Chapter 117

Afternoon.

The brilliant sunlight shone on the river's surface, sparkling and reflecting a golden hue.

In a small grove nearby, Haruki and Tsunade faced each other.

The atmosphere was very quiet; neither of them spoke.

"Are you ready?"

A few minutes later, Haruki stepped back while asking.

"I'm ready."

Tsunade's face tightened, her eyes becoming sharp, but when facing Haruki, she quickly showed a sweet smile.

In the moment when Haruki was slightly stunned, she swiftly formed hand seals.

Wood Style: Silent Strangulation Technique!

From the soil in front of Tsunade, a large rectangular tree trunk emerged, moving like a flexible snake. In an instant, it wrapped around Haruki's waist and climbed upward, reaching his neck, with the tip aiming to stuff itself into his mouth.

"???"

You don't play by the rules.

Tricking and ambushing!

Using charm on an old cadre.

Haruki's eyes widened, but he had no time to speak as the tree trunk gagged him.

In the next moment, with a "bang," his body disappeared.

Tsunade wasn't surprised at all. Since learning that Haruki had Wood Style, she understood his strength far exceeded her expectations.

She quickly turned around and punched down.

Haruki, who was quietly trying to hug her from behind, had his smile freeze immediately.

The enormous force blasted the air, and from Tsunade's fist, it directly shattered Haruki into pieces.

A tree stump fell down.

Substitution Jutsu.

Tsunade remained silent, lifting her long leg high.

As it came down, the ground seemed to suffer a magnitude-nine earthquake, with chunks of soil flying upward.

In a flash, a half-meter-deep pit appeared where Tsunade stood.

Haruki patted the dirt off himself, looking at Tsunade with lingering fear.

Tsunade stood in place, smiling brightly, clearly in a very good mood.

If you lose face in bed, you have to regain your confidence outside of bed.

"A Saint Seiya won't be defeated by the same move twice."

Haruki sneered as he saw her trying to charm him again.

"What's a Saint Seiya?"

Tsunade blinked, like a curious cat, her eyes shining with a bright, beautiful light.

"Ah, it's from my novel..."

Haruki suddenly stopped, and Tsunade disappeared from his sight.

Damn, tricked me again!

Tsunade knew him too well, both his personality and strengths.

But Haruki also knew the extent of Tsunade's power.

He clenched his fist and punched backward with the same monstrous strength.

Fist clashed with fist.

It sounded like glass shattering.

The strong gust of wind blew through Tsunade's blonde hair.

She smiled faintly again.

Her right arm suddenly changed.

Several tree trunks intertwined, sprouting from her shoulder, replacing her arm. They quickly bloomed like a flower, spreading a wooden net towards Haruki, seemingly about to capture him.

Wood Style: Great Tree Bind Technique!

Haruki recognized the jutsu she used.

One had to admit, though Tsunade was a medical ninja, her combat experience was not inferior to other ninjas.

Tsunade's satisfied smile lasted only two seconds before she quickly retreated.

Haruki suddenly transformed into wood branches that intertwined with her tree trunks, attacking and entangling each other.

"Wood Clone?"

Tsunade immediately recalled the Wood Style techniques Haruki had explained to her in the morning, mentioning that the Wood Clone could transform into branches to attack the enemy after being dispelled.

She frowned slightly, not knowing when he had used the Wood Clone.

But there was no time to think more.

Suddenly, a fiery red hue appeared overhead, like a sunset.

A massive fireball, accompanied by the sound of rushing wind, headed towards her.

Tsunade stood still, her right arm once again sprouting several tree trunks that quickly grew into a hundred-year-old tree, like a giant umbrella shielding her from the fireball.

Wood Style: Violent Spear Tree.

A Wood Style technique that combines offense and defense.

After blocking Haruki's fireball, Tsunade's chakra controlled the tree to continue growing.

But then she was slightly surprised.

Her tree began to burn, showing no signs of extinguishing; instead, the flames rushed along the branches towards her.

Tsunade decisively withdrew her chakra and jumped back.

Watching the branches burn to charcoal, she couldn't quite understand. If Fire Style could defeat Wood Style, her grandfather wouldn't have beaten Madara Uchiha.

But Tsunade quickly understood the reason.

Chakra.

Haruki's chakra was far more abundant than hers.

The Great Fireball Jutsu just now wasn't a simple C-rank technique.

Tsunade still felt something was off.

Who was actually from the Senju clan?

Her Wood Style and constitution were both inferior to Haruki's.

"What are you thinking?"

Haruki appeared in front of her. Seeing her in a daze, he didn't continue attacking.

But being able to learn and use three Wood Style techniques in one morning was already a remarkable achievement.

In fact, apart from teaching Wood Style, he didn't need to worry about anything else.

However, Haruki had decided they could train often in the future.

Because Tsunade would face much stronger ninjas in the future.

Haruki intended to let her adapt in advance, ideally simulating the opponent's jutsu.

For instance, the peculiar abilities of the Akatsuki organization.

Knowing them in advance, even if she couldn't win, the chances of escaping would be much higher.

"I suspect you're from the Senju clan."

Tsunade came back to her senses, her face full of doubt.

Haruki was taken aback. With Wood Style and Sage Body, he did seem like a Senju.

"I'm not."

He smiled, pinching her cheek, and asked, "What's wrong? Can't accept losing?"

"Who's losing or winning is still uncertain." Tsunade pouted, "When I master all the Wood Style techniques, you... mmph..."

"Your mouth isn't hard at all." Haruki laughed as she angrily pushed him away, "It's so soft."

Tsunade's fierce words were interrupted by a kiss, but... she was really annoyed!

She rolled her eyes: "Can you be more serious?"

"I'm very serious." Haruki responded with a sincere look.

Tsunade felt a bit helpless.

She had no way to deal with Haruki.

After all, she couldn't take advantage of him.

But seeing his smug face, she raised her hand and gave him a chop.

Haruki immediately collected himself, no longer teasing her, "Let's keep training in this grove from now on."

"Okay."

Tsunade nodded, finally gaining some understanding of Haruki's strength.

But she felt a bit unwilling, having always been stronger than him before. At this rate, she would always be bullied, so she needed to get stronger.

"There's a little guy who's been watching. Aren't you going to deal with it?"

Tsunade glanced at a tree to the right. She had noticed someone approaching during their fight.

"Kakashi, aren't you going to greet your teacher?"

Haruki beckoned towards Kakashi.

"Hello, teacher."

Kakashi stepped out from behind the tree.

He was just passing by, intending to practice ninjutsu, but he was curious about the noise and saw an amazing scene.

A Wood Style battle between two medical ninjas.

It turned out that the usually low-key Haruki-sensei was so powerful, even beating one of the Sannin, Tsunade.

As a genius at the Ninja Academy, often taught by his father, the White Fang of Konoha, his strength and insight far surpassed that of an average genin.

It was precisely for this reason that he could sense Haruki-sensei's immense strength.

And he had the lost Wood Style.