Unleash Potential

Facing the accountability of Tsunade and the high-ranking officials, Takizawa Dan had already made up his mind. On his way here, he had fully prepared his explanation.

"Your Majesty, this matter was not a deliberate concealment on my part," Takizawa Dan said truthfully. "Just two mornings ago, after I woke up, I suddenly felt a massive change in my physical condition. Not only did the previous sense of weakness vanish, but my body was filled with strength, and my mind felt as if it had been unlocked, becoming much sharper."

Takizawa Dan spoke with a mix of truth and fabrication.

The reality was indeed similar, only it was a system descending from the heavens that had changed his fate.

"Nonsense! Are you saying that you woke up one morning to find your physical condition changed and your mind clear?" Danzo sneered as he stood up upon hearing this. "Takizawa Dan, you really don't know how to lie! Do you think we would believe such a clumsy fabrication?"

As Danzo's voice fell, not only he, but the other high-ranking officials around him looked at Takizawa Dan with expressions full of confusion and strangeness.

Even if Takizawa Dan had claimed to receive guidance from a mysterious master, it would have been more credible than this story of his physique and intellect improving overnight!

This wasn't some novel; where could such a mystical thing happen?

However, facing the skepticism of the entire room, Takizawa Dan remained calm, staring unblinkingly at Tsunade in the seat of honor without saying a word.

His intention was clear: he would only answer Tsunade's questions; he would ignore all other high-ranking officials!

Seeing Takizawa Dan act this way, a touch of emotion surfaced deep in Tsunade's eyes.

Although she was now the Fifth Hokage and the nominal supreme ruler of the village, she had only just taken the position. Her foundation was very unstable, and many high-ranking officials looked upon her with disfavor.

Moreover, Tsunade's past reputation for gambling and frequenting various pleasure quarters had not been great. It was only thanks to her recent efforts to empathize with the villagers that she had managed to salvage some of her reputation.

Under these circumstances, Takizawa Dan's willingness to take the initiative to defect to her side and express his loyalty made Tsunade very happy.

Indeed, she had not misjudged him!

"Takizawa Dan, is what you said true?" Tsunade looked at Takizawa Dan and asked after clearing her throat.

Even she did not realize that her tone toward Takizawa Dan had become much gentler!

"It is true. If I have spoken even half a lie, may I be struck by lightning and meet a miserable end!" Takizawa Dan replied with extreme solemnity. "In truth, this matter is so bizarre that even I have not figured out why it happened. I participated in the Chunin Exams this time precisely because I hoped to let everyone see my changes and then report them truthfully to you, Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty, this Takizawa Dan is full of lies; he is clearly not to be trusted!" At this moment, Danzo stepped out, staring at Takizawa Dan with a gloomy face. "I hope you will authorize me to interrogate this brat under torture; I will surely get to the truth!"

Judging by his gaze, he looked as if he wanted to tear Takizawa Dan apart!

"Do not be rude, Shimura-kun!" Tsunade frowned and barked.

"Your Majesty, you..."

Danzo was stunned. This was the first time Tsunade had defied him so openly, even shouting at him!

In Konoha Village, his seniority was on par with the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen; he was an elder figure. Although Tsunade was already fifty, she had to address him as "Uncle" when facing him.

This had made Danzo increasingly arrogant, and he had begun to look down on Tsunade more and more.

But everything happening now completely overturned his previous understanding!

"Takizawa Dan's situation... although it sounds absurd, it is not entirely impossible!" Tsunade cleared her throat, raised her arm to press against her throat, and then continued. "When I served as a medical ninja, I once encountered a similar youth in another village."

"That youth was also physically frail from childhood, possessed very average talent, and had very little chakra in his body. No one believed he could become a ninja."

"But one day, external enemies invaded and killed his parents and sister. In his grief and indignation, the youth's strength suddenly surged, and he killed those two Chunin who were the perpetrators on the spot!"

As Tsunade recounted all this, her expression was very flat, as if she were narrating a matter that had nothing to do with her.

The surrounding high-ranking officials also wore extremely serious expressions, pricking up their ears to listen to Tsunade's explanation.

After all, Tsunade was one of the "Sannin." She had saved countless wounded with her own strength and was the first to propose the suggestion of including medical ninjas in squads. In the field of medical ninjutsu, if Tsunade claimed to be second, no one in the entire ninja world dared to claim to be first!

"Then... what happened to that youth afterward?"

After a moment of silence, a high-ranking official could not help but speak up, breaking the stillness.

Everyone, including Takizawa Dan, looked at Tsunade with curiosity.

"That youth eventually died," Tsunade said with a heavy expression. "According to my speculation, he must have unlocked the genetic lock within his body—in other words, released his potential—and erupted with unparalleled power in that instant. And because those two Chunin who committed the crime saw him as a child and were completely unprepared, he succeeded in one strike."

"So that's it, a genetic lock..."

The high-ranking officials nodded repeatedly, their expressions thoughtful.

What Tsunade said stood up to reason and logic, and given her status as Hokage, she could not possibly be lying, so everyone believed her.

"Then, Your Majesty, do you mean that Takizawa Dan has also unlocked this genetic lock?" Danzo's eyes flickered, and he asked Tsunade with an expressionless face.

"Correct."

"Then may I ask, why is Takizawa Dan still standing here perfectly fine? If we follow the example you mentioned, shouldn't Takizawa Dan have died long ago under normal circumstances?"

Hearing Danzo curse him to die, Takizawa Dan cursed inwardly!

You're the one who should die, you old fossil; hurry up and get in the ground!

"That is why I specifically stated that those were normal circumstances," Tsunade said calmly. "Something like a genetic lock originally appeared to protect humanity, keeping our physical exertion at a level the body can withstand. It is much like how the human brain's potential is less than ten percent developed. The act of opening the genetic lock is, in itself, a form of suicide—burning a massive amount of one's own life force to temporarily overdraft and gain powerful strength, leaving the body unable to bear the burden afterward."

"But I have had a hypothesis for many years: if there were extremely rare, special humans whose bodies were different from the norm, such that even after opening the genetic lock, their bodies could still withstand these intense side effects, allowing the liberation of the body to become a normal state of combat, then they would surely be an unprecedentedly powerful ninja!"