Chapter 40: The Solution

Early the next morning, at the back mountain of the Senju Clan compound.

Hyuga Yuto sat on a smooth, green stone slab, eating the rice balls and dried meat Tsunade had brought him, occasionally taking a sip of warm fish soup.

He was only thirteen years old, at the age where "a half-grown boy can eat a grown man out of house and home." As a ninja, he had a huge appetite. Seeing the empty food box, Shizune's eyes widened, staring at Hyuga Yuto as if he were a rare animal.

"You... Aren't you going to turn into a balloon and explode?"

"How is that possible?" The Branch House boy patted his stomach.

"I'm not stupid. I'll stop when I'm full." He paused, then said curiously,

"Sensei is a master of taijutsu and ninjutsu. Your appetite should be even bigger than mine."

Tsunade, who was fiddling with her hair beside him, glared at him.

"Commenting on a lady's appetite is very rude."

As they spoke, Hyuga Yuto finished his meal and let out a long sigh.

"I'm done... Hmm, seven points full, the perfect state for training."

Shizune picked up the food box. Since she had to go to school, she didn't linger and skipped down the mountain.

Tsunade watched her female disciple leave, then sighed abruptly.

"You're only a year older than Shizune, but you're so much more mature..."

Hyuga Yuto stood up without answering, creating some distance. He stretched his wrists and neck, removing the bandages in the process.

The blonde woman chuckled.

"Quite cautious, huh? Don't worry, I won't ambush you..." She beckoned her student with her finger.

"Come on, use that jutsu and hit me."

"Sensei..." Hyuga Yuto's expression turned serious.

"If you get hit directly, you'll really die."

"You won't die from eating rice balls, so do you think I'm stupid enough to take that head-on?" The blonde woman stepped back.

"Come on, my dear student. At your current level, you're a hundred years away from being able to kill your teacher."

That made sense, Hyuga Yuto thought. With the Strength of a Hundred Seal, Tsunade could use the "Ninja Art: Creation Rebirth," her regenerative abilities were second to none in the shinobi world. Her HP was too high to worry about anything.

Intense heat surged through the back mountain. The leaves instantly withered and turned yellow as the temperature soared. Beads of sweat appeared on Tsunade's neck and cheeks.

Just the "prelude" was enough to almost ignite the forest.

This is bad, the power of this jutsu is beyond my expectations... The blonde woman thought to herself. Not wanting to underestimate it, she bit her fingertip and slammed her hands onto the ground.

"Triple Rashomon!"

Boom!

Three massive gates appeared amidst the forest, thick and rugged, like towering hills. Each was adorned with a ferocious demon face, striking fear into anyone who saw them.

"Lion's Fang..." Hyuga Yuto murmured, charging forward.

"Bite Sever!"

He crashed into the center of the summoned Rashomon gates. The immense shockwave snapped all the surrounding trees.

With a loud boom, the Rashomon gates were completely shattered, the edges of the holes molten metal liquid.

Hyuga Yuto's figure swayed, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared before Tsunade, his right palm striking the blonde woman's abdomen.

Carrying the remaining force of "Lion's Fang Bite Sever," he pushed Tsunade back, crashing through more than ten trees before finally stopping.

I underestimated it, I shouldn't have used my body to experience this jutsu, Tsunade lamented inwardly, but she still put on a brave face and said,

"That's enough... Yuto."

The released chakra dissipated. Hearing his teacher's words, Hyuga Yuto quickly withdrew his hand.

The clothes on Tsunade's abdomen were shredded, revealing her fair skin, which clearly bore the imprint of Hyuga Yuto's palm.

"Pretty impressive, Yuto." Tsunade looked at the shattered Rashomon gates and carefully examined her injuries.

"Although the high temperature and fangs are impressive, the true killing power of this jutsu comes from the high-speed flow of chakra. Unlike the Rasengan's rotation around a central point, your jutsu is more complex, with many small vortexes and miniature hurricanes rotating in opposite directions... Hiss."

Touching a bruise, the blonde woman winced and sucked in a breath of cold air.

"My internal organs are also damaged... It has the blunt force trauma of Earth Release, and the way it cuts through the air is similar to Lightning Release... Seriously, it still has this much power after breaking through the Rashomon gates. An ordinary Jonin would surely die from this blow, and most defensive ninjutsu would be useless against it."

"It's a great jutsu, very suitable for you, but there's still room for improvement."

"Your arm is probably very difficult to lift now, right? This jutsu puts too much strain on the user. It's undoubtedly S-rank, but it would also be classified as a forbidden jutsu."

The blonde woman rubbed her abdomen. Her fair skin bore burn and wind-cut marks, and beneath the skin were internal bruises.

While experiencing the power of "Lion's Fang Bite Sever," she was also thinking about how to eliminate its terrible side effects.

Tsunade wasn't a masochist. The reason she let Hyuga Yuto injure her was to better understand the jutsu.

The reason why Lion's Fang Bite Sever caused such great damage to the user was, simply put, that while it was destroying the enemy's body, it was also attacking the user in the same way. The only difference was the intensity, but the principle of damage was the same.

Only by experiencing the same injuries as the user could she perfectly develop a solution to this burden.

However, the blonde woman was still shaken. The moment Hyuga Yuto's palm touched her abdomen, she almost instinctively retaliated. Tsunade understood that this was a physical reflex developed from years of combat. This meant one terrifying thing—just now, Hyuga Yuto had a perfect opportunity to "bite" off her waist.

Yuto... He held back at the last moment, Tsunade glanced at Hyuga Yuto, thinking that her student was still quite reliable and knew his limits.

While healing her abdominal injuries, she pondered how to eliminate the terrible side effects of this jutsu.

The best method, of course, was to add a "membrane" between the torso and the released chakra, separating the two and blocking the damage caused by the violent chakra to the user. However, this would greatly shorten the duration of Lion's Fang Bite Sever, or even make it collapse upon contact. After all, this protective membrane would also isolate Yuto's chakra.

"Unidirectional transport of bodily fluids," Tsunade suddenly thought of this term. It could both transport chakra and shield against the destructive power...

As far as she knew, no physical material in the world had this property.

If she had to say it, "slugs" could actually fulfill this task. Before using this jutsu, wrap slugs around the arm. Slugs were immune to physical attacks and, as summoned creatures, could transmit chakra. They could isolate the damage while not hindering chakra transmission. But no matter what, it was too rude to ask slugs to do such a thing... And the preparation time would be too long, making it impossible to use in the ever-changing and complex situations of a ninja war.

The blonde woman rubbed her forehead in frustration, her body suddenly freezing.

Although she couldn't touch it, this action reminded her of the "Strength of a Hundred Seal" on her forehead.

She suddenly saw the light.

There was no need to shield, resist, or block. There was a gentler way to eliminate this damage.

—Sealing!