Yozuki Blade

The blade finally stopped a centimeter above Tamura Hiroshi's head, nearly brushing his scalp.

"Haah... haah..."

Tamura Hiroshi gasped heavily, sweat beading on his forehead, his face flushed, his heartbeat nearly twice as fast as usual, and the arms gripping the twin blades trembled slightly.

This was the backlash from his earlier burst. Even though he had used his enhanced comprehension to push his chakra control to the current limit, such a prolonged high-intensity outburst still placed a burden—even damage—on his body.

At the same time, Fukai's explosive power was too strong. Each collision put a severe strain on his arms, and he could feel multiple pulled muscles in them.

"The teacher is too strong. Even with my full burst, I couldn't make him take a single step back."

After catching his breath, Tamura Hiroshi sheathed the twin blades into the Sealing Object Spell within his arm guards, sighing at his teacher's overwhelming strength.

Whether in power or speed, the man far surpassed him. Just now, he hadn't even used ninjutsu—merely amplified his physical strength with chakra—and had effortlessly blocked his relentless assault.

Over a hundred strikes hadn't landed a scratch, and the counterattack that followed had sent him stumbling backward like a crumbling leaf.

No wonder he was a jōnin specializing in Nintaijutsu, and no wonder he was the future Eight-Tails Jinchūriki.

Of course, the main issue was that he himself was too weak. His current combat ability was roughly on par with Rock Lee during the Chunin Exams in the original story, before opening the Eight Inner Gates.

And this was a burst state—unsustainable. From the start of the fight to the end, less than a minute had passed before he was spent.

Not even three minutes!

The main problem was that his chakra had run dry. Relying purely on physical strength, he couldn't contend with Fukai at all.

Fukai glanced at the ninja sword, its edge nearly chipped into small serrations, and sighed inwardly, but he was quite satisfied with this student.

"That burst of yours just now was very powerful—enough to go toe-to-toe with a chūnin specializing in taijutsu. It's rare to have such strength at ten years old.

Choosing these long blades to compensate for the lack of long-range ninjutsu attacks was also wise, especially against opponents like Puppet Masters with their full-body mechanisms. This approach is safer."

To have such strength at ten was hardly an exaggeration to call a genius. If not for his Chakra Quantity holding him back, making his burst unsustainable, he'd be a solid chūnin-level combatant.

Of course, strength was only part of a ninja's rank assessment. For chūnin, tactical command ability was more important, and that wasn't clear yet.

"I've put in several times the effort of an ordinary person to achieve my current results."

Tamura Hiroshi shook his head, helpless about this. It was a gap in physical constitution, not something that could be endlessly improved through hard work alone.

In this world, talent and aptitude set the ceiling; effort only determined the floor.

Without the Otsutsuki Bloodline, one couldn't even qualify to become a Ten-Tails Jinchuriki.

"You're still too young, your physique hasn't fully developed, so you're not suited for a power-focused build. Plus, your blades and sword techniques are mainly thrust-based, with slashing as secondary—better suited for a speed-focused burst.

Later, I'll guide you in Lightning Release Nature Transformation training. Once you master it, you can use Lightning Release chakra to stimulate your nerves and muscles, boosting your burst speed.

Moreover, the strain from a speed burst on the body is much lighter than a power burst, making it more suitable for your current age and build.

After that comes actual combat. You have almost no combat experience. Your sword fundamentals are solid but relatively rigid; you need a lot of real combat to make your swordsmanship fluid.

Fukai offered his advice, forming a rough plan for this student's training in the coming period.

"Didn't I say it? Hiroshi is a rare genius."

Just then, a figure flashed beside the two—Yozuki A.

Yozuki A had arrived early and watched the entire fight.

Though it lasted only a minute, he found it intriguing and slightly surprising.

He knew this junior was a genius, but he had thought his talent lay in weapon tool development, or rather, those novel ideas.

Who would have guessed he was also so gifted in training and combat?

He had seen the fight clearly and could tell that this junior was improving in real time. Even when facing Fukai's active offense at the end, his responses grew smoother.

If not for the vast gap in strength and his chakra running out, he might have held on a bit longer.

"Brother Yozuki!"

Tamura Hiroshi greeted Yozuki A.

"Come on, I've already prepared medicinal baths and a Medical Ninja for you."

Yozuki A slung an arm around Tamura Hiroshi's shoulder and led him out of the Training Ground.

He had come specifically to take this junior for the medicinal bath.

Fukai followed along. He still wanted to discuss future training with this student, especially to understand his thoughts on his own path.

"Isn't this medicinal bath a secret of the Yozuki Clan?"

Standing beside the three large tubs and looking at the liquid inside, Fukai was deeply shocked.

He had used the Yozuki Clan's body-tempering medicinal bath before—it was very effective for physical training and could repair hidden injuries.

But he had only enjoyed it fewer than ten times. It was too expensive—one tub cost a million ryō. Even with some family Net Worth, they couldn't afford too many baths.

Most importantly, this was a secret recipe of the Yozuki Clan, further improved by the Second with contributions from many Kumogakure clan secret medicines. It was priceless, an unshared secret of the Yozuki Clan and the Raikage lineage.

Now Yozuki A was bringing that kid here for such a bath—something was off.

"This is far more advanced than the bath you had back then. It's what our Yozuki Clan uses to temper the Hand Blade. My father's Hell Stab was also honed over years with this bath's assistance."

Yozuki A said proudly, this medicinal bath was the most perfect version; the full-body body-tempering method they used before was merely a simplified form.

However, the cost of this medicinal bath was exorbitant—each of these three large barrels cost ten million ryo. In the past, they could only use small portions to purely temper their palms, thereby cultivating the Yozuki clan's secret Heirloom Hand Blade technique.

The core secret art of the Yozuki clan was forged through Body Shattering training, honing a Heirloom Hand Blade as sharp as lightning, so that when used to execute Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop, it could cut through anything without resistance.

That was precisely why, despite being only a C-Rank Ninjutsu, Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop possessed power no less than an S-Rank technique, capable of breaking through even a Tailed Beast's defenses.

His father had gone further, developing the even stronger Hell Stab on this foundation, and had repeatedly suppressed the rampaging Eight-Tails and Two-Tails.

And now, he was lavishly using ten times the standard dose of the medicinal bath, enough to temper his entire body.

"A-Hiro, this is our Yozuki clan's secret medicine. One large barrel like this costs ten million ryo at base price, three barrels make thirty million. The medicinal force that seeps into your body from each bath lasts one month, and you can take one bath per month. Can you handle it?"

Turning his gaze to Tamura Hiroshi, who was staring hotly at the three barrels of medicinal liquid, Yozuki A hung the future benefits on this junior disciple.

This junior disciple was nothing special in other respects, but his ability to earn money was truly top-tier.

His current income was already astonishing, and it would skyrocket in the future—surpassing the village's total revenue was only a matter of time.

After discussing it with his father, they came up with this wild idea.

Using the junior disciple's money-making power to maximize the strength of the three of them, at least raising their physical conditioning.

In the past, the Yozuki clan's finances were limited, so they could only use this precious medicinal bath to temper their palms and master the Heirloom Hand Blade. But now, they could go a step further and temper their entire bodies.

Once their bodies were tempered to the absolute peak, unleashing Nintaijutsu at that point—the power would be truly unimaginable.