"Yuu, Lady Tsunade, what were you two talking about just now?"
Kurenai's cheerful voice came from behind them.
"Ahh, we finally finished that surgery! Yuu, want to train with me later? I've recently had a few insights into combining genjutsu with taijutsu, but I don't know how effective they'll be in actual combat. I've been wanting to find someone to spar with."
"…Sure."
Yuu dropped the topic of Tsunade's hemophobia and turned to look at Kurenai's expectant expression.
He nodded slightly.
"You helped quite a bit during the surgery. Consider this sparring session my thank-you gift."
Beside them, Tsunade glanced back and forth between Yuu and Kurenai with an amused smile.
She stretched lazily.
"Well, my hands have been itching for a fight these past two days anyway. Since I've got nothing better to do, why don't I help evaluate how much progress you two have made?"
Her gaze settled on Kurenai.
"I'm also curious to see how talented Shinku's daughter is."
"That's fine too."
Yuu didn't particularly care.
His current strength was already no weaker than Tsunade's.
There was no need to fear her testing him.
And from another perspective—
as an experienced jōnin born from a major clan, Tsunade's collection of ninjutsu still far exceeded his own.
If he could take this opportunity to squeeze another couple of new techniques or skins out of her, that would be a pretty good result.
Kurenai, on the other hand,
became visibly nervous.
She couldn't help feeling that her meager level probably wouldn't impress the strongest female ninja in the shinobi world.
If she couldn't even last a few moves later…
that would be rather embarrassing.
And Kurenai's premonition—
was soon proven completely correct.
Around ten minutes later.
At the sandy training field behind the Shakuka Town stronghold—
Bang—!
A dull impact of fist against flesh rang out.
Tsunade and Kurenai's figures crossed.
Tsunade casually shook out her wrist and looked toward Kurenai, who had fallen into a sitting position several meters away.
"Your combat awareness isn't bad.
"Your technique is somewhat interesting too.
"But…"
She paused.
"Your strength is simply far too weak.
"Any elite chūnin who specializes in taijutsu could probably knock the weapon out of your hands within a few exchanges."
"…"
Kurenai pushed herself upright with one hand.
She rubbed her numb arm while lightly biting her lip, saying nothing.
Taijutsu had always been one of her weaknesses.
Even though she had trained hard before and was already somewhat stronger than her counterpart in the original timeline,
she was still only around the lower-middle range among ninja her age.
That was why, under Yuu's suggestion, she had chosen to specialize in genjutsu and supplement it with taijutsu.
This kind of fighting style worked fairly well against genin and ordinary chūnin.
After all, ninja at those levels rarely specialized in genjutsu.
More precisely—
genjutsu specialists were already a minority to begin with.
Konoha only appeared to have many because the Uchiha clan inflated the numbers.
If Sharingan-wielding Uchiha were excluded,
then genjutsu specialists probably made up less than one-fifth of the ninja population.
They were a genuinely rare profession.
But…
against a ninja on Tsunade's level,
Kurenai's "genjutsu-taijutsu" fighting style was almost useless.
Tsunade saw through her feints effortlessly.
One casual block was enough to numb Kurenai's entire arm.
Then a simple shoulder throw sent her flying.
None of the follow-up techniques Kurenai had prepared ever got the chance to come out.
"Well, given your situation, you might actually be suited to learning Monster Strength."
Tsunade paused before adding,
"People who specialize in genjutsu generally have pretty good chakra control.
"If you can learn to condense chakra into a single point and release it explosively, it would compensate perfectly for your lack of physical strength."
"Huh?"
Kurenai's eyes immediately lit up.
Expectation appeared on her face.
"Lady Tsunade, do you mean…"
Was she going to accept Kurenai as a disciple?
That would be amazing—
"Don't overthink it."
Tsunade immediately saw through her thoughts and waved her hand.
"Training that brat over there, plus Shizune, is already tiring enough.
"I have no interest in taking another disciple."
She jerked her chin toward Yuu.
"If you want to learn it, ask him.
"If he's willing to teach you, I don't mind."
"…"
Yuu was currently leaning against a wooden post at the edge of the training field, reading through the Tobirama Secret Scrolls he had obtained from Tsunade.
Hearing their conversation, he helplessly looked up.
Under Kurenai's expectant gaze,
he nodded.
"Sure."
"Yes!"
Kurenai pumped a small fist in delight.
It was a little unfortunate that she couldn't become Tsunade's disciple.
But…
Yuu was even better.
Whether she could actually learn Monster Strength was secondary.
First and foremost, this gave her an excuse to spend more time with Yuu and cultivate their relationship.
Could Rin do that?
As expected, developing this genjutsu-taijutsu style really had been useful…
They had only exchanged a few more words
when hurried footsteps came from outside the training field.
Namikaze Minato, Yūhi Shinku, and Sarutobi Asuma were approaching together.
"Wow, it's pretty lively here."
Minato smiled in greeting.
"It's rare to see Lady Tsunade in the training grounds personally guiding juniors."
Tsunade snorted and folded her arms.
"Hmph. I'm still one of the Sannin, you know.
"Back on the battlefield, my performance was much better than that perverted teacher of yours.
"What's so strange about me appearing in a training field?"
She looked at the three of them.
"More importantly, why are all of you coming here together? Something happen?"
"Yes."
Minato nodded.
His gaze shifted toward Yuu.
"The situation along the southeastern defensive line has temporarily stabilized.
"The Uchiha—"
He paused.
"…Kirigakure doesn't appear to have any intention of launching another surprise attack for the time being."
"I plan to bring Rin back to the village as soon as possible and ask Kushina to reinforce her seal.
"The longer we delay, the greater the chance something unexpected happens."
Then he looked directly at Yuu.
"What do you plan to do?"
"You led the mission that rescued Rin.
"And that person was also someone you personally confronted and defeated.
"So it would probably be more appropriate for you to personally report everything to Lord Hokage."
Hearing Minato's words,
Yuu thought briefly before answering.
"Then let's choose a day sometime within the next few days and return together.
"After all, this battle involved the existence of that person.
"The village needs to know as soon as possible."
"That person" naturally referred to Uchiha Madara.
Minato and Tsunade both understood.
But Asuma and Kurenai were also present.
Information of this level wasn't something they should casually reveal to two chūnin.
So neither Minato nor Yuu openly explained the matter here.
They intended to wait until they returned to Konoha and personally tell Hiruzen and the others everything.
As for how the Konoha F3 would react once they learned the truth…
that was difficult to predict.
Still,
given Konoha's current strategic advantage on the battlefield, surely Hiruzen wouldn't do something like in the original timeline's Hyūga incident—
order Yuu to commit suicide and return the Six-Tails to Kirigakure just to calm their anger?
After a little more conversation,
Yūhi Shinku suddenly seemed to remember something.
He spoke in a teasing tone.
"Come to think of it, Minato, Yuu…
"you master and disciple have both become rather infamous lately."
"One is the 'White Reaper,' who has Sunagakure and Kirigakure trembling at the sound of his name."
"The other is the 'Yellow Flash,' who forced the Raikage to issue an order allowing his ninja to abandon missions on sight…"
Shinku smiled.
"I wonder—
between the two of you now, who's faster?"
"?"
Yuu froze.
Tsunade raised an eyebrow and joked,
"What's this, Shinku?
"Are you trying to incite a civil war between master and disciple?"
"Cough, cough… Lady Tsunade, that's putting it a little too seriously."
Shinku laughed awkwardly.
"I'm only curious.
"I've personally seen Yuu's speed before.
"And Minato's Flying Thunder God needs no introduction."
"A contest between two speed specialists like them…
"doesn't it sound interesting?"
Hearing that,
Minato stroked his chin.
He was clearly becoming interested as well.
Thinking about it—
he really hadn't seen Yuu and the others for quite some time.
The last time had been during the Chūnin Exams.
After that, Team Minato had been split in two.
Minato and Jiraiya were transferred to the Kumogakure front.
Yuu led Kakashi and the others to the Kirigakure front.
And afterward,
both sides had made names for themselves on their respective battlefields.
So Minato was genuinely curious about Yuu's current strength.
"How about…
"we give it a try?"
"Just a spar.
"We stop before anyone gets seriously hurt."
Minato smiled warmly at Yuu.
"Of course, if you don't want to, then forget I asked."
"…Alright."
Yuu nodded.
Before long,
an open area had been cleared in the training field.
Yuu and Minato stood opposite each other.
Besides Tsunade, Yūhi Shinku, and the others,
Kakashi and Obito had arrived as well.
So had Fugaku and several Uchiha.
Once word spread that the White Reaper and Yellow Flash were going to have a one-on-one match, quite a few people in the stronghold who had free time came running to watch.
Farther away,
someone had even secretly opened a betting pool on who would win.
Quite a few people were placing private wagers.
Tsunade clearly wanted to go over and place a couple bets herself.
But given the current environment—
and her status as one of the wartime commanders—
she ultimately forced herself to resist.
Still, her eyes kept drifting toward the gambling pool from the corner of her vision.
At least she could satisfy the craving by watching.
"Then…"
Minato spoke.
"Let's begin."
The instant his voice fell—
his figure vanished.
The next moment,
he reappeared beside a Flying Thunder God kunai roughly three meters from Yuu.
The kunai in his hand drew a golden arc through the air and stabbed straight toward Yuu's shoulder!
But one instant before the kunai could touch him—
Yuu's figure suddenly blurred.
Only an afterimage remained.
The kunai pierced through it, causing the image to fade like washed-out ink.
Yuu himself immediately appeared somewhere else.
His hand flicked forward.
Several shuriken flew out.
"Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh—!
One shuriken became two.
Two became four.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of black shadows rushed toward Minato!
Minato swung his kunai.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A rapid series of metallic impacts rang out as he deflected every shuriken.
Then he used Body Flicker to close the distance once again.
This time,
Yuu chose to meet him head-on.
The White Fang short blade transformed into a hazy mass of silver light.
Within moments,
Yuu and Minato were locked in close combat.
…
"So fast!"
"As expected of Yuu and Senior Minato!
"They're moving so quickly I can barely see them!"
At the edge of the field,
Kurenai and the others unconsciously widened their eyes and focused as hard as they could on every movement.
Too fast!
Everyone present already belonged among Konoha's most talented young ninja.
They had witnessed plenty of battles between experts before.
But even they needed to concentrate fully just to follow Yuu and Minato's spar.
And judging by the two fighters themselves—
they were still only warming up.
"Show me something more serious, Yuu!"
Minato said brightly while swinging his kunai.
"A fight at this level really isn't enough to be satisfying!"
"…Alright."
Yuu answered.
The next second—
both of them accelerated simultaneously.
Minato flicked one hand.
A large number of specially made kunai scattered in every direction, marking teleportation points across the field.
Yuu, meanwhile, formed a single hand seal with the hand not holding his sword.
In an instant,
multiple afterimages appeared around him.
"Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder—"
No.
Minato's voice rose clearly—
"Spiraling Flash Super Round Dance Howl Style Three!"
At almost the same moment,
Yuu moved.
"Instant Prison Shadow Killing Formation!"
Whoosh—!
At that instant,
it seemed as though dozens of Namikaze Minatos and dozens of Mikami Yuus had simultaneously appeared across the training field.
Their figures became two storms of different colors—
one gold,
one white—
and collided violently!
Kunai met short blade.
Sparks burst from every impact.
The air itself seemed to ignite, leaving behind a winding line of crimson fire.
In less than ten seconds,
the two had already exchanged nearly a thousand attacks.
Their true bodies.
Their clones.
The afterimages left behind by extreme speed.
At a glance, it looked as though hundreds of figures were appearing and disappearing all across the training field.
Combined with the winding, burning line of fire—
the sight was spectacular.
At this point,
Kurenai and Asuma could no longer follow the battle at all.
Yūhi Shinku could barely see fragments of it and had to use his combat experience to mentally reconstruct the rest.
Only Tsunade remained outwardly calm.
She crossed her arms, quietly channeled chakra into her eyes, narrowed them slightly—
and just barely managed to follow the movements on the field.
"Haa…"
A long exhale.
Yuu had already activated the basic Nerve Activation Technique.
With his enhanced eyesight, he could finally capture Minato's movements.
Even under these circumstances,
Yuu's reaction speed was still slightly inferior to Minato's.
The superiority of Minato's natural attributes was obvious.
However…
Yuu had cheats.
He intended to raise the difficulty a little and see how Minato would respond.
"Overload Pulse—Activate!"
"Monster Strength: Mad Gamble!"
As Yuu poured chakra into both techniques,
his movement speed and sword speed suddenly surged.
The next time his blade collided with Minato's kunai—
a massively increased burst of strength exploded outward!
Minato was forcibly knocked away.
Yuu immediately flashed backward to create distance.
Then—
his blade gently rotated through the air.
Whoosh—
Pale-blue flames rose along the edge.
They rapidly shaped themselves into two majestic dragons, spiraling toward one another!
"Ninja Art…"
"Twin Dragons Turning Destruction!"
~~~
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