"Begin."
As soon as Kushina gave the order, Tsunade and Ryun both let out a shout.
Terrifying force acted upon the stone platform, causing the massive, hard rock to tremble continuously.
"Earth Style. Hardening Technique." The shadow clone of Ryun standing guard nearby acted decisively, stabilizing the large rock.
"Women are still just women. Their strength is ultimately too weak..."
While exerting force with his main body, Ryun did not forget to use verbal attacks to disrupt Tsunade's mental state.
"Less nonsense. Do not forget who taught you the Strong Fist. The one who is truly too weak is you." Tsunade said, then roared and continued to exert force. Ryun's hand was visibly suppressed by this sudden burst of strength.
"Haven't you heard the saying, 'the pupil surpasses the master'?"
Ryun countered effortlessly, his entire arm faintly glowing, a manifestation of the Strong Fist being used to its extreme.
Feeling a terrifying force assaulting her, Tsunade could no longer concern herself with anything else. She decisively stacked her second hand on top, wanting to go all out and win in one go.
Ryun's hand instantly fell into a disadvantage again.
But even though Tsunade seemed on the verge of victory, no matter how hard she pushed with both hands, Ryun's hand remained as steady as a rock.
"Is the combined strength of two hands only this much? I overestimated you, Sister Tsunade..."
Seeing Ryun still taunting her, Tsunade's genuine anger was instantly ignited. "Less nonsense."
"Strength of a Hundred Seal. Release."
The moment the diamond crystal mark on Tsunade's forehead opened, vast amounts of chakra instantly converged throughout her entire body. The strength in her arms also suddenly increased by a third.
"!"
Ryun no longer dared to underestimate this enraged, violent cow.
The purple core, the size of a walnut, inside his body trembled slightly. Vast Senjutsu Chakra instantly surged forth. The muscles in Ryun's arm swelled slightly in an instant, bolstered by this powerful energy.
'Damn it... Why is he so strong!!!'
Tsunade was both shocked and furious in her heart. She could not understand why, even after opening the Strength of a Hundred Seal and pushing her Strong Fist to its limit, she still could not suppress Ryun's single hand. Instead, he showed signs of potentially counter suppressing her.
Crack...
A faint cracking sound was heard. Tsunade felt a piercing pain in the wrist bone of her first arm.
The bone could not withstand the terrifying force of this contest and was the first to give way.
Simultaneously, the hard rock beneath their arms developed several cracks under this fearsome contest of strength. Even with Ryun's shadow clone controlling the situation nearby, it still could not withstand the immense pressure.
"Sister Tsunade, admit defeat... I already heard the sound of bone cracking. Your wrist hurts a lot, right? If you keep struggling, your hand will be ruined." Ryun struck again with his words.
Tsunade remained silent. Her face was flushed red and contorted. At this moment, she only wanted to win this round. Then she could demand, without any psychological burden, that Ryun pacify this chaotic world.
"Looking for hardship yourself..."
Ryun coldly uttered these words, then the strength in his arm increased once more. Tsunade was instantly forced into a disadvantage. No matter how hard she tried, it was useless.
Furthermore, the cracks in the wrist bone of her first hand multiplied, and the pain intensified.
Seeing that her wrist bone would soon be broken alive, Tsunade could no longer care about grace or demeanor. Her tongue curled slightly in her mouth, flipping out a tiny silver needle.
The next moment, Tsunade spat the silver needle from her mouth. The sharp, thin needle shot straight towards Ryun's chest.
"Despicable."
Ryun shouted angrily, his other hand swiftly moving to block his chest, precisely deflecting the incoming needle.
Boom!!!
As Ryun went all out, his swollen hand instantly overpowered Tsunade's two hands. The terrifying force even crushed the rock beneath them into powder. Tsunade was forcibly pressed to the ground by this unimaginable power.
She lost.
Lost thoroughly and undeniably.
Ryun slowly released his hand suppressing hers, then gently pulled out the fine silver needle from the back of his left hand.
"Bastard..."
Tsunade sat on the ground, biting her lip and cursing softly.
A green glow appeared on Ryun's hand, and he reached directly for Tsunade's wrist.
But before he could grasp it, Tsunade quickly twisted her body away and said angrily, "I do not need your hypocritical help. You think I need you to heal me?"
Immediately, Tsunade decisively activated the Creation Rebirth technique. The bone fracture in her wrist instantly healed under the massive chakra, returning to its original state.
Seeing this, Ryun shrugged and stood up helplessly.
Tsunade also stood up with Kushina's support. Little Shizune obediently brushed the dust off her backside.
"State your demand." Tsunade spoke coldly.
"Go to Otogakure now. Help our teacher train a group of top-tier medical ninja..." Ryun stated his mission requirement decisively.
Although Ryun's demand was time consuming, labor intensive, and troublesome, it was completely within her capabilities. She had no way to refuse, otherwise she would truly be reneging.
"So your teacher and student's main base really is in Otogakure." A strange light flickered in Tsunade's eyes.
"Once you go there, both of you will stay at my Shadow Residence. Choose any room you like, just do not take my bridal suite..." Ryun first nodded, then instructed further.
"One month. I will only stay in Otogakure for one month. During that time, I will teach as much as I can. I cannot guarantee how many people I can teach, nor can I guarantee they will definitely learn." Tsunade said, holding up one finger.
Ryun fell silent for a moment upon hearing this, then could only nod helplessly.
"Fine. One month it is. Remember to collect one month's salary from our teacher when the time comes..."
"Do I need you to remind me? Hmm." Tsunade questioned in a deep voice, her mouth twisted like a ruffian's.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Kushina, you did not come to find me just to announce your wedding news, right? Orochimaru sent you, didn't he." Tsunade narrowed her eyes, staring at Kushina.
"That is not true." Kushina waved her hands and denied with an awkward laugh.
"We planned to come find you, so Teacher Orochimaru assigned this task along the way." Ryun spoke up to explain for his wife.
"I did not ask you. Hearing you speak annoys me." Tsunade interrupted irritably.
Ryun: "..."
"How could I not tell Sister Tsunade about such a big event as my marriage? You are my family." Kushina said, sounding somewhat guilty.
"Is that really true." Tsunade seemed to see through her guilt and brought her face close to Kushina's again.
"Speaking of which, your younger sister got married. Shouldn't you, as the older sister, give us a wedding gift."
As soon as Ryun said this, Tsunade was instantly embarrassed.
How did she have money to buy a gift? The money on her now was still given by Kushina.
"Need you to say that? I prepared the gift long ago." Tsunade said, actually reaching to take off the crystal necklace from her own neck.
Seeing this scene, Ryun was greatly alarmed.
"Forget it, forget it. If there is no gift, then there is no gift. You can make it up when you win some money later. Kushina and I have matters to attend to. Let us part ways here."
"Huh."
Without regard for Tsunade's or Kushina's wishes, Ryun spoke, then picked up his person and simply ran away.
"Hey."
No way. This crystal necklace, worth three mines, truly had a 'deadly poison'. The original author explicitly named this necklace the 'Necklace of Death' in the manga. With the precedents of Dan and Nawaki, would Ryun dare let Kushina accept this wedding gift?
Touching it would be disrespectful to fate.
Furthermore, Kushina already wore the Black Scale Necklace around her neck. Knowing this, Tsunade still went to take off the Necklace of Death. The real target was whom. The answer was self evident.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📖 Like the story? Read 120 chapters ahead!
🔗 patreon.com/atomelectron
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━