Tsunade Breaks Down

After lunch, Jiraiya and Orochimaru left together when they heard that Tsunade planned to start teaching Minato how to train right away.

For ninjas, training involved information about themselves, and that information could affect their safety. It was therefore a very private matter.

Unless they were very close, interrupting someone's training was extremely rude.

Even seven-year-old Nawaki understood this. After saying goodbye to Tsunade following lunch, he went off to play with his friends.

Tsunade took Minato home and rummaged around for several scrolls as thick as tree trunks, piling them in front of him like she was stocking up for winter.

"Are all of these Wood Release techniques?"

Minato looked at the stack of scrolls towering well above his own height, the corner of his eye twitching.

"No. You could say these are the Senju Clan's inherited techniques. They aren't all Wood Release. You said before that you'd tested your chakra nature, right? Then I assume you know a thing or two about chakra's characteristics?"

Tsunade looked at Minato, her gaze carrying a hint of scrutiny.

"As for its characteristics... chakra has uniqueness, heredity, and sociality."

"Uniqueness means that everyone's chakra has different characteristics. Heredity means inheritance through bloodlines; children usually inherit their chakra natures from their parents or ancestors."

Minato thought for a moment, then continued, "Sociality means that chakra natures vary significantly between people from different regions. That may be influenced by social factors, or perhaps by the environment."

"Good."

Tsunade nodded, satisfied with Minato's solid theoretical foundation. "Just as you said, chakra is hereditary. That's why members of the Senju Clan mostly have Water and Earth chakra natures."

"And Wood Release... how much do you know about Kekkei Genkai?"

"Not much. I only know it was the First's bloodline ability."

Minato shook his head. Chakra's characteristics were basic knowledge that everyone had to learn when they began training, and they were all recorded in the scrolls his father had left behind. But Kekkei Genkai wasn't covered. It wasn't something he needed to know at his current stage.

"Listen carefully. Chakra is energy formed by refining a one-to-one mixture of physical and mental energy. Ninjutsu, meanwhile, is an effect produced when chakra undergoes different transformations through Hand Seals."

As she spoke, Tsunade held up two fingers. "Generally speaking, chakra can be transformed in two ways: shape transformation and nature transformation."

"Training in shape transformation improves your control over chakra, while training in nature transformation strengthens the corresponding chakra nature's techniques. Kekkei Genkai is a power born from combining two chakra nature transformations."

"For example, your Wood Release is formed by combining the Water and Earth chakra nature transformations."

Minato raised his hand. "Then, Teacher Tsunade, does that mean I've mastered two chakra nature transformations from birth?"

"Yes, but not entirely."

Tsunade shook her head with a laugh. "The real difficulty of Kekkei Genkai lies in performing two chakra nature transformations simultaneously and merging them. For example, you might use Water Release nature transformation with your left hand and Earth Release nature transformation with your right."

"For those born with Kekkei Genkai, this ability is like an instinct. They're born with a foundation in certain nature transformations, as well as the ability to combine two of them. But that doesn't mean they can skip training in chakra nature transformation."

"In fact, since a Kekkei Genkai combines two chakra natures, you'll have one more nature transformation to train than other people."

As she spoke, Tsunade seemed worried that she might dampen Minato's enthusiasm, so she added, "Of course, Kekkei Genkai are definitely much more powerful than single-nature techniques. And even without a Kekkei Genkai, anyone who wants to become a capable Jonin needs to master at least two chakra nature transformations."

"If someone with a Kekkei Genkai can naturally use two chakra nature transformations at the same time..."

Minato thought for a moment. "Could I use that to combine even more Kekkei Genkai?"

"In theory, yes. But let's wait until you've mastered one chakra nature transformation first."

Tsunade chuckled and patted the scrolls beside her.

"The white scrolls contain training methods for chakra shape and nature transformation. The yellow ones are for Earth Release techniques, the blue ones for Water Release, and the green ones for Wood Release. You'll need to learn all of them eventually, but I plan to start with the basics."

Minato tilted his head. "Training in shape and nature transformation?"

"Chakra control!"

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "In terms of training order, shape transformation usually comes before nature transformation. But that's something you wouldn't get into until you were at least a Chunin. For you, right now..."

Tsunade paused, sprang up, and flipped herself onto the ceiling, where she stood upside down. A hint of smugness played across her smile.

"This is your next training goal~ Don't think you're all set just because you've learned the Shadow Clone technique."

At that, Minato looked up at Tsunade. "Actually, I've already learned Water Walking."

The smile on Tsunade's face instantly froze. "You've learned it?"

"Yeah."

Minato nodded. "It was written in the training scrolls my father left behind. It wasn't very difficult."

Tsunade silently dropped down from the ceiling. "Well... chakra control isn't exactly beyond your level. How long did it take you to master it?"

"Ten minutes."

"Pfft..."

Tsunade was so exasperated she laughed. "Geniuses really are impossible to understand..."

It had taken her about ten minutes too, but she'd already graduated from the Ninja Academy by then, while Minato hadn't even started yet...

"In that case, let's start training in shape transformation... Shape transformation is an extension of chakra control, and there isn't any particularly specific training method."

Tsunade sighed, her tone a little listless. "For internal training, you can keep refining chakra and controlling it as it circulates through your body to build proficiency. For external training, you can coat your body in chakra and shape it in different ways to improve your proficiency."

Minato watched Tsunade in silence. He had a feeling she was starting to slack off.

And he was right. Tsunade really was slacking off...

Because she'd suddenly realized that, apart from combat experience, there was almost nothing left she could teach him!

Minato already knew how to climb trees and walk on water.

The chakra nature transformations that only Jonin could master were something he already had a foundation in—two of them, or possibly even more—because of his Kekkei Genkai.

As for chakra shape transformation, judging by how quickly Minato had learned Water Walking, it probably wouldn't take him long to reach a pretty impressive level.

But that was all the village's Jonin could do!

Some Jonin hadn't even mastered a second chakra nature...

What made Tsunade feel most uneasy was that once Minato finished this training, he would have surpassed her in sheer strength!

If she were thirty and Minato were fifteen, she could accept that without a problem. She might even be happy to have such a talented student.

But if she was nineteen and Minato was five, it really did break her a little...