Class A's fourth-year students sat back and enjoyed the show, gathering around to watch the commotion.
Jiraiya grinned foolishly. "Watanabe didn't give up. You've got to admire his courage, but he's destined to taste the might of Tsunade's iron fist."
He knew firsthand just how much Tsunade's iron fist hurt.
Orochimaru, Dan Katō, Hiruko, and the others beside him all nodded. To them, this was a match with an obvious outcome.
[Being Underestimated: Confidence +2, Charisma +2, Courage +3...]
The screen popped up, continuously stacking buffs onto Watanabe and making the boldness in his heart surge.
Watanabe had a vague idea of what the system did, but he still needed to verify it. Tsunade was the perfect person to test it on.
"At least you're not a coward."
Tsunade quietly let out a breath. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but as she looked at Watanabe before her, she felt he was surrounded by an unusual, distinctive charm.
Charm was something intangible, impossible to see or touch, yet somehow perceptible. It was rather mysterious.
"Please go easy on me."
Watanabe spoke politely, his voice gentle. Paired with his sunny, handsome features and the mysterious aura of charm around him, he somehow made Tsunade feel as though a spring breeze were washing over her.
No one her age had ever made her feel that way before.
"Mm."
Tsunade replied coolly.
She decided to hold back, at least enough to keep Watanabe from losing too badly and save him some face in front of his classmates.
"Begin the spar."
Osaka Rukawa announced.
Watanabe formed Hand Seals with both hands, immediately creating a slightly indistinct clone. The two of them attacked Tsunade from the front and back.
Jiraiya was startled. "He's taking the initiative against Tsunade instead of defending? Does Watanabe want to lose even faster?"
What happened next startled him even more. Tsunade was actually trading blows with both Watanabes, keeping up with them evenly.
"Smack! Smack! Smack!"
Tsunade didn't use any ninjutsu, relying solely on Taijutsu. Every exchange produced a loud smack of bodies colliding.
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, more than a minute had gone by.
The students' relaxed expressions gradually shifted to astonishment.
They had thought Tsunade would take Watanabe down in an instant. They never expected him to hold his own against her for so long.
Had Watanabe somehow climbed up from the bottom of the class without anyone noticing?
At that moment, Watanabe himself was rather puzzled.
Everyone said Senju were born with tremendous strength and that Taijutsu was their forte. But Tsunade didn't seem very strong to him, and he wasn't struggling at all to keep up.
"Is she holding back on purpose?"
Watanabe quickly realized that Tsunade's true strength had to be far greater than this.
"But I don't need you to go easy on me."
Watanabe could only laugh helplessly. He wanted to test the system by fighting Tsunade for real. A spar in which she deliberately held back wasn't what he wanted.
When the fight reached the two-minute mark, Tsunade decided they'd gone on long enough. It was getting a little excessive, and besides, Watanabe had done well just to keep up with her this long, even if he lost.
With that in mind, Tsunade thrust out a straight punch. First, she smashed the blurry clone, then hit Watanabe in the left shoulder.
"Thud."
With a muffled impact, Watanabe flew backward.
"Whoa!"
The students burst into an uproar. Tsunade's punch looked painful.
"I told you Watanabe was asking for humiliation. He could never beat Tsunade."
"He's going to be hurting for a while after taking that hit."
Jiraiya winced, as if Tsunade had punched him instead.
[Attacked: Vitality +13, Defense +10, Constitution +4...]
A row of text appeared on the screen.
Watanabe lay on the ground in a daze. The place Tsunade had hit didn't hurt at all. Instead, a refreshing sensation spread through his body, and his blood surged with vitality.
"Just as I thought! That's exactly how the system works!"
Once he came to, Watanabe was thrilled.
Karma Reversal—just as the name suggested, his system could reverse cause and effect. His classmates' underestimation and mockery had made his confidence soar. Tsunade had just hit him with a punch, which should have injured him, but instead his vitality and defense had increased.
Osaka Rukawa saw that Tsunade's punch had left Watanabe stunned and began to announce, "In the third round, Tsunade wins—"
"Wait!"
Watanabe cut him off and scrambled back to his feet.
"I can still fight. I haven't lost."
"Uh..."
Everyone looked at him in surprise, unsure what he meant.
He'd been knocked flying with one punch. How could he say he hadn't lost?
Did they have to kill him for it to count as a loss?
"This guy..."
Tsunade stared at Watanabe. She knew exactly how strong she was. Although she'd held back most of her strength in that punch, it was still enough to leave an ordinary person aching for days.
"Did my holding back make him think he could beat me?"
Tsunade thought it over and guessed why Watanabe refused to accept defeat. If he could beat her in front of the entire class, he'd make a name for himself in the First Shinobi War. He must have wanted to seize this chance to show off.
"All right, you two can keep sparring," Osaka Rukawa said. Since Watanabe wanted to continue, it didn't count as a loss yet.
Watanabe charged at Tsunade again, launching another attack.
[In Combat: Fatigue -5, Energy +6, Stamina +3...]
Watanabe grew more and more vigorous as the fight went on, full of energy and not feeling tired at all.
Tsunade, on the other hand, felt helpless. To avoid exposing the fact that she'd been throwing the match, she had no choice but to keep throwing it, continuing to grapple with Watanabe like two rookie fighters.
Two minutes later, Tsunade pretended to spot an opening and punched Watanabe in the right shoulder.
"Thud."
Watanabe flew backward again.
[Attacked: Vitality +15, Defense +12, Pain -7...]
"That feels amazing!"
Watanabe nearly cried out in pleasure. A warm, tingling current flowed through his body, and his vitality surged.
"Surely Watanabe can't get back up this time!"
"Tsunade was born with superhuman strength. Most people couldn't take a punch from her."
"Watanabe held out against Tsunade for quite a while. He's pretty impressive. He could probably rank somewhere in the middle of the class—not at the bottom anymore."
The students chatted among themselves. No one was mocking or ridiculing Watanabe like before. After this spar, he'd proved his abilities through his actions.
Just as Tsunade thought that was enough, the next moment—
"It's not over yet!"
Watanabe brushed the dust off himself and stood up for the second time.
Tsunade furrowed her slender brows, thinking that Watanabe was being a little ungrateful.
I felt sorry for you and didn't want you to lose too badly, so I held back. But you want to take me down and make a name for yourself?
Tsunade wasn't known for her patience. She was growing increasingly annoyed, and she felt an urge to treat Watanabe like Jiraiya and beat him to a pulp.
Watanabe wasn't overthinking things like Tsunade. Without another word, he charged at her, looking determined not to stop until she knocked him flat.
A flash of anger passed through Tsunade's beautiful eyes. She decided to teach him a lesson by hitting him hard.
"Smack! Smack! Smack!"
[In Combat: Fatigue -4, Energy +7, Endurance +2...]
After another minute or so of their pretend spar, Tsunade landed a punch in Watanabe's abdomen.
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