"Let's go."
After finishing up, White Fang led Uchiha Jinzō out of the camp.A quick glance back—the camp itself had already vanished behind the illusion barrier.
Damn. Still didn't get a chance to ask Tsunade out. What a waste.
"Although a wife is nice, Tsunade only counts as a girl because she's not married yet."White Fang sighed beside him, as if narrating Jinzō's inner thoughts aloud.
"She's in her twenties, that's not a 'girl,'" Jinzō muttered with a pout.(For the record, he wasn't into married women. Mature women, though? That was another story.)
Just as he was sighing internally, a shadow suddenly fell over him.Too close. Too unprepared.Jinzō froze, something feeling terribly wrong, and asked stiffly without daring to look up:
"Uh… White Fang-sama. Where did you, uh, run into Tsunade-sama?"
"Entrance to the camp." White Fang's voice was flat. He even took two silent steps back.
Jinzō finally looked up.
Two peaks.
His hand shot to his nose on instinct—thankfully, no nosebleed. But… other places were in danger.
"A brat raised by that pervert Jiraiya, huh?"Tsunade's teeth ground together.
"Tsunade-sama, if I say this is all a misunderstanding, would you believe me?"
"What do you think?" she sneered, towering over a kid who barely reached her waist. Her eyes—no, her fists—were locked on exactly where his gaze had wandered.
This damn brat! Who dared say she wasn't a girl?!
"Die!" Tsunade's roar split the air.
BOOM!
The ground caved under her punch, leaving a smoking crater.Jinzō, however, was already a blur in the distance, his voice carrying faintly back:
"Tsunade-sama, no need to see us off!"
Veins bulged across her forehead."Damn brat!"Then her fury redirected. "And Jiraiya—just you wait!"
Somewhere far away at the Iwa front, Jiraiya sneezed violently.
White Fang's Trolling Continues
White Fang caught up with the fleeing Jinzō in no time.
"You set me up on purpose!" Jinzō's glare could've burned holes through steel.
White Fang looked away in silence. Which was basically an admission.
For the first time, Jinzō realized someone could make him this angry. His forehead vein twitched.
White Fang. You. Deserve. Death.
"Don't be so angry. A shinobi endures everything."Still needling him.
Jinzō clenched his fists, forcing down his rage. Losing his temper would only mean losing the fight. But he swore—he would prove he, Uchiha Jinzō, was no freeloader!
They walked on in silence, unhurried since this wasn't an emergency summons.
Through the woods, Jinzō finally asked:"White Fang-sama… why drag me along? I'm just a little Uchiha."
White Fang paused, turned. "There's no such thing as a 'little' Uchiha."
"…Hah?"
Jinzō studied his wooden, stoic face—expression carved from stone—and suddenly chuckled."I heard you can see through people's hearts, is that true?"
In his past life, people had said Sakumo's gift wasn't sensing "potential," but seeing straight into someone's soul. Rumor had it he'd been promoted to chunin by unmasking hidden spies, so much so that traitors trembled whenever he returned to the village.
"It's just a rumor," White Fang said evenly. "Like guessing what kind of figure a woman has under all that heavy clothing. Pure imagination."
Jinzō's smile froze.…This yellow-trash jōnin was beyond saving.
"You'd better die! Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
Hand seals flew, and a massive fireball roared toward Sakumo.
One clean swing of his blade, and the inferno split neatly in two, scattering harmlessly.
"Good! Keep going!" White Fang even encouraged him.
"Go to hell!!!"
Blade out, Jinzō charged, slashing wildly.…And for a terrifying moment, he realized he was acting just like Kushina.
(Kushina: ???)
On Ninjutsu and Will
Still chasing Sakumo's ever-ahead figure, Jinzō thought back on what he'd studied.
The Uchiha's so-called "basic internal strength" was really just a mashup of sealing techniques, crude but leaving room for further evolution. Most dismissed it as incomplete, but Jinzō saw potential.
He was already experimenting, trying to turn this patchwork into a true system. But he kept hitting roadblocks—too many branches, not enough satisfying answers.
Yet Sakumo's training gave him a breakthrough: willpower itself could be a weapon.To force chakra into seals by sheer intent—wasn't human will its own kind of strength?
Of course, materializing one's will was absurdly hard. Only Sakumo had shown hints of reaching that level.
The third stage of his theory would demand sealing chakra outside the body. A task as difficult as an A-rank fuinjutsu. Chakra drained faster outside, unless you had monstrous reserves like Hashirama, Tobirama, or Madara.
Theoretically, one could grind for decades and get there. But in wartime? Impossible. Only someone like Kushina, as a Jinchūriki, could realistically attempt it.
Even Jinzō's Liuku Immortal Thief technique wasn't enough—it needed something stronger, a way to swallow chakra itself.
Arrival in the City
Their banter didn't stop until they finally entered a town. They rented separate rooms.
"I'm going to drink some flower wine. You coming?" White Fang asked casually.
Jinzō's face darkened. Flower wine? His wife was still pregnant, dammit!
Still, his eyes lit up with mischief. He waved White Fang off perfunctorily."You go ahead. I'm still young—it's not really suitable for me."
White Fang narrowed his eyes. The kid was plotting something.
Jinzō only smiled back innocently.Complaints, after all, were his specialty.