"Was that Water Wave?"
Tsunade's expression shifted.
Shape transformation at that level was far beyond any Chunin!
She dared not take it head-on. With a push from her toes, she flashed more than ten meters away.
Slash!
The High-Pressure Water Blade missed her and struck the massive boulder where she had stood.
The seemingly indestructible rock split neatly in two, as though it were tofu!
The cut was smooth as a mirror.
Tsunade glanced at the cut and felt a surge of shock.
This brat...
His Chakra control and grasp of shape transformation are monstrous!
Is this what they call a genius?
Before Tsunade could think further,
Chiba's second attack arrived.
He formed Hand Seals again.
This time, he was even faster.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Chiba slammed both palms against the ground.
Rumble!
The earth shook violently.
But
what rose was not a single wall.
With God-Level Comprehension,
Chiba had changed how Earth Wall worked.
Four enormous walls erupted from the ground, not to defend him, but to trap Tsunade in the middle!
Then
Chiba switched seals again.
"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Concealment Technique!"
He sank into the ground and vanished without a trace.
"Interesting."
Standing amid the four walls, Tsunade's lips curved into a dangerous smile.
He had used Earth Wall to restrict his opponent's movement,
then Earth Dragon Concealment to lie in wait for an ambush.
His tactical thinking was remarkably clear.
And his ninjutsu flowed together without the slightest pause.
That kind of battle sense was not something a Chunin should have!
"But..."
"Against overwhelming strength, those little tricks mean nothing!"
Tsunade raised her right foot.
The Strength of a Hundred erupted!
Boom!
She stamped down hard.
Terrifying cracks spread in every direction like a spiderweb.
The entire layer of earth below collapsed under the force of that stomp.
"Ngh!"
A muffled grunt came from underground.
Chiba was blasted out of the earth and landed awkwardly on the ground.
He gasped for breath.
The Chakra inside him still churned violently.
"Enormous Chakra reserves, already at Kage Level."
"A sturdy body and an absurd rate of recovery. You took two punches from me without suffering serious injuries."
"..."
Tsunade walked slowly over to Chiba.
Looking down at the panting boy, she gave her final assessment.
"But!"
"Your fundamentals are hopeless!"
"You're sitting on a mountain of treasure, yet you only know how to dig with your bare hands."
"You have too little combat experience and barely any ninjutsu."
"If this is all you can do,"
"forget Konoha's Anbu. Any Elite Jonin could crush you with ease!"
Chiba gave a wry smile.
"You're right, senior."
He had no argument.
The system's assessment had been fair: he was an unqualified Elite Jonin.
His stats looked impressive,
but his actual combat ability was a mess.
Seeing Chiba accept the criticism without complaint, Tsunade felt a flicker of approval.
Weak fundamentals could be fixed.
What mattered was knowing his own shortcomings.
The brat was resilient and quick to understand.
With proper training, he could become invaluable!
"Starting tomorrow,"
"I'll put together a brutal training plan for you."
"If you can't endure it, get lost before you disgrace the Senju name."
Tsunade snorted and turned away.
But as she turned,
a light she had not felt in years kindled in her eyes.
The Senju Clan might rise again!
A few days later.
Konoha, Hokage Office Building.
A faint smell of tobacco hung in the spacious office.
Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind a broad desk.
His face covered in age spots, he took a long draw from his pipe.
White smoke curled upward.
"Lord Hokage."
An Anbu wearing an animal mask appeared silently before the desk.
"This letter came from Lady Tsunade."
The Anbu presented a sealed Scroll with both hands.
"Tsunade?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen paused, pipe in hand.
Surprise flickered in his clouded eyes.
Since leaving the village, Tsunade had spent her days gambling and dodging creditors.
She had not contacted the village of her own accord in years.
What had changed today?
He broke the seal on the Scroll and unfolded the letter.
The handwriting was hurried and sloppy, as if its writer could barely be bothered.
Sarutobi Hiruzen read it word by word.
His brow furrowed deeper and deeper.
"She met a Konoha Chunin in Tanzaku Street."
"She thinks the boy has good Chakra control."
"He has a talent for Medical Ninjutsu."
"She plans to keep him with her and teach him for a while?"
After reading the letter aloud, Sarutobi Hiruzen was baffled.
Tsunade wanted to take on a student?
How was that possible?
Ever since Dan and Nawaki died, Tsunade had suffered from severe hemophobia.
She could not even hold a scalpel. How could she teach anyone Medical Ninjutsu?
Unless...
there was something extraordinary about this Chunin named Chiba!
"Go."
Sarutobi Hiruzen set down his pipe and gave a firm order.
"Bring me Chiba's file. Immediately."
"Yes!"
The Anbu vanished.
Less than five minutes later,
a thin file lay before Sarutobi Hiruzen.
He put on his reading glasses and examined it carefully.
[Name: Chiba] [Age: 16] [Status: Konoha Chunin] [Parents: Konoha Civilian Ninja. Killed during a B-Rank Mission.] [History: Born at the Orphanage in Konoha Year 36. Entered the Ninja Academy in Konoha Year 42, with below-average grades.] [Graduated early in Konoha Year 46 and was assigned to a cannon-fodder unit during the Third Shinobi World War. Survived to this day through luck...] [Ninjutsu: Three Body Technique, Water Wave, Earth Wall, Earth Dragon Concealment.] [Overall assessment: Mediocre aptitude. Limited potential.]
Sarutobi Hiruzen read it three times over.
He did not miss a single word.
Yet it was an utterly ordinary file.
The boy's parents had been civilians, with no Kekkei Genkai.
"Strange..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen removed his glasses and rubbed his tired brow.
"What exactly does Tsunade see in him?"
"A talent for medicine?"
"What talent for medicine could a Chunin have if he hasn't even figured out Chakra nature transformation?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head.
In his view,
bloodline and inheritance decided everything in the ninja world.
The Uchiha, the Hyuga, and the Ino-Shika-Cho.
The gifted children of those great clans were the foundation of Konoha.
No matter how hard a civilian orphan struggled, Special Jonin was the highest he could hope to reach.
"Perhaps..."
"Tsunade was bored and found some brat to keep her company."
Sarutobi Hiruzen tossed Chiba's file into the wastebasket beside him.
He picked up his pipe again and took a long draw.
In any case,
as long as Tsunade did not return to the village and cause trouble, he would let her do as she pleased.
Meanwhile,
deep beneath Konoha.
The Root Base never saw the light of day, all year round.
The damp air carried a faint smell of blood and rust.
A few dim candles barely illuminated the vast underground hall.
"Tap... tap... tap..."
The sound of a cane striking the floor echoed through the empty hall.
With half his face wrapped in bandages, Shimura Danzō slowly emerged from the shadows.
His sole remaining left eye was as cold as a viper's as he stared fixedly at the Root ninja kneeling before him.
"What did you say?"
"Tsunade took a civilian Chunin as her apprentice on Tanzaku Street?"
Danzo's voice was harsh and raspy, carrying a bone-chilling coldness.
"Yes, Lord Danzo."
The masked Root ninja kept his head lowered, his tone utterly flat.
"Lord Hokage has already received the letter."
"The Anbu retrieved the file on that boy named Chiba."
"But after reading it, Lord Hokage gave no instructions."
"..."
Danzo snorted coldly.
Leaning on his cane, he approached a stone table.
On the stone table lay the file the Root ninja had just delivered.
Danzo narrowed his lone eye and quickly scanned the text in the file.
On the surface,
this Chiba truly had no value.
But Danzo was suspicious by nature.
He never believed in coincidences!
Who was Tsunade?
She was the First's granddaughter, one of the Sannin!
With her pride, how could she possibly think highly of some worthless civilian?
"Kinoe, Kinoto."
The next moment,
Danzo spoke coldly.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two dark figures appeared in the center of the hall, dropping to one knee.
"Go to Tanzaku Street."
"Keep watch on Tsunade and that brat named Chiba."
"I want to know exactly who they meet every day, what they say, and even what they eat!"
"If anything is wrong with that brat..."
"Kill him immediately and bring his body back."
Before you continue