Naruto: Kurotsuchi Mayuri

"So strong!"

Looking at the monster across from him, about two meters tall and shaped like a standing lion-man, he gasped.

If Itachi hadn't pulled him back with a steel cable just now, he would probably have been seriously injured by the opponent.

With Tsunade watching, there was no need to worry about life-threatening danger.

Even if his body was torn in half, as long as his heart and brain weren't damaged, Tsunade could quickly heal him perfectly.

In the words of their teacher, Kagetsu, Tsunade's medical ninjutsu had gone beyond regular ninjutsu and reached a level close to sage arts.

Her body's yang chakra was evolving and transforming, reaching near-perfect yang power.

From her own body's data, Tsunade had already discovered that her body was starting to resemble her grandfather, the First Hokage.

Her cells had become extremely active. Even when separated from her body, they still had strong vitality and corrosiveness.

But unlike the First Hokage's cells that showed wood release nature, Tsunade's cells only showed pure healing power.

If this continued, Tsunade's physical abilities might rival the First Hokage's in Sage Mode.

With chakra as huge as a tailed beast's, nearly immortal, physical strength, incredible power, and healing abilities that could cure any injury.

At that time, most ninjutsu, even destructive ones, would have a hard time hurting her, even without any protection.

Because some ninjutsu injuries would heal slower than her body's natural regeneration.

Except for some pain, Tsunade would feel almost no damage.

This almost immortal, powerful body was something Orochimaru had once dreamed of. Although now he had higher goals, after seeing Tsunade's latest physical data, he still felt challenged and excited by it.

To him, Tsunade's body cells were almost comparable to the First Hokage's wood release cells. Since he was once obsessed with the First Hokage's cells and had spent many years studying them, the changes in Tsunade's body were hard for him to ignore.

Of course, this didn't mean Orochimaru, who had become Hokage, had any bad intentions toward Tsunade. He only thought that her body cells might play some unknown role in his ultimate research.

Tsunade had already agreed to his request and gave him a piece of her flesh for study.

Tsunade herself found her condition somewhat unbelievable.

The ultimate battle form she once built with the Yin Seal, Creation Rebirth, and the Hundred Healings Technique had now become her permanent state, triggered by the evolution of Hogyoku.

Because of this, the three forbidden techniques—Yin Seal, Creation Rebirth, and Hundred Healings—had almost lost their effect on her.

She no longer needed to rely on the Yin Seal to store chakra to handle long, intense battles where chakra might run low, nor did she need Creation Rebirth to heal and repair her body when it was injured.

The Hundred Healings Technique only acts like a connection. When she uses ninjutsu and her monstrous strength, it can also slightly enhance her power, although the boost is quite weak.

After getting used to her current physical condition, Tsunade had to reconsider and rebuild her combat ninjutsu.

Just like Orochimaru, who improved and refined the forbidden jutsu he created, becoming more strange and powerful with the power of the Hogyoku.

Tsunade was the same, but for now, she felt a bit lost about her combat system. She didn't know where to start.

It seemed like she had already pushed all her skills to the limit. She had nowhere left to advance.

With no clue, Tsunade didn't know which direction to develop her abilities or how to do it.

She asked Orochimaru, and his advice was to ask the Third Hokage, Jiraiya, or Kagetsu.

The Third Hokage was a ninjutsu expert and very knowledgeable about chakra and ninjutsu.

Even Orochimaru admired him.

Maybe in some areas Orochimaru went deeper, but overall, he couldn't match the Third's breadth of knowledge.

Just like when he taught them before, the Third Hokage might still be able to guide Tsunade with his experience and wisdom.

Compared to Tsunade and Orochimaru, Jiraiya seemed less skilled at developing ninjutsu. He hadn't created any notable forbidden jutsu.

The only useful technique he often used was the Rasengan, created by his student Minato Namikaze.

But Jiraiya's style was very simple. Normal ninjutsu in his hands, supported by sage techniques, could have the power of dangerous forbidden jutsu.

Supported by Mount Myoboku, Jiraiya's fighting style pursued simplicity and perfection, somewhat similar to Tsunade's. He might be able to give her some advice.

As for Kagetsu, as the creator of the Hogyoku, he might know more about how to increase the power of the Hogyoku mode.

Tsunade first blocked the Third Hokage, who had retired but occasionally gave lessons to students at the Konoha Ninja Academy.

Then, she pulled Jiraiya out from behind an open-air bath.

After listening to Tsunade, both of them gave some advice.

Especially the Third Hokage, who had always wanted to improve his relationship with Tsunade.

He tried hard to plan a possible way for her to improve based on her current condition.

But Tsunade's physical condition had already exceeded the Third Hokage's understanding.

He could only use his knowledge of the First Hokage to analyze and give advice about her situation.

After hearing the suggestions from the Third Hokage and Jiraiya, Tsunade went to see Kagetsu in the Technology Development Department.

"Do you want to improve your abilities? Or do you want to increase your damage power in battle?" Kagetsu pointed out what Tsunade was struggling with.

"My fighting mostly depends on brute strength. The medical ninjutsu and forbidden techniques I know are hard to imagine being useful in battle," Tsunade answered softly.

Medical ninjutsu is rarely used in combat.

Except for a few like the Chakra Scalpel and Disruptive Body Attack, medical ninjutsu seldom causes damage in fights.

So the first rule for medical ninjas on the battlefield is to stay away from danger, hide during battle, and heal teammates afterward.

Even Tsunade doesn't use medical ninjutsu in battle, but relies on her own chakra-based brute strength and forbidden techniques.

But now, those no longer work.

Without Orochimaru and Kagetsu, Tsunade felt she had reached a dead end on this path.

But it was precisely the two of them digging deeper and evolving the power of the Hogyoku that made her realize she might not be at the end yet.

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