Chapter 29 : Early Graduation

...

On the way to school the next day, Watanabe felt very obvious changes in the village. Countless villagers gathered in the streets to discuss the war, and masked Anbu ninjas kept leaping and moving on the roofs, creating an atmosphere of panic and tension, as if Konoha might join the war at any time.

'Konoha suffered heavy losses in the First Ninja World War. Facing the Second Ninja World War that may break out at any time, I must of course make full preparations.' Watanabe thought to himself.

Grandpa of Tsunade was hailed as the God of Ninjas back then. He suppressed the entire ninja world with his own strength, which is certainly admirable and praiseworthy, but Konoha was also pushed to the forefront because of this. Once a large-scale war broke out, Konoha would easily become the target of siege by various forces. The First Ninja World War was a lesson they have learned.

'I'm afraid my school life will no longer be peaceful.'

Watanabe sighed, wondering how the war between the Hidden Rain Village and the Kingdom of Iron would change the trajectory of his life.

He has not yet fully grown up, and his physical shortcomings still exist. He does not yet have the capital to survive in the troubled times.

When he arrived at school, all the classmates were talking enthusiastically about the war, and their stories were even more exaggerated than those of the villagers outside.

"Last night, the Hokage convened a high-level meeting. After the meeting, Konoha went directly into a level 2 combat readiness state. Do you know what this means?"

"It means war! The Second Ninja World War is about to come, and it will surely be another bloody storm."

"I've decided. I'm going to apply for early graduation and go to the battlefield to protect Konoha with everyone else!"

"I also want to apply for early graduation. Where the leaves are flying, the fire will never stop. No matter who it is, don't even think about invading Konoha."

"When it comes to war, how can they do without Master Jiraiya? I, Jiraiya, am destined to become famous in the battle!"

"…"

'They are just a bunch of middle school boys who have been brainwashed by the Will of Fire.' Watanabe complained silently.

Graduating early at this time is obviously telling Konoha's top level people that "I am stupid and easy to deceive, so please send me to the battlefield as cannon fodder!"

He has no sense of belonging to Konoha, nor does he have a strong desire to protect Konoha. In his mind, the entire Konoha is not even as important as Tsunade, but Tsunade does not need his protection.

'The Ninja World War shouldn't come so soon.' Watanabe thought to himself, thinking that his classmates were exaggerating.

Tsunade knows more accurate inside information. Instead of listening to a group of middle school boys talking nonsense, it is better to ask her.

Thinking of this, Watanabe raised his head. The seat in the front row that belonged to Tsunade was empty, and there was no sign of her bright and beautiful figure from the past.

'Is she late?'

Watanabe guessed that Tsunade usually arrived at school very early and brought him breakfast, but it was unusual that she was late today.

Until the class bell rang, Tsunade still didn't show up. Watanabe felt uneasy, wondering what special situation she had encountered.

Tsunade was not the only one who was late. The homeroom teacher, Osaka Rukawa, was also late. He arrived at the end of the first class and said to everyone with a serious face:

"The school will arrange a graduation exam in the next two days. It will be voluntary and all students can take the exam. As long as they pass the exam, they can become a ninja in advance."

This sentence was like a bomb, and the classroom was instantly in an uproar. 

Jiraiya, Inuzuka Kiba and others expressed their opinions actively and declared that they would definitely take the graduation exam.

'Has it come to this?'

Watanabe remained calm. He had a very strong defence, and he had mastered advanced ninjutsu such as the Spirit Transformation Technique and the Multiplicative Explosive Talisman. If he goes all out then, he would definitely meet the criteria for early graduation.

But he didn't want to leave school so soon. He still had a lot of room for improvement, and there was no place more suitable for low-key development than school.

After school at noon, Watanabe temporarily put aside graduation and planned to go to Tsunade's house to see what was going on.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he walked to the school gate, he saw Tsunade standing not far away waiting, wearing a black suit, looking heroic.

"Why didn't you come this morning?" Watanabe came forward and asked.

"I have something to do." Tsunade explained calmly, "Let's go."

Watanabe understood that she meant to go to the grove and nodded.

When passing by the commercial street, Watanabe bought a cup of milk tea, intending to give it to Tsunade to quench her thirst after the sparring was over. This small detail made Tsunade look at him twice more.

After three months of contact, the two of them have developed a good understanding of each other. Although Tsunade didn't say it, she was very satisfied with Watanabe's thoughtfulness.

"I won't hold back today. If you can't hold on any longer, tell me in advance."

Arriving at the familiar grove, Tsunade gave a serious reminder.

Watanabe was surprised: "Didn't you stop holding back a long time ago?"

"It's different." Tsunade said calmly, "You will soon understand what I mean."

Watanabe was stunned and felt that Tsunade was a little special today.

"Okay."

He put the milk tea aside and faced Tsunade, ready for battle.

"Come on, no matter how hard you try..."

*boom!*

Before she finished her words, Tsunade flashed in front of Watanabe and punched him hard in the chest, causing him to shoot out like a cannonball, smashing all the tree trunks that blocked his way.

[Attacked: HP +44, Defence +20, Pain -19...]

The force is about the same as usual.

Watanabe felt comfortable all over, without any pain, but he could not withstand Tsunade's powerful impact.

But the next moment, he felt a chill on his back. He turned his head and saw Tsunade appear behind him again, with her long and strong legs raised high.

*Boom!*

[Attacked: HP +65, Defence +33, Pain -32...]

Another heavy blow, Watanabe was unable to react and flew dozens of metres into the sky.

Tsunade stomped the ground hard and quickly caught up with Watanabe who was knocked away. She launched a series of attacks against him, punching him one after another.

*Bang, bang, bang…*

[Attacked: HP +51...]

[Attacked: HP +49...]

Watanabe finally understood what Tsunade meant by not holding back. Although Tsunade had given her all during previous sparring, in order to train Watanabe's physical skills, she would deliberately give Watanabe a few opportunities to counterattack.

But today she seemed to be in rampage mode, treating Watanabe like a sandbag and beating him unilaterally. Watanabe was totally unable to keep up with her speed, and was beaten all over the place, unable to even land.

'I'm too weak. Once Tsunade gets serious, there's no chance for me to fight back.'

Watanabe sighed to the sky, gave up resisting, and allowed Tsunade to ravage him.

The gap between his physical skills and Tsunade's is huge. Fortunately, he has strong defence, otherwise he would have been smashed into a paste.

After beating Watanabe intensely for more than ten minutes, Tsunade consumed a lot of physical strength, and finally ended the combo with a Tensho kick.

                (Continued…)