The Battle with Tsunade Ends

Tsunade, feeling the numbness in her arm, formed a seal with one hand.

"Medical Ninjutsu: Mystical Palm Technique."

The Mystical Palm Technique could use chakra to heal arm injuries, allowing her numb arm to recover instantly.

Uzumaki Shori watched Tsunade use the medical ninjutsu.

Realizing that his previous attack had been effective, he decided to strike while the iron was hot.

He immediately charged forward rapidly.

Uzumaki Shori was seen forming seals with both hands.

"Sealing Jutsu: Adamantine Sealing Chains."

Five chains erupted from his back, soaring into the air and lunging toward Tsunade.

Tsunade's expression shifted; she shook the arm that had just recovered from its numbness. Uzumaki Shori's strength is immense, but I am not someone to be trifled with either.

"Ninjutsu: Chakra Scalpel."

By gathering chakra into her hands to act as blades, she could cut targets inside their bodies without leaving any external wounds, or use them as weapons.

The chakra blades in her hands met the Adamantine Sealing Chains, striking every target and knocking them aside.

Uzumaki Shori ran circles around Tsunade, forcing the chains to attack from all directions.

Enduring the onslaught of the Adamantine Sealing Chains, Tsunade swung her Chakra Scalpels with great effort, rapidly closing the distance.

If my brute strength isn't enough to match him, then I'll have to rely on my other trump card.

Suddenly, she leaped forward, gathering all her chakra and concentrating it into her leg, attacking from above.

"Heavenly Foot of Pain."

The Heavenly Foot of Pain was a feat of brute strength capable of causing mountains to crumble and the earth to split.

Facing the incoming Heavenly Foot of Pain, Uzumaki Shori erupted with a powerful surge of chakra, the force of which caused the air to roar with a sonic boom.

As his body grew more excited from the battle, he retracted the Adamantine Sealing Chains into his body, abandoning the chakra protection on his skin to concentrate it all into his arms.

Muscle control, fully unleashed; he abandoned all self-imposed muscular restraint.

The next moment.

Tsunade and Uzumaki Shori collided head-on once again.

A roar accompanied the impact, sounding like two meteors crashing into each other.

The shockwave rippled outward in all directions.

"Crack."

The ground shattered inch by inch under the force of the shockwaves generated by their battle, kicking up a storm of flying sand and stones.

The onlookers shielded their eyes from the grit, squinting through the dust, unwilling to miss such a spectacular duel.

This clash of Uzumaki Shori's strength did not result in the overwhelming advantage he had held previously.

Both of them were sent reeling by the other's impact.

Uzumaki Shori was dragged back two meters by the residual force while remaining on his feet.

Tsunade, meanwhile, performed two backflips in the air to dissipate the force, landing safely before being dragged back three meters by the momentum.

Is this the strength of the new generation Uzukage? The Senju Clan is supposed to be superior to the Uzumaki Clan in terms of raw power.

The Uzukage's strength seems to be far greater than mine. Tsunade shook her numb foot, her expression bitter. I truly was a frog in a well.

I came here to fulfill Grandmother Mito's wish and repel the invading enemy; how can I just stay in the logistics department?

Uzumaki Shori maintained a calm expression, though he secretly clenched his fist, feeling the discomfort radiating from it.

I never expected Tsunade to be able to unleash such power at such a young age; it's beyond my imagination.

Uzumaki Shori had fought twice today and had consumed a fair amount of stamina. He gauged his physical condition and found his breathing was still steady.

He watched Tsunade, observing her. After only three exchanges, the effort of maintaining such immense power had taken a toll on her stamina, and she was already panting heavily.

"It seems I have the slight edge in today's trial. There is no need to continue; let us preserve our strength for the battle three days from now!"

Tsunade stood silently to the side, offering no rebuttal to Uzumaki Shori's words.

As far as Tsunade was concerned, she had indeed failed in this duel; after all, she had used her greatest strength and was still pushed back by Uzumaki Shori.

In her past back in Konoha, she could find no opponents among her peers, and she had not expected to suffer a defeat here.

Uzumaki Shori walked up to Tsunade and looked at her.

Tsunade pursed her lips and stared back into his eyes.

The surrounding crowd was still exclaiming over the duel, watching the two of them. Hasn't it ended already? Why are they still preparing to fight?

Uzumaki Shori was stared at by Tsunade for a long time, and he scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Tsunade, I apologize. After all, you are Lady Mito's granddaughter and you are still young. I needed to test your strength, otherwise, a tragedy might occur on the battlefield."

"Your strength has been fully proven. I leave the coming battle to you." He performed the Seal of Reconciliation.

Tsunade's expression softened; after all, her strength had been acknowledged.

Joining the front lines was my goal in coming to the Land of Whirlpools, and now, I was simply fulfilling that objective.

"Your strength has also earned my recognition, Uzumaki Shori." She formed the Seal of Reconciliation.

The two of them pressed their hands together in the Seal of Reconciliation.

The onlookers erupted into applause, feeling proud of the Second Uzukage's strength and filled with confidence regarding the upcoming war against Kirigakure.

Uzumaki Shori heard the cheers of the crowd; this duel had been intended to showcase his own power from the very start.

Having just become the Second Uzukage, the only way to bolster the Uzumaki Clan's confidence in me within a short period was to display extraordinary strength, which would in turn elevate their assessment of me.

Yet, feeling the need to resort to such theatrics made my heart feel inexplicably heavy; whether this war could achieve a complete victory depended on the collective effort of everyone present.

"Tsunade, I have one more thing to ask of you. My father fought the head of the Hozuki Clan from Kirigakure and exhausted his chakra; please, help treat him."

Tsunade was stunned for a moment; no wonder she had found the Uzukage Hall in such disarray upon entering, along with the young Uzumaki Shori.

The First Uzukage had already fallen during the conflict with Kirigakure.

Taking a deep breath, it seemed the Land of Whirlpools had reached a life-or-death moment.

"Uzumaki Shori, although I am not your match—the gap is only slight—my medical skills are something you cannot surpass. Leave the treatment of the First Uzukage to me."

Uzumaki Shori smiled; the more formidable Tsunade's medical skills were, the happier he felt.

Some of the spectators began pushing their way forward.

"Tsunade, not bad, you showed about half of your true potential."

Hearing someone call out to her, Tsunade turned her head to see her teammates, Jiraiya and Orochimaru.

She was somewhat surprised; how had they come to the Land of Whirlpools?

Orochimaru, with his pale skin and narrow, golden pupils, looked at Tsunade.

"After you left Konoha, Lady Mito was worried about your safety and requested that the Third send people to support you, effectively to protect you."

"Our teacher, the Third, transferred us here from the Sunagakure front lines."

"I didn't expect to see such a brilliant duel, but the disparity in the number of ninjas is immense. My advice is still to evacuate the Land of Whirlpools."

Tsunade remained silent for a moment, looking toward Uzumaki Shori, wanting to know his intentions.

Uzumaki Shori let out a long sigh and said with a solemn expression.

"Our Land of Whirlpools has twenty-eight thousand people and over three hundred ships. In three days, we could only evacuate seven thousand; are the rest just waiting to die?"

"Besides, where could we even flee to? Their greed for the Uzumaki Clan would simply mean fighting in a different place."