Chapter 94 — Tsunade's Reserves and Her Warning (Double Length Chapter)
With a puff of white smoke, the familiar slug appeared atop the table.
"Taichi-sama."
"Hey, Katsuyu! Is it a letter from Tsunade-sensei?" Taichi asked eagerly.
"Yes!"
As the slug's body rippled, a scroll and a letter emerged from within and dropped neatly onto the table.
Taichi picked them up, glanced at both, then opened the letter first.
He skimmed past the opening—Tsunade's habitual mix of greetings and complaints—and moved on to updates about her recent situation.
For example: she had lost another five hundred thousand ryō gambling over the past two days and was currently hiding out in the Land of Waves to dodge debt collectors.
Also: Shizune had been making great progress lately, so Taichi shouldn't slack off—or he might get surpassed.
Then came the real highlight.
Tsunade had prepared a batch of basic ninjutsu for him.
Not Fire Release jutsu.
But basic jutsu from all five chakra natures.
Taichi jumped up in pure excitement—nothing less could vent how thrilled he was. For the first time, he truly felt the advantage of having a good teacher, especially one with such deep scholarly roots.
Further down, Tsunade expressed approval of Taichi's plan to specialize in Fire Release and offered some guidance. While she herself wasn't proficient in elemental ninjutsu, her experience and insight far surpassed Taichi's.
As for his desire to raise the temperature of his Fire Release, Tsunade cut straight to the core of the issue:
How high a temperature have you actually seen?
If you've never witnessed it, how can you hope to create it?
That question struck Taichi squarely between the eyes.
Across both his past and present lives, the highest temperature he'd ever personally experienced was probably the flame of a household gas stove—just a few hundred degrees at most. Anything hotter existed only as abstract knowledge, with no real sensory frame of reference.
Realizing he was drifting off, Taichi refocused and read the final part of the letter.
Here, Tsunade warned him to be extremely cautious of one person: Danzō Shimura.
She had likely inferred from Taichi's hints that Danzō had interfered with the previous mission, and so urged him to stay vigilant.
Taichi felt a warm surge of gratitude—followed immediately by a surge of disgust.
Danzō really was like a green-headed fly: wherever something went wrong, he was always buzzing nearby.
Taichi carefully folded Tsunade's letter and placed it in a drawer already holding several of her replies.
Then he took out paper and brush and began writing back.
---
Dear Tsunade-sensei,
He started with a generous dose of flattery, followed by sincere thanks for the jutsu materials and guidance, which had greatly increased his training efficiency.
He made a point of expressing gratitude for her warning about Danzō and promised to stay alert against any schemes.
Finally, he presented his latest research outcomes—
The Monster-Strength Version of Body Flicker.
Yes. After four days of crashing, tumbling, and relentless experimentation, Taichi had finally completed the technique that very morning.
The results were remarkable.
As long as one possessed sufficient chakra control—and their dynamic vision and neural response could keep up—this version of Body Flicker could unleash speeds far beyond physical limits, and it could be used repeatedly.
Its only flaw was extreme chakra consumption.
But that wasn't a real issue. Under normal conditions, the original Body Flicker would suffice. The Monster-Strength version would be reserved for emergencies.
According to Taichi's testing, when used at full output, this new technique increased his speed by nearly 50 percent, without sacrificing control—and it wasn't a one-time burst.
This single improvement alone had dramatically elevated his combat power.
Taichi wrote at length—over ten full pages—detailing the theory, mechanics, training requirements, and precautions of the technique.
After carefully folding the thick stack of pages and sealing them in an envelope, he handed it to the slug crawling around nearby.
"Sorry to trouble you again, Katsuyu. I need your help delivering this."
In her gentle voice, the Katsuyu replied,
"It's no trouble at all, Taichi-sama. Traveling with contract holders like you is one of the few pleasures in my long life. I'm quite happy."
With a poof, the summoning ended.
Only then did Taichi turn his attention to the scroll on the table.
To his surprise, it was a storage scroll.
Of course—there was no way so many jutsu materials could fit into a single ordinary scroll.
He formed seals and released the storage.
A pile of scrolls spilled out.
He picked one up: Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.
Another: Earth Release: Earth Spear.
Looking at the forty to fifty scrolls before him, Taichi felt happiness wrap around him like a warm blanket. This was more than enough material to study at leisure.
As he sorted them by chakra nature and rank, he realized most were C-rank, with quite a few B-rank jutsu mixed in.
Considering that even jōnin commonly relied on B-rank techniques, this was an incredible collection. Higher-ranked jutsu were often too dangerous or impractical to be worth it.
---
Meanwhile, far away in the Land of Waves…
Tsunade staggered out of a gambling house, her face full of despair.
Shizune, waiting outside, sighed inwardly.
She lost again.
After traveling with Tsunade for so long, Shizune had never once seen her win. She'd even grown accustomed to the gamblers' nickname for Tsunade—
"The Big Fat Sheep."
At first, Shizune had beaten up the gambler who dared use that name.
Now… she just sighed.
"Tsunade-sama, shall we head back to the inn?" Shizune asked gently.
"With what money?" Tsunade groaned.
"I just gambled away our lodging funds. The money I have left can barely cover one meal."
"Ah…" Tsunade looked even more dejected.
"Then let's eat first. I'll figure out who I can borrow from later."
Just then, she felt a familiar summoning signal from Shikkotsu Forest.
It was Taichi again.
That brat's letters are getting more frequent, she thought.
Though she always complained, the truth was—being remembered like this felt rather nice.
She and Shizune entered an izakaya and ordered the house specialties. While waiting for the food, Tsunade summoned the Katsuyu and retrieved Taichi's letter.
"Another letter from Taichi?" Shizune asked.
"Yes," Tsunade replied gruffly.
"No idea what he's written this time. Such a bother—I only just finished preparing all those scrolls for him."
Despite her words, her hands moved quickly as she opened the letter and began reading.
She smiled through the opening flattery, her foul mood lifting.
But as she read on, her smile slowly faded, replaced by a grave expression.
Taichi's description of the Monster-Strength Body Flicker made even Tsunade feel a stir of excitement.
If perfected…
The boost to combat power would be nothing short of terrifying.
But precisely because the technique held such promise, Tsunade knew how difficult it truly was to develop.
She herself was a master of monstrous strength. No one understood better than she did how hard it was to convert that explosive power into controlled forward momentum.
And yet, judging from Taichi's letter, he had already completed the technique.
How could that not shock her?
By the time she finished reading, the food they had ordered had already been served. But Tsunade's mind was completely occupied by the Monster-Strength Body Flicker—she had no appetite at all.
"No, I have to try this myself," she said suddenly, standing up and motioning for Shizune to follow.
Shizune, who had just taken her first bite, stared in alarm.
"Tsunade-sama, wait! The food— we haven't eaten yet!"
But Tsunade was already far away and didn't hear a word.
"…Why the rush?" Shizune muttered, watching her leave.
Then she sighed. "Boss, please pack this up for me."
Outside the izakaya, Tsunade noticed Shizune hadn't caught up and stopped to wait.
After Shizune hurriedly finished packing the food, the two quickly left town and arrived at a secluded patch of woodland.
There, Tsunade adjusted her state and followed the chakra circulation method described in Taichi's letter. Carefully gathering chakra, she detonated it beneath her feet.
Boom!
The ground exploded into a small crater.
Smack!
Tsunade went flying sideways and slammed hard into the ground.
"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune cried out and rushed over, helping her up.
Whether it was because Tsunade's chakra reserves were immense, or because she was too accustomed to using monstrous strength, even after reducing output, the force still caught her off guard. Just like Taichi's first attempt, she ended up face-planting.
Shaking her dizzy head, Tsunade waved Shizune off.
"I'm fine. I just misjudged the power a little."
Returning to the clearing, she abandoned any arrogance and began again—this time starting from the absolute minimum chakra requirement, increasing output little by little.
As the greatest medical ninja in the world, Tsunade's chakra control was second to none. After only a few tries, she succeeded.
Her figure began flashing left and right across the clearing—faster and farther each time.
Soon, from Shizune's perspective, Tsunade had all but vanished. It wasn't teleportation—Shizune's dynamic vision simply couldn't keep up.
"That's… way too fast!" Shizune gasped, staring blankly at the flickering afterimages.
Suddenly, Tsunade appeared beside her. A thin sheen of sweat covered her forehead, yet she wasn't even slightly out of breath.
"This speed is insane," Tsunade muttered.
"It's beyond my reaction limit. In real combat, I'd need to tone it down."
Her extreme focus had pushed the technique beyond practical limits.
"Tsunade-sama! This Body Flicker is incredible—can I learn it too?" Shizune asked eagerly, eyes sparkling.
"You?" Tsunade said flatly.
"Train your chakra control first. You don't even meet the basic requirements yet."
She scolded Shizune mercilessly, inwardly wondering if she'd spoiled her apprentice too much. Just look at Taichi—left alone in Konoha, and his strength had grown to the point of creating a technique like this.
"Wait here. I'm going to Shikkotsu Forest," Tsunade ordered.
"…Alright," Shizune replied weakly. Fresh off a scolding and now left behind, she felt utterly miserable.
---
Meanwhile, Taichi was happily poring over a Fire Release scroll, jotting notes whenever inspiration struck.
From these scrolls, he was learning the different development philosophies behind Fire Release techniques, how various hand seals affected chakra flow, and how each jutsu achieved its effects—laying a solid foundation for future creation and refinement.
Just as he reached an exciting section, a familiar summoning sensation washed over him.
"Huh? That was fast. Tsunade-sensei already replied?"
"But… this isn't the agreed signal."
Puzzled but unconcerned, Taichi answered the call. His figure vanished from the room.
---
Shikkotsu Forest
With a poof, white smoke spread, and Taichi appeared.
Before him stood not only Katsuyu—but Tsunade herself.
"Tsunade-sensei?! You're here too?!"
Taichi was overjoyed. After all this time exchanging letters, this was the first time they'd met face-to-face. And if they could meet like this—wasn't bringing her back to Konoha just a matter of time?
"What, only you're allowed to come here? I can't?" Tsunade snorted.
"No, no! I'm just really happy to see you!" Taichi grinned shamelessly, privately thinking: Sharp tongue, soft heart.
"Enough. I didn't come for pleasantries." Tsunade's expression turned serious.
"The Monster-Strength Body Flicker you mentioned—did you develop it yourself? Did anyone else participate?"
Seeing her tone, Taichi immediately sobered up.
"Yes, sensei. I developed it alone. I finished it this morning. You're the second person who knows."
Hearing that, Tsunade felt a surge of warmth. Her efforts hadn't been in vain—this disciple truly thought of her.
"What do you plan to do with the technique?"
"I haven't fully decided yet," Taichi replied honestly.
"It's still new, and there's room for refinement. Sensei, what do you think?"
"This technique has limited value for ordinary ninja—the learning curve is too steep," Tsunade said.
"But for jōnin, it's worth serious study. Once mastered, the boost to combat power is enormous."
She paused, then continued.
"Normally, I'd advise you to submit it to the village in exchange for jutsu or resources. But after your last mission… wait."
Her meaning was clear.
"Danzō is dangerous," she said bluntly.
"I don't believe for a second that he had nothing to do with that mission. If you submit this now, there's a good chance it ends up on his desk tomorrow. Keep it as your trump card for now."
Taichi felt deeply moved.
She rushed over just to warn me…
"I'll listen to you, sensei!" Taichi said firmly.
"Whatever you tell me to do, I'll do it!"
"Smooth talker," Tsunade snorted.
"Oh—also," Taichi added quickly,
"When practicing this technique, always start with the lowest possible chakra output. Otherwise it's very easy to lose control. I spent three days crashing before adapting."
The moment he said that, veins popped on Tsunade's forehead.
You couldn't have written that in the letter?! she fumed inwardly.
Seeing her expression, Taichi instantly realized what had happened and hastily changed the subject.
"Well—anyway! That's why I wanted to mention it."
"I've said what I came to say," Tsunade replied coldly.
"I'm leaving."
They chatted a bit longer. Taichi was reluctant to part—he'd learned a great deal about nature transformation just from this brief exchange.
Still, he knew it wasn't time to keep her. Their bond was solid now; there would be more chances.
Just as Taichi was about to say goodbye—
"Wait. Taichi," Tsunade suddenly said.
"Did you bring money?"
"…Huh?"
Completely failing to follow her logic, Taichi nodded blankly.
"Wallet. Hand it over," Tsunade said, holding out her hand without shame.
Taichi obediently complied.
She opened it, glanced inside, and clicked her tongue.
"Not bad. You've got some savings."
She counted out one million ryō.
"I'm borrowing this."
Then she tossed the wallet back and vanished in a poof.
Only then did Taichi realize the truth.
Tsunade-sensei… lost all her money again and came to shake me down.
He sighed wryly.
That last mission was basically for nothing…
Shaking his head, Taichi disappeared from Shikkotsu Forest in a puff of smoke.
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