You Scream!

After training ended and they were dismissed, Orochimaru left as if nothing had happened.

After saying goodbye to Mikoto, Nawaki and Satoru quietly returned to the riverbank.

"Satoru, what's up? What did Teacher Orochimaru say to you just now?"

Nawaki had been holding back all afternoon and couldn't stand it anymore.

He was curious about what Orochimaru had said.

"It's nothing much. Teacher said I'm allowed to participate in his ninjutsu research project later."

Satoru waved his hand dismissively.

"Speaking of which, the teacher just wants a free laborer. What's a research assistant but a grunt who carries samples, hands over equipment, and runs errands."

"Even getting credit for the research results is considered the teacher being generous."

"Uh..."

Nawaki was confused.

"It sounds really tough. Is ninjutsu research like this..."

"We'll talk about that later. His original ninjutsu, all that snake stuff, it makes me shiver just looking at it. I need to persuade him to change his style!"

Satoru gritted his teeth and then turned to tell Nawaki the purpose of keeping him behind.

"Nawaki, you have the bloodlines of the Senju Clan and the Uzumaki Clan, so theoretically, you might inherit Wood Release... but even the incredible stamina and vitality of both clans aren't very apparent, are they?"

Hearing this topic, Nawaki's expression turned dejected.

"Yeah... At least my sister has powerful Medical Ninjutsu. Grandma once said that perhaps that talent came from Grandpa's special physique."

"But I don't have the talent to be a medical ninja, nor did I inherit the Wood Release bloodline. The Uzumaki Clan's vitality is very strong, which manifests as high stamina and large chakra reserves, but it's not that exaggerated with me."

Nawaki pointed to his brown hair.

"Grandma said that only if the hair was red would it represent the Uzumaki Clan bloodline being dominant. My sister and I are both second-generation inheritors. In reality, we only have one-quarter of the Senju Clan bloodline and one-quarter of the Uzumaki Clan bloodline. It's normal to be like this now!"

"Hmm... that's true, but even so, your chakra reserves are still much higher than an ordinary person's."

"The Senju and Uzumaki are distant relatives. Both bloodlines have the characteristic of strong vitality. Strictly speaking, your bloodline in terms of physique is more than just a quarter."

Satoru nodded. The second-generation inheritance made Nawaki's and Tsunade's bloodlines very subtle. Their stamina and chakra were fine, but Wood Release hadn't been inherited.

"If... I mean, if I can strengthen your body and further guide your bloodline power, what do you think..."

"Huh?! Really!"

Before Satoru could finish speaking, Nawaki became excited. The joint training with Satoru and Uchiha Mikoto during this period made Nawaki increasingly lose confidence in his own talent.

If Satoru could really do something like this, he might be able to catch up to them!

"Uh... strengthening the body is not a problem, I have experience with it. But guiding the bloodline requires your further cooperation for testing."

Satoru calmly batted away Nawaki's excitedly reaching hands and took half a step back.

"I'm so much younger than you, yet my physical condition even surpasses yours. The Body Tempering Technique is one of the reasons for that."

"However, the Body Tempering Technique used on you won't be as effective as when I use it on myself. But as my strength increases, there will be opportunities to become even stronger later."

"Wow! Satoru! You're really amazing!"

Nawaki had indeed noticed Satoru's strong stamina, but he had overlooked Satoru's age... This was a problem that tended to happen when one spent a lot of time with Satoru.

"When do we start?"

"Let's start now. We'll strengthen your body first, and we'll talk about the bloodline matter in the next step!"

Satoru pulled the overjoyed Nawaki to the place where he had previously strengthened Might Guy's body and carved a magic circle according to the previous specifications.

[Dai has recently gained prominence, completing many difficult missions consecutively with his overwhelming attack power and has long since been promoted to Chunin.]

As Satoru made preparations, he thought silently:

[This way, Dai's chances of survival should be greater. And now, I need to increase Nawaki's chances of survival...]

Satoru had no idea when or what kind of accidents might occur on the battlefield.

Therefore, even if he knew Nawaki would die in an Exploding Tag trap, it was useless without knowing the time and place.

Strengthening Nawaki's own resistance was the best way to save his senior's life.

Although he didn't know the power of the trap, there wasn't much Satoru could do. He could only do his best and leave the rest to fate.

If Nawaki still couldn't survive even with this, then Satoru couldn't do any more.

As for why he would expose his secret to buy insurance for Nawaki...

[Dealing with hot-blooded idiots like Dai and Nawaki is better than teaming up with those cunning individuals.]

[The battlefield situation changes rapidly. Having reliable companions to watch your back is completely different from fighting alone. Mages are fragile in the early stages!]

In the afterglow of the setting sun, brilliant purple light rose in the mountains.

"Enchanting Body Tempering Technique—Complete!"

"Crack!"

The magic circle shattered into scattered arcane debris and slowly vanished. Nawaki, at the center, slowly opened his eyes.

"I feel... so strange!"

Nawaki, shocked, squeezed his own arm.

"This... this is my arm?!"

"I feel like I could take on two of my previous selves!"

"It's just the illusion of your body suddenly strengthening, it's not that exaggerated."

Satoru waved his hand, signaling Nawaki to stand up.

"Come on, I'll spar with you... At least by tomorrow, you need to get used to the discomfort of your enhanced body."

Unlike Dai.

Dai, who specialized in Taijutsu, had immense control over his body. Therefore, after the Enchanting Body Tempering Technique, he could easily control his body and seize the opportunity to break through.

But Nawaki didn't have that ability. He still needed to train, otherwise, he would end up like this...

"Whoosh—"

"Whoa—"

"Bang!"

Satoru watched with a deadpan expression as Nawaki, attempting to jump, exerted too much force and flew over his head, flailing his limbs before crashing to the ground.

"Hey, didn't I tell you to get used to it? Why are you still using so much strength!"

Dizzy, Nawaki scrambled up from the ground and carefully stood.

"Hehehe... I was too excited and couldn't control myself. I'm sure I'm fine now... Ah!"

"Crack!"

Nawaki tried to walk forward but, as expected, lost his balance and fell.

"It's over! Satoru! I can't walk anymore!"

Nawaki cried with a mournful face and cautiously stood up again.

"When will I be able to fight at this rate!"

Satoru shook his head helplessly. Seeing how quickly Dai had adapted, he had thought that even if ordinary people felt uncomfortable, it wouldn't be this extreme.

Now it seemed that a ten percent enhancement across the entire body was truly not something an ordinary person could easily adapt to.

"In that case, I'll have to be rough!"

Satoru revealed an evil grin, causing Nawaki to shiver violently.

"What bad thing are you thinking of?!"

"Since you can't get used to it in a short time, I'll beat you until you get used to it in a short time..."

Satoru chuckled, cracking his knuckles with a "crunch crunch" sound.

"Senior brother... this is for your own good. Otherwise, you won't even be able to hold a bowl and chopsticks for dinner, wouldn't that be terrible?"

"There's still an hour until dinner. I'll help you adapt as quickly as possible, heh heh heh heh..."

"No... Don't! Don't come near me!!"

Nawaki watched Satoru approach with an evil grin, cold sweat pouring down his face. But how could he run when he couldn't even walk steadily?

"I... I'm calling for help!"

"Go ahead and call! Scream your lungs out... Pfft! What kind of line is that? Take this!"

"Ah!!!"