"Zhou Duan, I'm gonna kill you!"
Deep in Konoha's forest, a shrill, furious roar shattered the quiet. Senju Nawaki stood with his legs braced and both arms wrapped around a tree, thrusting his hips against the trunk in front of him over and over. The tree was so sturdy that even sharp weapons could barely damage it, yet in barely any time, Nawaki had rammed a small hole into it with his bare body!
Strangely, though, Nawaki's face was full of terror as he did it.
"Zhou Duan, you bastard! What the hell did you do to me?"
"Oh, that..."
Zhou Duan sat down and watched Nawaki's performance at his leisure.
"It was just a potion that boosted the user's reaction speed!"
"That has nothing to do with boosting reaction speed!"
Hyuga Hyakusho, who'd been enjoying the show from the sidelines, couldn't help speaking up. He thought Nawaki's behavior was idiotic, but Zhou Duan's actions were clearly about to get Nawaki killed.
"All I saw was you pour a bottle of potion down his throat, and then the guy started doing unspeakable things to a tree!"
"Hyakusho, as your captain, I have to criticize you. How can you judge something so one-sidedly?"
Zhou Duan looked displeased as he lectured Hyakusho.
"You only saw what Nawaki's doing now, but you ignored the fact that he took off his pants in an instant. And even though the target was ten meters away, he reached it in the blink of an eye without accelerating. That's the best proof that his reaction speed has improved!"
A closer look could change everything. Recalling what Nawaki had gone through, Hyakusho had to admit that, as far as reaction speed was concerned, Zhou Duan's potion had indeed boosted the body tremendously. Still, after glancing at Nawaki, who was continuing his activity, Hyakusho winced.
"Sure, the potion's great, but aren't the side effects a bit much?"
"Let's put the side effects aside for now..."
Namikaze Minato, who'd been standing nearby with an easy smile and an unruffled expression, was now sweating nervously. Keeping a wary eye on Zhou Duan, he asked the question that concerned him most.
"You aren't going to use this on us too, are you?"
"Don't worry!"
Zhou Duan gave them a reassuring answer.
"Not only are the ingredients for this potion expensive, but it also works on a very limited group. The user has to be a Senju Clan ninja, under twelve years old, and male. Oh, right, Nawaki..."
Zhou Duan glanced at Nawaki, still "passionately wrestling" with the tree in front of him.
"You don't need to worry. Once the potion wears off, you'll stop hurting the tree!"
By now, even an idiot could tell that Zhou Duan's potion had been made specifically to teach Nawaki a lesson. Minato and Hyakusho exchanged a glance, seeing the same unease in each other's eyes. Zhou Duan looked harmless and a little goofy, but beneath the surface, he was pitch-black!
Nawaki had understood Zhou Duan's words too. His mind was under his own control, but his body wasn't; it kept thrusting against the tree. As he thought about how he'd taken off his pants in front of other people and was doing unspeakable things, a deep, bitter fury began to build inside him.
"Zhou Duan, just you wait! If you ever fall into my hands, you'll regret it!"
"Oh, really?"
Watching Nawaki act like he was ready to take them both down, Zhou Duan slowly curled his lips into a "kind" smile.
"Nawaki, since you're my teammate, I added a potion to yours that strengthens your muscles. I didn't expect you to be so ungrateful. Never mind. If you're going to be that stubborn..."
Zhou Duan took out a red potion.
"This potion will cancel out your muscle enhancement while keeping you in your current state. I'm sure you'd love to find out what it feels like to press unenhanced muscles against a tree. Oh, and since we still have a while before we meet up with the supply team..."
Zhou Duan shook out his clothes, and a dozen bottles of potions in different colors appeared between his hands.
"I have plenty more potions I'd like you to try. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time!"
"Gulp!"
After hearing Zhou Duan and seeing the dozen bottles in his hands, Minato and Hyakusho both sucked in a sharp breath. Nawaki's eyes widened in terror as he swallowed hard.
"Zhou Duan, you're trying to kill me, aren't you?"
"Yep!"
"Hey, don't answer so casually!"
Under the devil's pressure, Nawaki finally showed his ugly, entitled side.
"My grandfather was the First Hokage, my second grandfather was the Second, and the Third Hokage treats me well too. If you dare do this to me, the Third Hokage won't let you get away with it!"
As soon as Nawaki said that, Zhou Duan remembered being punched and sent flying the day before. He rubbed his still-swollen cheek with the back of his hand, and his eyes suddenly turned cold.
"To tell you the truth, it was the Third Hokage who forced you onto our team in the first place. Forget what you're doing to a tree right now. If I wanted you to finally get some sense, I could make you do unspeakable things to a pig in front of the whole village, and the Third Hokage wouldn't have a thing to say!"
"Holy crap!"
That bold declaration left Nawaki at a loss. He could keep fighting Zhou Duan and preserve what little dignity he had left, but when he looked at the dozen bottles of unknown potions in Zhou Duan's hands, he swallowed with difficulty and lowered his proud head.
"Zhou Duan, I give up!"
"Call me Captain!"
"Captain!"
"Say you were wrong!"
"Captain, I was wrong!"
"Will you do it again?"
"Captain, I was wrong! I won't do it again. I'll behave!"
"Good!"
Zhou Duan smiled with satisfaction, put away the potions, and slapped a packet of powder onto Nawaki's face. The control over Nawaki's body ended at once. He pulled out a kunai and gouged the hole he'd made into the poor tree until it was a ragged mess, then leaped ten meters back and quickly pulled on his pants!
Zhou Duan glanced toward Nawaki. Nawaki was clutching his pants tightly and watching him warily. When he saw Zhou Duan frown slightly, he immediately plastered on a smile more painful than a grimace.
"Captain, what is it?"
Seeing that Nawaki had finally become a little more obedient, Zhou Duan nodded with satisfaction. Then his expression grew serious.
"We still have a while before we meet up with the supply team. To help the team work together from now on, let's talk about the skills we've each learned!"
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