Tsunade Can Hear My Inner Voice

Chapter 90: Chapter 90: Chōji — The Little Genius

*Thud!*

A fist struck the paper. Chōji’s eyes were vacant, his pupils dilated, his gaze unfocused as he stared ahead.

His legs trembled, looking as though they might give out at any moment.

*Thud!*

Another punch.

Chōji slowly raised his arm, feeling as if his limbs had been filled with sand, unbearably heavy.

The thick stack of paper before him had already been shattered by a third. His fists were covered in a mix of blood and shredded paper.

Not far away, Kamizuki Hikari and Tenten stood under the sunlight, watching him without blinking.

"Hikari-senpai, Chōji... is amazing!" Tenten exclaimed in admiration.

Watching Chōji, she recalled her own early training days.

She had lasted about an hour and a half back then.

But Chōji had been training for over two hours now.

While some of this could be attributed to the difference in physical strength between boys and girls, the bigger reason was that Tenten lacked Chōji’s sheer determination to push herself to the limit.

As for Shikamaru and Ino, they had long since collapsed and been dragged to the shade of another tree by Hikari and Tenten to rest.

Only Chōji remained, refusing to fall even as his body reached its breaking point.

With perseverance and willpower like this, how could he not achieve greatness?

"Tenten, go buy some food. Make sure it’s easy to digest!" Hikari instructed.

Based on his estimate, Chōji wouldn’t last much longer.

Tenten gave Chōji another long look, as if engraving his image into her mind, then nodded. "Alright, I’m off. But Hikari-senpai, you’d better not take advantage of Ino while I’m gone!"

"What kind of person do you take me for? Do I, Kamizuki Hikari, seem like that kind of man?"

"Yes!"

With that, Tenten dashed off before Hikari could scold her.

"That little brat..."

---

Hokage Office.

After a brief verbal exchange, Tsunade finally got the answers she wanted.

"Both of you are Konoha shinobi, my most trusted people. I don’t want this matter causing bad blood between you two. How about this: I’ll set up a dinner tonight. You and Shizune can talk things over. If it works out, you keep going. If not, just treat it as friends having a meal. Sound good?"

"Understood." Kakashi replied with a ’calm’ expression.

"In that case, go coordinate with Yamato first, and pick two shinobi teams. Head to the border tomorrow to pick them up."

"Yes!"

"Dismissed."

Once Kakashi had left, Tsunade picked up a document and pretended to read it. Only after the door closed did she set it down.

"Well, Hikari, let’s see if you’re slacking like you said yesterday!"

---

Training Ground 10

Tsunade arrived quietly and unannounced, dressed lightly.

Spotting Hikari standing under the sunlight, she nodded slightly.

’At least this guy is doing his job.’

’But... what is Chōji doing?’

Watching Chōji punch the stack of paper tied to a tree, and seeing Shikamaru and Ino sprawled out in the shade, Tsunade was puzzled.

What kind of training method is this?

"Ahem!"

She deliberately cleared her throat as she approached Hikari.

"Tsunade-sama! What an honor for you to grace us with your presence. My deepest apologies for not welcoming you properly!"

"Cut the crap. Can’t you just talk normally?" Tsunade shot him an exasperated glare.

This guy really wasted that ’Second Hokage’ face of his. If only he were a cold and silent type, that would’ve been perfect.

"I can talk normally. It’s just that every time I remember the fortune I spent last night, my mouth moves on its own!"

"That was for finding your brother a wife! Now that it’s done, don’t tell me you’re trying to back out?"

"It’s not that I’m backing out, but that bill was so steep I could’ve eaten at Ichiraku for three years!" Just thinking about all that cash made Hikari’s heart ache.

With Tsunade’s spending habits, even selling Asuma wouldn’t cover a year’s expenses.

How had she even survived all those years wandering around?

(Tsunade: Obviously by racking up debt!)

*THUD!*

A loud noise interrupted their bickering.

Body Flicker!

Tsunade and Hikari appeared beside Chōji in an instant. Seeing the pudgy boy collapsed on the ground, Tsunade knelt to examine him. After confirming it was just exhaustion and no internal injuries, she let out a breath of relief.

"Hikari, where the hell did you learn this training method? If something had gone wrong, Chōza would’ve squashed you flat!" Having confirmed Chōji’s condition, Tsunade shot Hikari a warning glare.

[I’m just training them properly. If they can’t handle this, how can they call themselves shinobi?] noveldrama

[And let’s be real—someone like Chōza? I could take three of him with one hand. Him squashing me? Please. Now, if it were you, that might be a different story.]

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. This bastard was provoking her in his head again.

’If you’ve got the guts, say it out loud!’

’See if my punch doesn’t rearrange your face!’

Hikari’s attention shifted from Chōji to the paper.

A fist-sized hole.

"This is...?" Tsunade noticed it too and reached out to touch it.

"Chōji did this?"

"Who else would it be?" Hikari retorted before adding, "This is the first phase of their training. Didn’t expect Chōji to pull it off like this... Hmm, looks like the Akimichi clan’s Multi-Size Technique has some synergy with my training."

It wasn’t an unreasonable assumption. Chōji’s training had been grueling, but his progress was nearly twice as fast as Hikari had anticipated.

This wasn’t just a simple matter of effort.

Back when he had personally trained Tenten, it had taken her nearly two days to complete the first stage.

Yet Chōji had managed it in half a day, purely through instinct.

If he wasn’t cheating, then his clan’s secret techniques had to be the reason.

"I remember the Akimichi clan’s jutsu is mainly about enlarging the body to increase power. I didn’t expect it to be capable of such a focused impact. Are you sure this training method is your own idea?" Tsunade looked at him skeptically.

"Of course it was mine. Who else’s—yours?"

"Shut it, you slacker! You’re usually so lazy. For you to come up with something like this—isn’t it natural for me to be skeptical?" Tsunade snapped.

"Fine, fine. My bad, okay?" Hikari surrendered quickly.

"That’s more like it. I’ll let it slide this time."

"Yes, yes, thank you for your magnanimity, Tsunade-sama!"

"By the way... those wounds on their hands—shouldn’t we treat them?" Tsunade’s eyes gleamed, eager to flex her skills. As the founder of modern medical-nin techniques, she only needed a touch to heal such minor injuries.

Three minutes of painless treatment, and everything would be as good as new!

-----

Read 40+ advanced Chapters on my P@treon.

[email protected]/KakuzuTL