Tsunade's Trial

Tsunade clenched her fists, dark lines popping across her forehead. Unable to hold back, she punched Qinglong on the head.

"Ah!"

"Ow, ow, ow~~!"

Qinglong crouched down and covered his head with both hands. A huge lump had already risen on his head.

Tsunade gave a cold snort, acting a little tsundere!

She led the way to an open patch of ground.

"Come on, brat! Let me see how strong you are!"

"Ah!"

Qinglong rubbed his head.

"You said it!"

He sprang up and struck a starting stance.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes. This wasn't the Hyuga Clan's starting stance, nor was it Might Guy's Taijutsu stance.

Where had this kid learned Taijutsu?

She crooked a finger at Qinglong.

"Come at me! Let's see how good you are."

"Then here I come!"

Qinglong nodded, then lowered his waist and thrust forward with all his strength.

With a whoosh, Qinglong vanished from where he stood!

Tsunade's eyes widened. What incredible Body Flicker Technique!

Shizune, standing off to the side, could barely make out Qinglong's figure. The next moment—

Qinglong appeared right in front of Tsunade and threw a punch at Princess Tsunade, who was now within arm's reach.

"So fast!"

Tsunade cried out and raised her arm to block.

"Bam!"

His fist collided violently with her arm. A circular wave of air burst outward, sending a fierce gale in every direction. Shizune covered her eyes with one hand as her clothes flapped wildly, staring at the two in shock.

Caught off guard, Tsunade was knocked back more than ten meters. She was stunned by the power of that punch—it was terrifying!

Qinglong pointed at Tsunade and laughed.

"I told you! Women with bodies that are too fat just aren't suited for fighting."

At his words, Tsunade gritted her teeth in fury, and a huge cross-shaped vein bulged on her forehead.

"Brat, now you've made me take this seriously!"

"Are you ready to be trounced by me, Tsunade?"

Tsunade shrugged off her outer robe and tossed it to Shizune. Her figure now looked even more graceful. She rubbed her fists together, stood there, and beckoned.

"Brat, come at me!"

"Hah!"

Qinglong shouted and charged forward in an instant, swinging his fist at her.

"Take that! And that!"

Though Tsunade was prepared this time, Qinglong's barrage of attacks still forced her to keep blocking.

Their bodies collided again and again, each impact ringing out with a thunderous boom.

Qinglong had immense strength and moved with astonishing speed. His continuous flurry of punches gave Tsunade no chance to catch her breath.

This wasn't the kind of one-move-at-a-time fighting style used by ninjas!

There was no room to breathe!

And no matter what Tsunade did, Qinglong answered with a punch!

Tsunade defended, and he punched.

Tsunade threw a punch, and he charged back with one of his own.

He was simply meeting her head-on!

And he turned his whole body into a weapon as he fought. Fists, feet, arms, knees—his attacks came one after another without pause.

After a flurry of exchanges, they both swung their fists at once, and their knuckles collided again.

"Boom!"

Another shockwave erupted, accompanied by a massive sonic boom and a thunderous roar!

This time, Tsunade used more of her strength than she had been holding back. With one punch, she sent Qinglong flying more than ten meters!

The shockwave from their collision blasted the dirt into a round crater.

"Not bad, brat."

"But you're still a little short," Tsunade said, her red lips curving into a faint smile as she took her coat from Shizune.

"Keep working hard!" Tsunade turned and waved as she left. "I'm looking forward to seeing how much stronger you'll be next time!"

After Tsunade hurried away, Qinglong was still thinking back on their fight.

Although Tsunade had held back her strength and hadn't used the Super Strength Technique, he hadn't gone all out either.

To keep Konoha from paying him too much attention, Qinglong had hidden most of his strength, keeping himself at the level of an ordinary genius!

As he pondered, he suddenly remembered.

"Ah! Didn't you say you'd treat me to a meal? You swindler, Tsunade!"

Qinglong angrily punched the ground.

He'd fought for nothing, and now he was hungry. In the end, he hadn't even managed to mooch a free barbecue meal off that fat sheep, Tsunade.

"Ah! My barbecue~"

Meanwhile, after walking far enough that Qinglong couldn't see her, Tsunade grimaced and shook her hands.

"Yikes~!"

"I didn't expect that kid to be so tough! My hands are killing me!"

Shizune was stunned. She hadn't expected that brat to be so strong. Tsunade was a Taijutsu expert, after all. Shizune couldn't help wondering if that kid really could hit hard enough to make Tsunade feel pain.

"Is that kid really that strong?"

"Mm!"

Tsunade said seriously, "He's a rare Taijutsu prodigy!"

As she spoke, she grimaced and rubbed her arm. Then she turned to Shizune and said, "Come on! Since we're back in Konoha for once, let's take a walk around the village!"

"Ah!"

Shizune's face immediately fell.

Lord Tsunade was thinking of looking for people to gamble with again~.

Meanwhile, Qinglong had already run outside the village to see if he could hunt a beast before dark and fill his stomach. If he'd known Tsunade wanted to go gambling, why bother hunting? He could just get his hands on her money instead—and he wouldn't stop until she'd lost the clothes off her back!

......

Time passed quietly. The village returned to peace, and under the Third Hokage's talent for smoothing things over, the villagers seemed to gradually forget about the children who had gone missing.

The Third Hokage had done much to preserve peace in Konoha. Though his methods were open to question, he had truly maintained a rare period of calm in the village.

Tsunade was also nowhere to be seen for quite some time. It seemed the village's creditors had chased her out again.