That brat Lin Mu...
Jiraiya could naturally tell that Lin Mu was praising him, saying he had a keen eye and that every one of his students was a powerful genius.
That pleased him immensely!
All his students were exceptionally talented, and that had always been a source of pride for him.
But!
He could not show his satisfaction now. On the contrary, he had to give Lin Mu a scolding.
"Lin Mu! Since Tsunade wants to fight you, just give it everything you've got. Naruto can't blame anyone else for being outmatched. He just needs to train harder from now on."
Tsunade: "..."
This master and student were putting on a double act right in front of her, trading lines back and forth.
"Ahem!"
Tsunade covered her mouth and coughed twice, interrupting their conversation.
She composed her expression and said in a somewhat cool voice:
"Naturally, I won't bully someone younger than me. The rules are the same as before. I'll fight you with just one finger!"
"All right!"
Lin Mu agreed, then backed away a dozen or so meters to face Tsunade from a distance.
"Lin Mu, you can do it! Flatten that woman!"
Naruto Uzumaki jumped up excitedly, cheering Lin Mu on without stopping.
But Lin Mu knew perfectly well that in terms of actual strength, he was nowhere near Tsunade's match.
His ninja rank was still at the peak of lower jonin, and his Senju Hashirama Template unlock progress was at 35%.
He seemed to have hit a bottleneck.
Of course, that did not stop his strength from growing. Although raising his rank was difficult, there was still plenty of room to improve his combat experience and fighting methods.
But even with his rapid, tremendous progress, his strength was not outstanding among jonin.
Let alone enough