"You want me to face all three of you at once?" Minato asked, pointing uncertainly at himself as he observed Tsunade's eager expression.
"Don't worry," Tsunade assured him. "Orochimaru and I won't initiate the attack."
Tsunade beckoned impatiently. "Enough talk! Get moving!"
"Uh, alright."
Minato drew a kunai, his eyes instantly steadying. "Then... if you'll excuse me!"
With those words, he suddenly appeared before Jiraiya, the kunai thrusting unhesitatingly toward Jiraiya's abdomen.
Jiraiya's expression turned far more serious than before. He deflected Minato's wrist, then kicked out at Minato's chest.
Minato was about to dodge sideways when Jiraiya switched his kick to a sweeping strike, sending him flying backward.
"You should have dodged to the outside," Jiraiya said earnestly. "That would have forced me to sweep outward, making it harder to generate momentum and easier for you to counter."
"Good lesson," Minato replied.
Minato steadied himself and charged at Jiraiya again, his reckless behavior leaving the trio puzzled.
Just as they were about to wonder what gave this kid the audacity to charge headfirst at all three of them, a blinding light erupted from Minato's body!
The training ground was suddenly illuminated as if a brilliant sun had risen!
"Gaia—"
Jiraiya felt a flash before his eyes, and tears instantly welled up. He instinctively covered his eyes and shouted.
That sneaky brat!
The trio cursed inwardly, simultaneously retreating.
As they retreated, Jiraiya rapidly formed hand seals: "Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
Boom!
A several-meter-high earthen wall rose, blocking the light source.
With their eyes closed, they endured the lingering pain while carefully listening for any movement.
"He's behind the wall."
Orochimaru chuckled, a hint of irritation in his voice.
"Don't get worked up over a kid..." Tsunade said with a forced smile, clearly frustrated by Minato's antics but unable to discipline him as his teacher.
"Oh? Look over there."
Orochimaru pointed, and Tsunade followed his gaze. She saw Nawaki kneeling beneath a tree, covering his eyes and sobbing uncontrollably.
Tsunade: "..."
"What's wrong? Why aren't you moving?"
Jiraiya had also been listening to the sounds behind the wall. He could hear Minato's heartbeat and the faint scraping of his shoes against the ground.
Just as the three of them were puzzled, a faint cracking sound came from the wall.
Tsunade's expression changed abruptly. "Retreat!"
She didn't need to say it. Jiraiya and Orochimaru had already pulled back. Though they didn't know what the noise meant, better safe than sorry.
As expected, the moment they retreated, several thick tree trunks suddenly burst through the wall, slithering like snakes toward their ankles!
"What the hell?!"
Jiraiya's eyes widened as he rapidly formed hand seals and spat out three fireballs, shattering the encroaching tree trunks. Then he stared blankly at Minato.
"So it was... Wood Release?!"
Watching the branches slowly retract from Minato's arm, Orochimaru's lingering ambivalence faded, replaced by an indescribable fervor.
To possess two Bloodline Limits?
Could someone truly wield two Kekkei Genkai simultaneously?
What about three? Or more?
What if all Bloodline Limits were integrated into a single body? What would happen then?
This thought sparked a wild ambition within him. He abruptly turned to Tsunade. "So, this is why you took him as your disciple, isn't it?"
Tsunade nodded. Though she couldn't use Wood Release herself, as the granddaughter of the First Hokage, no one was more qualified to mentor Minato—not even the Hokage himself.
While the Forbidden Scroll of Konoha documented Wood Release techniques, those were public knowledge, and accessing them came at a price. But if she taught him, it would be through the family's inheritance—a fundamentally different matter.
Moreover, since her grandfather had compiled the Forbidden Scroll itself, one could argue that even the scroll itself belonged to the Senju Clan.
"Sparaxi—"
Seeing Tsunade nod, Orochimaru licked his lips, his gaze burning even more intensely as he looked at Minato.
"Tsunade, can I talk to you about something?"
Tsunade eyed him warily. "You wouldn't be trying to steal my disciple, would you?"
Orochimaru's smile stiffened. "How can you call it stealing? We're teammates who fight side by side, and I truly admire that boy."
"Tch," Tsunade scoffed. "Don't even think about it! I welcome you teaching him, but I'm the only one who can be his master!"
Orochimaru considered this and realized it wasn't entirely unacceptable. He nodded. "Fine."
No official master-disciple bond, but the reality of the relationship remains. That should at least grant me some courtesy, right?
With this connection, asking him to assist with a few small experiments shouldn't be too much to ask, should it?
"By the way, this is my first time witnessing Wood Release. It doesn't seem particularly special. I can't figure out its attack method at all."
Jiraiya rubbed his chin, recalling the shapes of the tree trunks. His expression suddenly lit up. "Impact? Entanglement? Heh heh..."
"The Wood Release has an incredibly suppressive power and can absorb a target's chakra to a certain extent. It's just like those filthy things in your head—once you're infected, you'll be drained dry," Tsunade said calmly, her words sending a shiver down Jiraiya's spine.
"That's truly dangerous..."
"Absorb a target's chakra..."
Minato, deep in thought, suddenly turned and approached a massive tree at the edge of the clearing. He placed his hand against its trunk.
Under the puzzled gazes of Tsunade and the others, the once lush, vibrant tree withered and turned yellow within seconds, its leaves falling to the ground.
"Is this what you meant by 'to a certain extent'? It can even drain plants? Doesn't that mean his chakra is unlimited as long as he's in a forest?" Jiraiya pointed at the withered tree, yelping in alarm.
Tsunade swallowed hard. She had never heard of the Wood Release being able to extract the life force from plants.
Minato wasn't particularly surprised. In fact, he had been holding back significantly. He even felt that, if he wanted to, he could drain the entire tree in an instant.
After a moment's thought, he channeled more chakra into the tree. Instantly, it became lush and vibrant, even thicker and more robust than before.
It sounded absurd, but in that moment, Minato felt as if the tree before him was silently thanking him.
In the original story, could Hashirama also absorb chakra from trees?
Or perhaps it's more accurate to say life energy...
Madara awakened the Rinnegan after merging with the Power of All Things in Creation. If Hashirama had done the same, what kind of power would he have awakened?
A memory of the final battle between Naruto and Sasuke flashed through Minato's mind, and a faint suspicion stirred within him. He discreetly glanced at Tsunade and the others, offering an embarrassed smile.
"It can indeed absorb chakra. Seems I'll need to be more careful in the future."
His smile remained as warm and radiant as ever, like a pure white lotus flower...
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