Tsunade

A Pyroblast with its power adjusted exploded in Nawaki's face, blasting him into a charred wreck.

Magic worked like this: the power of a spell grew stronger with the caster's strength, or rather, with their control over Arcane Power.

Just like the legendary Fire Release that "couldn't kill anyone"—the stronger the user, the stronger its effects.

At present, Pyroblast could not kill someone in a single hit, but as Satoru grew stronger, or if he gathered more Fire Elementals—meaning a longer casting time—its power would increase accordingly.

At its current normal strength, that Pyroblast would at least have blown a layer of skin off Nawaki.

But if it had been the enhanced version, Nawaki's age at death would have had to be changed to eleven...

"Ah... I couldn't hold back in time."

Satoru ran over to Nawaki, who shuddered—

The feeling of losing control of his body after being turned into a sheep had truly not been pleasant.

"Ow, ow, ow... hot..."

Nawaki puffed out a mouthful of black smoke and touched his scorched hair, looking like he was about to cry.

"Are my eyebrows gone?!"

"...Senpai, aren't you focusing on the wrong thing?"

The Ino-Shika-Cho trio who had run over immediately began roasting him in perfect unison.

"Your clothes have been blown to pieces!"

Satoru conjured a ball of clear water and drenched Nawaki from head to toe, then gave Choza, who had the best stamina, a meaningful look.

"Hurry and get Lady Tsunade. With Senpai looking like this... it would be better not to make a big fuss on the way back to the village, right?"

"Haha... I'm on it!"

Choza smacked his lips, held back his laughter, and ran off. Shikaku shrugged and untied a small pouch from his waist.

"I'll treat him first. The Nara Clan supplies medicinal herbs to the village, so we've also studied ordinary medical treatments."

Inoichi shrugged and stepped forward to help Shikaku prop up the charred Nawaki so he could wrap the bandages. Meanwhile, the injured man was still discussing their fight with Satoru.

"Junior, you really are a genius! I couldn't spot even the slightest flaw in that Clone Technique!"

I even thought I had mastered the Clone Technique...

"Senpai, you really are very familiar with the basic ninja techniques..."

Thinking back to Nawaki's Clone Technique and Substitution Technique, neither of which he had noticed, Satoru realized that if his own techniques had not been so unusual, dealing with Nawaki would have taken quite a bit of effort.

After all, Nawaki was three years older than him, came from an illustrious family, and worked hard...

"Junior, your techniques are incredible... Mm, that hurts! Thanks..."

Nawaki got excited, and Shikaku, who was applying medicine and bandaging him, helplessly pressed down hard on him to make him stay still.

"Before Lady Tsunade gets here, Senpai should try not to move around."

"Well... it's my first time seeing such dazzling techniques. I got too excited."

Nawaki said sheepishly. Then, seeing Satoru clicking his tongue, he scratched his head and looked somewhat dejected.

"This... there really is a huge gap between me and a genius. I'm only a little better in stamina and have a bit more Chakra, so I can repeatedly practice the basic ninja techniques until I'm a little more solid."

"Forget Grandpa—even my sister was far stronger than me when she was the same age!"

Slipping into a gloomy mood, Nawaki muttered softly.

"Forget the Wood Release bloodline limit. Even that supposedly incredible life force hasn't shown itself at all..."

"Could I have been adopted?!"

"..."

Satoru and the other two stared at Nawaki speechlessly. The fiery spirit he had shown just moments ago had vanished completely, replaced by deep self-doubt.

Was the Wood Release bloodline limit really so easy to inherit? Even Tsunade, who would become Hokage in the future, showed no trace of it, let alone a teenage kid like him...

Besides, wasn't great stamina and abundant Chakra precisely the manifestation of Uzumaki Clan blood?

As for the Senju Clan's bloodline limit, Konoha had secretly invested so much manpower and resources into researching it for so long, yet had produced no worthwhile results. What was he so anxious about...

Silently mocking him in his heart, Satoru was about to offer Nawaki a few words of comfort when he saw the latter suddenly turn resolute.

"It must be because my training is still far from enough!"

"Wood Release must require extremely grueling training to awaken... I'm still nowhere near there!"

Satoru suddenly understood.

Nawaki was actually under an enormous amount of pressure.

Possessing Konoha's most exceptional bloodline, bearing the title of grandson of the "God of Shinobi," and having an accomplished older sister, Nawaki was still young, yet his obvious talent did not seem to match his background. He endured immense pressure from both himself and others.

He had made becoming Hokage his goal and never hid it. It was not only because it truly was his dream, but also because he used that conviction to push himself to the limit.

Forcing himself onward—this guy was ruthless.

So under that crushing pressure, he charged fearlessly ahead on the battlefield, overlooked a trap, and met with disaster...

Satoru silently shook his head. Looking at Nawaki's expression, his feelings became complicated.

"This guy is the one who's truly miserable."

Satoru sighed. At first, he had not thought much of it.

But now that he had gotten involved with Nawaki, the thought that this hot-blooded guy would soon become a cold corpse...

It felt awful.

But he could not show too much just yet.

"Nawaki, relax. Heal up first, then continue practicing."

Satoru could only say,

"Although my Pyroblast is Fire Release, it has an explosive effect. You didn't just suffer burns—you may be in pain for several days."

"Oh? So this is the new Fire Release technique developed by Advisor Mitokado?"

A young woman's voice rang out, startling Satoru—he had not sensed anyone approaching at all.

Shikaku and Inoichi were also stunned as they looked at the ponytailed female ninja who had suddenly appeared before them.

"I'm... a little dizzy..."

Satoru shook his head, conjured a ball of water to wash his face, and only then saw the panting Choza rushing over.

"Lady Tsunade! Wait for me!"

"Tsunade!"

Satoru and the other two understood. This was Nawaki's older sister, the First Hokage's granddaughter, one of Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen's three prized disciples, and Konoha's most skilled medical-ninjutsu jonin.

"Big Sis!"

Although Nawaki was delighted to see his sister arrive, he was also somewhat embarrassed.

"Haha... I challenged Junior Satoru even though he's so much younger than me, and I still lost!"

"This is what a genius is like. I'm still far behind..."

"I only learned a few novel techniques from the old man. When it comes to the fundamentals, I'm far behind Nawaki."

Satoru repeatedly waved his hands with a humble expression. Tsunade was nothing like Nawaki, this inexperienced rookie; the pressure she gave him was already nearly on par with his father's.

"Lady Tsunade, I'm truly sorry... Nawaki is really strong. I couldn't hold back in time."

"Haha..."

Tsunade laughed heartily, making sweat bead on Satoru's forehead. He hurriedly shifted his gaze to Shikaku and the others, only to find the three boys staring at Tsunade with looks of pure admiration.

To them, powerful jonin like Tsunade were not people they often got to see.

"Tch... they're just little brats."

After giving a light cough, Satoru heard Tsunade say with a smile,

"It's fine. I was the one who told Nawaki about the new technique Advisor Mitokado developed, and he's been itching to test himself against you ever since."

"Nawaki's talent for ninjutsu is only average, so I had him focus on building a solid foundation. That also made him overly curious about ninjutsu."

"He challenged you on his own and lost because he wasn't skilled enough. Getting off like this is already pretty good—Satoru, thank you for showing mercy!"

Tsunade's gaze was sharp. Nawaki had suffered only superficial injuries, and that level of damage was far below what she knew of Pyroblast.

Seeing Nawaki's charred and disheveled state, it would be a lie to say she did not feel sorry for her younger brother.

But having noticed that Satoru had held back, she felt some approval toward the boy she was meeting for the first time.

"Don't worry. I can heal these injuries very quickly."