Bang, bang, bang…
The sound of bodies colliding rang out again and again.
The scene shifts from a noisy street to a deserted forest.
An abandoned training ground, left unused for years—wooden posts broken and rotting, weeds everywhere.
On a patch of ground they'd cleared out themselves, a boy and a girl were locked in a taijutsu duel so fierce it was insane for kids their age.
There was no "boys should go easy on girls," no hesitation—both of them fought with their bodies and their brains. The moment one gained an advantage, they unleashed a storm of blows, like they wanted to beat the other into a bruised mess.
The two children were Gojo Yoru and Uzumaki Kushina.
Of the two, Kushina was obviously the one covered in more injuries. Her cute round face was dotted with bruises, and her hair and clothes were smeared with dust and footprints.
Yoru, on the other hand, only had some dust on his clothes—no bruises on his face at all.
But if you looked closely, you'd see Yoru's expression was unusually serious.
His whole body was tense, like he was facing a real threat.
Because Kushina had entered berserk mode—showing off Uzumaki talent with reckless abandon, tanking Yoru's hits and trying to trade injuries for injuries.
Against Kushina's wild "turtle punches" and bull-like charges, Yoru kept backing up, constantly dodging.
He had to.
Last time, when Yoru got careless, he took a furious punch head-on and almost puked up everything he'd eaten the day before.
If he used Body Flicker, he could hang Kushina up and toy with her however he wanted.
Even without Body Flicker, he could still pin her down with superior reaction speed and beat her.
But once Kushina stopped caring about pain, the situation flipped—and Yoru became the one getting suppressed.
That was the gap in talent.
Senju, Uzumaki, Kaguya, Hyuga, Uchiha… these five families tied to the Ōtsutsuki—this was the kind of absurd talent they had.
Awaken the family bloodline, and you could casually become a prodigy in taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, sealing, sensing, and medicine.
Bring that potential fully out, and you'd become a master in those fields.
Kushina still hadn't awakened the Uzumaki clan's unique abilities, yet she'd already shown the makings of a future "steel-fist" master.
But that future master was breaking down right now.
"Gaaah! Can you stop dodging?! If you've got the guts, let me hit you once!" Kushina snarled, so angry her hair practically defied gravity.
Yoru snorted. "If you can't hit me, that just means you're weak. Go train some more."
Seeing the smug look on Yoru's face, Kushina clenched her teeth again.
But then, as if she thought of something, she suddenly crossed her arms and sneered. "Go ahead—be as cocky as you want right now. One day you'll be the one crying."
Yoru's brows knit. He waved her over with a worried look. "Come here, let me check you. Sorry… it's my fault I hit too hard and broke your brain."
"Gojo Yoru, you bastard!"
Kushina charged him—only for Yoru to press a hand on her forehead with his "long arms," and no matter how she swung her little fists, she couldn't reach him.
After some roughhousing, Yoru healed Kushina again.
The way Kushina cooperated and the familiarity of it all made it clear a long time had passed since their first match.
"Tomorrow's the final exam. What are you going to do over break?" Kushina asked on the way back.
Her expectant expression was practically a hint.
Yoru ignored it completely and calmly said two words: "Train."
"You training maniac. All you ever do is train," Kushina complained—then still added, "Bring me with you."
Yoru kept his cool, saying nothing.
But Kushina already understood his personality—this silence was consent.
So she became full of anticipation for vacation… and full of motivation to get stronger.
Noticing her shift, Yoru laughed to himself.
This way of getting along was deliberate on his part. The goal wasn't only to show the higher-ups that he was "changing"—more importantly, it was to push Kushina to grow stronger.
Because as a transmigrator, no one understood better than Yoru that after the Second Great Ninja War ended, the next era should practically be named "Uzumaki."
In this era, there were two seeds of "beyond-Kage" strength—both Uzumaki descendants.
Those two seeds were Nagato and Uzumaki Kushina.
One transplanted the Rinnegan. The other would become the jinchūriki of the complete Nine-Tails.
If those two hadn't both willingly become someone else's subordinate—and been heavily nerfed—the "protagonists" of the Third Great Ninja War wouldn't have been Namikaze Minato and the A–B duo at all.
A healthy Nagato, with at least six nature transformations, wouldn't need to split his power into six bodies. He alone could wield the Six Paths of Pain, summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and unleash chakra dragons that killed on contact.
Other than sealing techniques and space–time abilities, there was nothing that truly countered him.
Meanwhile, Kushina—living with the Senju—had the right to learn Senju secret arts and the inheritance of Uzumaki sealing techniques. In the future, she would be a steel-fist master and a sealing master.
If she awakened physical regeneration, she'd become a medical saint even stronger than Tsunade—able to pull someone back as long as they still had a breath left.
With Adamantine Sealing Chains, a hard counter to tailed beasts, becoming a perfect jinchūriki was basically guaranteed.
Naruto with only half of Kurama plus Sage Mode was already beyond-Kage tier.
Kushina as the jinchūriki of the complete Nine-Tails would only be stronger.
And if she also learned Sage Mode, her ceiling would be an upgraded Uzumaki Mito.
With potential like that, how could Yoru possibly let Kushina become just a decorative vase?
He was going to raise Kushina into a super powerhouse—his strongest right hand.
…
Konoha Year 33, December 23.
For the Ninja Academy, this was another special day.
Because today was the last day of the second term.
Grades one through six were also facing their end-of-term exams.
Morning was still written tests for academic subjects.
In the afternoon, it was combat class.
The academy's combat curriculum was divided into three stages.
First and second years were the first stage.
In this stage, combat class only included shuriken throwing and taijutsu duels. For shuriken throwing, they only received real tools during final exams—during normal days they used pebbles instead.
Third and fourth years were the second stage.
In this stage, in addition to survival drills, both throwing and taijutsu duels were upgraded.
Shuriken throwing gained an extra category: kunai throwing.
And taijutsu duels became a "pseudo no-rules duel," approaching the third stage.
What is a no-rules duel?
It means anything goes: Three Basic Techniques, elemental ninjutsu, genjutsu, Body Flicker, bloodline limits, kunai and other tools… if you have it, you can use it.
It was the academy's strictest—and most unfair—exam, designed to simulate a life-or-death battlefield fight.
For taijutsu duels, there was only one ordinary medic-nin on standby.
For no-rules duels, besides the teacher acting as referee, there had to be two medic-nin present who could use the Mystical Palm Technique.
But that kind of exam was only for fifth and sixth years. The third–fourth year "pseudo no-rules duel" still couldn't use weapons or elemental ninjutsu.
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 70 Chapters Ahead of Others!