BOOM!!!
—Swish!
A golden blur flashed, accompanied by a streak of blue light.
[Chakra Scalpel!]
Every last black tentacle was severed in an instant.
But—
There was no one there.
Only a massive crater remained, nearly identical to the one Tsunade had created when she launched herself earlier.
This was—
Monstrous strength.
Tsunade's raw power.
Jiraiya's expression finally lost its carefree ease. His eyes were sharp now, fully focused on the battlefield.
For a moment, he almost doubted the ideas behind the ninjutsu he'd written—
No. No, no. He couldn't deny them.
Instead—
A sudden inspiration struck him.
A new book.
No—A legend.
The biography of a ninja who rose from nothing and conquered the entire shinobi world at the age of ten.
Compared to natural-born geniuses, a child who could fully comprehend another person's ninjutsu in mere days—and not only reproduce it, but improve and restructure it—was far more compelling.
That kind of existence…
That was the protagonist people wanted to see.
And now—
That genius stood exactly where Tsunade had been moments earlier.
If not for the shattered floor of Orochimaru's laboratory—riddled with cracks and craters—it would've looked as though nothing had happened.
Orochimaru glanced down at the ruined ground with visible pain.
If I'd known, he thought bitterly, I would've used Root's training grounds. At least repairs there are reimbursable.
But he quickly looked back up, eyes fixed on Tsunade and Hiroki.
Tsunade said nothing.
She was breathing heavily.
The fight had lasted less than thirty seconds, and her chakra reserves were barely touched—but the mental pressure was immense.
The opening Flame Bullet and Vacuum Jade had given her almost no reaction time.
The Earth Grudge "umbrella" had forced her to rethink her approach.
Then came the absurd combination of Earth Grudge Fear + Needle Jizō, forcing her to draw out a tool she almost never used in combat—
The chakra scalpel.
The last time she'd used it in a real fight was before she even developed her monstrous strength.
And worse—
The chakra scalpel wasn't meant to cut external objects at all. It was designed for internal surgery, allowing precise incisions without damaging the body's surface.
Using it to sever tentacles was like cooking with an industrial milling machine.
A complete misuse.
But she'd had no other option.
Hiroki, meanwhile, stood there calmly—
But the system diagnostics told a different story.
Heart Rate: 175 BPMMemory Usage: 85%CPU Load: 88%Remaining Extractable Chakra: 1277 calories
Tsunade's attacks had escalated from "teaching a lesson" to genuine lethal pressure.
If this is Tsunade, Hiroki thought, what would Hanzo feel like?
Still—
Hanzo hadn't displayed particularly unique techniques in the records Hiroki remembered. More like a terrifying presence than a technical monster.
If Tsunade had no new methods—
Then Hiroki wouldn't lose this test.
The two stared at each other.
Finally, Tsunade spoke.
"Kid… why are you just standing there?" she demanded."Why aren't you continuing with Flame Bullets and Vacuum Jades?"
Minato sighed helplessly.
What else could it be?
Jiraiya froze, suddenly realizing the same thing.
Only Orochimaru remained unfazed—he knew Hiroki's limits better than anyone.
Though the consumption was severe, Hiroki still wasn't at his absolute edge.
Hiroki finally spoke.
"You're right," he said calmly."I have enough chakra left for one Flame Bullet and maybe one Vacuum Jade."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes.
"So? How long do you think you can last?"
"Not long with ninjutsu," Hiroki admitted."But mental overload doesn't consume chakra."
"And Needle Jizō doesn't either."
"You're a medical ninja—you know better than anyone that brute strength and chakra scalpels have extremely low chakra cost."
"If I just want to survive, I can last a very long time."
Tsunade fell silent.
Her pride warred with her reason.
The disciple of the Third Hokage.The granddaughter of the First Hokage.Konoha's greatest medical ninja.
Admitting defeat—to a ten-year-old—
Finally, she inhaled deeply.
"…One final blow."
Jiraiya's gaze sharpened. With this, he could accurately estimate Hiroki's survivability against Hanzo of the Salamander.
Hiroki didn't respond.
To him, there was no "almost."No "technical victory."
Only true or false.
"Kid!" Tsunade shouted."I'm coming!"
Orochimaru's eyes widened.
My laboratory—!
This time wasn't mere brute force.
Chakra surged violently, shaking the earth—not trembling, but rippling.
The floor shattered in expanding concentric circles.
The next instant—
A beam of force tore across the laboratory.
Jiraiya inhaled sharply.
Can she even stop herself in time?
Then—
Where was Hiroki?
At his feet, a swamp pit less than 0.33 square meters wide had formed—just large enough to fit a single person.
The moment Tsunade struck—
Hiroki had already sunk into it.
Orochimaru's eyes went wide.
Again.
For the second time, Hiroki had forcefully executed a ninjutsu without changing chakra nature—
And without seals.
Not only that—
He had precisely controlled the size, depth, and coverage of Yellow Spring Swamp, creating a pit that perfectly matched his own body.
And—
There was Wind Release involved as propulsion.
How many actions had he executed in a single instant!?
"Earth Release: Yellow Spring Swamp."
Hiroki's voice arrived late.
[Remaining Extractable Chakra: 0 calories][Battery Level: 77%]
Only then did the cost arrive—
Chakra depleted to zero.
Battery power plunging by twenty percent.
The battlefield finally fell silent.