Meimuda stared in disbelief at the expert before him, at the black sunglasses on his face.
"Tsunade!"
Yes, Tsunade was someone even stronger than Kairen. His focus had always been on Kairen, and Tsunade—who was constantly protected by him—had been subconsciously regarded by Meimuda as just a weak woman.
Tsunade's palm suddenly tore the sealing scroll apart.
Kairen's body turned into puffs of smoke, slowly reviving from within.
The moment he revived, he fully opened the Four Gates and activated the Nine-Tails Chakra, scooping Tsunade into his arms and running.
Tsunade pinched Kairen hard on the temple.
"You brat, put me down right now. My body's already fully recovered."
Kairen ignored her words, muttering under his breath.
"There are so many Sunagakure shinobi—even if the Three Legendary Sannin fought together, they'd still have to kneel. How fast do you think you are? Just let me carry you and run!"
"You brat!"
Tsunade softened, wrapping her arms around Kairen's neck. She gazed at his young side profile.
"If I were ten years younger, I might really fall for you!"
Kairen replied, "If I were ten years older, I would protect you forever, and you wouldn't have had to suffer all those past pains!"
Tsunade fell silent.
Kairen was genuinely risking his life to protect her, protecting her from the heart.
There weren't many in this world who treated her well. Jiraiya counted as one, her disciple Shizune was another, and now she had to add Kairen to that short list.
Tsunade asked softly, "Why do you want to protect me?"
Kairen took the chance to kiss her cheek.
"Of course it's because you're beautiful! If you were some ugly old hag, I wouldn't give you the time of day!"
"You brat!" Tsunade grabbed a handful of Kairen's cheek and pulled hard, stretching his face into a huge arc.
"Daring to kiss me? Let's see if I don't tear your face apart!"
As Tsunade tugged on his face, Kairen's speed dropped by a tenth.
He quickly patted her backside.
"Stop that! We're running for our lives, not fooling around!"
"I don't care. You dared to take advantage of me, even touching my butt!"
Tsunade used both hands, pulling Kairen's face with all her strength.
"Do you have any idea? Back then, when Jiraiya peeped on me in the bath, I broke several of his ribs. And you, just a brat, daring to act so recklessly—unbelievable!"
Kairen ignored the pain on his face—he was nearly immune to it anyway—and kept flickering forward. But he still replied,
"To die beneath peony blossoms, even as a ghost it would be romantic. I guess Jiraiya thought the same as me!"
"You little brat!" Tsunade pulled his face again, only to realize how thick his skin was.
She was starting to feel tired. Kairen had that Smoke Transformation bloodline, and earlier, when she had lost consciousness in rage, she had killed him more than a dozen times, yet he never stayed dead.
She really couldn't do anything about this disrespectful little rascal.
Tsunade let go of his face, slowly resting against Kairen's shoulder, quietly feeling the warmth of the boy.
She, Tsunade of the Sannin, had never been this pathetic—held like a weak woman in the arms of a Genin.
And yet, this feeling of being protected… was her first time experiencing it. It was kind of warm.
This little rascal… if she were his age, she would definitely be drawn to him.
Kairen glanced down at Tsunade. She was a whole head taller than him, so carrying her felt awkward.
It should be Tsunade carrying him. Then he could grab onto her twin ponytails and ride like a galloping horse.
...
Suddenly, Tsunade noticed two kunai flying from behind at blinding speed, like shooting stars. She urged him anxiously.
"Faster! Faster! There are kunai coming from behind!"
Kairen turned sharply, dodging the kunai fired by a Jōnin.
"Chirp—"
From above, a hawk let out a sharp cry, sending down gusts of wind blades.
Kairen leapt into the air, forming a seal with one hand.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
In an instant, about 500 shadow clones burst from his body.
From the clone army stepped out the earlier clone commander, waving a command flag.
"Anti-air artillery, fire!"
"Formation of Shadow Clones—Fire Release: Multi Fire Gun!"
Five hundred clones launched fire bullets simultaneously, flooding the sky and forest. Some shot upward, some toward the surrounding Sunagakure shinobi.
Their speed left nothing but crimson trails before colliding, reacting, and exploding.
"Rumble rumble rumble—"
In an instant, the entire forest erupted, filled with endless booming.
When the noise finally died down, great blazes ignited across the woods.
Kairen set Tsunade down.
"Since you can move again, protect yourself now!"
Now that they had broken through the encirclement, it was time for Kairen to counterattack.
Tsunade tapped him on the forehead with a finger.
"I'm Tsunade of the Sannin. My shinobi skills are far above yours."
Her lips curved in a confident smile, blooming brighter than any flower. Even flames couldn't outshine it.
Kairen suppressed the stirrings in his heart, sighing inwardly. This woman was truly enchanting. Just a single day together, and she already had him dizzy and dazed.
One day, he'd surely die in this woman's embrace!
But he liked it!
Kairen shook his head. His chakra reserves were plummeting, and he needed to recover quickly.
He suddenly released a puff of white smoke, blocking Tsunade's view. Inside the smoke, he drew his ninja blade across his own neck.
When the smoke cleared, Kairen stood clad in spotless white clothes, chest half exposed, waist cinched with a thick black belt, a ninja blade tucked at his side.
Hands on his hips, he radiated overwhelming momentum, like a lone warrior barring an army.
"Sunagakure crawling worms! The son of the hawk has grown up. Now it's time for you to kneel, beg for forgiveness, and call me daddy!"
The Sunagakure shinobi halted before him, drawing kunai and windmill shuriken.
Kairen clenched his fists, bending low as he roared.
"Eight Gates—First Gate: Gate of Opening, open!"
"Second Gate of Rest, open!"
"Third Gate of Life, open!"
"Fourth Gate of Pain, open!"
"Nine-Tails Chakra—One-Tail Form, open!"
In an instant, a massive ten-meter chakra aura flared around him, its violent pressure whipping up fierce winds.
Tsunade instinctively shielded herself with her sleeve, staring at the boy wreathed in crimson flames.
For a fleeting moment, she thought she saw another man—one clad in red armor, wielding Wood Release, who had once pacified the chaos of the Warring States era.
"Grandfather… is Kairen the gift you left to the Senju Clan?"
Kairen formed hand seals, Byakugan open, chakra surging out from all 361 tenketsu points.
"Fire Release: Multi Demon Lantern!"
The sky turned crimson, filled with countless flaming demon heads, endless like the wrathful spirits of Hindu myth.
"Multi Demon Lantern—Release!"
"Wind Release: Wind Wall!"
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
Sunagakure shinobi scrambled to defend with their ninjutsu.
"Whoooosh—"
Tens of thousands of Demon Lanterns howled toward them, like a meteor shower streaking across the atmosphere.
When they fell, they ignited unending infernos, turning the entire forest into a world of flames.
Kairen stood in front, arms crossed. The searing heat scorched his white clothes, but he remained calm, like the monarch of fire itself.
In front of Tsunade, he could not allow his aura as an expert to falter.
This was the pretentious technique of Sasuke.
Tsunade looked at the shorter Kairen before her, wondering what madness he was about to unleash again. His clothes were already burning—why wasn't he patting them out?
Kairen gazed at the blazing inferno, at the black smoke billowing into the sky.
With a single fire, the whole mountain was burning. Luckily, there were no police stations in the Land of Rivers—or even if there were, they wouldn't dare arrest him.
He realized something then. The Demon Lantern Jutsu was partly fueled by his own flames, but also by the fire spontaneously ignited in the forest.
In other words, this technique, like Earth Release or Water Release, could harness the forces of nature to reduce chakra consumption.
Kairen thought again of Lightning Release, which he had never seen. Lightning Release users were rare in the Land of Wind, and he had never encountered one in Konoha either.
His chakra attributes lacked Lightning. If he had it, he could harness the sky's thunder to summon Lightning and annihilate the forest in an instant.
Lightning, fire, wind… all existed in nature!
"Fire!!"
Kairen slapped his forehead. Weren't the flames consuming the forest also natural fire?
If Sasuke could harness the thunder in the skies to conjure Kirin, then why couldn't he, Kairen, harness the flames in the forest to shape a great beast?
Both of them could use pretentious techniques, and the conditions were right.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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