Chapter 147

However, Tsunade couldn't help but be shocked when she saw the information.

"Shizune, what's the deal with this kid Natsuki? He's just a genin, but how is he so powerful?"

It wasn't Tsunade's fault for being so surprised. After all, Natsuki's strength was beyond extraordinary.

First, he defeated Orochimaru, then took down the Ichibi. Later, when he supported the village's defenses, he showcased his overwhelming might.

The name 'Konoha's Maken Senjin (Demonic Blade of a Thousand Edges)' had become famous throughout the village.

He had trained in Hachimon Tonkou (Eight Gates Release Formation), mastered Hatake-ryu Kenjutsu (Hatake Style Sword Techniques), and even learned Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique)!

On top of that, he had already mastered Chakra Nature Transformation and Shape Transformation, created his own powerful jutsus like Suiton: Suienzan (Water Style: Water Circle Slash), Suiton: Uzumaki Fuendan (Water Style: Whirlpool Boiling Bomb), and Doton: Shouten Tenten (Earth Style: Sky-Piercing Spin). Not to mention the mysterious Maken Senjin (Demonic Blade of a Thousand Edges).

Compared to those, things like one-handed hand seals and inventing the Ninja Card Game were child's play.

Shizune said, "I was also shocked when I saw this file. I even specifically asked Gai, Kakashi, Aoba, Raidou, and Genma about it. They all confirmed it was true, and they spoke very highly of Natsuki. They even said they wanted to recommend him for a promotion to jōnin."

"Oh? Jōnin, huh?" Tsunade smiled faintly. "Looks like this Natsuki isn't just any ordinary genius. Just as well, we're short on manpower right now. Promoting him to jōnin—why not?"

Then, Tsunade flipped through the list of candidates, focusing on those who had competed in the final exams.

"Hmm, these finalists are all pretty good—Aburame Shino, Kato Megumi, Nara Shikamaru, Hyuga Neji, and Tenten. This Uchiha Sasuke, though he lost, is still quite strong, about on par with Neji. He was also very active during the defense of the village."

She paused. "Natsuki will be promoted to jōnin, and these others will be promoted to chūnin... as for this Kato Megumi, her strength might not be quite enough, but her medical ninjutsu isn't bad. Plus, her surname is Kato..."

Tsunade trailed off, her gaze instinctively shifting to Shizune. After all, how could she not notice the surname Kato? Her former lover was Kato Dan, and her close aide was Kato Shizune. This Kato Megumi might be related to them.

Shizune took the file and glanced at Kato Megumi's parents' names, then seemed to remember something. "Tsunade-sama, I might actually be related to Kato Megumi. Based on family connections, she should call me aunt."

So there was a connection after all. Should she give Kato Megumi a chūnin promotion too?

But... her strength really wasn't enough. Maybe she could be given special treatment as a medical-nin?

Tsunade hesitated for a moment, then said, "Shizune, since she's your relative, go meet her when you have time. After you've seen her, report back to me. If you say she can handle being a chūnin, then I'll grant the promotion."

Shizune understood that this was Tsunade looking out for her, and she gratefully replied, "Thank you, Tsunade-sama. I'll go see her."

Meanwhile, Natsuki had finally come out of training.

He naturally knew about Tsunade's return, but he was fully immersed in the design of the chakra battery, so he wasn't concerned about Tsunade's situation. Besides, as a mere genin, it wouldn't make sense to go join the crowd just to watch. He'd meet her eventually—why rush?

This time, he emerged because he had results!

It hadn't been in vain that he used himself for experiments under the special lab conditions. Otherwise, who knew how long it would have taken to get results?

At the moment, he was holding a scroll and heading straight to the ninja tools shop. Due to Tsunade's return, patrol missions in the village had been reduced, so Tenten shouldn't be too busy and was probably still helping at the store.

Sure enough, when Natsuki arrived, he saw Tenten bored out of her mind behind the counter, while her father, who had just returned, was arranging new ninja tools.

It seemed like her father had been out restocking supplies.

"Father-in-law, you're back from the capital?" Natsuki greeted, giving Tenten a meaningful look. Tenten immediately guessed what he was up to and got super excited.

Her father-in-law chuckled, "Natsuki, you're here! Come help me arrange these ninja tools. I brought back a lot from the factory this time—it's going to sell like crazy. And have you heard? Tsunade-sama is going to become the Fifth Hokage! There's going to be a huge purchase of ninja tools soon—our monthly sales will skyrocket!"

No one knew where her father-in-law had gotten that information from. Tsunade was just succeeding as Hokage, not preparing for war. Why would there be a massive purchase of ninja tools? Totally unrelated.

But, ninja tools didn't expire, they didn't go bad in storage, and they didn't lose value over time, so he could do whatever he wanted. After all, he had years of experience in business—maybe he had some insider info.

At that moment, though, Tenten grabbed Natsuki and dragged him into the back room. "Dad, you can handle this by yourself. Natsuki and I have something to talk about!"

"Eh? You two, what's so important that you can't say it later? At least help me finish arranging these first!" Her father looked exasperated, feeling like he was doomed to a life of labor. His daughter wouldn't help, and now she wouldn't even let her boyfriend help. Were they trying to wear him out so he'd leave the shop to them sooner?

Inside the room, Tenten looked at Natsuki with excitement written all over her face.

Natsuki unrolled the scroll and summoned five palm-sized blocks. "This is the chakra battery. Here—this is the chakra input port. You inject your chakra from here. And here is the interface—these two needle-thick chakra metal probes. Normally, you strap it to your arm. When you need to use it, open the mechanism, and the two metal probes will pierce your skin. The stored chakra will then flow into your body, ready for you to use."

"Also, see these four symbols? They show the amount of chakra stored. If all four light up, the battery is full. I've set four fūinjutsu (seals) inside—when all four seals are filled, it holds about half of my chakra. For now, the capacity can only reach this level, but with further research, I should be able to increase it."

"That's already plenty! Your chakra is massive—half of it is way more than what I have!" Tenten was overjoyed. She eagerly started channeling her chakra into the battery, clearly feeling it entering the device and being sealed inside without leaking. But even after quite a while, she hadn't managed to fill a single symbol, which left her astonished at how much chakra Natsuki had.

Her boyfriend—just how much chakra did he have?!

Natsuki continued, "Tenten, remember—only use your own chakra battery. Never use someone else's. Different chakra types will reject each other. Using someone else's chakra battery could be dangerous."

Tenten nodded earnestly, making sure to remember that.

Since she couldn't fully charge the battery right now, she chose to stop for the time being.

She strapped the battery to her arm, opened the mechanism, and instantly felt the two metal probes pierce her skin. The seal inside the battery seemed to unlock a bit, and the stored chakra flowed into her body, ready for her to control.

Tenten was as happy as a child. "Natsuki! You're amazing! I won't have to worry about running out of chakra anymore!"

Natsuki, however, wasn't fully satisfied. "I still need to tweak it. Strapping it on with bandages is too much hassle. Maybe I'll design a little device to clip it onto the arm automatically..."

(End of Chapter)

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