To Repay My Debts, I'll Become Hokage!

It took a long time before Namikaze Minato heard a voice.

"Uchiha Chonhua is the victor. The two of you, perform the Seal of Reconciliation."

The announcement from Kinoshita left Namikaze Minato stunned. He had lost? When had he been defeated?

Suddenly, the world in his eyes spun, and the entire scene twisted out of shape.

The next moment, the clamor of noise rushed back in. Namikaze Minato was dazed for a moment, realizing what had happened, and then he let out a bitter laugh.

Looking at the smiling Uchiha Chonhua across from him, Namikaze Minato performed the Seal of Reconciliation with him.

"It was a genjutsu. When?"

"From the very beginning."

This answer left Namikaze Minato astonished. From the very beginning? But he was certain that the person he had been fighting was the real Uchiha Chonhua; he was one hundred percent sure of that.

So, was it a delayed-trigger genjutsu?

"The range of techniques you delve into is getting wider and wider."

Namikaze Minato sighed. Over the past three years, he had experienced Uchiha Chonhua's ninjutsu and taijutsu many times. Now, he had added genjutsu to his repertoire, and he even had medical ninjutsu under his belt.

He felt a sense of admiration for Uchiha Chonhua. How could one person have so much energy to learn so many different types of techniques? And to be proficient in every single one of them, no less.

He might well be witnessing the birth of an all-around ninja.

If Uchiha Chonhua knew what Namikaze Minato was thinking, he would say: it's a cheat code; I'm using a cheat code.

He was simply using Uchiha Itachi's talent to learn techniques that Uchiha Itachi himself had never touched.

The only thing he had truly worked hard to learn was medical ninjutsu—oh, and the new technique he had been studying recently, one that didn't even exist yet.

"That was so cool, Chonhua!"

Kushina Uzumaki excitedly crowded over, her eyes shining as she stared at Uchiha Chonhua.

"That sissy was no match for you at all, ya know!"

"Si... sissy!?"

Namikaze Minato looked dejected, suffering a heavy blow.

He had a good impression of his classmate Kushina; she shared the same dream as him, and he really liked her red hair.

He never imagined that in Kushina's eyes, he was actually a sissy?

"Minato is very strong too. His Wind Release has already achieved nature transformation, possessing the property of sharp cutting."

Uchiha Chonhua showed Kushina his slashed sleeve.

"Nature... transformation?" Kushina looked confused. What kind of thing was that?

"Eh, forget it. Anyway, no matter how strong he is, he's not as strong as you. Just now, he was so scared he just stood there like a fool."

It seemed Kushina's ninja knowledge was in desperate need of a supplement.

"That was because he was caught in a genjutsu. Kushina, you're a transfer student; you haven't attended the previous cultural classes. That won't do. You'll make a fool of yourself if you don't catch up on the lessons you missed."

Uchiha Chonhua added, "I will report your situation to Tsunade-sensei."

"..."

Kushina Uzumaki went frantic: "Ah, I don't want to study!"

Chapter 21: Naruto-Sasuke Bond Technique, Get!

Uchiha Chonhua stared intently at the rubber ball in his palm, channeling his chakra into it.

Immediately, the rubber ball began to bulge, its surface rippling with irregular protrusions and indentations, as if something were thrashing about inside.

Finally, with a muffled pop, the rubber ball couldn't take it anymore and burst open.

Uchiha Chonhua wore a joyful smile.

"Success! The second stage of training, complete!"

"Next..."

Uchiha Chonhua calmed his mind; he wanted to replicate the Rasengan in one go.

His control over chakra was extremely precise, a result of over three years of studying medical ninjutsu.

The initial state of the Rasengan was the pinnacle of shape transformation, which relied entirely on chakra control.

Uchiha Chonhua possessed Uchiha Itachi's talent; logically speaking, the Rasengan shouldn't have been a difficult technique for him.

But to be safe and ensure success on the first try, Uchiha Chonhua chose the three-step training method Jiraiya had taught Naruto in the original story.

The first two steps had been mastered quickly, and now only the final stage remained.

"Gather high-density chakra in the palm, release it continuously, maintain it, and stabilize it."

Uchiha Chonhua let out a low shout: "Hold!"

Hum!

The training proceeded smoothly; a sudden whirlwind whipped up, causing Uchiha Chonhua's hair to dance in the air.

A miniature typhoon gathered in his palm, radiating a faint, ghostly blue light.

Seeing this, Uchiha Chonhua laughed heartily, then raised his palm and slammed it toward a large tree!

"Rasengan!"

Boom!

First came an explosive crack, followed by a shrill, grinding sound. The Rasengan spun violently, twisting the tree trunk and sending wood chips flying in every direction.

"Good! Increase the power!"

A sudden thought occurred to Uchiha Chonhua, and he carefully increased his chakra output.

In an instant, the Rasengan swelled to the size of a basketball, its destructive power rising sharply.

Crack!

Unable to withstand the torment, the trunk snapped and crashed to the ground with a thunderous roar, startling the birds in the forest into a frantic flight.

"This is the Big Ball Rasengan."

Uchiha Chonhua curled his lips into a satisfied smile.

Possessing precise chakra control, expanding a standard Rasengan into a Big Ball Rasengan in an instant was no difficult task for him.

"I have mastered the Rasengan, a ninjutsu that pushes the transformation of form—with its stable outer layer and chaotic core—to the extreme. I previously studied the nature transformation of the Lightning Style and have already mastered the Chidori."

He had mastered all the bond techniques of Naruto and Sasuke. For someone with the innate talent and aptitude of Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Chonhua found that if he set his mind to learning something, he could always succeed.

With the Rasengan learned and the path of form transformation well-trodden, there were no major obstacles left to expanding the Chidori's form transformation into the Lightning Style: Chidori Current system.

To learn the Chidori, he had studied the nature transformation of the Lightning element...

Uchiha Chonhua narrowed his eyes and extended his palm; the ghostly blue light reappeared, and a Rasengan hovered above his hand.

He infused Lightning Style chakra into it, completing the process with ease under his precise control.

Then, in his eyes, a flash of white light emerged from the Rasengan. A brief moment later, his palm was empty, making it look as though he had failed.

But Uchiha Chonhua smiled. He mimicked the motion of a baseball pitcher, feeling the object in his palm as he hurled it forward.

It struck a distant tree trunk with a roar, hollowing out half of the wood and leaving behind a spiral mark.

The Lightning Style: Rasengan, belonging to Boruto, was a success.

This was a throwable, silent, and invisible Rasengan.

"Ha, in that case."

Uchiha Chonhua extended his right hand, and lightning gathered in his palm, crackling and spitting sparks.

It sounded like a thousand birds chirping—noisy and piercing—which was how the Chidori earned its name.

Uchiha Chonhua wanted to eliminate this unnecessary noise, so he integrated the insights he had gained from the Lightning Style: Rasengan into the Chidori.

The next moment, the sound of a thousand birds slowly faded until there was total silence.

The radiating lightning calmed down; it looked as if he were holding a pure white moon in his hand, but Uchiha Chonhua knew that inside that moon, lightning was raging.

Uchiha Chonhua nodded in satisfaction: "A noisy Chidori is cool, but this is better for combat."

The insights gained from the Rasengan could be applied to the variations of the Chidori, and what was learned from the Chidori could, in turn, nourish the Rasengan.

But ultimately, the Rasengan remained more malleable.

"Boruto's Lightning Style: Rasengan lacked sufficient nature transformation and was a half-finished product, but I am different. I can create a complete Lightning Style Rasengan secret technique!"

That said, Uchiha Chonhua did not continue.

The commotion caused by a secret technique would inevitably be startling. Drawing attention within the village was unwise; it was better to test it in an uninhabited area outside the village.

Furthermore, he currently lacked the chakra to perform a secret technique.

He was in no rush to see results now; he planned to graduate and become a Genin, then try his luck with the card-drawing system to see if he could pull a character with massive chakra reserves.

If he succeeded, great; if not... then he would simply wait until he grew up, at which point his chakra would surely be sufficient.

Three years ago, the Land of Iron was, as expected, conquered by Salamander Hanzo. He took whatever resources he pleased from the Land of Iron, but instead of returning to resist Sunagakure, he remained in the Land of Iron for a year.

Two years ago, after Salamander Hanzo consolidated the resources he had acquired and ensured his military supplies were sufficient, he gathered his main force of Amegakure Ninja and returned to the Land of Rain to engage in battle with the Sunagakure forces that were still ravaging the territory at the time.

"I didn't expect this war to still be dragging on. Sunagakure hasn't managed to take down Salamander Hanzo."

Jiraiya took a sip of wine, his face slightly flushed.

"Salamander Hanzo's poison is extremely troublesome. The Sunagakure forces don't dare get close to him and have been fighting exclusively with puppets."

Orochimaru was very interested in Salamander Hanzo's poison, curious about its chemical composition.

"Although puppets can replace ninja to a certain extent, they are ultimately controlled by ninja and are heavily influenced by them. Sunagakure ninja fear Salamander Hanzo's poison, so they control the puppets from a distance, which diminishes the precision of their chakra transmission and manipulation."

Orochimaru shook his head and said: "Puppets are no match for Salamander Hanzo."

"Sunagakure is also skilled in the use of poison, but it seems they've run into someone who plays with poison even better than they do."

Tsunade smiled playfully, causing Jiraiya to stare in a daze.

Orochimaru nodded. "The Sunagakure ninja fear poison, and their puppets are useless; the toxins they excel at are not worth mentioning in the eyes of Salamander Hanzo. As one of the five great military powers, Sunagakure would lose face if they retreated so ignominiously, so they remain in this stalemate."

"However, I have heard that Chiyo is currently researching the toxins of Salamander Hanzo, hoping to create an antidote that can suppress him."

Upon hearing this, Tsunade became interested. While Chiyo was most famous for her identity as a puppeteer, her attainments in medical ninjutsu were not inferior; perhaps she really could create an antidote to counter Salamander Hanzo.

Chapter 22: Kumogakure: I went up, eh, I went back down again

"Congratulations on your graduation, Nawaki."

Uchiha Chonhua congratulated Nawaki.

Half a year had passed, and with the arrival of another new year, Uchiha Chonhua had entered his fourth year at the academy.

This year, Nawaki, who was one grade ahead of them, had graduated and officially become a Konoha genin.

Nawaki smiled happily, his hand never leaving the Konoha Headband on his forehead. Like someone showing off, he would always approach familiar faces to display his Konoha Headband.

"Thanks, Chonhua, hehe." Nawaki's smile never faded. He looked toward the distant Hokage Rock, gazing longingly at the sculptures of his grandfather and grand-uncle.

"I am a genin now, one step closer to my dream of becoming Hokage. Hehe, Chonhua, you still have to stay in school for another year."

Uchiha Chonhua feigned dissatisfaction and punched Nawaki, laughing and scolding, "It's only a year, look at how smug you are. There are plenty of genin in Konoha; you should make a name for yourself among them before you start showing off."

"Don't let me hear nothing but news of you causing trouble after I graduate."

Nawaki hurriedly waved his hands. "That won't happen! Hey! Chonhua, what kind of image do I have in your eyes? Am I really that much of a troublemaker?"

Tsunade nodded solemnly from the side. "I think Chonhua is right. Nawaki, you brat, don't go causing trouble for your instructor; it would be my face that gets lost if you do."

"Eh? Sister! How could you say that too... Ah, right, Sister, do you know who my instructor is?"

Every graduating genin would be formed into a three-man squad, with each squad assigned an instructor chosen from the ranks of chunin, special jonin, or jonin.

Nawaki was filled with anticipation for his instructor; they had to be a jonin, and an elite one at that!