifting apart from her teacher, comrades, and friends, she had completely fallen into despair and become a Kage-level battery pack.

Hanma narrowed his eyes as he looked at his girlfriend. He had not expected her to be this strong.

Thinking about himself, he suddenly felt a sense of crisis. If one day this Taijutsu Master could not even take a punch from his girlfriend, that would be interesting.

"Ahem—"

Hanma gestured to Tsunade, who was still studying the lesson plans, and explained:

"I had Nawaki study Explosive Tags so he would understand that he's still very fragile."

"War is merciless. He needs to recognize his shortcomings and stop treating things like a game."

"If you want to become a great ninja, being able to fight is secondary. What matters is being able to take a hit and knowing how to run."

Tsunade raised her pretty eyebrows, as if asking, Aren't you talking about yourself?

Hanma nodded without the slightest embarrassment.

He then rather proudly explained his theory of fault tolerance.

In short, ninja were too fragile. Either make your health bar thicker, or run fast enough.

Clearly, Hanma was a master of this path. He could take hits, run fast, and could not be controlled, making him the most troublesome type of ninja to deal with.

The essence of this school was simple: if you made a mistake, you died. If he made a mistake, he would be more careful next time.

Tsunade listened to the theory in amazement, frowning as she thought it over. "Other than you, it seems a lot like Orochimaru too."

Hanma's eyes lit up. The current Orochimaru was still fairly cheerful.

Hanma could train Nawaki properly, send him over, and then have Orochimaru lend a hand.

He needed to learn something like the Orochimaru-style Substitution Technique or Soft Body Modification. He had to be steady.

For the sake of his lively little brother-in-law's life, Hanma had truly racked his brains and put in the effort.