Carrying the "evidence" of his crime from the previous night, Saiki headed downstairs.
He had to admit, the Rasengan was a truly versatile jutsu. Not only could it be used to knead dough, paddle a boat, and assassinate enemies, but it was also fantastic for washing clothes.
However, it required an extremely high level of chakra control; otherwise, the garments would be instantly shredded into confetti.
Having disposed of the evidence, Saiki was in the middle of hanging the bedsheets in the yard when Shizune—whom he had knocked out the night before and who remained completely oblivious to everything—finally woke up and came downstairs.
Seeing Saiki hanging sheets in the yard, Shizune, still slightly groggy, instantly perked up. She called out with joyful surprise, "Saiki! You're awake?! That's wonderful!"
"Good morning, Shizune!" Saiki, who had sensed her presence long before, turned to her with a warm smile.
Looking at Shizune's happy yet slightly dazed expression, Saiki genuinely felt a twinge of guilt for her. She was constantly being knocked out by either him or Tsunade. She was a pitiful child; he truly hoped it wouldn't cause any long-term brain damage.
Seeing Saiki, Shizune happily ran into the yard, asking with deep concern, "Saiki, Saiki! Are you okay?"
She had originally intended to wash up quickly and then go ask Tsunade about Saiki's condition. Seeing him up and about, she remembered how he had vomited blood and passed out the night before, and a lingering fear gripped her.
Meeting Shizune's worried gaze, Saiki reached out and affectionately ruffled her hair. "I'm fine. Sorry for making you worry. I feel incredibly energetic right now; I feel like I could eat an entire cow in one sitting!"
Enjoying the feeling of Saiki petting her head, Shizune smiled blissfully and nodded. "As long as you're okay, Saiki."
Noticing the bedsheets hanging on the line, Shizune asked curiously, "Saiki, why are you up so early washing bedsheets?"
Saiki glanced at the pristine white sheets, the various "maps" of water stains now completely washed away. He obviously couldn't tell Shizune, "Because Tsunade was far too wet."
He offered a smooth lie with a smile: "They were getting a bit dirty. Since I woke up early today for once, I figured I'd wash them."
"Oh!" Shizune nodded. Saiki usually washed his own clothes, and sometimes even helped wash hers and Tsunade's, so she didn't find it strange.
In an era without washing machines, washing large items like bedsheets was much easier with a controlled Rasengan.
"Come on, you must be hungry. Let's go have breakfast." Saiki picked up the laundry basin and gestured for her to follow.
He had eaten a massive black bear yesterday, but the sheer amount of energy he had expended on Tsunade last night was staggering. After coming downstairs, Saiki had washed the sheets himself while his shadow clones prepared breakfast.
"Mm-hmm!" Hearing that it was time to eat, Shizune, whom Saiki had successfully spoiled into a little foodie, beamed with a bright smile and followed closely behind him.
Looking at the vast spread of Chinese-style breakfast dishes on the table—bear meat buns, bear meat congee, youtiao (fried dough sticks), soy milk, eggs, pan-fried bear meat dumplings, and spicy pepper soup (Hulatang)—Shizune swallowed hard as the intoxicating aromas filled her nose. "Shouldn't we wake Lady Tsunade?"
Saiki smiled and replied, "No need. Sister Tsunade spent the entire night treating me; she only just went to sleep a little while ago. I've already set a portion aside for her; we'll talk to her when she wakes up. You must be starving! Dig in!"
Seeing Saiki so full of life, Shizune wondered exactly what kind of "treatment" Tsunade had been performing all night. It felt slightly strange, but the overwhelming, mouth-watering aroma quickly banished all other thoughts from her mind.
"Thanks for the meal!" Pressing her hands together in gratitude, she picked up a meat bun, dipped it in sauce, and took a massive bite. After a few chews, a look of pure, unadulterated bliss spread across her face.
Saiki smiled, picked up a meat bun of his own, and began his daily ritual of massive energy replenishment.
After finishing breakfast and clearing the table, Saiki turned to Shizune. "Shizune, if Sister Tsunade wakes up later, remind her that I've left some bone broth simmering on the stove for her."
"Got it. Saiki, are you heading out somewhere?" Shizune asked, slightly curious.
"Yeah, I'm heading to the training ground for a bit."
Following his breakthrough last night, Saiki was desperate to test exactly how much his power had increased. Furthermore, he needed to give Tsunade some space; otherwise, he feared she might refuse to get out of bed at all.
At the training ground, a dark blur flashed rapidly across the field, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake.
Shing!
A flash of cold steel cut through the air. Saiki, manifesting from the blur of motion, appeared directly behind a thick training log, large enough to require a grown man to wrap his arms around it to hold it.
With a sharp CRACK, the impossibly dense training log—crafted from specially treated, hardened wood—split perfectly down the middle. The cross-section of the cut was as smooth as a mirror.
Clang!
Sheathing his katana, Saiki turned around and looked at the bisected log. A highly satisfied smile spread across his face, and he nodded in approval.
Following his dual cultivation breakthrough with Tsunade, his physical strength, speed, and overall constitution had experienced a massive, exponential leap. He genuinely felt a surge of overwhelming confidence, bordering on arrogance.
Due to his unique constitution, Saiki's baseline physical strength had always been terrifyingly high—already surpassing standard Jonin—and now, it had evolved even further.
Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu all fundamentally rely on chakra. Without chakra, a ninja is virtually indistinguishable from an ordinary human, save for being perhaps slightly more physically fit.
But Saiki was different. Even without utilizing a single drop of chakra, his raw, unaugmented physical strength now vastly exceeded the power a Jonin could output even when actively burning chakra to enhance their strikes.
In terms of pure, baseline physical speed, he could easily outpace a standard Jonin without relying on jutsu.
If he combined his baseline speed with the Body Flicker technique and active chakra enhancement... while Saiki had never witnessed Minato Namikaze's top speed firsthand, he was highly confident that in a pure, close-quarters brawl, Minato wouldn't stand a chance against him.
The Flying Raijin (Hiraishin) is spatial teleportation. For point-to-point displacement, Saiki couldn't hope to match him right now.
But there is a distinct difference between spatial displacement and raw physical agility. Minato and Tobirama Senju were hailed as the fastest men in the world, yet when Madara Uchiha engaged them in close-quarters combat, he instantly obliterated them. This was entirely because Madara's raw physical agility and reaction speed were vastly superior to theirs.
As for his physical constitution, Saiki deliberately relaxed his muscles and took his chakra-infused katana—a blade sharp enough to easily slice through steel plating—and slashed it forcefully across his own arm.
The result? It only left a faint, shallow red mark on his skin. Saiki felt his body was rapidly approaching the terrifying invulnerability of Big Mom's "Iron Balloon" physique, or perhaps the legendary, indestructible Sage Body of the immortals.
His physical and mental attributes had skyrocketed, and his chakra reserves had followed suit. Saiki felt his current reserves were virtually indistinguishable from a true chakra monster like Kisame. He was comfortably sitting in the Elite Jonin tier in terms of raw capacity; even an average Kage might not possess as much chakra as he currently did.
But all of this paled in comparison to the greatest benefit of his dual cultivation: the evolution of his Pre-natal Qi. Having successfully bifurcated into Yin and Yang, his core had finally begun producing true "Senjutsu Chakra" —or, more accurately, "Dharma Power" (/Mana).
The so-called "Pre-natal Qi" was the purified, condensed essence of Saiki's physical, vital, and spiritual energies. This primordial Qi was not meant for direct combat. For battle, one utilized the secondary byproduct generated by the Pre-natal Qi—what cultivators commonly refer to as Dharma Power.
In Shinobi terminology, Pre-natal Qi was equivalent to the foundational combination of physical and spiritual energy that forms chakra. The spiritual energy generated by the soul, combined with the physical energy generated by the body, creates chakra.
However, the qualitative purity of standard chakra was infinitely inferior to the Dharma Power produced by his Pre-natal Qi. Furthermore, his Dharma Power actively absorbed and integrated natural energy from the environment. Saiki preferred to refer to this refined energy as "Senjutsu Chakra."
Despite accumulating it for three years, his reserves of Senjutsu Chakra were not massive, and he had transferred a full third of it to Tsunade for her protection.
While he couldn't use it recklessly, it was more than enough for self-defense. By actively mobilizing the Senjutsu Chakra within his body, Saiki could enter a state functionally identical to Sage Mode , though he didn't manifest any specific pigmentation or markings around his eyes.
Assessing his current physical state, he noted the massive improvements across the board. Using Tsunade as a benchmark, Saiki felt he had definitely reached her tier of power. His ego inflating slightly, he genuinely believed Tsunade wouldn't be a match for him in a straight fight anymore.
Feeling his limited reserves of Senjutsu Chakra slowly depleting, Saiki didn't waste any more time. He needed to use this window to perfect his Wind Style: Rasenshuriken.
Chakra condensed in his palm, rapidly expanding into a blue sphere the size of a basketball.
As Saiki aggressively refined his Wind-natured chakra, he meticulously controlled both its nature and shape transformation.
VMMMMM!
The Rasenshuriken fully manifested. The microscopic chakra blades rotating at impossible speeds around the core emitted a harsh, earsplitting, buzz-saw-like screech.
Saiki had perfected the theoretical mechanics of the Wind Style: Rasenshuriken a long time ago. The reason he hadn't considered it "complete" was because, exactly like Naruto, testing the jutsu inflicted significant cellular damage upon the user. Even with a physique as resilient as Saiki's, the backlash was too severe, preventing him from unleashing its true, devastating power.
But right now, augmented by Senjutsu Chakra, Saiki's physical durability had experienced a quantum leap. His body could now perfectly, flawlessly endure the cellular backlash of the Wind Style: Rasenshuriken without sustaining any damage.
Saiki didn't throw it to test its destructive yield. Instead, he slowly throttled back his chakra output, allowing the Rasenshuriken to safely dissipate into the air.
If he threw that thing here, he'd undoubtedly be summoned to Hiruzen Sarutobi's office for a very long, very unpleasant chat shortly after.
Deactivating his "Sage Mode," Saiki felt a sharp pang of heartache. Senjutsu Chakra was incredibly difficult to accumulate!
However, possessing a functional Sage Mode gave Saiki absolute confidence in his ability to survive the impending Third Great Ninja War. And he owed it all to Tsunade.
Thinking of Tsunade, Saiki couldn't help but smile. Through a bizarre, almost comical series of accidents and misunderstandings, their relationship had progressed to this incredibly intimate point.