Necklace

"Hiss!"

Uchiha Gen opened his eyes, the soreness radiating through his body making him wince.

The development time for the Lightning Release: Kirin had been too short, and he had not yet fully mastered the method of guiding natural lightning for an attack, so the lightning-natured chakra he used to summon the bolt had caused him some minor injuries.

"Kid, you're finally awake. If you hadn't woken up, this guy would have burned down my tent."

Nearby, Tsunade, who had been looking after Uchiha Gen, immediately leaned in when she saw him open his eyes.

"Roar~"

Along with Tsunade's voice came a familiar dragon roar.

"How long have I been asleep?"

Uchiha Gen endured the stinging pain in his body to sit up on the bed, reached out to stroke the head that Charizard had nudged toward him, and then asked Tsunade.

"About a day. Is this your summoning beast? It's quite handsome; no wonder you said you weren't considering signing a contract with Katsuyu for the time being."

Tsunade poured a cup of water for Uchiha Gen, handed it to him, and watched Charizard with a soft question, her eyes filled with intense curiosity.

After all, Charizard's appearance was truly somewhat exaggerated, with flames burning on its tail and a physique very similar to the legendary dragons.

"You could say that. However, rather than calling it a summoning beast, I prefer to call him... family."

Uchiha Gen took the cup, took a small sip, and smiled as he spoke.

"Family? Such a straightforward expression is rare. Kid, you were far too reckless this time. According to the descriptions from the Konoha ninjas at the time, you should have been able to dodge that first attack from the Magnet Release user."

Tsunade looked at Charizard, who was enjoying Uchiha Gen's petting, with some surprise, then turned her head to look at Uchiha Gen seriously.

"That Magnet Release user is named Rasa; he is a disciple of the Third Kazekage."

Uchiha Gen handed the cup back to Tsunade and spoke softly.

"So you know his identity, too. In this desert, a Magnet Release user with time to prepare is someone even Orochimaru and I would find difficult to deal with if we teamed up.

That Rasa, with the terrain advantage, definitely possessed Kage-level strength. But to think he still died by your hand... that Lightning Release... did you develop it yourself?"

Tsunade spoke softly, her eyes filled with deep shock. She had witnessed that lightning with her own eyes that day; although she had been focused on finding Uchiha Gen and hadn't paid much attention to her surroundings, she could feel the intense aura of destruction even without trying.

"Not me, it was another Uchiha. I just wanted to test my own strength. Besides, with Charizard here, it's very simple for me to leave if I want to."

Uchiha Gen shook his head gently. Although the Second Pillar had not yet been born, he still did not claim the development of Lightning Release: Kirin as his own; he had his own pride.

"Roar!"

Beside them, Charizard heard this and proudly exhaled a gust of air from its nostrils.

It felt that Uchiha Gen was right!

"Charizard? What a strange name. No, that's not the point. Kid, do you know how big of a thing you've done? You single-handedly blocked the Sunagakure offensive and even killed the enemy's core figure.

In places you aren't even aware of, your battle drew a massive amount of attention away from Hatake Sakumo, who was operating behind enemy lines, allowing them to easily cut off Sunagakure's supply lines.

This war might very well end early because of your battle this time. You've done something incredible, kid. And how old are you? Nine! Nine years old and you defeated a suspected Kage-level ninja head-on."

Tsunade's tone was filled with excitement. Without a doubt, Uchiha Gen's combat record was the most shocking in the current ninja world.

"Not a Kage. Rasa's strength was just that of a slightly stronger elite jonin."

Uchiha Gen shook his head gently. Although Rasa's performance had been impressive during the battle, since the card draw reward was only A-rank, it meant Rasa's strength was indeed only that of an elite jonin.

While it was possible that the Mist Space didn't count the gold dust Rasa had prepared in advance as part of his strength, it still confirmed that Rasa was not a Kage-level combatant.

"Don't be so serious. Weren't you not at your peak state back then? You didn't even use the Yin Seal or that golden chakra mode.

I know that before you fought Rasa, you had already been fighting on the battlefield for a long time, and you had even activated the chakra stored in the Yin Seal.

You, when will you stop being so hard on yourself? Given your current situation, becoming a powerhouse is only a matter of time."

Tsunade reached out and patted Uchiha Gen's shoulder with a chuckle.

Uchiha Gen didn't answer, just gently rubbing Charizard's head. Looking at Charizard, a thought suddenly popped into his mind: Could Charizard learn senjutsu?

"Sigh, suit yourself. But you have to promise me to live well. With your talent, your name will soon spread throughout the ninja world, but I hope..."

Watching the silent Uchiha Gen, Tsunade sighed, and while she spoke, she took off the necklace from her neck and tied it around Uchiha Gen's neck herself.

"??????????????"

Uchiha Gen, who had been pondering the possibility of Charizard learning senjutsu, felt his mind go completely blank the moment he felt the sudden warmth on his neck.

Wait, what exactly are you tying around my neck?

For a moment, Uchiha Gen, who had felt he could afford to be a bit reckless because he had a Totem of Undying, suddenly felt that the Totem of Undying might not be so reliable after all.

But this thing... it seemed to contain a very strong chakra. Was it the First Hokage's chakra or...

Uchiha Gen, staring at the necklace and letting his mind wander, was then met with an even more explosive scene: Tsunade reached out, cupped his face, and gently kissed him on the forehead.

In an instant, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan activated and began to spin frantically.

"Eh?"

As the kiss ended, Tsunade looked down and saw Uchiha Gen had activated his Sharingan, and she couldn't help but speak in surprise.

"Hey, hey, hey, no way, it was just a kiss on the forehead, why did you have to activate your Sharingan? I was clearly just giving you a blessing. Huh? Why did I start using Kushina's verbal tic?"

Looking at Uchiha Gen's Sharingan, Tsunade spoke, speechless.

Three minutes later, Tsunade stood at the entrance of the tent, trying her best to hold back laughter after being kicked out.

"Hahahahahahaha."

Listening to Tsunade's laughter outside the tent, Uchiha Gen wore a look of utter speechlessness. He... really still couldn't handle Tsunade.