Chapter 183: The Fat Sheep's Deliciousness is Unimaginable!
Under the full moon, how could Nara Keisuke ever underestimate Tsunade? Who didn't know the comprehensive strength of Konoha's—no, the entire ninja world's—number one medical ninja?
Tsunade gritted her teeth and pushed Keisuke back, but her breathing was already becoming ragged. Compared to her teammates Jiraiya and Orochimaru, Princess Tsunade, crippled by her hemophobia, had neglected her training for far too long. Although she hailed from the Senju clan, possessed far more chakra than an ordinary ninja, and still had precise chakra control, her power level had stalled at A-rank. And even that didn't mean she could still exert that power at her peak.
After that first barrage of punches, her chakra consumption had been astonishing. And though her reserves were still deep, Keisuke could tell from her ragged breathing exactly what her state was: she was already tired.
"Tsunade, is all you have left the strength to talk?" Keisuke continued to provoke her, shooting forward to press his advantage.
"Feeble! Feeble!"
He stopped abruptly, his right leg whipping up in a powerful high kick aimed at her upper body. Knowing his strength, Tsunade quickly raised her left arm to block his path.
Thud!
Keisuke's leg slammed into her arm. Her pale skin instantly turned red from the impact but just as quickly returned to normal under the power of her Yang Release chakra. To mitigate the damage, she was already healing herself.
"Caught you!" just like Keisuke had done to her, she grabbed his right leg. "Nara, I'm the one who taught you taijutsu!"
But just as she was about to use the opening to counter, a powerful, steel-like force suddenly wrapped around her body, rooting her to the spot.
"You're right... but when were you ever under the illusion that I only use taijutsu?"
Keisuke activated his Lacquer Eye. Dark tendrils shot from his leg, climbing up her arm and instantly enveloping her entire body.
Shadow Body Manipulation Technique!
His shadow connected to hers, and his Yin Release chakra poured across that intangible bridge, seizing complete control of her nervous system.
[A-Rank Technique: Shadow Body Manipulation Technique]
[Description: Turn shadow into threads, controlling the enemy like a puppet!]
[Effect: By infusing chakra into one's own shadow, the user can overlap it with a target's, allowing Yin Release chakra to connect to and forcibly control the target's nervous system and every move.]
[Evaluation: Marionette]
Keisuke wiggled the fingers of his right hand, and Tsunade's hand was forced to release his leg.
"This is a jutsu that controls the nervous system..." Tsunade instantly realized what he was using. "Your research combining shadow techniques and the nervous system... you actually did it."
Back when he was first developing his shadow arts, Keisuke had come to her more than once with questions about the human nervous system. She knew what he had been working on, but she never imagined he had already perfected it.
"If this were a real battlefield," Keisuke said, and as he flexed his fingers again, Tsunade's hands were forced to move toward her own neck. "You would have died once already, Tsunade."
"Let me go!" she choked, her hands on her own throat. "This doesn't count! Again!"
Keisuke obliged and released the jutsu.
"Body Pathway Derangement!" Tsunade seized the opportunity, instantly unleashing her self-developed technique at point-blank range. The Yang Release chakra transformed into invisible electrical signals, flooding his body to disrupt his motor control.
"What good is a technique like that against me?" Keisuke said, his Lacquer Eye meeting her brown gaze.
Genjutsu: Lacquer Eye!
With a single look, he froze her in place once again. Even if his body was paralyzed, her disadvantage was far greater.
"You're trapped in my illusion... again," his voice echoed in the mental space. "We both know your weakness. A simple D-rank genjutsu is enough to take you out of a fight. In this state, you can't even use pain to break free."
Tsunade's spirit was struck another heavy blow. "A visual genjutsu..." The inveterate gambler stubbornly refused to fold. "Let me go! This one doesn't count either! Again!"
He released her again. "That's twice now you've lost, Tsunade."
She refused to accept it and immediately leaped back to create distance. She was a close-combat fighter, but it was obvious Keisuke had the overwhelming advantage up close. His shadow techniques could control her body, and his visual genjutsu could control her mind. She decided to switch strategies and suppress him with ninjutsu. It was a little-known fact that while she excelled at medical ninjutsu, she also possessed five chakra natures: Fire, Lightning, Earth, Water, and Yang.
'Good. It looks like the fat sheep's attention is finally off her deadbeat teammate and teacher,' Keisuke thought, watching the stubborn woman as he calmly raised his hand.
Spiraling Shadow Binding Bullet!
Tsunade had never fought a truly serious Nara Keisuke before. She only knew the basics of his abilities. Seeing the black pellet, she dodged, but just like most of his opponents, she only dodged the bullet itself, not its shadow. The instant the projectile's shadow overlapped with her own, the technique activated, and black hands erupted, rooting her to the spot again.
"A seal-less, long-range Nara secret art..." Seeing Keisuke remain where he was, she knew he was letting her go again. The authority and pressure she had once held over him now felt like sand, crumbling away with each defeat. But her pride as one of the Sannin made her hold on. After "dying" three times in a row, she shouted in frustration, "This doesn't count! Again!"
The fourth time, she lost to his Spiraling Shadow Imitation Bullets.
The fifth time, she lost to the aerial suppression of his Shadow Creature.
The sixth time, she lost to a combination of his Flying Thunder God Technique and shadow arts.
After six consecutive, instantaneous losses, the fat sheep finally broke. "Last time!" she yelled, eyes red, chest heaving. "Last time! Taijutsu only!"
Keisuke, his expression calm, simply beckoned her forward.
Tsunade roared and charged, all her fighting spirit focused into this one attack. Keisuke watched her approach, watched her fist draw back, and from the shadow beneath his feet, an enormous black fist of his own shot out.
BOOM!
Her punch shattered the shadow construct, but as she pushed through, a second, larger shadow hand swatted her from the side. The giant black palm whistled through the air. Tsunade, caught completely off guard, barely had time to curl into a ball and shield her head as it struck her.
WHAM!
The force of the blow was immense. Tsunade was sent flying like a cannonball, skipping across the river several times before she finally managed to stop and stand. As she wobbled in the pouring rain of the splash, the half-body of the Black Samurai loomed over her.
"What... what is that...?" she breathed in defeat.
"Like you said. Taijutsu," Keisuke replied from within the giant construct as it drew back its fist.
"Stop..." Tsunade whispered, her voice like it was floating on a cloud. "I lose..."
[You have defeated the A-Rank Ninja Battle Mission target!]
[You have obtained one A-Rank [Shinobi Secret Scroll]!]
Keisuke controlled the Black Samurai, stopping its punch mid-swing. It changed from a fist to an open palm, reached down, and gently lifted Tsunade, bringing her back to his main body. The black giant dissolved into the air.
The soaked and battered Tsunade looked at him, a smile of pure relief spreading across her face. "I lost, Nara. I lost completely." Having said that, her strength gave out, and she began to fall backward. A net of soft shadow tendrils wove itself beneath her, catching her.
Lying on the shadow hammock, she looked up at him. He walked over, bent down, and lifted her into his arms.
"Nara!" she instinctively grabbed his shirt, a rare vulnerability in her voice. "What are you doing?"
He simply created a Shadow Creature and flew them both to the top of Uchiha Madara's giant stone statue. Standing on Madara's head, they looked across the ravine at the statue of Hashirama Senju.
"I'm not very good at giving lectures," Keisuke said, looking down at the woman in his arms, then back at her great-uncle's statue. "I can roughly understand why you're in so much pain. Your hemophobia, your family, your responsibilities... and now your teammates and your teacher have been added to that list. But the truth is, when your power reaches a certain level—like the First Hokage over there, or the Uchiha Madara beneath our feet—none of those things are problems anymore."
"My great-uncle?" Tsunade glanced at the statue and shook her head. "Nara, his strength is on a level I can never hope to reach..."
Keisuke asked softly, "What about me?"
"You... I don't know..." Tsunade looked at him, speechless, then clutched his shirt. "But I have something I want to say to you right now."
"Can you say it mouth-to-mouth?" Keisuke lowered his head and kissed his fat sheep.
The notification from his panel obscured the view from the Valley of the End.
[Opening...]
[Contents of this A-Rank Ninja Secret Scroll: Technique]
[A-Rank Technique: Yin Healing Wound Destruction]
[Description: Before the enemy's attack even lands, negate the damage with healing!]
[Effect: By accurately predicting an enemy's attack trajectory, the user sends a sufficient amount of Yang Release chakra to the target location before impact, allowing the body to heal the damage the instant it is received and reducing the injury to an absolute minimum.]
[Evaluation: Was this also part of your calculation?]
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