Chapter 73: Master vs Student (73)
Time skip.
Seijuro could be seen carefully removing the poison from the man's bloodstream, guiding the poison outside of the man's body. Seijuro watched as more and more poison was extracted.
This was quite draining.
"We're running out of medicinal herbs," Seijuro muttered. Tsunade was seen making sure the guy was alive—he was.
His heart was beating and all that shit.
He was breathing. All was good.
All eight of Seijuro's shadow clones poofed away at this moment. 300 patients a day... 300 patients a fucking day.
Every day, Lady Shiho would find a new poison. Every single day, she would use a different one—the latest of which had no known cure. That was why Tsunade had memorized every single flower and animal that was native to Suna, and had Seijuro memorize that shit too.
They tested everything, until something stuck.
Looking at the little pill in his hand, he groaned a bit.
He was a bit tired. He barely had time to practice anything else. It had been three months.
Three. Fucking. Months of just this.
Couldn't Suna just fuck off?
Well, to be fair, his physical stats hadn't gone up much. However, his skills—thanks to 100 shadow clones practicing—were increasing every day.
Seijuro's hands sparked with lightning.
Tsunade raised an eyebrow. Seijuro touched the man's chest, sending a jolt of electricity through his veins.
The man's heart stopped for a second... before restarting.
"His heartbeat was beating abnormally. It was going at 40 bpm—that... isn't normal."
He explained his reasoning for shutting off the man's heartbeat and restarting it again.
"So you clinically restarted it?"
"Yes."
She didn't say much, just lay on a nearby chair. Life wasn't that good.
Shinobi life wasn't as flashy as others made it out to be.
"How's your progress on your Strength of a Hundred Seal?" she asked, looking at her student.
Seijuro unbuttoned his shirt slightly, showcasing the seal on his chest.
She walked closer, her gaze staring at it, her finger hovering over the seal.
Her eyes widened.
"You... were able to finish it?"
She was shocked. How? Sure, he was a prodigy, but how?
"Originally, I planned on using 20% of my chakra for it. However, after having to face some Jōnin from Iwa, I realized my lack of chakra was a problem. And thus, after every mission—while resting—I poured all of my chakra into the seal. Sometimes as much as 90%. When a day was uneventful, 100% of my chakra was poured into it... speeding up the process."
Seijuro looked at his sensei.
Tsunade looked at her student. Hm. With the Strength of a Hundred Seal, his Chūnin rank should be closer to Jōnin.
As to why Seijuro completed the seal earlier... to explain his boost in chakra. That was it.
That was it.
'I knew he was a genius... but this kid's potential...'
Tsunade was stunned. To think the boy managed to master such a technique.
Suddenly, an idea came to her.
She was at a stalemate with Shiho. Sure, she could kill the woman if given the chance, but that bitch was so slippery—especially with her brother double-teaming her.
The Third Kazekage still hadn't come to the battlefield. This was as good a time as any to make a move on Suna.
She smiled as she looked at her student.
"Let's spar. I want to see your progress," she said, dragging the boy away—not even giving him time to say yes or no.
The nurse watching Tsunade pull Seijuro away felt some kind of pity for the poor boy. The man, meanwhile, felt jealous. How could he?
How dare he be with their goddess—Lady Tsunade—and her amazing personality?
Tsunade dragged him somewhere semi-far from the camp.
Tossing him into the sand, she smiled.
"Sensei, is it really necessary for us to fight here?" he asked, looking at the monster that was his Sensei.
"It's been a while since I tested you to see where you stand," she proclaimed.
"Now show me the fruit of your labor. And if I find out you were holding back, or if I'm not satisfied with what I see, you'll stay in the medic area for the remainder of your time here."
Seijuro's eyes got serious.
Oh fuck no.
He wanted to move his limbs around.
"I understand," he said calmly.
Tsunade cracked her knuckles.
Wouldn't this be fun?
She got into a stance, and so did he. Taking out his sword, he looked at her, the blade glinting in the sun.
The Genjutsu shattered before it even reached her. Jeez, that chakra control...
"If you're not coming at me, then let me come to you," she said, Shunshining in front of him, her fist cocked back.
She threw a punch.
Seijuro, being the smart boy he was, used the Shunshin no Jutsu to avoid the blow.
He landed a couple meters away.
"Your reaction time has gotten better," Tsunade said with a smile.
"Good."
She rushed toward him once more—yeah, fuck this.
His hands quickly went through hand seals:
Tiger → Dragon → Hare → Tiger
Opening his mouth, he said:
"Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu"
Taking in a deep breath, he launched massive fireballs toward Tsunade.
She simply cocked her fist back and, under his stunned eyes, punched the fireball. Damn. Hardcore.
As she was gaining on him, he went through some hand seals.
"Doton: Doryūheki"
Slamming his hand into the floor, an earth wall appeared in front of him.
Tsunade didn't care. Once more, with brute strength, she punched through the wall, destroying it easily.
He was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's the cheeky bugger?" she asked, looking around.
Only to feel a hand around her leg.
She felt herself being pulled into the sand.
Yeah, fuck that.
Seijuro watched as a decent chunk of where she stood was destroyed under the might of her kick.
His clone stood no chance at all.
Yeah, it was time to burst out the seal.
Making the Ram hand seal... he released the seal.
Seijuro felt so much chakra pouring out of his body... oh, just so much.
His cells were being stuffed to the brim with energy.
Fuck yes.
Tsunade appeared in front of him.
"Don't lose track of your opponent," she said, slamming her fist into his gut.
Seijuro's eyes widened a bit as he was sent flying, crashing into several dunes.
Tsunade looked at the chaos she created. Hm, he'd be fine. She held back.
Her senses screamed at her. She turned around just in time to dodge a punch from him.
Cheeky bugger. He had used the Headhunter Jutsu to go underground while making it seem like he was releasing the seal.
Blocking the kick he sent afterward, she attempted to slam him into the sand—but the boy was quicker.
He used her chest as a stepping stone, jumping off her breasts, gaining quite some distance.
He got about 30 feet into the air.
While there, he rapidly went through some hand seals:
Tiger → Ram → Horse → Bird → Wind-style Clap → Tiger
"Katon: Gouen Ryuusha no Jutsu"
(Fire Style: Great Flame Dragon Chariot Technique)
Seijuro spewed out a massive amount of flames toward Tsunade, and since they were in a desert, it made the flame even more potent. The heat already present was really working wonders.
Tsunade actually dodged this attack.
'What kind of jutsu was that?' she thought, a thoughtful look on her face. She had never seen nor heard of any jutsu of the sort.
Such intense heat...
While she was distracted, two Seijuro clones came at her from either side. She simply smiled, grabbing the head of the first one and slamming him into the other clone. Hard.
Hard enough for both clones to vanish.
Seijuro rushed at her. She rushed at him, chakra coating her hands. She parried Seijuro's sword strike with her chakra-coated palm.
Damn.
Though she noticed a decent number of cuts appearing on her body. His fighting style—it was making her second-guess her judgment. Making his sword seem shorter than it actually was.
Or longer. Sometimes even thicker or thinner.
It was very dangerous indeed.
As Seijuro rushed at Tsunade, she smiled, clashing with the boy, the seal on his chest pumping chakra into his body.
Seijuro began picking up on a few things—on how exactly Tsunade's punches were so powerful.
Seijuro tossed a kunai at Tsunade. She tilted her head, dodging it, and rushed at him.
Then she heard it—the sign of lightning. Turning around, she was just a second too late as Seijuro's clone, with lightning coating his hand, was mere inches from her back.
As his hand made contact with her—
The lightning had fizzled out.
What hadn't fizzled out, however—
BAM
KO
Winner... Tsunade Senju.