Konoha-Style Nintaijutsu

"Wait, stand down. Tuoye, you just used the Strength of a Hundred Fist, didn't you?"

"That's right."

Under Tsunade's astonished gaze, Kimura Takuya demonstrated and explained Konoha-Style Nintaijutsu.

Tsunade stood up in shock.

She walked over to Kimura Takuya and looked him up and down.

"You're a genius, aren't you? A genius! Why didn't you stand out at the Ninja Academy?"

"Hehe, I had a bit of a problem with chakra cultivation, but I've already fixed it.

I've always been pretty talented at developing jutsu, but there weren't many chances to show it off at school.

I only showed what I could do during the graduation exam, but I still lost to this year's top student, Hyuga Neji."

Kimura Takuya grinned and put on a smug expression as he gave Tsunade the answer he'd prepared in advance.

He knew that suddenly showing off his talent would inevitably prompt questions like these, so he'd prepared an answer long ago.

And now it had come in handy.

Better safe than sorry. The old saying was right.

"I see. Hyuga, huh? There's no shame in losing to him. I've heard of Neji, too. He's a genius of the Hyuga Clan."

"That's right."

Seeing that Kimura Takuya didn't seem disgruntled, Tsunade felt puzzled.

That didn't make sense. Wasn't this kid a sore loser?

He'd even refused to accept that I was better at Medical Ninjutsu.

But now he'd lost to someone else and just accepted it?

Could Hyuga Neji really be that incredible, to have beaten this kid into submission in one go?

Hmm, in that case, I could keep an eye on Hyuga Neji.

As a newly appointed Hokage, I need to build my own Anbu team.

Although Teacher Sarutobi's people can be trusted,

it's still better to have my own people to rely on.

Kimura Takuya's unusual behavior made Tsunade think through a great many things in an instant.

But the one thing she didn't realize was this:

It was only because someone was such a poor actor that he'd forgotten to maintain his usual persona around her.

One small slip had changed Neji's fate.

Kimura Takuya, however, had no idea.

He sat down nearby and began flipping through the Scroll of Seals.

The more he read, the more shocked he became. Most of the jutsu in it had been created by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.

Now that was a real genius!

The scroll covered everything: Wind Release, Fire Release, Lightning Release, Earth Release, Water Release, Yin Release, and Yang Release.

There was also the Space-Time Ninjutsu—Flying Thunder God.

And Summoning Jutsu: Impure World Reincarnation!

He hadn't expected Impure World Reincarnation to be a Summoning Jutsu, while Flying Thunder God belonged to Space-Time Ninjutsu.

Kimura Takuya was deeply shaken. He memorized every one of those jutsu.

The increase in his spiritual power had also greatly improved his memory.

He could now remember anything after seeing it just once.

The enormous scroll contained over a hundred forbidden jutsu. Useful or not, he memorized every single one.

"I'll take the small scroll with me. Is there anything else I need to do today? If not, I'll head back and practice."

"No, go ahead. If you have any questions, you can ask Shizune. Only come to me if she doesn't know the answer.

Got it?"

"Yes, understood."

Kimura Takuya took the small scroll and turned to leave. He'd only just gotten up when—

"Made, wait!"

"What is it?"

"You're on Kurenai Yuhi's team, right? Someone from Root recently joined your team. Be careful around him.

And your team doesn't have any other issues, right?"

"That's right. We have a special team member who hasn't become a ninja yet."

"Hmm, I know about Yakumo Kurama. How about this? Find the person from Root and have the two of you do a mission for me. Here."

As she spoke, Tsunade handed Kimura Takuya a D-rank mission file.

D-rank Mission: Track Down a Merchant Party.

Mission Details: Track down a party of five merchants who entered Konoha the day before yesterday.

The party had no livestock and consisted of traveling merchants carrying their wares on their backs.

Their names and appearances were unknown.

There were five people in total: one adult male and four minors.

Among the minors, three were male and one was female.

Mission Clue: Before entering Konoha, they had grilled meat by a river.

Kimura Takuya looked over the written details, but nothing stood out. Then he saw the accompanying pictures, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

These footprints, the campfire by the river, and the discarded wooden skewers—

Wasn't this what he and Team Guy had left behind when they'd grilled meat by the river that night?

How had they become merchants?

"Um, why are we looking for these people? What did they do?"

"They're utterly vile! Find them and bring them here. I'll deal with them myself!"

"Lady Tsunade, isn't that a bit much? They were certainly awful, but now that you've calmed down and thought it over, surely they don't deserve to be killed."

Shizune tried to soothe her. Just as Kimura Takuya thought she was going to plead for them, she added:

"I think we should bring them back and make them spend the rest of their lives as underground prison slaves—the kind who never see daylight."

"What? Why go that far? That's too cruel! What did they do?"

"Unforgivable! They grilled my pet pig!"

Tsunade was furious. She swore she'd never forgive them and would hunt them all down and tear them limb from limb!

Kimura Takuya was puzzled by what she'd said.

Wait, was that Ninja Pig Tsunade's pet, too?

Wasn't her only pet the little pig in a red outfit and pearl necklace?

He thought it over for a moment, then suddenly realized.

Could this be a misunderstanding?

The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed, so he cautiously tested the waters.

"Master, it's just a pet pig. I'll give you another one."

"No! I only want my Tonton. Do you know what it's like to raise a pet from when it's little? Can you understand how heartbreaking it is to have someone eat your pet? They have to be dealt with!"

As he'd thought, it really was a misunderstanding.

Tonton was still at Kimura Takuya's house.

He'd originally planned to use her to extort Tsunade.

But now that he'd successfully become her student, learned all her jutsu, and even gotten a free look at the Scroll of Seals, keeping Tonton instead of returning her

would be pretty inhuman.

"Master, my pet pig is really cute. I found her the day before yesterday when I went on a mission with Team Guy.

She was even wearing clothes and a necklace. I don't know which rich family she belongs to. I've had her for two days, but no one's posted a mission to find her."

"What? She was wearing clothes and a necklace? What color were the clothes? What kind of necklace?"

"Red clothes and a pearl necklace."

"What? That's Tonton! So you're the one who found her!"

Tsunade grabbed Kimura Takuya by the collar and pulled him up in front of her.

Once again, he found himself in that position where he could reach the summit and survey all the peaks below.

Kimura Takuya kept his eyes fixed firmly on Tsunade's face. He didn't dare look anywhere else, lest anyone accuse him of being an ungrateful student who'd betrayed his master.

"What? Master, didn't you just say Tonton had been eaten?"

"The little pig in red clothes and a pearl necklace is Tonton! Shizune, show him a picture of Tonton."

Still excited, Shizune immediately pulled out her backpack, rummaged around, and showed Kimura Takuya a picture of Tonton.

Kimura Takuya looked at it and pretended to be surprised, repeatedly remarking on the coincidence.

Then he explained to Tsunade and Shizune what had happened that night.

They finally understood. The five people weren't a merchant party; they were Kimura Takuya and Team Guy. They really had grilled meat, but it hadn't been Tonton.

In fact, they'd even fed her quite a bit before bringing her back to Konoha, waiting for her owners to come looking for her.

Tsunade looked at Kimura Takuya's innocent face and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

She'd returned to the village in the first place because of this kid.

And now, because of him again, the old man had kept her here and forced her into becoming Hokage.

How infuriating!

Whack!

Tsunade knocked Kimura Takuya on the head again.

"Go get Tonton for me!"

"Oh. Shizune, come with me. I still have to go to the hospital, so I won't be coming back afterward."

And so, Shizune went to his house with Kimura Takuya.