"Lady Tsunade?" Kyuushin asked, a little surprised to see her.
Although Tsunade was technically grounded by Mito, many things had happened recently. Mito had been far too busy to supervise her, so Tsunade had been slacking off. Even though they lived in the same house, Kyuushin had barely seen her.
"What's with that look?" Tsunade asked, a hint of displeasure in her voice.
In truth, Tsunade had come looking for him. Although she hadn't left the house, she had heard about the recent events. As his prospective teacher, she felt it was her duty to guide him. Tsunade had similar experiences in her own past. When she was young, her grandfather had already passed away, and then the First Great Ninja War erupted. The Senju Clan had always been the main force in Konoha's military. Although the war was eventually won, the cost was immense. Her grand-uncle, her parents, and many clan members she knew had perished in the fighting. After that, the Senju Clan went into seclusion, and the family completely abandoned their surname. Even she, a direct descendant, gave up the Senju name. The once-great Senju Clan had become a thing of the past in Konoha.
Tsunade's childhood and adolescence were marked by repeated losses, so she understood this feeling very well. That was why she specifically took the time today to talk to him. However, looking at Kyuushin now, he did not seem as devastated as she had imagined.
"You don't seem very sad," she observed.
"Of course I'm sad," Kyuushin replied, glancing at her. "But being sad won't solve anything. The Uzumaki bloodline isn't extinct, and that's already a very good outcome."
Tsunade nodded. How many ninja clans throughout history had been swallowed by the river of time? The Uzumaki could indeed be considered lucky. However, she only understood this truth when she was almost an adult, unlike Kyuushin, who possessed such insight at his young age.
"Alright, it's good that you can think that way." Tsunade crossed her arms, studying him for a moment before changing the subject. "What kind of ninja do you want to become in the future?" She then clarified, "I'm not asking about your dream, but what style of ninja you want to be. For example, I specialize in medical ninjutsu and taijutsu. Or consider Jiraiya, that boisterous, white-haired man you saw at the barbecue shop last time; he primarily uses ninjutsu. Have you thought about this question?"
Although he didn't know why Tsunade was asking, he had indeed thought about it before. Conventional ninja are generally divided into three types: ninjutsu specialists, taijutsu specialists, and genjutsu specialists, with various sub-branches within each. If possible, Kyuushin naturally wanted to master them all. He had the Gene Lock, so he wasn't afraid of learning too much, only of having too few methods. But he also knew this was impractical. Each path requires an immense amount of time to reach its peak.
Fortunately, the second and third stages of the Gene Lock primarily enhanced the physical body and spirit, so he wouldn't need to spend as much effort on taijutsu and genjutsu for now. Once his Gene Lock level increased, he would naturally reach a high level in those areas. Thus, the area he needed to focus on learning was ninjutsu.
"I think I'd prefer to be a ninjutsu specialist, focusing on sealing jutsu and nature transformation techniques," he replied.
Tsunade nodded. The Uzumaki clan possessed vast chakra, and focusing on ninjutsu could indeed unleash powerful might. "Good, that's a solid direction. However, I want to emphasize that taijutsu is the foundation of a ninja. In most one-on-one battles, the outcome is decided by taijutsu. Your physique is also very good, so you shouldn't neglect it. I have a taijutsu technique that can multiply your physical power, and it's very suitable for you. Do you want to learn it?"
Tsunade had already considered what she could teach a future disciple. Her specialties were medical ninjutsu and taijutsu. It wasn't urgent to teach medical ninjutsu, and he might not even be interested, so that left taijutsu. The technique she knew, which she simply called the Monstrous Strength Fist, could unleash immense power through chakra amplification, capable of shattering mountains with ease. With this fist technique, she rarely used ninjutsu against enemies. A single powerful blow could overcome many techniques; no matter the ninjutsu, she would simply break it with one punch.
Hearing Tsunade offer to teach him, Kyuushin naturally nodded with excitement. With her taijutsu, he would also have a powerful trump card.
Seeing his excited expression, Tsunade finally sighed with a hint of emotion, thinking, *this is how a child should be*.
However, to avoid disheartening him, she explained in advance, "Although this technique of mine is called taijutsu, its most crucial aspect is the coordination of chakra. Therefore, it requires extremely precise chakra control. You need to be mentally prepared for that."
"I've already learned tree climbing and water walking. I wonder if that's enough?" Kyuushin asked.
Tsunade knew this; Nawaki had told her before. But she still shook her head. "Tree climbing and water walking are merely basics. If we use a hundred points to represent the degree of chakra control, learning those is just a passing grade. It only means you can use some conventional ninjutsu. Many advanced ninjutsu require higher control. For example, casting genjutsu requires at least a seventy, and medical ninjutsu must reach eighty or more. In short, the more precise the chakra control, the better; there is no upper limit. And with this taijutsu of mine, the more precise your control, the greater the power it can unleash."
She shouted, "Watch closely!"
In a swift movement, she appeared before a stone easily twice her height and punched it directly. From Kyuushin's perspective, Tsunade had no chakra overflowing from her body, and her fist seemed to be just an ordinary, fair hand.
However, in the very next moment.
"Boom!"
As if struck by a high-explosive tag, the entire boulder shattered into pieces under her fist. Large and small fragments of rock scattered like falling petals into every corner of the training ground. Even some smaller trees nearby were snapped in half by the flying debris, a testament to the terrifying explosive power of that single punch.
Kyuushin witnessed such a scene for the first time in person. Although he had tried to prepare himself mentally, the sight still left him utterly astonished.
Seeing that her display had stunned Kyuushin into silence, Tsunade nodded with satisfaction.