Defeat of the Flowing Water Stance

"Go!"

Uchiha Otoha gripped the giant Fuma Shuriken with both hands, his shoulder muscles bulging, his face flushed red. He put all his strength into swinging the massive weapon and throwing it.

The Fuma Shuriken was a version of a regular shuriken scaled up tenfold, possessing a terrifying appearance, immense destructive power, and… extremely poor concealability.

Its oversized form meant it could only be used in open terrain. But in open terrain, it was impossible to hide. The sharp whistling sound it made as it flew was piercing, and its large shadow was visible to anyone who wasn't blind.

Therefore, ever since this weapon was developed, few people besides the Uchiha Clan, who had mastered the shuriken to an unparalleled degree, wielded such a massive thing. Speaking of which, it seemed a member of the Uchiha family was the first to develop this item…

Just as the massive weapon in Otoha's hands left his grasp, Minato and Katsuki each formed several hand seals, creating five or six clones that charged forward together. They were a mix of real and fake, hoping not to deceive Tsunade's eyes, but merely to disrupt her line of sight, making their efforts worthwhile.

"Such cunning little ones," Tsunade chuckled, shaking her head. She casually stomped her right foot on the ground. The soil by the stream bank churned, and the mud clods that flew up extinguished the illusory clones. Only Minato remained, crossing his arms to shield his face, trying to steady himself against the incoming mud.

At this moment, the Fuma Shuriken was already close. Tsunade powerfully punched out, striking directly at the Fuma Shuriken, seemingly unafraid of being sliced by its sharp edge. However, the instant her fist touched the Fuma Shuriken, with a bang, a faint cloud of chakra smoke rose, and Katsuki revealed his true form.

He thrust his left shoulder forward, taking Tsunade's punch head-on. His right arm muscles bulged, veins popping, and he clenched his fist, driving it fiercely towards Tsunade's abdomen.

No choice, she's too tall!

"Kid, you've got guts," a hint of admiration flashed in Tsunade's eyes. He was willing to get hurt to seize this hard-won opportunity – a decisive move full of courage. "Too bad you miscalculated one thing."

Tsunade instantly changed her fist into a claw, firmly gripping Katsuki's left shoulder. Then… Katsuki's fist stopped three centimeters from Tsunade's abdomen. This time, it was… too short!

Damn it! This is impossible, I'm about to cry!

With a plop, Katsuki was once again splashing around in the stream.

"These little ones have quite the resilience," Jiraiya said, sitting on a tree trunk and watching Tsunade beat up the children.

"Knowing Tsunade wouldn't kill them, if they still don't dare to fight, they're utter trash," Orochimaru leaned against a large tree, arms crossed. His shadow clones and main body shared the same personality and memories, and his tone was as unforgiving as ever.

Jiraiya shrugged, unconcerned. After all, he and Orochimaru had been friends since childhood, and he was long accustomed to Orochimaru's sharp words. In fact, this was considered him holding back; at least he hadn't directly called these kids trash.

"However, if Tsunade keeps this up, her chakra will be depleted soon," Jiraiya narrowed his eyes, making his assessment.

After all, they were dealing with a group of children. The shadow clones of the three of them were merely casually created things, vastly different from their true selves. The only thing they retained was rich combat experience. Other aspects, like chakra reserves, were actually only at the Genin level.

Tsunade hadn't used a single Ninjutsu from start to finish; she had completely dominated the children with Taijutsu. However, she had used her super strength a few times, and her chakra was almost gone!

"All of you, lie down!" This time, Tsunade didn't throw Katsuki and the others back into the stream. Instead, she delivered a solid punch to each of them, knocking them all flat on their faces. They struggled and groaned for a long time but couldn't get up.

As for Kushina and Otome, the two young girls, they received preferential treatment. They weren't as disheveled as the three boys, merely restrained by Tsunade and unable to move.

"You're all still too green. Katsuki, your speed and explosiveness are good, and your strength is sufficient, but you lack agility. Your movements are too wide, leaving too many openings. As for the Uchiha kid, you should focus on training your explosiveness; your body is as brittle as bean sprouts. As for the blond kid, you… are very good. You should know that yourself." Tsunade held a little girl under each arm and casually lectured the three lying on the ground.

Then, she pulled the two girls aside and whispered a lot of instructions, showing no hesitation in her gender bias. The three boys felt like crying, thinking, Do you have to be so blunt? This blatant favoritism is too much!

"You failed this time. Keep trying next time," Tsunade said with a slight smile. Her shadow clone dispersed, leaving only a faint wisp of chakra smoke to drift away with the wind.

From beginning to end, Jiraiya and Orochimaru had watched from not far away but had not intervened. Now that the boys were thoroughly beaten by Tsunade, these two were even less likely to pay attention to them.

The five of them retreated, stumbling. They were temporarily too exhausted to challenge again.

They walked upstream along the stream for about half a kilometer before finding a temporary campsite not far from the bank. Teacher Takashima had once lectured on how to choose a suitable campsite, and as a good student, Minato had quickly grasped the essentials and selected a site.

Only then did they have time to check their injuries… mainly the three boys. The two little girls, apart from having some mud on their clothes, were completely unharmed. Unlike the three boys, who were bruised and battered, having bathed repeatedly in the cold stream on a cold day.

"Click… click… click."

Flint struck, creating bright red sparks that ignited the dry grass and dead branches. The orange flames danced like sprites. The three boys stripped down to their underwear and huddled around the campfire to warm themselves; it was incredibly cold.

Minato and Otoha's injuries weren't serious, just a couple of punches to the head and some scrapes on their bodies. Tsunade's control over her strength was exquisite, which made Katsuki admire her greatly. This is what it means to truly master Taijutsu.

"Katsuki, is your shoulder okay?" Otoha held his hand over the flames, enjoying the scorching warmth that dispelled the chill seeping into his bones. "That punch from Lady Tsunade looked pretty heavy."

"It's no big deal, here, see for yourself." Katsuki turned his head to the right, revealing his left shoulder. There was only a small patch of bruising. As the two of them looked away in surprise, he turned his head back and carefully moved closer to the fire, greedily absorbing the heat radiating from the flames. "My body's recovery ability is very strong; this injury will heal quickly."

"Is this also an ability of the Uzumaki Clan? Hiss, that's truly monstrous," Otoha praised enviously.

"What are you envious about? Your Uchiha Clan's Sharingan is even more monstrous, you know," Minato chuckled and chided him. Now that they were familiar with each other, their conversations were much more casual. If it were in the past, Minato wouldn't have teased Otoha like this.

"Well, that's because my Sharingan hasn't awakened yet!" Otoha grinned. He quite enjoyed being called 'monstrous'; in the Ninja World, the word 'monster' was often associated with power.