And it was precisely because of that instant of delay that Tsunade herself used the powerful recoil force to increase her speed once again, instantly closing the distance between herself and Shinichi!
Heaven Kick of Pain: Rush!
Over the past year and more, it was not only Shinichi who had learned much from Tsunade.
Tsunade herself had also gained plenty from this student of hers. By observing Shinichi's Flame Step, she gained inspiration and developed a movement technique capable of instantaneous burst speed, perfectly matching the characteristics of her Chakra Enhanced Strength.
That Ninjutsu was the Heaven Kick of Pain: Rush!
By using her Chakra Enhanced Strength to gather chakra in her legs, she formed a powerful propulsive force.
Bang!
A dull impact like a giant hammer striking a war drum echoed throughout the entire field as Tsunade's punch landed solidly against Shinichi's crossed arms!
And Shinichi himself was blasted flying like a kite with its string cut!
However, right in the middle of the air, as Shinichi's body uncontrollably flew backward, a strange scene occurred!
The chaotic and violently disordered air currents surrounding his rapidly flying body suddenly seemed to be infused with life and will.
In an incomparably mysterious manner, they quickly gathered and circulated, like countless invisible and gentle palms lightly supporting his body.
The speed of his backward flight slowed rapidly, in a way that violated common sense, becoming soft and gentle, as though he had fallen into an invisible elastic air cushion.
Then, something even more unbelievable happened.
Under the astonished gazes of Tsunade, Shizune, and Kurenai Yuhi, Shinichi's figure steadily hovered in midair more than ten meters above the ground!
"H-he's flying?!" Shizune's eyes widened in disbelief, and beside her, Kurenai Yuhi covered her mouth in surprise.
Even Tsunade halted her pursuit and looked up at Shinichi, who floated in midair with faint vortex-like air currents slowly circulating around him.
With obvious interest, she asked, "Kid, what new trick is this now? Another application of the wind nature chakra you came up with? You can actually fly?"
Floating in midair, Shinichi nodded.
"Yes, Tsunade-sensei. I've named this technique Sky Dance."
"The core principle is to steadily and continuously spread wind nature chakra across the surface of the body. Through delicate manipulation of the interaction between my chakra and the surrounding air, I can remain airborne, hover, and even move through the sky."
As he spoke, Shinichi slightly shifted his body, causing nearly imperceptible ripples to spread through the surrounding air.
"However, the stability of this technique is still insufficient. Moreover, its airspeed and agility are far inferior to those on the ground. Its practical combat value is limited for now, and it currently serves more as a tactical option, for example, avoiding certain ground attacks or gaining a visual advantage."
"You little rascal... You always manage to come up with something new." Tsunade said while looking at Shinichi hovering in mid-air, her tone filled with complex emotions.
Shinichi spoke lightly of it, but Tsunade understood better than anyone the strategic significance represented by the ability to fly itself.
The freedom to soar through the sky was, in the vast majority of battles, practically equivalent to innately possessing absolute tactical initiative and survival superiority!
It can attack or defend and has advantages that are difficult for ground ninjas to match, whether in reconnaissance, surprise attacks, flanking, or escaping.
Looking across the current Shinobi World, the only person seemingly capable of flight through their own ability alone was the third Tsuchikage, Onoki.
"Alright, alright, stop showing off up there and come down. This test ends here."
Tsunade waved her hand, signaling for Shinichi to stop floating around and hurry down.
Then she turned toward Kurenai Yuhi and Shizune, who cautiously approached from the side, and spoke: "You two need to keep working hard as well. Don't let this kid leave you too far behind. At the very least… don't get left behind so badly that you can't even see his shadow anymore."
That was what she said, but Tsunade herself knew it was mostly just something said for appearances, a way to encourage the two girls a little.
If ordinary geniuses represented the threshold required to meet a super genius like Kakashi, then a super genius like Kakashi was merely the threshold required to meet a monstrous freak like Shinichi.
Even her grandfather, revered as the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju, probably could not have displayed the strength approaching this boy's at the same age.
Wait… what exactly had grandpa been doing at this age?
Tsunade suddenly became distracted for a moment. In her mind surfaced fragmented stories occasionally mentioned by her grandma Mito when chatting with her during childhood, anecdotes from the first Hokage's youth.
If she remembered correctly, her grandma had casually mentioned it once… At this age, her grandfather had apparently still been competing with some friends at the riverbank, skipping stones and seeing whose stone could bounce farther and more times across the water.
As for who exactly that friend was, the one who could play childish games together with her grandfather, Grandma Mito either had not elaborated at the time, or perhaps young Tsunade simply had not cared enough to remember.
Probably some ancestor from the Senju clan.
There was no way it could have been Madara Uchiha, right?
Shaking away these stray thoughts, Tsunade refocused on Shinichi and spoke: "Alright, enough of that. How has your research into the Reserve Seal scroll I gave you been going? Is there anything you don't understand?"
"Regarding the Reserve Seal, Tsunade-sensei, let's talk about that later."
Shinichi smiled slightly and took out a small, exquisitely crafted scroll from his robe before handing it over.
"Please take a look at this first."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow and casually accepted it. As she undid the sealing formula on the scroll, she muttered with slight confusion: "What is this now? What did you come up with this time… hmm?!"
Before she could finish speaking, her voice abruptly stopped.
As the scroll fully opened, a gentle, pure, pale-green chakra light suddenly illuminated the surroundings, radiating a dense aura of life and healing!
"This is!?"
Tsunade froze, her eyes instantly widened before she abruptly looked up at Shinichi and exclaimed in disbelief: "Healing Technique?! You successfully sealed the Healing Technique into a scroll?!"
In the Shinobi World, sealing scrolls were primarily used to seal inanimate objects, Ninjutsu, or corpses that had lost all life characteristics. They were incapable of sealing any living creature possessing signs of life.
Meanwhile, the essence of Medical Ninjutsu was to convert one's own light nature chakra into vitality capable of healing, activating, and restoring.
Perhaps it was precisely because this chakra possessed such extreme vitality that, up to this point, there had never been a sealing scroll capable of stably storing and releasing a completed Medical Ninjutsu at any time.
And now, the scroll Shinichi handed to her had shattered common sense!
Looking at Tsunade's shocked expression, Shinichi explained: "Yes, Tsunade-sensei. I remember you once told me before that one of your long-held visions was to ensure that every ninja squad in Konoha in the future could be equipped with a professional Medical Ninja, thereby minimizing casualties during missions and protecting the lives of more comrades."
"But with the current training system of Konoha and even the entire Shinobi World, realizing that vision is still a distant goal, facing many practical difficulties. After all, cultivating a qualified Medical Ninja is simply far too difficult."