After all, Wild Water Wave's trait only reduced the chakra cost of using the technique. It did not increase Yuu's affinity for Water Release the way Great Fireball had increased his affinity for Fire Release. So his "talent" in Water Release was quite far below his talent in Fire Release, even if he gifted the fragment.
And Water Severing Wave was difficult even among all Water Release techniques.
An ordinary person would never be able to master it without spending several months.
Because Yuu had studied medical ninjutsu, his chakra control was stronger than the average person's, but not to the extent that he could learn it quickly.
After several attempts,
the "water gun" he produced was not condensed enough, and the pressure was limited. Forget cutting through an Earth-Style Wall—at most, it left several uneven pits on the wall. Its penetration might not even be as strong as a regular Dragon Fire Technique.
However…
this actually made Sarutobi Hiruzen and Namikaze Minato breathe a sigh of relief.
After all, Yuu's Fire Release talent was already a little too outrageous. If he were also like that in Water Release, it would be somewhat frightening.
Of course…
if he really had that kind of Water Release talent, then aside from being scary, it would also be a surprise.
After all, if someone at this age could master both Water and Fire Release to perfection, then in a few years, independently developing one or two kekkei genkai would probably be only natural. At minimum, Konoha would gain another elite jōnin, or even a Kage-level ninja.
That was a good thing.
"It's fine, Yuu."
Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled and comforted him. "Water Severing Wave has complicated hand seals, and chakra compression is the real difficulty. When Teacher Tobirama taught me this technique, I also spent a very long time mastering it. So there's no need to rush. Take it slowly."
"I understand."
Yuu nodded, then tentatively asked, "Lord Hokage, could I borrow the scroll for Water Severing Wave? Although your explanation just now was very detailed, my aptitude is limited, and I can't completely digest it all at once. If I could have a scroll to review several more times, perhaps I would gain something…"
"This…"
Hiruzen pondered. "In principle, that is not allowed."
"Then…"
"However, considering that you have helped the village solve many problems during this period, I can make an exception this once."
Hiruzen smiled. "How about this? I will hand the scroll to Minato later. You will study it under Minato's supervision. If you have any questions, you may ask Minato, or come ask me. Once you have learned it, Minato will return the scroll to me. How does that sound?"
"That would be wonderful!"
Yuu showed surprise at just the right moment.
He could understand Hiruzen's approach.
After all, as an S-rank ninjutsu, Water Severing Wave was no less important than the forbidden techniques on the Scroll of Seals. In an ordinary ninja village, it could be considered a village-guarding treasure. With Yuu being only a "special jōnin," there was no guarantee of its safety. If it were stolen by another village, it would be troublesome.
So Minato could only act as intermediary and guarantor.
In that case, Yuu would have to put some thought into copying it later. If there was really no other way, he could only memorize it section by section, then transcribe it after returning home…
A bit troublesome.
But for an S-rank ninjutsu, some trouble was worth it.
"Alright, let's stop today's lesson here."
Sarutobi Hiruzen patted Yuu on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Yuu, I think very highly of you. With your aptitude, if you work hard, your future will be very promising."
"…I will."
Yuu said.
Hiruzen gave him a few more words of encouragement before leaving the training ground under ANBU escort. As the current Hokage, he was busy with official duties. Being able to take time to personally instruct a junior for this long was already very rare. It was impossible for him to be as thorough as he had been when teaching Jiraiya and the others back then.
However, Minato stayed behind to answer Yuu's questions.
He had also trained in Fire Release. Although he did not often use it, his foundation was still there.
As for Water Release, Minato really didn't know it, but he did possess theoretical knowledge and had seen plenty of Water Release experts. He could provide Yuu with some guidance and help him learn by analogy.
At the end,
Yuu tentatively brought up Flying Thunder God.
Minato smiled. "Well… I already promised to teach you that technique, so naturally I will try. But you've just learned two new techniques and haven't fully mastered them yet. If you learn another S-rank ninjutsu, I'm afraid your energy will be spread too thin.
"Don't rush. First practice these two techniques properly. In the next couple of days, I'll go to the Third Hokage and bring over the Water Severing Wave scroll. Then I'll first teach you some basic space-time perception techniques. When the time is right, I'll teach you the Flying Thunder God formula."
"Alright."
Yuu nodded.
Speaking of which, although Water Severing Wave and Flying Thunder God were both legendary limited skins, their base forms were Wild Water Wave and Summoning Technique respectively. The former's affection had almost been maxed by Yuu, so as long as he obtained the skin, he could gift it. But the latter had not been wooed for long and was still far from ready.
If he couldn't directly gift the skin and had to rely on his own talent to learn Flying Thunder God… it might genuinely not be easy for him to learn.
It would be better to take this time to attend a couple more sealing technique lessons with Kushina. That should be easier to learn. It would also be a good chance to find a new skin for Binding Formula Seal and upgrade it.
After a while,
Minato found an excuse to leave.
Yuu stayed at the training ground for several more hours and only ended his training when the sun began to slant westward. Then he returned home.
…
The next day,
early in the morning, Yuu and Rin went together to the Senju compound.
This trip was mainly for the two Uzumaki clan members.
Yesterday, Tsunade had said she would arrange for Uzumaki Kana and Naoto to live inside the Senju compound. Presumably, she would be busy these two days cleaning rooms and preparing furniture, with plenty of physical work to do. Yuu and Rin had just passed the Chūnin Exam and had nothing much to do, so it was a good time to go help.
At the same time, they could raise favorability with the Senju and Uzumaki.
Sure enough.
When Yuu and Rin arrived at the Senju compound, they saw several Senju clan members busy inside. They were clearing out two empty houses not far from Tsunade's residence, preparing them for the two Uzumaki to live in.
Seeing Yuu and Rin, Uzumaki Kana quickly came over to greet them.
"Morning, Kana-nee."
Yuu waved, then introduced the girl beside him. "This is my teammate, Nohara Rin. She's also Minato-sensei's student and a chūnin of Konoha… Rin, this is Uzumaki Kana-nee, Kushina-senpai's clanswoman."
"Nice to meet you, Kana-senpai!"
Rin had already learned Kana's background from Yuu, so she immediately greeted her with a smile. Then she and Yuu went over to help.
They moved things, cleaned the courtyard, and introduced Kana to all kinds of things about Konoha.
The last task was mainly done by Rin. Her social skills had always been good. Before long, she had become familiar with the two Uzumaki. Kana's initial unease gradually faded, and she started chatting and laughing with Rin. During this, she also asked a little about Kushina.
However, Rin only knew the general situation in that regard, so they did not talk too deeply.
As for the other Senju clan members…
Yuu did not recognize most of them. Only two seemed to have been at the Ninja Academy before, but they had not taught his and Rin's class. So both sides only nodded politely, exchanged brief greetings, and continued working.
They remained busy until evening.
The afterglow of the setting sun fell over Konoha Village, coating the land in warm gold. The two small courtyards had also been cleaned until they looked completely refreshed. The windows inside were bright and clean, and the fallen leaves scattered through the courtyards had been swept away.
Rin was helping Uzumaki Kana make the bed.
It wasn't convenient for Yuu to enter the other party's bedroom, so he leaned against the sliding door in front of the corridor to rest. Just as he was adjusting his breathing, he heard footsteps. Then a soft arm rested on his shoulder, accompanied by a faint medicinal fragrance and a heavy weight.
No need to look. It was Tsunade.
Among the people Yuu knew, no second person would make this kind of move toward him. And no one else had such a heavy weight… mm, he was not talking about body weight.
At once,
Yuu still turned his head and glanced. His face was only inches away from Tsunade's, and he saw her amber eyes.
"Lady Tsunade."
"Hmph, I knew you'd come."
Tsunade's voice carried a trace of laziness. She casually glanced at Yuu, her golden ponytail swaying slightly as she lifted her head. "How was it? Did those two techniques the old man taught you yesterday stump you?"
"Not really."
Yuu answered concisely. "I can basically use Fire Dragon Flame Bullet, but I'm still not at Lord Third's level yet. I need more work on shape transformation. Water Severing Wave is a bit difficult. The requirement for chakra compression is too high, so I'm still looking for the right feeling."
"Oh?"
Tsunade raised a brow, somewhat doubtful, but her mouth still acted unconcerned.
"I thought you were a genius. So there are things even you can't handle? Well, Water Severing Wave is a ninjutsu created by my Second Granduncle. He was a grandmaster in Water Release. Although your hair color is quite similar to his, your aptitude is far inferior."
"…"
Yuu did not argue, but his heart stirred.
Speaking of which, he had always found it strange why the Senju clan had such a rich variety of hair colors.
Hashirama and his brothers had black hair, white hair, and a half-black-half-white head. By Tsunade and Nawaki's generation, blond and brown hair had also appeared. It was practically like every possible combination.
Logically, the Senju clan's genes should be quite strong. For inheritance to be this unstable was odd enough.
He wondered what color hair Tsunade's child would have if she had one…
At this moment,
footsteps came from inside the room.
Uzumaki Kana walked over carrying a small wooden tray. On it were several cups of warm water. She smiled and said, "Lady Tsunade, Mikami-kun, please drink some water. Thank you so much for working here all day. You must be exhausted."
"Thanks, Kana."
Tsunade casually picked up a cup, but her gaze was still on Yuu. Then she changed the topic.
"Speaking of which, brat, your family's Raw Cola has been selling like crazy outside recently."
"Taking advantage of the Chūnin Exam's momentum, distribution in several major cities of the Land of Fire has been very fast. Right now, many people outside are saying things like 'Konoha's strongest genin grew up drinking Raw Cola'… It sounds ridiculous, but the effect is actually pretty good. A lot of people were tricked into trying it, and once they drank it, they got hooked."
Tsunade sipped her water, her tone carrying some happiness. "At this rate, in another two months, Raw Cola's monthly sales should easily exceed 150,000 bottles. Earning four or five ryō per bottle, that's six hundred thousand ryō a month… Tsk, tsk, what a good business."
Yuu had also heard Mikami Tajima "report" on this at home.
The gimmick of "Konoha's strongest genin grew up drinking Raw Cola" did not come from him or Mikami Tajima. It was created by those Fire Country merchants that Tsunade had previously helped screen and who had signed cooperation agreements with the Mikami family.
It seemed there were indeed some capable and intelligent people among them who knew how to maximize benefits.
With Tsunade backing them, they probably wouldn't do anything too out of line, but Yuu still had to guard against them and firmly hold onto the core technology—the Raw Cola syrup formula—so they wouldn't end up making wedding clothes for others.
At this moment,
Yuu also accepted a cup of water, took a sip, and casually said, "One hundred fifty thousand bottles? That's too conservative, Lady Tsunade. Two hundred fifty thousand is more like it."
"Oh? That confident?"
"A little. Next, we're preparing to launch an 'empty bottles for cola' campaign. Collect eight empty glass bottles and exchange them for one bottle of cola. In addition, there will be a 'one more bottle' lottery campaign. If you see those words inside the bottle cap, you can claim a free new bottle.
"Through these methods, we can stimulate sales while reducing production costs. Two birds with one stone."
As Yuu explained,
Tsunade's eyes widened slightly. She looked Yuu up and down as if seeing him for the first time.
"Yuu, you really are a genius!"
"I'm getting curious about how that little brain of yours is built. How do you spend all day thinking up these strange tricks? Why don't you just go into business? With that kind of mind, being a ninja feels like a waste!"
"…Maybe it's because I've spent so much time around you and was influenced by you."
Yuu said without changing expression.
"Stop talking nonsense! If I had this ability, would I still need to go to gambling houses and hand those people money?"
Tsunade scolded with a laugh, then carefully studied the white-haired boy in front of her.
The current Yuu had grown much taller and straighter compared with over a year ago. He no longer looked like a novice boy just stepping out into the world. Instead, he had a feeling somewhere between boyhood and youth. Under the golden light of the setting sun, he had an indescribable aura that made him seem reliable.
Tsunade was silent for a few seconds. The smile on her face gradually faded, and her amber eyes became serious.
"Hey, brat."
"Mm?"
Yuu turned his head.
"You said before that you wanted to become my student… Were you serious?"
~~~
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