"Kushina, your origin determines that you're essentially different from ordinary ninja, and your talent further distinguishes you from average Uzumaki shinobi. Simply put, your starting point as a ninja is already far ahead of ninety percent of your peers."
Inside the upper level of Kagenami Base, filled with pillars and crossbeams, Haseo was speaking face-to-face with Kushina Uzumaki.
This kind of enclosed underground space wasn't suitable for use as a training field. Although protected by barriers, excessive commotion might easily cause structural damage leading to the entire space collapsing.
In that case, everyone here would be buried alive—together in life, together in death... Though such consequences could only result from extremely fierce battles, obviously Kushina's training wouldn't reach that level.
Unless Haseo, her teacher, suddenly snapped.
"So that's why Lady Mito picked me, Lord Haseo?"
Kushina asked like this. Between Lady Mito's words and Haseo's explanation, she'd been considered someone special repeatedly emphasized until now; only then did she herself seem to realize this fact.
No wonder ordinary folks can't beat me—I'm either done thrashing someone or on my way to do it... Kushina silently summarized her school life experiences.
"Yes. Even just considering your chakra reserves alone, even as you are now, you've already surpassed most matured ninja. Although sheer quantity isn't enough to measure a shinobi's strength, it certainly plays a major role in determining their ceiling—and furthermore, your chakra quality is also unique," Haseo continued explaining.
Saying Kushina's potential exceeds ninety percent of ninja must surely be a conservative estimate. This world values lineage and ancestry greatly, and the ancestors of the Uzumaki clan were naturally the most formidable ones.
Exactly how much chakra does a matured ninja in their thirties or forties possess? It's nearly impossible to measure exactly. Yet saying that Kushina now surpasses most experienced ninja in this regard definitely isn't exaggerated... The phrase "Jonin-level chakra" actually makes no sense since there's no such standard, but at least it could be said that if we ignored all other traits of Kushina and focused solely on current chakra capacity, she's qualified to be a Jonin.
Moreover, her chakra is itself special—a type capable of suppressing the Nine-Tails' chakra. This stems from the power of both the Senju and Uzumaki clans. Fundamentally, they stem from the Sage of Six Paths' immortal body—representing yang energy, the positive force in the duality.
Vigorous vitality, massive chakra reserves, unimaginable growth potential—these are exactly the things most ninja dream of possessing yet come naturally to them.
Kushina hasn't even reached eight years old yet. She still has a very long time ahead of her during which she'll keep growing.
"So that's why you and Lady Mito started training me so early, Lord Haseo?"
On one hand, the praise and attention from elders made Kushina happy, while on the other hand, it made her aware of something else too—though she couldn't quite put it into words yet.
"That's right. Talent is one thing, but ability and strength are another matter entirely. In some ways, talent determines a ninja's upper limit, while hard work and learning determine the baseline.
You weren't supposed to be this anxious originally, but nobody can guarantee how much longer Lady Mito will be able to hold on..."
Haseo scratched his head. He suddenly realized he'd said something off—not because the meaning was wrong, but the way he put it just didn't fit.
He was speaking to Kushina as if she were an adult, yet the problem was that she was just a child—Haseo wasn't good at communicating with kids.
Look at those innocent eyes! Why was he being so serious and stiff, acting as awkward as a socially clueless nerd?
But he couldn't help it. After all, he had never truly experienced childhood himself.
"Cough, anyway, only through training that closely resembles actual combat can you quickly learn how to use chakra."
At this moment, Haseo actually became someone who was "quick in action, yet reserved in speech."
Apparently, even the mighty Haseo had met his match when it came to kids, especially when the child before him wasn't even particularly mischievous.
"Combat?"
"Yes, exactly—an actual confrontation. From now on, you'll launch attacks against me. There are no restrictions regarding ninjutsu or taijutsu; you can use any means necessary… You're always roughhousing with your classmates anyway, so show even more ferocity than you normally do."
Kushina blushed slightly. It seemed like everyone knew she enjoyed picking fights with her classmates. But then again, she suddenly realized something—hadn't it been Haseo himself who taught her how to fight back against them?
Kushina felt embarrassed.
"I understand, Lord Haseo."
Combat, combat—Kushina roughly understood what she needed to do. However, facing off against Haseo was nothing like confronting her schoolmates; pouncing on him like a cat going after prey wasn't really an option due to their size difference.
After thinking for a moment, she drew a kunai from her ninja tool pouch.
Well, this was indeed a dangerous weapon. However, if Haseo got injured by something like a kunai thrown by Kushina… he might as well pack it in.
Haseo was quite satisfied with her decisive action of drawing her weapon immediately. Still, he had no intention of making it that easy for Kushina to approach him… Or rather, her first task during this training was simply getting close enough to him.
A Katsuyu crawled behind Haseo and climbed onto his shoulder. Immediately afterward, a powerful, savage, and heavily negative chakra abruptly erupted.
This was Nine-Tails' chakra—but unlike the naturally diffused kind emitted by the Nine-Tails itself, this was a concentrated, localized burst, far more difficult to endure.
Especially for Kushina, who'd never been exposed to anything like this before, such overwhelmingly brutal, murderous, and hostile chakra was definitely beyond what she could easily withstand.
In her eyes, Haseo was no longer the amiable person he had been before—he now appeared ready to carry out a massacre at any moment… At this moment, Haseo probably looked scarier to her than Orochimaru did when later generations of kids first met him.
Under this overwhelming mental pressure filled with malice, Kushina had nowhere to escape.
She...felt cold despite the sweltering weather, and her entire body trembled.
"Don't retreat. Keep moving forward."
As Kushina instinctively tried to step back, Haseo immediately said this.
"Focus your chakra. This isn't something you can't resist...Rather, it should be something your chakra easily overcomes."
As he spoke, Haseo subtly weakened his oppressive presence.
Kushina's raised foot was firmly pressed back down to the ground. Haseo's words reminded her that "Lord Haseo" remained "Lord Haseo"—this was just another training session after all.
"Yes, Lord Haseo."
She clenched her teeth tightly. After mentally encouraging herself repeatedly, she finally took one step forward. Then...dizziness hit her, and she could barely hold herself together anymore.
In theory, Kushina's chakra should've been able to handle even the Nine-Tails' power. Yet in this kind of negative suppression, simply focusing her chakra wasn't easy at all—so how could she even talk about resistance?
Kushina's beginner training under Haseo was anything but smooth—he likely trained the same way himself...When Katsuyu taught him sensing and drawing out natural energy, he had it far worse than Kushina did now.
And when he learned his first ninjutsu, the training got even tougher—way beyond what he'd gone through with natural energy.
So...yeah, this fine tradition continued.
The young Kushina was drenched in cold sweat, fighting to stay on her feet. At this moment, Haseo didn't immediately stop what seemed like an exaggerated exercise—he was an animal lover, not a children's rights advocate.
Only after five minutes did he cease the release.
"Alright, take a short rest."
As the pressure lifted, Kushina collapsed to the ground.
To Haseo's satisfaction, Kushina never let go of her weapon—not once, even through that nightmare of a session. Refusing to give in to fear even in the face of terror—that was the true spirit of a ninja...
However, this was just Haseo giving himself too much credit. Like a drowning person grabbing at anything, Kushina had simply unconsciously held onto the weapon in her hand.
"Lord Haseo, I...I didn't do well enough..."
After a while, Kushina recovered somewhat and realized she hadn't accomplished anything during that training session.
"It's okay. We'll proceed step by step."
Yes, fellow student Haseo called this kind of training "step by step."
"Everyone fears something. Especially artificially created pressure like this. As long as you don't have a mental breakdown or faint on the spot, you're considered qualified...Kushina, your immediate goal is to withstand this chakra pressure and then fight me."
"Does...Lord Haseo also have things he fears?"
The little girl ultimately needs to be more delicate; she requires communication and guidance.
Thankfully for her, this was a girl going through the drill. If it had been a boy...well, let's just say the experience might've been *even worse*.
"Certainly, and I fear many things—like syringes with thin needles, dentists, and death itself...and also casinos."
"A casino?"
Kushina muttered like this repeatedly, but what she failed to grasp was that the things Haseo feared seemed to lack any coherent logic.
"Yeah, a casino is somehow more terrifying than death itself..." Haseo didn't elaborate further on why he feared casinos. He simply continued, "Are you rested enough? If you're ready, training resumes now."
It was beneficial for Kushina to start experiencing Nine-Tails' chakra early on, even though the current pressure felt almost crushing. Haseo's training felt downright grueling. However... for a child destined to become a jinchuriki, these were merely small preparations for both body and mind.
After all, no matter how harsh Haseo might be, he was still far more lenient than any Tailed Beast...
And none of the Tailed Beasts were human to begin with.
P.S. It goes like this: cough, about the activity in the review section.
A large portion of the students' posts weren't formatted correctly—they failed to include the [Daily] tag in their titles. As a result, the system did not count them as valid entries, and Qidian Coins couldn't be distributed through the backend system.
The correct way is to click "Post Comment" and then go to the lower-right corner to add a title; only titles added this way will work. Now, only four posts have been properly formatted. Participants, please check your own posts to make sure they follow the required format, to prevent missing out on Qidian Coins.
The top three out of these four qualifying participants will receive a share of the Qidian Coins. Folks, isn't it not too bad of a chance to win?
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