Sparring with Tsunade

Kushina was a member of her grandmother's clan. Tsunade had gone to the Land of Whirlpools and brought her and Tomoko Uzumaki back together, and she was one of the last surviving members of the Uzumaki Clan—or so Konoha believed. Naturally, Tsunade wanted to look after her.

"It's nothing, Tsunade. Don't worry! I'm fine." Kushina glared fiercely at Hyuga Shin, then climbed out of his arms.

But once she was out of Hyuga Shin's arms, Kushina felt strangely bereft. She'd felt so warm and comfortable in his embrace.

Even the unease she'd felt since arriving in Konoha had settled down. Now that she'd left his arms, it was as if she'd lost something.

"Tsunade, did you need something?" Hyuga Shin quickly changed the subject.

"Can't I come see you unless I need something? Or have you gotten yourself two little girlfriends and decided you don't need me anymore?"

Hyuga Shin could only smile wryly. He'd have been better off not changing the subject!

Tsunade's words turned Mikoto bright red, and she lowered her head bashfully.

"Tsunade, I'm not this big meanie's little girlfriend!" Kushina explained, her face flushed.

"Hmph! Don't try to deny it. Nawaki already told me when he came home." Tsunade even shot Hyuga Shin a contemptuous look. She hadn't expected him to be such a womanizer.

Chapter 43: Sparring with Tsunade

"That brat Nawaki. I guess I haven't taught him a harsh enough lesson." Hyuga Shin gritted his teeth, deciding he'd make Nawaki pay.

Nawaki was extracting chakra at the Senju Clan compound when he suddenly sneezed. For some reason, he felt a bad omen coming on.

"Let's leave that aside. I came to talk to you about something important: those Taijutsu techniques you taught me." As she spoke, Tsunade glanced at Mikoto and Kushina.

"Mikoto and I have something to discuss, so we'll step out for a bit." Mikoto took Kushina's hand, hoping to give them some privacy.

"There's no need. It's fine." Hyuga Shin shook his head. Mikoto knew the techniques too, and there was no problem with Kushina staying.

Tsunade was taken aback, but said nothing.

"Did you run into some problems with your training?" Hyuga Shin asked curiously.

"Yeah! I'm doing fine with everything else, but I just can't learn Kami-e or Observation Haki." Tsunade explained what she was struggling with.

Aside from Kami-e and Tekkai from the Six Powers, as well as Observation Haki, Tsunade had learned everything else. She couldn't use them skillfully, but at least she could use them.

Tsunade hadn't trained in Tekkai. With Armament Haki, there was no real need to learn it. But of the two perception abilities, Observation Haki and Kami-e, she hadn't mastered either.

"Once you learn Observation Haki, there's no need to learn Kami-e. The best way to master Observation Haki quickly is to practice dodging fast-moving objects," Hyuga Shin suggested.

"How about we spar?"

Tsunade's eyes widened. "Are you crazy?"

Hyuga Shin chuckled at that. "Don't underestimate me, Tsunade. If I went all out, I could take you down in one move."

"Shin, being overconfident isn't a good habit."

To Tsunade, Hyuga Shin's words were a joke. She was already being generous by not calling him an ignorant little brat.

"Is that so? Then let's try it. Laser!" He raised a finger and aimed it at Tsunade. A golden flash streaked across the sky.

Tsunade's pupils suddenly contracted. The attack had just grazed her cheek, and she hadn't even reacted. In other words, if they'd been enemies, she'd already be dead.

She knew she'd been caught off guard, but even if she'd been focused, it would have been difficult to dodge. It was just too fast.

"What kind of jutsu is that? You didn't even need to form Hand Seals," Tsunade asked curiously.

"It's not a jutsu. You can think of it as an ability similar to a Kekkei Genkai." Hyuga Shin shook his head.

"Tsunade, don't underestimate anyone. You just made one of the biggest mistakes a shinobi can make."

"I can't believe I'm getting lectured by a little kid. How annoying." Tsunade was a little irritated.

"Then show me the strength you've been hiding, Shin!" Tsunade clenched her fist. The ground cracked beneath her feet, and in an instant, she appeared behind Hyuga Shin.

She swung her fist down, but didn't dare put any real force into it. What if she actually hit him?

Hyuga Shin smiled and tilted his head slightly, easily dodging Tsunade's attack.

"Don't hold back. Give it everything you've got! And you'd better be careful not to get hurt, Tsunade. I won't go easy on you just because you're a woman."

"So you really think that little of me? I'll teach you a lesson today!" Tsunade snapped.

"Shave! Strength of a Hundred Fist!"

This time, Tsunade truly went all out, using Shave to move quickly and the Strength of a Hundred Fist to attack.

Her attacks looked devastating, but Hyuga Shin moved like a scrap of paper, fluttering in the wake of her punches. Tsunade couldn't land a single hit.

"Is this Kami-e?" Watching Hyuga Shin effortlessly evade her full-strength attacks, Tsunade felt a flicker of helplessness.

Unless you used a wide-area attack or your strikes were several times faster than your opponent's, it was difficult to hit someone like that with Taijutsu.

"Tsunade, it's my turn. Be careful! Rankyaku!" He kicked rapidly through the air, sending a huge Vacuum Blade flying toward Tsunade at tremendous speed.

"Hmph! I can dodge an attack like that with ease."

"Is that so?" Hyuga Shin smiled.

The enormous Vacuum Blade suddenly shattered in midair into countless smaller ones, which came raining down on Tsunade and sealed off every escape route. The attack covered so wide an area that even Substitution Technique couldn't help her evade it.

Tsunade's pupils suddenly contracted. She coated both hands in chakra and struck the incoming Vacuum Blades aside.

It took her a great deal of effort, but she finally dealt with them. Yet before she could catch her breath, another storm of Vacuum Blades came flying at her. Tsunade wanted to curse.

All she could do was dodge as best she could and smash aside the ones she couldn't avoid with the Strength of a Hundred Fist.

Kushina watched from the sidelines, utterly dumbfounded. To her, this was like watching gods fight.

"I had no idea that meanie was so strong." Kushina's eyes shone with newfound admiration. People in every world respected strength, and Hyuga Shin was clearly one of the strong ones.

"You're only wasting your energy. This will just wear you out faster," Tsunade said after punching apart a Vacuum Blade.

She knew Rankyaku too, and understood how exhausting it was to use it repeatedly. The fact that Hyuga Shin could unleash so many Rankyaku slashes at just over five years old had already made her marvel at what a little monster he was.

Still, she could clearly feel his Rankyaku slashes growing weaker.

"Have you gotten excited after fighting my Shadow Clone for so long?" Hyuga Shin suddenly said from behind Tsunade.

The Hyuga Shin who had been using Rankyaku up front suddenly burst into smoke and vanished. It had been a Shadow Clone.

Before Tsunade could react, Hyuga Shin kicked out with a deafening sonic boom, landing a direct hit on her.

"Bang!" A cloud of smoke burst apart. Tsunade vanished, replaced by a section of broken tree trunk. Hyuga Shin's kick had smashed it into wood chips the size of soybeans.