Chapter 46: Duel with Tsunade
Sure enough, just as Nan expected, Tsunade—already feeling a bit annoyed—immediately flared up when Minato again mentioned the Third Hokage. She gave a cold snort.
"All Hokage are just a bunch of idiots. My grandfather was like that, and so is that old man, the Third.
If only he had listened to my advice earlier and improved Konoha's medical system, the village wouldn't be in such a passive position now. In the end, it's all due to his stupidity."
Everything was progressing smoothly, but Nan held back his excitement, because now it was time for his own "performance."
Suddenly, Nan slammed the table angrily and shouted at Tsunade:
"I won't allow you to insult the Hokage like that!"
Only then did Tsunade notice the kid next to Minato, who looked only six or seven years old.
She froze for a moment—there was actually someone who dared to openly challenge her, and it was just a little brat!
She immediately turned to Minato and asked, "Who is this kid? So arrogant—your student?"
Minato quickly introduced, "His name is Uchiha Nan, a disciple of Lord Orochimaru and a genius medical ninja.
It was thanks to Nan's idea that the problem with the Sand's poison didn't become an even greater tragedy."
Hearing that Nan was both a medical ninja and surname Uchiha, Tsunade thought of her junior who married into the Uchiha clan. Could this boy be Saki's son?
Tsunade looked at Nan with interest. "So, kid, you have a problem with what I just said? Aren't all those Hokage just a bunch of thoughtless idiots?"
Nan immediately acted even angrier, shouting at Tsunade:
"The Hokage is the greatest person in the village, respected by everyone. Becoming Hokage has always been my goal.
Even if you are the medical ninja I once admired the most, if you keep insulting the Hokage again and again, I'll have to teach you a lesson!"
Tsunade was amused by this. This little brat was incredibly bold, even threatening to "teach her a lesson." She refused to back down and replied:
"Alright, I'll give you a chance. If you can beat me, I'll apologize to you. I'll even go back to Konoha or whatever else you want."
Minato, seeing that Nan and Tsunade were really about to fight, quickly stepped in to stop them:
"Nan is just a child—please don't take his words seriously, Lady Tsunade." He was worried that Tsunade might accidentally hurt Nan.
"Please don't interfere, Teacher Minato. I definitely won't let someone who insults the Hokage off easily!"
Nan pretended to ignore Minato's persuasion and insisted on challenging Tsunade.
Tsunade also told Minato:
"Don't worry, Minato, I won't use my full strength. To deal with this brat, I'll only use one finger. If I have to use more than one, I'll admit defeat."
She then pointed her index finger at Nan and said, "Come on, kid, let's take this outside."
Since sparring with Orochimaru, Nan had made some progress recently. But in front of a genuine top-tier master, that progress was almost meaningless.
Unlike Orochimaru, Tsunade specialized in taijutsu; her physical strength and speed were overwhelming. Nan had no advantage in speed anymore.
Without revealing more of his hidden abilities, it was impossible for Nan to truly defeat Tsunade. But Tsunade wanting to beat him with just one finger was pure fantasy.
The moment Tsunade said she'd use only one finger, Nan knew he was sure to win.
As soon as the two went out onto the street, Nan immediately activated his Sharingan and Divine Speed, accelerating abruptly as he charged at Tsunade.
Tsunade was surprised by Nan's speed, but being a taijutsu specialist with immense strength and quick reflexes, unlike Orochimaru who could only react hastily, she was able to respond.
Tsunade thrust her finger into the ground, and the instant her massive strength erupted, a wide crack appeared on the ground between her and Nan.
Nan's Sharingan enabled him to react extremely quickly. Seeing the crack appear in the ground, he immediately halted his charge, stopping his attack.
Tsunade looked at him more closely and thought he resembled Saki. She had been saddened recently hearing about Saki's sacrifice.
At the same time, accepting Nan's request to duel, Tsunade was also somewhat curious to see what kind of ability her old friend's son possessed.
The first move from Nan startled her—such speed wasn't typical of a child.
Tsunade began to regret her earlier decision to only use one finger; she worried that she might lose if she wasn't careful.
Nan was also slightly surprised that Tsunade was different from Orochimaru—Orochimaru had faced him without such ease.
Since Orochimaru specialized in poison and summoning techniques, although he wouldn't use poison on Nan, his summoning attacks were difficult to control. So Orochimaru never fully unleashed his true power when testing Nan.
Now Tsunade was different; her combat strength relied almost entirely on physical power and speed.
Against close-range techniques like Divine Speed, not just Nan but even the Fourth Raikage with his Lightning Armor would struggle against Tsunade.
Since speed alone was insufficient, Nan thought to compensate with numbers and created five Shadow Clones.
Now Tsunade found it difficult to cope—using only one finger, it was impossible to defeat so many clones simultaneously.
If she attacked rashly, she risked being counterattacked by Nan.
Facing this swarm-style assault, Tsunade had no choice but to evade temporarily.
Her dodging was swift, and because the clones' chakra was limited, they couldn't use Divine Speed and thus couldn't catch Tsunade.
Nan then created five more clones, encircling Tsunade completely, and all ten clones attacked together.
Tsunade could no longer dodge effectively. It was impossible to defeat ten clones with only one finger, so in desperation she used both fists.
This was actually breaking their prior agreement, meaning Tsunade had technically lost.
However, even so, it was better than being defeated by a child.
With both fists unleashed, Tsunade was definitely formidable.
Nan's clones were naturally weaker than the original, and since even the original couldn't subdue Tsunade, the clones were no match for her.
Soon all the clones were dispersed by Tsunade.
Nan was not surprised she broke the promise and used both hands—he had expected that once she saw his true strength, she wouldn't obey the agreement.
The clones were just a lure from the start.
Taking advantage of the smoke created as the clones were dispersed, Nan secretly formed the hand seal for Chidori—newly learned from Kakashi—and charged at Tsunade.
Chidori uses a large amount of lightning chakra and can move faster than Divine Speed.
However, because Nan's base speed was slower than Kakashi's, his Chidori was not quite as swift.
Even Kakashi's Chidori was something Tsunade could handle, let alone Nan's.
Tsunade immediately spotted the flaw in Chidori and used her signature powerful punch, "Superhuman Strength Fist".
However, she did not directly attack Nan with it—doing so might kill him.
Instead, she struck the ground nearby, smashing it to pieces to block Nan's charge.
Tsunade judged that since Chidori was difficult to control, by instantly changing the terrain, Nan would be caught off guard and lose balance, tripping on the rubble.
Sure enough, Nan suddenly lost his balance and fell; the Chidori pierced the ground and exploded, leaving a scorched crater.
The explosion's gust flipped Nan again.
Tsunade's assessment was correct—if Nan had been someone without Sharingan like Kakashi, she might have succeeded.
But with his Sharingan, Nan was actually able to react—though he deliberately fell because he felt the fight had reached a good stopping point.
(End of chapter)