What? You Have a Mangekyō?

He lay there, gasping for breath.

"Although I was a little overconfident, it really was highly effective..."

Though somewhat weakened, he felt neither disappointment nor resentment.

On the contrary, his eyes, in which he could barely maintain even the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, shone with indescribable excitement, full of obsession and madness. "I can feel it. I'm constantly improving!"

He saw how he could grow stronger rapidly.

The possibility of truly developing ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and genjutsu in all respects, advancing in all three at once.

Fighting himself, forcing himself into a desperate situation, constantly breaking through his own limits, and achieving improvement in every respect.

And when the Wood Clone was dispelled, it returned with valuable experience and memories.

The results were remarkable.

This method was cruel, though.

A single careless mistake could even get him killed.

But it was viable!

"If 'gods' really do exist in this world..." Rikuto clenched his fist, his gaze more frenzied than ever. "Then why can't I be one?"

Anyone else would have given up on this crazy training plan.

But Rikuto would not back down because of that.

His ambition, his refusal to be ordinary,

would not allow him to retreat, either.

He used the last of his Chakra

to set his bones and treat himself further, aided by his astonishing ability to heal himself.

His Chakra was exhausted, his injuries were serious, and he was utterly spent.

In the end, he could not hold on and passed out.

Evening.

Tsunade had drunk a little and was slightly tipsy.

She and Shizune returned to the inn.

Inside the room, they saw Rikuto lying there, drenched in sweat, bruised and swollen, and covered in blood.

Their faces changed, and they froze.

"Rikuto-"

Shizune's face filled with anxiety.

Without hesitation, she dropped Tonton.

She cried out and rushed over at once.

"Rikuto... blood..."

Tsunade collapsed to the floor.

Her body began trembling uncontrollably, and she could not move.

Her eyes filled with fear, worry, and an indescribable anger as she stared fixedly at the blood-covered Rikuto. "What... what happened?"

"Rikuto, what's wrong? Wake up..."

Holding the unconscious Rikuto,

Shizune was so worried that tears streamed down her face. "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have left you!"

As a medical-nin, she examined Rikuto's body.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she confirmed that his life was not in danger.

But she discovered that his internal organs had sustained varying degrees of damage.

If not for his astonishing self-healing ability,

he would probably have been at death's door long ago,

hanging on by a thread.

"Shizune, how is he?"

Tsunade gritted her teeth.

She sat there helplessly.

Her body would not stop trembling slightly.

She looked at Rikuto's young face, still bruised and swollen.

Even his own extraordinary self-healing ability had not immediately healed it.

It was easy to imagine how hard the blows had been.

Now, seeing her disciple lying there covered in blood, while she, his teacher, could do nothing,

she hated her own weakness and incompetence more than ever.

Because of a mere fear of blood, she could not even stand.

Damn it!!!

"Lady Tsunade, his internal organs are injured, and he has multiple fractures all over his body. It looks like he went through a very intense battle... and all the damage was caused by blunt impacts, probably from Taijutsu!"

Shizune carefully examined each of Rikuto's injuries.

She had no time to worry about Tsunade's fear of blood acting up.

Her hands formed Hand Seals.

A soft green light emerged from her palms.

She placed them on Rikuto's chest, accelerating the healing of his damaged internal organs.

Without looking up, she gritted her teeth and replied, "But his body has an astonishing self-healing ability. He's recovering slowly..."

Rikuto's injuries

made her draw a sharp breath.

What kind of intense battle could have left Rikuto, whose recovery ability rivaled that of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, or even surpassed it, hurt so badly?

And somehow, she felt

those injuries looked as though they had been caused by the Superhuman Strength Fist.

Could it be...

"No, that's impossible!"

Shizune's expression shifted.

She silently dismissed the thought that had just occurred to her.

She had been with Lady Tsunade the whole time, so it could not have been her.

Besides, Lady Tsunade would never hurt Rikuto. She had no reason to.

"Who could have been so cruel?"

Looking at her beloved disciple lying there unconscious,

Tsunade trembled all over from her fear of blood.

Her mind was shaken again and again, and pain showed on her face.

Images of her younger brother Nawaki's bloody, cold corpse lying in her arms surfaced in her mind once more...

"Aah... damn it, get up!!!"

Her fists clenched tightly.

Tsunade's pupils trembled.

Gradually, her gaze turned resolute and filled with killing intent.

Gritting her teeth, she disregarded her fear of blood and sprang to her feet.

"Damn it, which bastard hurt this child so badly?"

Her face was ashen with rage, and she radiated an astonishing killing intent. "I won't let him get away with this!!"

Although they had not known each other for long,

perhaps because the blood of the Senju Clan also ran in his veins,

Tsunade had come to regard the levelheaded, extraordinarily gifted, and exceptionally clever Rikuto as her own younger brother without realizing it.

"Shizune, let me!"

"Lady Tsunade, you..." Shizune was astonished.

Delight appeared in her eyes, and she instinctively moved aside.

"Enough talk..."

Tsunade's face was filled with killing intent.

She was not excited about having overcome her fear of blood.

She carefully examined Rikuto's injuries.

But her expression soon changed. "The Superhuman Strength Fist? How... how is that possible?"

It was not as though there were no people born with immense strength.

But that kind of burst of strength was very different from the Superhuman Strength Fist, which concentrated a large amount of Chakra and released it all at once.

As a highly experienced master of medical ninjutsu who was herself exceptionally skilled in the Superhuman Strength Fist,

Tsunade could be fairly certain

that those injuries had most likely been caused by the Superhuman Strength Fist.

"Lady Tsunade, I suspected as much just now, but I couldn't be sure..."

Shizune spoke as she watched Tsunade's shocked expression from the side.

"Who on earth hurt him like this?"

Tsunade's expression shifted, full of shock and doubt.

But as she continued treating Rikuto, she also breathed a sigh of relief. "Fortunately, although his internal organs are somewhat damaged, his recovery ability is far beyond that of an ordinary person. He'll be all right!"

"And he must have treated himself before he lost consciousness!"

Chapter 50: What? You Have a Mangekyō?

Rikuto felt as though he had had a wonderful dream.

In the dream, he lay on a soft sponge, rolling back and forth...

Dimly, he also dreamed of a beautiful woman, whose boundless beauty made him reluctant to leave...

For a long time, he did not want to wake from his sleep.

But even the most beautiful dream had to end eventually.

"Uh..." For instance, when Rikuto slowly opened his eyes.

His whole body felt sore.

Then,

he saw two enormous mountains.

Above the mountains was a pretty, rosy face, tinged with anger.

She was glaring at him, both annoyed and angry. "Brat, have you rubbed against me enough?"