Chapter 52: Chapter 52: No-Hand Seals Ninjutsu!
The battle ended with only one enemy left alive, intentionally spared by Minato Namikaze. All the others were killed.
Shūichi Hoshita took down six enemies, Uchiha Shisui and Kurama Sanyō each took down three, and the rest were dealt with by Minato Namikaze.
As for the five samurai, each of them was injured, but none of them managed to kill a single enemy.
Shūichi was responsible for healing the five injured samurai, while Shisui and Sanyō used genjutsu to assist Minato in interrogating the surviving enemy to extract information.
The captive was a jōnin, with an unusually strong will.
Half an hour later, Shūichi had finished treating the samurai, and Minato had successfully obtained the necessary intelligence.
As suspected, these ninja were indeed from Iwagakure!
Their goal was not only to extract information from the envoy of the Land of Fire but also to capture the envoy alive and frame Sunagakure for it.
This was because Konoha and Sunagakure were already in conflict over the Land of Rivers. Provoking a larger conflict, or even a war, between Konoha and Sunagakure would be highly beneficial to Iwagakure.
As for why they didn't directly assault them but instead used attrition tactics, the reason lay in Minato Namikaze.
Even though Iwagakure had three jōnin, they weren't confident in taking on Minato.
Minato, although not yet renowned as the "Yellow Flash," had already gained a significant reputation in the ninja world, particularly for his incredible speed.
Unfortunately for Iwagakure, they underestimated Minato Namikaze, as well as Shūichi Hoshita and the others' resilience and combat abilities.
Shūichi, in particular, stood out with his no-hand seals Fire Release, high focus, and rapid reflexes, allowing him to kill enemies even faster than Uchiha Shisui.
However, this came at a considerable cost.
After finishing the medical treatment, even though his physical strength had begun to recover, Shūichi still couldn't resist the overwhelming drowsiness.
The aftermath of using tenfold focus had left him quite fatigued.
"Sensei, leave Shūichi to me!" said Shisui as he lifted Shūichi onto his back.
With heavy eyelids, Shūichi murmured, "Thanks, Shisui..."
…
Without the burden of the envoy, their return journey after dealing with the enemy became much quicker.
Of course, due to the presence of the five palanquin bearers, their pace still wasn't as fast as a group of pure shinobi traveling.
By evening, the group had entered the Land of Fire. Shūichi, having been carried alternately by Shisui and Sanyō throughout the journey, had fully recovered and was now full of energy once again.
Sitting by the riverbank, with fish roasting over the campfire, Shūichi couldn't help but reflect on the day's battle. He asked, "Sensei, it seemed like you didn't use any ninjutsu while using the Flying Thunder God technique."
Earlier, Shūichi had observed Minato Namikaze using the Flying Thunder God against an Iwagakure jōnin. However, Minato hadn't been able to finish him off in one strike because of the enemy's Earth Release: Hardening Technique.
In the end, Minato decided to capture that jōnin instead.
Hearing Shūichi's question, Minato smiled wryly and explained, "Because the Flying Thunder God is so fast, there's hardly any time to perform hand seals or prepare ninjutsu in advance."
"Shūichi, your sensei doesn't have your ability to use Fire Release without hand seals."
"That's why I'm working on creating a no-hand seals ninjutsu to pair with the Flying Thunder God for attacks, but I haven't succeeded yet!"
Although Minato said this, the original purpose of developing no-hand seals ninjutsu was different.
"No-hand seals ninjutsu, that's amazing!" Kurama Sanyō exclaimed in awe, then asked, "Sensei, can we join you in training next time?"
Minato smiled warmly and replied, "Of course, that's not a problem."
…
The next day, Shūichi and the others returned to the Daimyō's residence in the Land of Fire, where they were received by the Daimyō himself. They also took the opportunity to evaluate a few new shinobi the Daimyō had recruited.
However, the atmosphere this time wasn't as intense as before; it was just a straightforward assessment.
The new shinobi weren't as skilled as the previous batch, with most of them being at the level of chūnin, and not a single jōnin among them.
Afterward, Shūichi Hoshita once again received a private audience with the Daimyō.
During the meeting, Shūichi took the opportunity to recommend a few of Konoha's young geniuses to the Daimyō.
For instance, he mentioned Kakashi, the prodigy who graduated from the Konoha Ninja Academy at the youngest age since its founding.
He also brought up Asuma Sarutobi, the son of the Third Hokage.
The Daimyō was quite pleased with the mention of Kakashi, a name he had already heard of.
However, he had some reservations about Asuma Sarutobi.
After all, Asuma was the son of the Hokage!
But Shūichi quickly convinced the Daimyō with a single sentence: "Recruiting the Hokage's son would have a greater impact than recruiting ten other geniuses."
As a result, when Shūichi left, he had an additional ten million ryō in hand.
As expected of the Daimyō—he's incredibly wealthy!
…
On the afternoon of July 31st, Shūichi and his team finally returned to Konoha.
After submitting the mission report and collecting their payment at the Hokage's office, Minato Namikaze announced a one-week break. However, they agreed to meet the next day to observe his progress on a new jutsu.
After freshening up and having lunch, Shūichi made his usual visit to Konoha Hospital.
This mission had taken nearly a month, making it the longest mission he had ever undertaken.
Naturally, he missed Nonō Yakushi after being away for so long.
Upon arriving at Konoha Hospital, Shūichi quickly found Nonō, who was busy treating injured ninja.
"Let me help!" Shūichi offered as he approached.
Nonō, with sweat on her forehead, looked up and was pleasantly surprised to see him. "Shūichi..."
With a smile, Shūichi began using the Mystical Palm Technique, taking over Nonō's position.
However, the number of injured seemed higher than usual today, so Nonō didn't get a break.
Seeing this, Shūichi sped up his work to help ease the burden on her.
Before they knew it, the afternoon had passed.
When the treatment was finally done, Shūichi felt somewhat exhausted.
"Good job!"
A familiar voice rang in his ears, and when he turned, he saw Tsunade standing there with a box of milk.
"Thank you, Lady Tsunade!" Shūichi expressed his gratitude as he took the milk, then asked, "Lady Tsunade, why are there so many injured today?"
"And many of them seem to be poisoned. Could it be the work of the Sand Ninja?"
Tsunade nodded slightly. "It's from the Land of Rivers."
As expected!
Shūichi frowned slightly but then quickly let it go.
It wasn't his concern yet—he wasn't at that level. Focusing on improving his strength was the most important thing.
"Lady Tsunade, let's continue training today!"
"Of course," Tsunade agreed without hesitation.
Shūichi didn't mind getting beaten up; in fact, Tsunade found the secret technique training a bit dull without it.
After saying goodbye to Nonō, the two headed to the nearby training ground to begin their session.
In addition to taijutsu and Fire Release, Shūichi also practiced kenjutsu, particularly the Dance of the Crescent Moon.
But Shūichi noticed that Tsunade seemed noticeably stronger than before.
Her reaction speed had improved, and her attacks were faster too.
Sensing Shūichi's surprise, Tsunade snorted, "Kid, don't underestimate me."
"I may be a medical ninja, but I'm not the type who relies on others to protect me."
Shūichi quickly responded, "I wouldn't dream of underestimating you, Lady Tsunade. I was just thinking that you've gotten even stronger."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow.
Stronger than before? So, does that mean I wasn't strong enough before?
Is that supposed to be a compliment?
Unable to resist, Tsunade put a bit more force into her next attack.
(End of Chapter)
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