Golden Light Chakra Mode

"Not bad, kid. With sword skills like these, even a Chunin would struggle against you, and an average Jonin would be caught off guard by such an offensive. Your slashes are fast, and your power is quite impressive."

"Furthermore, in these high-speed strikes, I see the shadow of a predecessor, though his slashes were far sharper than yours. Now, it is my turn to strike."

With a Chakra Scalpel spinning at her fingertips, Tsunade looked at Uchiha Gen with a beaming smile and spoke softly.

The next second, gravel flew up around Tsunade, and her figure vanished from Uchiha Gen's sight in an instant.

"So fast!"

His Two-Tomoe Sharingan spun rapidly. Seeing Tsunade flash before him with her leg raised high, a trace of surprise flashed in Uchiha Gen's eyes.

Chakra intertwined with Qi, erupting instantly in his legs.

Modified—Body Flicker Technique!

Uchiha Gen's body turned into a blur, and Tsunade's attack landed in the same instant.

BOOM!!

With a thunderous roar, a massive crater appeared where Uchiha Gen had just been standing, the ground shattering as dust filled the air.

"Come on, kid."

Amidst the dust, Tsunade's eyes lit up as she looked at Uchiha Gen, who had flashed over to stand upon the surface of the river.

"You've even mastered water walking? Not bad, kid!"

Tsunade raised a hand, flicking her green coat aside to reveal the practical vest underneath. She clenched her fist, and a crisp sound rang out from her slender arm.

That was the sound of chakra adhering to her arm, distributed perfectly and rubbing against the air at high speed.

"This woman really has no brain. If I get hit by that even once... it'll be trouble."

Looking at the ground destroyed by Tsunade, Uchiha Gen frowned.

This woman was taking things a bit too seriously.

If that was the case...

Heaven and Earth Profound Sect, the root of all Qi.

Cultivating through ten thousand kalpas, proving my divine powers.

Within and without the three realms, only the Dao is supreme.

With golden light upon my body, covering and protecting my form.

A flash of golden light bloomed instantly in the night.

BOOM!!!!

The intense pressure of her punch collided with the golden light around Uchiha Gen, failing to shake him in the slightest.

"Huh?"

Tsunade, who hadn't intended to actually land the punch on Uchiha Gen, stared blankly at the golden light surrounding him.

What... on earth is this???

"A golden... Chakra Mode? That can't be right! This is impossible! Is a Chakra Mode something a student still in school should be able to master?"

Looking at the golden light on Uchiha Gen, Tsunade completely forgot they were in the middle of a fight, her mind filled only with the shock of wondering if she had been caught in a genjutsu.

Facing Tsunade's shock, Uchiha Gen said nothing; he raised a hand and threw a punch.

BOOM!

Water splashed everywhere, and Tsunade's figure trembled slightly.

"Not bad power. No wonder Grandma said you were well-suited to learn the Strength of a Hundred. Your strength is exactly to my liking. When you activate this mode, your power seems to increase even further, and your chakra... is it actually burning?"

Although she had momentarily forgotten they were fighting, the instincts of an elite Jonin allowed Tsunade to react the instant Uchiha Gen struck, using her arm to parry his punch.

Tsunade's eyes shone as she observed Uchiha Gen's current state. For some reason, seeing Uchiha Gen's chakra begin to burn gave her a new direction for the technique she was currently developing.

"If I were to use the chakra stored in the Yin Seal as firewood to ignite it, could I achieve a short-term, explosive increase in power??"

Suddenly finding a new direction for her research, Tsunade exerted a sudden burst of force.

BOOM!!

The riverbed beneath Uchiha Gen and Tsunade instantly broke, the immense force pushing all the water out of the channel, and Uchiha Gen himself was sent flying like a cannonball.

"Oh no! I didn't hold back!"

Tsunade, who had just thrown the punch, froze. Watching the golden ball of light fly away, she felt terrible and immediately used the Body Flicker to head toward where Uchiha Gen would land.

"Cough, cough... Is the gap between my current strength and an elite Jonin really this large? Also, this thing seems to have quite a heavy side effect."

With the golden aura flickering, Uchiha Gen clutched his chest, a trace of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. Looking at the golden aura on his chest, which was beginning to dissipate, he couldn't help but mutter to himself.

The Golden Light Chakra Mode was a product of Uchiha Gen adapting the protective art of Golden Light into an offensive one, a short-term burst mode developed by combining chakra and Qi.

The nature of Qi is to contain and assimilate, but it can also be used to "ignite"—that is, to stimulate chakra, causing it to be consumed rapidly to briefly strengthen the body.

This mode sacrificed the original defensive effects of the Golden Light but significantly boosted all of Uchiha Gen's attributes, though the consumption was immense.

"Lie down and rest for a while; I'll heal you. Your current Chakra Mode isn't perfected yet. It's best not to use it until you've fully refined it; it's easy to shorten your life this way. Forcing your chakra to refine and burn like that—you really are reckless, kid."

"Still, your strength is truly exaggerated. Even the average Jonin in the village probably doesn't possess this much chakra."

Tsunade, who had arrived via Body Flicker, pressed a hand onto Uchiha Gen's shoulder. After covering him in green light and carefully examining his body, she furrowed her brows and spoke in a deep voice.

At this moment, the cellular activity within Uchiha Gen's body had decayed severely; this was the reaction that occurred after refining and squeezing out a massive amount of chakra in an instant.

"Indeed, my whole body feels like it's falling apart."

Uchiha Gen lay down. He was indeed exhausted, and Tsunade's punch from just a moment ago had been quite painful.

"You should be glad that it's just exhaustion. Someone else took a punch from me head-on before and ended up with several broken ribs, while you're perfectly fine, so count your blessings.

This physique of yours is truly impressive—sturdy enough. I'm starting to understand why Grandmother treats you so specially. You brat, you really are a monster."

While healing Uchiha Gen's injuries, Tsunade spoke in a low voice.

Uchiha Gen's body... was very wrong. This level of vitality was several times stronger than that brat Nawaki's. Nawaki possessed the Senju constitution, but what was going on with you Uchiha?

As she healed him, feeling the cells in Uchiha Gen's body—whose activity had decayed—gradually revive and recover rapidly, Tsunade found Uchiha Gen increasingly absurd.

"Should I thank you for that, then?"

Uchiha Gen rolled his eyes upon hearing this. He didn't even need to think; the person who had been beaten until several of his ribs were shattered was definitely Minato Namikaze's cheap teacher.

"No need for that. This was my own mistake to begin with. I'll treat you to a meal tomorrow to apologize—let's go for barbecue. It just so happens that Nawaki seems to have received his allowance."

Withdrawing her hand from Uchiha Gen's body, Tsunade spoke with an apologetic tone.