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A barren stretch of wilderness littered with jagged boulders.
BOOM!
A deep, earth-shaking explosion ripped through the air.
Dust billowed upward as a massive rock—easily twice a man's height—shattered into countless pieces that cascaded down in a rattling landslide.
As the cloud slowly cleared, the culprit stood revealed: Shinichi Higashino.
He held his punching stance for a moment, then slowly lowered his arm. There was no visible chakra glow on his fist, not even any obvious swelling. Only the faint flutter of his sleeve from the motion gave any hint of what had just happened.
The devastating power had been perfectly contained until the instant of impact.
"Not bad, I guess," Tsunade drawled from her lazy sprawl on a flat boulder nearby. She popped another piece of spicy dried meat into her mouth and crunched loudly, eyeing the pile of rubble.
"Chakra compression speed and control over the release point are starting to click. You're managing to focus the force pretty well within the fist without wasting much. Still…" She shrugged. "Compared to when I first started, you're a little rough around the edges. The release isn't crisp enough yet, and the follow-through drags just a hair."
Her tone was casual, almost dismissive, but deep in those warm brown eyes flickered unmistakable astonishment.
This kid… isn't he picking this up way too fast?!
The core of Monstrous Strength lay in taking vast, raging chakra, compressing it to an insane degree, channeling it precisely into a single point of the body, and unleashing it all in the moment of contact. It demanded chakra control so fine it bordered on obsessive.
Most shinobi needed months just to grasp the "compress—contain—explode" cycle, let alone survive the countless failures: chaotic chakra backlash, torn muscles, or outright self-inflicted damage.
A few days ago she'd given him a few casual pointers on a whim—partly because of that incredible Mapo Tofu. She'd figured even with his monstrous talent, mastering the basic release technique would take at least a month of grinding.
But only a few days later?
The brat was already throwing textbook Monstrous Strength punches—chakra compressed stably at the knuckles, smashing boulders to gravel while his own body barely felt the recoil.
That kind of comprehension speed couldn't be called mere genius anymore. It was like his body already had the underlying framework perfectly suited for this kind of power, and he was simply activating and adapting it to the new jutsu.
Shinichi flexed his wrist, savoring the subtle rhythm of muscle and chakra working in perfect harmony from that last strike. He accepted Tsunade's critique with a calm nod.
"Yes, Tsunade-sensei. You're right—I still need more practice to refine it."
He knew she was downplaying it. His progress was freakishly fast, thanks to the massive learning and application bonuses from traits like [Genius], [Taijutsu Specialization], and [Chunin]. Add in [Endless Vitality] and [Gastronome] giving him insane recovery to endure the brutal training volume, and it all made sense.
Not to mention his years of body conditioning, microscopic control over his own strength, and the deep insights he'd gained while developing Yamibarai on chakra shape and nature transformation.
Some of the principles behind Monstrous Strength actually overlapped beautifully with the Fire Release Nintaijutsu path he was exploring—especially the precise control and power condensation aspects.
"Knowing your shortcomings is half the battle," Tsunade said, sitting up on the boulder and brushing crumbs off her hands before hopping down.
Besides teaching Shinichi, she had two shadow clones active: one nearby guiding Shizune through even more delicate medical chakra manipulation and wound-treatment techniques. The other was working with Kurenai on the ultra-fine chakra control required for genjutsu, plus the precise coordination of chakra and muscle during sword strikes. For someone whose main focus was illusion and kenjutsu, this kind of top-tier guidance was priceless.
Tsunade walked over to Shinichi, arms crossed, and gave him a slow up-and-down look. Finally she couldn't help a soft snort. "Still, brat, you didn't embarrass me too badly. At least my lecture wasn't completely wasted on you."
"It's all thanks to your excellent teaching, Tsunade-sensei." Shinichi smiled.
"Oh, by the way," Tsunade raised an eyebrow, as if suddenly remembering. "The old man mentioned you've been messing around with some kind of Fire Release Nintaijutsu? Bold move, kid. Got ambition, I'll give you that."
"Yes, Tsunade-sensei." Shinichi nodded. "Actually, now that I've started grasping the release technique you taught me, I've had some new ideas for that project."
"New ideas already?" Tsunade's eyes widened a fraction, her voice dripping with exaggerated annoyance. "You and your endless brainstorms—do you ever run out?"
Inside, though, her astonishment grew.
Mastering Monstrous Strength at this pace was already insane. Now, barely after touching the basics, he was already cross-applying it to his own research and generating fresh insights?
That kind of instant synthesis, the creativity that could spark new connections across completely different fields… it was almost frightening.
"Tell me," she said, arms still folded, settling into a listening stance.
Shinichi thought for a moment, then began.
"The core goal of the Fire Release Nintaijutsu I'm developing is stable, efficient, seamless fusion of Fire-nature chakra with taijutsu movements. My original direction was to create something like Yamibarai—stable, easy-to-shape flames that can leave the body—then attach them to limbs for attacks: flaming fists, flaming kicks, that sort of thing."
He raised his right hand. A small, highly condensed ball of deep crimson flame appeared above his palm, burning silently.
"But I kept running into the same wall: how to rapidly and stably gather chakra—especially something as volatile as Fire-nature—into the striking areas like arms and legs, then unleash maximum power without blowing my own body apart."
His gaze stayed fixed on the flame in his palm, voice focused. "After learning your Monstrous Strength technique, I think I've found a new path."
"The essence of Monstrous Strength is extreme compression, perfect containment, and instantaneous release of massive chakra. That made me wonder—could I combine that exact principle with my flaming fist and flaming kick concepts?"
As he spoke, he demonstrated.
His fingers suddenly clenched. The stable crimson flame in his palm vanished, as if sucked straight into his body.
The next instant, a searing crimson glow flashed beneath the skin of his entire right arm—from shoulder blade to fingertips—like molten lava surging through his veins for a split second. Then the light rapidly contracted and disappeared. His arm returned to normal, as if the whole thing had been an illusion.
Tsunade's eyes sharpened instantly. She had felt it clearly: in that brief moment, Shinichi had used the exact Monstrous Strength compression technique—but not with ordinary chakra.
He had forcibly restrained and compressed highly active, volatile Fire-nature chakra inside the striking cakra path and muscle groups of his arm… without a single wisp leaking out.