The Second Sweetener: Forbidden Jutsu!

The smoke cleared, but the morning light remained completely blocked.

Huge.

Impossibly huge.

A blue-and-white slug rose in folds like a small mountain.

A crimson toad held a massive pipe in its mouth.

And a giant brown snake flicked its scarlet tongue.

Three vast, savage waves of Chakra bore down on them like a physical weight.

The twelve kids below froze where they stood.

Their breathing stopped.

Cold sweat dripped from their chins.

But no one screamed. No one turned to run.

Faced with monsters that could crush an entire street, they only gritted their teeth.

Eyes wide, they fought to keep their legs from giving out.

Tsunade stood before the three beasts, arms folded, and swept her gaze over their pale little faces.

A satisfied smile flickered in her eyes.

"As expected of Konoha's future golden generation. You handle pressure far better than ordinary Genin."

Tsunade nodded slightly.

Her reason for summoning the beasts was simple.

Physical punishment and high-pressure training alone would only produce cold-blooded weapons.

Or worse, enemies who hated her.

She wanted people loyal to her to the end.

She had wielded the stick.

Now it was time to stuff an almost sickeningly sweet reward into their mouths.

The first sweetener was summoning beasts!

"Take a good look."

Tsunade clapped her hands, her voice echoing beneath the beasts' shadows.

"These are our summoning beasts."

"Jiraiya's toad excels at Fire Release, Water Release, and the Toad Short Blade Technique. It's suited to frontal assaults."

"Orochimaru's snake specializes in stealth, assassination, poison, and Wind Release."

"My slug has the strongest healing ability in the Shinobi World, and splitting lets her avoid damage."

"Of course, these are just the ones suited to us. The Three Great Sacred Grounds have far more kinds of summoning beasts."

Tsunade paused, watching the dozen or so pairs of eyes below begin to shine.

"In the Special Training Class, the rules are simple."

"Whoever performs well, whoever progresses quickly, whoever's Chakra nature is the best match..."

Tsunade's lips curved into a tempting smile.

"I'll throw a Summoning Contract scroll right in their face!"

The moment she finished speaking, the once-silent clearing erupted.

Even the steadiest children from the great clans could not keep their hearts from pounding.

They knew about summoning beasts. Every clan had its own way to summon them.

But what level were these three?

Bodies the size of mountains—they could destroy an outpost just by landing on it!

These were strategic weapons!

And they came from the Three Great Sacred Grounds!

Hyuga Hiashi clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms.

Kushina Uzumaki flushed with excitement, her eyes fixed on the enormous slug.

Even Choza Akimichi, who could still taste potato chips in his mouth, swallowed hard.

He looked at the toad as though it were a mountain of gold.

They would get top-tier summoning beasts just like that?

No long clan assessment? No tedious loyalty tests from the elders?

All they had to do was perform well?!

What a deal!

Jiraiya and Orochimaru stood to the side, watching Tsunade whip the kids into a frenzy with a few words. Both men's eyes twitched.

She was using their summoning beasts to win people over?

That woman knew how to make a killing.

"All right. Focus."

Tsunade snapped her fingers.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three huge clouds of white smoke burst outward, and the beasts blocking the sky vanished as the summons ended.

Morning light fell across the clearing again, but it did nothing to calm the kids' racing hearts.

"Now, training officially begins."

Tsunade wasted no time assigning tasks.

"Shikaku, Chōza, Inoichi—twenty weighted laps around Back Mountain! No lunch if you don't finish!"

"Mikoto, Hiashi, Hizashi—go practice Water-Walking Training beneath the waterfall!"

"Everyone else, physical conditioning and precise Chakra control!"

The kids shouted with unprecedented enthusiasm and turned to charge off.

"Wait." Tsunade stopped two of them. "Minato, Nawaki, you two stay."

Minato Namikaze and Nawaki stopped and ran back to her.

"Your training is different."

Tsunade waved toward the trees.

"Go to the tallest tree over there and keep practicing the Flying Thunder God Technique."

The air went still.

The young heirs who had barely taken two steps slammed to a halt.

All twelve turned around at once, as if they could not believe what they had heard.

The Flying... Flying Thunder God?

Wasn't that the S-rank Space-Time Forbidden Technique developed by the Second Hokage?!

One of Konoha's most closely guarded secrets!

And here, in this forest, it was a routine training exercise?!

"Tsunade!"

Jiraiya was the first to protest.

He strode forward, brows drawn tight.

"Have you lost your mind?! The Flying Thunder God is no joke! Touch Spatial Turbulence, and there won't be a body left to bury!"

"You're letting two little kids practice it?!"

Orochimaru said nothing, but his golden slit pupils contracted sharply as he stared at Tsunade.

Two six- or seven-year-olds practicing the Flying Thunder God.

Absurd.

Faced with Jiraiya's challenge and everyone's disbelieving stares, Tsunade did not even blink.

She kept her hands in her pockets and jerked her chin toward Minato and Nawaki.

"Go on. Show these two sheltered assistant instructors."

Minato Namikaze and Nawaki exchanged a glance.

Neither boy hesitated.

Minato reached into his Ninja Tool Pouch and pulled out a kunai marked with a special formula.

His arm snapped forward.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The kunai streaked away and struck a huge tree trunk fifty meters away.

Nawaki followed, throwing his own kunai into the trunk just above Minato's.

The next instant.

Before everyone present, the two six-year-old boys formed the same hand seal.

Snake.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

They left no afterimages.

One moment, the two boys were standing there.

The next, they vanished.

By the time everyone looked toward the tree again,

Minato and Nawaki were crouched steadily on the trunk fifty meters away.

Beneath their feet were their respective kunai, each engraved with a formula.

The Back Mountain clearing fell deathly silent.

Only the morning wind rustling through the leaves could be heard.

Jiraiya's mouth hung wide open, his jaw nearly hitting his feet as he stared at the boys on the tree.

They had thrown a kunai, formed a seal, and crossed fifty meters just like that?!

They really could use the Flying Thunder God?!

Orochimaru could no longer keep his composure either.

He instinctively licked his dry lips, his eyes blazing with a startling light.

It was the purest longing for the unknown—for a miracle.

But the ones who truly lost their minds were the ten kids watching below.

Might Duy's eyes went round, and his whole body trembled.

Uchiha Mikoto clasped her hands tightly against her chest.

Even Shikaku Nara, whose half-lidded eyes and face usually said What a drag, looked like a young wolf that had caught the scent of blood.

He stared at Minato and Nawaki on the tree, his gaze burning.

A Forbidden Jutsu! A legendary Forbidden Jutsu!

Raised in powerful clans, they all knew what a strategic-level jutsu was worth.

And who among them had never dreamed of one day learning the secrets in the Book of Seals?

Yet now, something out of legend had been laid bare before their eyes.

And children their own age had mastered it!

Jealousy?

No!

Overwhelming longing!

Tsunade took in every reaction, and her smile spread.

The first sweetener had been the summoning beasts.

This was the second.

And it was the one that would seal the deal.

Break convention. Ignore the rules.

Use sheer power and resources to smash through everything these kids believed was possible!

"See that?"

Tsunade's voice rang out in the morning wind, brash and arrogant.

"There's nothing you can't learn under me."

"Taijutsu, genjutsu, all five elemental releases—even the Forbidden Jutsu in the Book of Seals."

She paused, her gaze sharp as a blade.

"As long as you perform well. As long as you survive my special training."

"I, Tsunade, will give you whatever I choose!"

No one dared argue.

The kids' eyes had changed completely.

They burned with a fervor that would drive them to risk everything for power.

Tsunade swept an arm out. "Now get to training, all of you!"

"Yes!!!"

Their thunderous shout sent birds bursting from the trees.

The ten kids and Might Duy raced toward their assigned tasks like beasts let loose.

No one needed to urge them on.

Watching them push their bodies to the limit, Tsunade looked pleased.

Just then, a voice cold and hushed, yet charged with barely restrained fervor,

sounded right beside her ear.

Orochimaru had slipped up beside her without a sound.

"Hey, Tsunade."

"I want to talk to you about something..."