Don't overhype Sasuke Uchiha (Snake Sasuke)!
A Jonin was already one of a village's top fighters. Their combat experience, ninjutsu skills, and chakra control had all been honed through countless battles to the death.
Even for a gifted genius, completely overpowering a Jonin was no easy feat. It took abilities on the level of the Sharingan, Cursed Seal, or Super Strength, or talent like Minato Namikaze's, which had enabled him to master the Flying Thunder God.
Bai Lin carefully reviewed every detail of the battle and realized there was little he could have done to improve his approach.
The first major issue was his chakra reserves. Even though he had far more chakra than an ordinary Jonin, he had been facing an entire force of Amegakure ninja.
With the enemy working together, it had been difficult to end the fight quickly.
He had used most of his chakra to maintain Lightning Release and boost his base speed. For offense, he had relied on Taijutsu, the Kusanagi Sword, Chidori Blade, and Chidori Sharp Spear—methods capable of dealing devastating damage.
He hadn't used even once any standard ninjutsu that would simply waste chakra, such as Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, Shadow Clone, or Summoning Technique. As for Lightning Release: Kirin, which consumed enormous amounts of chakra, he couldn't use it unless absolutely necessary.
The Cursed Seal state wasn't all that useful either. Setting aside how ugly it looked, activating the Cursed Seal granted immense power, but the longer it lasted, the greater the damage it inflicted on the user.
It wasn't suited to prolonged battles. It was best for crushing weak opponents or fighting one-on-one.
"All in all, most of my strength is limited by how much chakra I have." Bai Lin lay back with his hands behind his head, his fingertips tracing the spending total on the System Panel. A glimmer of anticipation crossed his eyes.
"If my next System Lottery gives me Kisame Hoshigaki's template, my chakra reserves will shoot straight up to Tailed Beast levels. At least then I won't have to pinch every last drop of chakra."
He opened the System Lottery and looked at the total of one hundred million ryo required for a Kage-level Ten-pull. A smile tugged at his lips. "I've already saved up 6.8 million ryo. That leaves 93.2 million.
"Once I'm done dealing with the Second Shinobi World War, I might even be able to scrape together enough for a Beyond-Kage-level Ten-pull.
"I just don't know which ninja template I'll get from the Beyond-Kage lottery. If I get Hashirama (Senju Hashirama) or Madara (Uchiha Madara), who in the Ninja World could stop me?"
While Bai Lin was letting his imagination run wild, Uchiha Mikoto noticed that he was awake. She hurriedly threw herself into his arms, wrapped both arms tightly around his waist, and pressed her cheek against his chest.
Mikoto's voice was choked with lingering fear. "You're finally awake! I was so worried. Don't ever push yourself that hard again!"
The warmth of her embrace and her familiar scent reached him. Bai Lin stiffened, then relaxed. He gently patted her back, and the defiance in his gaze softened. "Don't worry. I'm not that easy to kill."
"Before us, there are no worthy opponents."
He paused, then returned to his usual arrogant tone. "I'll stand above countless others. The whole Ninja World will hear my name!"
Mikoto looked up, her eyes slightly red, her Three-Tomoe Sharingan turning in their depths. Her gaze was resolute. "We're lovers, but we're also teammates. We're people who can trust each other with our backs. You can't shoulder every risk alone.
"If something like this happens again, remember to call for me and Nawaki. We'll face it together."
Seeing this, Nawaki hurried over and chimed in. "That's right, Bai Lin! Mikoto's right! We're a three-person squad now. We'll face any danger together, so stop charging ahead by yourself."
"If we hadn't followed your orders and stayed nearby, ready to come help as soon as we saw lightning, then by now..."
Earlier, Bai Lin had used the Summoning Technique to send Uchiha Mikoto and Nawaki a message: come to his aid as soon as they saw lightning. That was why they had arrived so promptly.
"Nawaki, have you forgotten what I told you?"
Bai Lin narrowed his eyes and gave Nawaki a dangerous look. His tone was calm and seemed harmless.
The smile on Nawaki's face froze. He instinctively straightened up, sensing danger.
"Forgotten what?"
"I'm your brother-in-law. When we're not on a mission, you're not allowed to call me by my name!"
Nawaki's smile froze completely, but he immediately retorted, "So what if you're strong and handsome?"
"You're so young. My sister would never fall for you."
"Besides, you've already got Mikoto. Don't think I haven't noticed what's going on between you."
Bai Lin hadn't hidden his relationship with Mikoto in recent days. While he'd been unconscious, Mikoto had stayed by his side almost without leaving. The worry in her eyes had been obvious to everyone.
Mikoto's cheeks reddened, and she shot Nawaki a fierce glare.
"Mikoto, I can't move around much right now. Go give this rude brat a beating. Make sure you aim for his face."
"I don't want to see him come back with that face still intact," Bai Lin said with a narrowed-eyed smile.
"Bastard! You don't hit people in the face! Don't go too far, Bai Lin!" Nawaki clenched his fists, his face turning bright red.
As someone who considered himself a future Hokage, he had been dragged through intense training by Bai Lin every day. There wasn't a part of his body that didn't hurt, and coming home black and blue was routine. He'd never had to put up with this kind of humiliation before.
He fumed inwardly: If I could beat Bai Lin, I'd have already ground him into the dirt! And now he wants to be my brother-in-law? He thinks he can win my sister over? Dream on!
Nawaki swore he'd get stronger and beat up the brat in front of him who insisted on calling himself his brother-in-law.
Winning Tsunade over wouldn't be simple. He still had a lot of preparation to do.
It would be best to spread the word through Nawaki, so everyone in Konoha knew about it.
Then he could influence Tsunade without anyone noticing. That would be the time to truly win her over.
Romance was all about playing the game. Strength had nothing to do with it.
He, Bai Lin, was handsome and powerful, and he was the founder of the Will of Phosphorus. Would he really need to force himself on a woman and wait until he was powerful enough to do it? That would be far too pathetic.
When Nawaki returned with a bruised and swollen face, Bai Lin took plenty of food from the System Space.
Before leaving the village, he'd stocked his System Space with food. Time stood still inside it, so anything he put in came out exactly as it had gone in.
These past few days, Bai Lin and the others had been eating regular food. With that option, who wanted to eat tasteless Military Ration Pills?
"Here, have a bite. We still have to travel tomorrow." Bai Lin casually tossed Nawaki a roast chicken and a bottle of water, his tone indifferent, as if he hadn't just told Mikoto to "aim for his face."
Nawaki took the food, and his stomach immediately growled.
The intense "training" and the "anger" he'd just felt had left him ravenous.
He glared at Bai Lin, but still dug in without hesitation.
Mikoto sat nearby, watching the two of them "fight like an old married couple," and couldn't help smiling. She picked up a rice ball and took small bites.
She picked up a fried shrimp and gently held it to Bai Lin's lips. "If I'd known you had such a convenient ability, Bai Lin, I would've prepared some of your favorite foods before we left."
Bai Lin opened his mouth and ate it, then put an arm around Mikoto's waist with a smile. "We were in too much of a hurry to prepare anything."
"Besides, we won't be able to return to Konoha for a long time, so you don't need to go out of your way to prepare anything, Mikoto." Bai Lin took a bite of the shrimp, savoring its fresh, delicious flavor, then looked down at the woman in his arms. His defiant gaze was full of tenderness. "With you here, everything tastes good."
Mikoto's cheeks turned pink. She gave him a light punch, but still leaned against his shoulder and picked up a pastry to savor.