The third day of training.
"Pah!" "Pah..." "Pah!"
The crisp sound of the rubber ball exploding, coupled with the hum of uncontrollable chakra backlash, became the background sound of the training ground.
Hundreds of Naruto and Shadow Clone, each holding a black rubber ball, were conducting crazy intensive training on the field. Their orange coats were soaked with sweat, and the impact of failure caused the faces of each clone to distort, and then dissipated into white smoke. New clones were immediately added to maintain a constant total number of training.
Jiraiya was sitting on a stone not far away, with a lot of words already written on the open scroll. From time to time, he looked up at the orange ocean, then lowered his head and wrote quickly on the draft paper, muttering:
"He is so crazy. Sometimes he is more like a complete villain than an enemy, but maybe fighting evil with evil is the right way."
His heroic novel based on Naruto has been serialized for more than a month. As he writes, he finds it absurd, but as long as readers like it, it's fine.
Under the shade of a tree in the distance, Tsunade held a wine bottle and poured it into his mouth one mouthful at a time. The spicy liquid burned his throat, but he could not suppress the growing irritability in his heart.
She looked at Naruto, who was sitting cross-legged on the training ground, her face paler than yesterday, her eyes full of resistance.
This kid's training method subverted her understanding of the word "cultivation". She was unwilling to admit the effectiveness of this method and stubbornly attributed it to "little cleverness" and "luck."
On the other hand, Kabuto Yakushi's words were like tarsal maggots, echoing in her mind.
"... Resurrection of your brother Nawaki, and your lover, end."
Tsunade clicked his tongue in annoyance and took another two sips of wine.
In the center of the field, Naruto's eyes were tightly closed, turning a deaf ear to everything outside. He did not participate in the direct training of any clone. The several pieces of draft paper spread out in front of him were filled with dense charts and data. His brain, like a CPU at this moment, received and processed the failed data stream returned by Shadow Clone in real time.
The instant collapse point of chakra form, the threshold of pressure transmission, the slight deviation of the rotation vector... all failed experiences were dismantled and analyzed by him, and then rebuilt into optimized training models and distributed to every Shadow Clone.
Jiraiya finally couldn't write any more. He put down his pen, looked at Tsunade in the distance who was in self-exile with alcohol, sighed, and walked over.
"Tsunade, look at him." Jiraiya's voice was a little dry, "The village... really needs your power."
"Power?" Tsunade stood up from the ground like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, staring fiercely at Jiraiya, "Are you asking me for strength? Are you asking me for responsibility?"
She casually smashed the wine bottle in her hand on the stone at her feet!
"Bang!"
The wine bottle was shattered into pieces, and the amber liquid mixed with glass fragments splashed everywhere.
"Don't take responsibility from me!" She pointed at the motionless figure on the training ground and roared at Jiraiya, "Now, do you still want this brat to die? For that damn seat, for those old guys sitting in the village talking nonsense!"
Jiraiya remained silent. It wasn't that he didn't know how to refute, but that he felt there was no need to wake up someone who was pretending to sleep.
As the sun sets, the orange-red afterglow dyes the entire training ground with a warm tone.
At this moment, a rubber ball in the hand of Shadow Clone in the field made a muffled sound that was completely different from other explosions. It did not explode, but was swollen by a strong force inside, and finally opened a smooth round hole with a "pop" sound.
It worked.
A large amount of successful experience on "maintaining power", like all rivers returning to the sea, instantly poured into the brain of Naruto.
He opened his eyes, and there was no joy of success in his eyes, only the clarity and calmness after the data was processed.
Naruto stood up slowly, with no emotion on his pale face. He walked straight to Jiraiya, who was standing still, and stretched out his right hand.
Jiraiya subconsciously took out a brand new rubber ball from the ninja bag and handed it over.
Naruto took it and held it in the palm of his hand.
Chakra condensed in his hands, spinning at high speed, and the powerful force caused distortions visible to the naked eye on the surface of the rubber ball Uzumaki.
The next second.
"Crack!"
There was a sharp and crisp sound, more profound and powerful than any previous explosion. The rubber ball broke with the sound and broke into countless small black fragments, scattered from between his fingers.
Jiraiya's mouth slowly opened wide, looking at this scene in shock.
The second stage is to conquer.
Naruto shook his hand. He didn't even look at the fragments of rubber balls on the ground. He turned his head and locked his eyes on Tsunade, whose face was frozen.
"Tomorrow is the final stage, and then it's time for you to fulfill the agreement."
Day four.
The Shadow Clone Legion on the training ground is undergoing the final sprint of the third phase of Rasengan - maintaining the form and power of chakra and condensing it into a perfect spherical shape.
This is more difficult than the previous two stages combined.
The number of failures is accumulating rapidly, and the out-of-control explosions of chakra are heard one after another. Every failure is like a steel needle piercing the brain, and a huge mental impact passes through Shadow Clone and is fed back to the Naruto body without reservation.
His body had begun to tremble slightly uncontrollably.
Tsunade sat aside and did not drink any more. She just watched in silence, her heart torn by two completely opposite emotions.
She hoped that Naruto would fail. She wanted to see this kid be completely crushed by the terrifying mental pressure, and then give up in tears. In this way, she finally made the right bet.
But for some reason, deep down in her heart, there was a hint of expectation that she didn't even want to admit.
At this moment, Jiraiya's expression became serious. He noticed that there was a vague and familiar chakra moving nearby. It was Orochimaru's eyeliner.
"I'll leave for a while."
He dropped these words and disappeared in a flash. He had to deal with these troubles and not let them disturb the gambling here.
On the training ground, only Naruto, Tsunade, and Shizune were left who looked worried.
The atmosphere instantly became more stagnant.
Tsunade's inner anxiety reached its peak after Jiraiya left. She could no longer bear the torture of silence, stood up suddenly, and strode to Naruto.
She looked condescendingly at the boy who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, his body trembling, his face as pale as paper, and she used the most harsh words to stimulate him:
"Give up, kid."
"There's no point in trying to be brave if you can't do it. Your body has reached its limit."
Naruto did not respond.
But the next second, all the Shadow Clone on the training ground disappeared instantly amid hundreds of soft "bang bang" sounds.
Naruto slowly raised his head, his blue eyes filled with coldness.
He stood up and walked towards Tsunade step by step.
"Your psychological trauma is a potential risk in Konoha High Command's combat power sequence." Naruto's words were clear, "It is a system flaw that must be corrected."
He stood still in front of Tsunade, ignoring the anger in the opponent's eyes, and slowly performed a simple and deadly military fighting stance.
"Come on, let me evaluate how much combat power the legendary Sannin, the 'fat sheep who always loses in every bet', has left."
"Kid, you are looking for death!!!"
These words completely ignited the depression accumulated in Tsunade's heart.
She roared and took action, condensing extremely terrifying strange power, and with a roar that ripped apart the air, she slammed into Naruto's face!
Shizune was so frightened that he screamed.
However, Naruto did not completely dodge.
He turned his body slightly to one side, taking away most of the force from his fist at an extremely subtle angle. But his cheek was allowed to be brushed by the back of Tsunade's hand.
Bright red blood appeared on Naruto's cheek along with the wound.
One drop, two drops... fell on the collar, and the area quickly expanded, blooming into a small patch of dark red.