Training Along the Way

"Konohagakure had shown me kindness, so once I became strong in the future, I would naturally repay it. But I did not want to die inexplicably on the battlefields of these ninja wars." Oguri Hayashi's words infuriated Tsunade. Although she had already lost the two people closest to her, she still loved Konohagakure deeply. If every Konohagakure ninja spoke of repaying the village only after becoming strong in the future, like Oguri Hayashi did, then the village would not be able to endure.

In her view, this was nothing more than Oguri Hayashi's excuse to avoid the battlefield.

Now, when the two people she loved most had both recently died on ninja battlefields, an enormous amount of Chakra suddenly erupted from her body. Both the Senju and Uzumaki clans were renowned for their vast Chakra reserves. Even among jonin, Tsunade's Chakra was exceptionally immense, and she was not far below Kage-level. In her fury, her Chakra nearly became visible to the naked eye, like the tailed beast cloak formed when a Jinchuriki released a tailed beast's Chakra in a manga.

In other words, Tsunade possessed so much Chakra that it had become visible.

For a ninja, this was naturally an enormous waste. The Third Hokage should have been capable of it as well, but it was useless. Other than wasting Chakra, one still had to form hand seals and release Ninjutsu to use Chakra.

However, Tsunade's Super Strength Technique was Nintaijutsu. This kind of Ninjutsu required no hand seals; it only needed an explosive release of muscle power and Chakra to unleash tremendous destructive force. For her, perhaps it could not be considered wasteful.

Yet, facing Tsunade's furious expression, Oguri Hayashi merely finished the meat on the other wooden skewer, then casually cut his palm. Blood immediately welled up from the wound.

He lightly shook his hand, and several drops of blood fell before Tsunade.

Tsunade's pupils contracted. Her imposing aura instantly stalled, and it was as if she had suddenly seen something terrifying. She took half a step back, her body trembling slightly.

"Is your hemophobia really that severe?" Oguri Hayashi asked softly.

In the future, when Orochimaru brought Kabuto to find her, merely a little blood had stripped her of all combat ability. That had been more than a decade after the Third Shinobi World War ended. It was impossible that Tsunade had received no psychological training to overcome her fear of blood, yet even after more than a decade of training, several drops of blood still frightened her so badly that she could not move. This showed just how severe her hemophobia was.

A Tsunade like this was practically at the mercy of others. Any ninja could easily kill her with a kunai or shuriken—the Princess Tsunade of Konohagakure, one of the Three Sannin.

What an unsightly sight.

Seeing Tsunade crouched in a corner, hugging her arms like a little girl and truly trembling in fear, even Oguri Hayashi could not help sighing.

That valiant and heroic Princess Tsunade had died on the battlefield along with those two people.

From a ninja's perspective, Oguri Hayashi was angered by Tsunade's failure to rise to the occasion.

But from a man's perspective toward a woman, Oguri Hayashi pitied her misfortune.

There were many things Tsunade truly did not need to bear. Unfortunately...

"I am quite interested in Lady Tsunade's Yin Seal. How about this? Lady Tsunade can teach me the Yin Seal, and during this time, I will help you overcome your hemophobia. What do you say?" He silently wrapped the wound on his hand slightly before asking.

Tsunade raised her head and glared at him, but said nothing. After developing this psychological illness, she could not even flee, much less fight. If Oguri Hayashi draped a cloak soaked in blood over her, she would be completely helpless.

In a sense, giving Oguri Hayashi the Yin Seal in exchange for escaping her hemophobia would have been an extremely worthwhile deal for Tsunade. Yet she said nothing and handed over nothing.

Perhaps she intended to reject the deal. Oguri Hayashi did not mind. He used Earth Release to clean up the remaining pork, then entered his meditative state.

His My Style Secret Technique had gradually reached a fine state. Especially after he used Lightning Release Chakra to imitate the motion ki, used his body to carry Stillness Ki, and achieved Unity of Motion and Stillness through an entirely different path, it was as if a window had opened before him, allowing him to see the bright world beyond.

That world was called Martial Arts.

Oguri Hayashi led Tsunade eastward, never setting aside his training along the way.

Tsunade could swear that she had never seen anyone so diligent. The A-rank Ninjutsu Heavier Rock Technique, which could crush others to the ground when used on them, was merely Oguri Hayashi's daily training weight. Tsunade believed that once the Heavier Rock Technique on his small frame was released, tremendous power would erupt from within.

As a taijutsu ninja, she understood better than anyone the strength hidden beneath Oguri Hayashi's body. With Might Duy not yet renowned throughout the ninja world, Oguri Hayashi could be called the number one taijutsu ninja in the world!

Compared to the Third Raikage, Oguri Hayashi had the training of the Heavier Rock Technique, along with the bodily stimulation of Lightning Release: Lightning Armor. Surpassing the Third Raikage was almost inevitable.

What was even more terrifying was that he stood independent of every ninja village. He did not need to participate in ninja wars and could focus solely on more specialized training.

For ninjas, the period from twelve to twenty was when their strength increased most rapidly. The truth was that if Oguri Hayashi avoided this ninja war and cultivated diligently, he would surpass the Third Raikage in less than five years.

If he had previously only been a quasi-Kage-level powerhouse with some potential, then the current Oguri Hayashi was already someone she needed to treat as a Kage-level powerhouse.

The two continued eastward, gradually leaving Konohagakure's territory.

This road was... the Land of Waterfalls?

Ordinary people did not even know which roads lay beyond their village, but for the upper ranks of ninja villages, maps of the ninja world's geography were among their most fundamental required studies.

Tsunade even knew of a secret passage leading directly to Takigakure.

It was precisely because this secret passage existed that Takigakure had been able to obtain the relatively powerful Seven-Tails Chōmei during the distribution of tailed beasts.

Could Oguri Hayashi's target be a tailed beast?

Tsunade's heart jolted.

His Nintaijutsu had already reached a certain realm. If he captured a tailed beast to make up for his final weakness, then...

At that thought, Tsunade's scalp went numb.

More difficult to deal with than a tailed beast was a Jinchuriki who had cultivated taijutsu to its utmost limit!

With such taijutsu and a tailed beast's inexhaustible Chakra, perhaps no one would be able to stop Oguri Hayashi then!