Chapter 21: Genesis Marriage x Training Nawaki

The three young ones had already gathered, and Uchiha Fugaku arrived at the training ground as today's special guest.

Hanma and Kushina were discussing the application and insights of chakra in taijutsu. Little Pepper's eyes sparkled with excitement, occasionally making gestures and gathering chakra in her fists. It was evident that she enjoyed this combat style.

Minato held a draft paper, meticulously copying from the Flying Thunder God technique scroll. He already felt that this jutsu was inherently his. Despite his reserved nature, Minato couldn't wait to master this technique. He had already prepared names for twelve of his moves, like "Konoha's Whirlwind Vortex Style." 

He imagined it would be incredibly cool to call out these names and instantly defeat his opponents.

As for Nawaki, he was late, and Tsunade was dragging him, rushing over.

"—I'm sorry, Hanma-sensei!!"

Nawaki finally arrived half an hour late, with Tsunade wearing an apologetic smile, glaring at him harshly.

Hanma saw Tsunade had also arrived and, with a gentle smile, instantly moved beside her and whispered in her ear, "I missed you."

"But we just had breakfast together this morning and trained together, hmph," Tsunade thought silently.

She rolled her eyes dramatically and, in a voice loud enough to be heard throughout the Uchiha clan grounds, declared, "Did anyone hear that? I'm Tsunade. Hanma just said he missed me!!"

A brief silence followed before the young people in the clan started to cheer and jeer.

"Hanma-bro, did you miss her or not?"

"Hanma-bro, can you handle a girl from the Senju clan?"

Hanma smiled slightly. Tsunade's boldness and exceptional intelligence were what attracted him the most. 

Taking a deep breath, he replied even louder, "Tsunade, I missed you!!"

Cheers, jeers, and songs echoed throughout the Uchiha clan grounds, and if one listened carefully, even the old voice of Setsuna could be heard.

It wasn't just about showing affection; it was also about demonstrating Tsunade's presence to the Uchiha clan members. It was a way to reveal everything to them and test their attitudes.

A marriage alliance between the Senju and Uchiha clans was unprecedented in a millennium. Historically, marriage alliances have been one of the best ways to resolve disputes and build trust.

Especially these two individuals—one, the former clan leader, Tobirama Senju's disciple, and Kagami Uchiha's son; the other, the direct granddaughter of Hashirama Senju.

Their match in status and family background, putting aside the blood feuds of recent generations, seemed destined by heaven.

In the Warring States era, such an alliance would likely lead to others following suit, with a high probability of the two clans merging.

Even today, it held significant implications for changing the dynamics of Konoha.

From the looks of it, the clan members had a positive attitude towards this "marriage alliance."

The three young ones, not old enough to understand fully, simply pouted, thinking that these two were not acting their age.

Uchiha Fugaku, however, saw the broader implications and understood the significance of Tsunade and Hanma's union.

Envying Tsunade and Hanma, Fugaku realized that strength meant the family was never a restriction but a support.

Clearing his throat, he had Fugaku and Nawaki step forward to begin today's lesson.

"Nawaki, I believe you know Fugaku. You are classmates at the ninja academy."

"He has just been promoted to Chunin. You will spar with him in today's practical training session."

"Both of you, give it your all. If there's any danger, I will step in."

After giving Nawaki instructions, Hanma exchanged a few words with Fugaku, who wore an impatient expression.

Clearly, Fugaku felt it was tedious to fight with someone as young as Nawaki.

"—Begin."

Nawaki drew out his ninja tools and shouted to Fugaku, "Fugaku, you big jerk! It's an honor for you to fight me!"

"I'm going to be the Hokage!"

Fugaku's face darkened further. In fact, the naturally deep tear troughs under his eyes were often joked about by the clan members. Even the girl he liked, Mikoto Uchiha, joked that Elder Setsuna looked younger than him.

Fugaku was still a youth, far from the middle-aged man tormented by his family, children, and village in the later stages of the original series. His temper wasn't great either at this point.

The Sharingan with two tomoe spun slowly, and without obvious movements, twelve shurikens traced an eerie path and swiftly attacked Nawaki.

Seeing the shurikens, Nawaki was shocked. He had never seen such a technique that could change the trajectory in mid-air.

Relying on his somewhat superior physical abilities, Nawaki clumsily dodged the shurikens, but his steps were chaotic, and his balance was unstable.

"Hmph, too many openings."

Seeing Nawaki's erratic footwork, Fugaku rushed forward, slashing at Nawaki with a blade that stopped cold at his throat.

Hanma signaled Fugaku and walked over to start the explanation.

"For ninja below special jonin, shuriken are highly effective offensive tools."

"They can block the opponent's movements, gauge strength, and probe the enemy's state. Someone like Fugaku, a master of shuriken, can directly eliminate enemies."

"Nawaki's performance just now, although poor, is the typical level of a genin—well, an excellent genin at least, since he dodged the shuriken."

Seeing Nawaki's face turning red, Hanma offered some comfort. "Next, Fugaku is not allowed to use throwing weapons. Continue."

Stubbornly, Nawaki looked at Hanma. "I just made a mistake earlier. There's no need to go easy on me. I'm very strong!"

Hanma didn't mind his retort and nodded, just signaling them to continue.

Fugaku glanced arrogantly at Nawaki, moved his fingers, and said, "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

A massive orange fireball rushed towards Nawaki, who didn't panic. He started forming seals, though not very swiftly.

"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"

Thanks to Nawaki's large chakra reserves, although his technique was slow, he still managed to suppress the Great Fireball.

"Ssss—"

As fire and water collided on a large scale, dense mist enveloped Nawaki.

Fugaku smirked and moved his fingers again. "Earth Style: Earth Flow River!"

The ground began to move, and a large amount of mud mixed with the previously released water formation wall surged towards Nawaki.

Engulfed in mist, Nawaki could barely see ahead. His gaze hardened as he decided to use ninjutsu for defense.

Nawaki was trying hard to speed up his seals when he saw Fugaku leap high and slash down at him with a blade.

Looking at the mudslide on the ground, Nawaki calculated that if he abandoned defense and engaged Fugaku head-on, they would both fall into the mud, where his physical strength would give him an advantage!

Resolving his mind, Nawaki drew a kunai and leapt up, facing Fugaku head-on.

Seeing Nawaki charge straight towards him, Fugaku hesitated. What did that mean? Did he have a special technique?

Fugaku didn't break his form, and his two tomoe Sharingan spun slowly, gathering genjutsu chakra.

"Genjutsu: Hell Viewing Technique!"

Seeing those eerie red eyes, Nawaki felt something off just as his head throbbed, and he fell unconscious from mid-air.

Adjusted Fugaku's strength.

Previously wrote he had three tomoe as a Chunin, which posed issues.

Revised to two tomoe.

(This chapter ends here)