The open wilderness was littered with jagged rocks.
Boom!
A deafening explosion suddenly exploded!
Smoke and dust rose, and a huge, solid rock, as tall as two people, collapsed with a crash, turning into countless fragments of varying sizes that cascaded down.
As the smoke and dust gradually dissipated, the figure of the culprit was revealed; it was Shinichi Higashino.
He maintained his punching stance and slowly retracted his arm. There was no chakra overflowing from his fist, nor any obvious redness or swelling. Only his sleeve fluttered slightly from the movement.
That destructive power was perfectly contained before it erupted, only to be released with an explosion at the moment of contact.
"Hmm, not bad."
Not far away, Tsunade lay leisurely on her side on a flat boulder while picking up a piece of spicy jerky and putting it into her mouth, chewing it with a crunching sound.
She glanced at the pile of rubble and said casually, "The speed of your chakra condensation and the control of the detonation point are getting better; you're starting to grasp the basics. You start to barely confine the force to the surface of your fist without wasting too much chakra. But compared to when I first started training back then, it's still lacking a bit. Your force application isn't good enough yet, and your withdrawal of power is a little sluggish."
Her comments were casual, but a hint of surprise flickered deep in her bright brown eyes.
This kid! Isn't his speed a bit too fast?!
The core of the Chakra Enhanced Strength fist lies in the extreme compression and condensation of a massive amount of violent chakra, precisely channeling it into a single point on the body, and then unleashing it completely at the moment of impact. This requires the user to have abnormally precise control over chakra.
For an ordinary ninja, just understanding this cycle of compression, convergence, and instant burst might take months or even longer. Not to mention the countless failed attempts during practice caused by unstable control, leading to chakra disorder, muscle strains, or even backlash injuries.
A few days ago, on a whim, she gave him a few pointers for the sake of Mabo Dofu. She thought that even with Shinichi's talent, it would take him at least a month to slowly hone his skills in mastering the basics of the Chakra Enhanced Strength.
But it's only been a few days.
This kid can already throw a standard, powerful punch with impressive force, steadily compressing his chakra at the tip of his fist, shattering the giant rock while suffering almost no noticeable recoil!
This speed at which he grasped power and control could no longer be described as mere Genius; it was almost as if... He already had a fundamental framework within his body suitable for operating this power, and now it was simply being activated and adapted to the new technique.
Shinichi flexed his wrist, feeling the subtle rhythm of his muscles and chakra working together during that attack, and readily accepted Tsunade's assessment: "Understood, Tsunade-sensei, you're right. I do need more practice to optimize it."
Shinichi knew that Tsunade was actually saying one thing but meaning another, and that his progress was actually exceptionally fast, after all, he had the efficient learning and application abilities brought by the talents of Genius, Master of Taijutsu, and Chunin occupation.
There are also Endless Vitality and Gourmet talents that provide strong physical recovery to withstand high-intensity training.
It is also inseparable from his long-term physical training, his meticulous control over his own power, and his profound understanding of the changes in the form and nature of chakra when developing the Dark Sweep.
Some of the principles behind the Chakra Enhanced Strength are actually quite similar to the Fire Style Nintaijutsu he is exploring, in terms of precise control and power concentration.
"It's good to know your shortcomings."
Tsunade sat up from the boulder, patted the food crumbs off her hands, and jumped down.
At this moment, in addition to teaching Shinichi about Chakra Enhanced Strength, she also created two Shadow Clones. One of them was not far away, instructing Shizune on chakra control and medical ninjutsu.
The other was with Kurenai Yuhi, where she also received special training on the precise chakra control required for casting Genjutsu and the coordination of chakra and muscles when using swordsmanship. For Kurenai, who mainly focused on Genjutsu and swordsmanship, this top-level chakra control instruction was valuable.
Tsunade walked up to Shinichi, crossed her arms, looked him up and down, and finally couldn't help but snort: "But brat, you didn't do too badly, at least my explanations weren't wasted."
"It's all thanks to your excellent teaching, Tsunade-sensei." Shinichi smiled.
"Oh, right."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow as if she suddenly remembered something, "I heard the old man mention something before, saying that you were tinkering with some kind of Fire Style Nintaijutsu? Not bad, kid, you have quite the ambition."
"Yes, Tsunade-sensei."
Shinichi nodded and said, "Speaking of that, after initially grasping the force application technique of the Chakra Enhanced Strength you taught me, I've gained some new ideas about that direction."
"Another new idea? How come you have so many ideas all day long? It's never going to end, is it?"
Tsunade's eyes widened slightly, and her disdain in her tone became more obvious, but she was even more surprised inside.
Isn't this kid's talent and creativity a bit too outrageous?
Not only did he master the Chakra Enhanced Strength technique incredibly quickly, but having just grasped the basics, he immediately connected it to his existing development project and even came up with a new idea.
The speed at which he can apply his knowledge to new situations and integrate it into a coherent whole, along with his seemingly inexhaustible creativity in sparking new ideas from different fields, is simply astonishing.
"Tell me about it."
Tsunade suppressed the turmoil in her heart, crossed her arms, and adopted a posture of attentive listening.
Shinichi pondered for a moment and said, "The core goal of the Fire Style Nintaijutsu I'm trying to develop is to achieve a stable, efficient, and seamless fusion of fire nature chakra and Taijutsu movements. The initial direction is to create a stable, easily shaped, and detachable fire shuriken, like the Dark Sweep, and then try attaching it to the limbs to attack, forming moves like the flame fist and flame kick."
He raised his right hand, and a small, highly concentrated, and stable crimson flame quietly appeared and burned peacefully.
"But I've always struggled with how to quickly and stably concentrate chakra, especially the violent fire nature chakra, in my arms, thighs, and other power-generating parts, and ensure that it can unleash maximum power in an attack without harming myself."
Shinichi's gaze fell on the flame in his palm, and he said with a focused tone, "After learning about your Chakra Enhanced Strength, Tsunade-sensei, I seem to have found a new approach."
"The essence of the Chakra Enhanced Strength lies in compressing and condensing a massive amount of chakra into a single point, which then explodes upon contact. This makes me wonder if I could combine this concept of compression, convergence, and instant burst with my envisioned flame punch and flame kick?"
He spoke and demonstrated it at the same time.
He suddenly clenched his fist, and the steady crimson flame in his palm vanished instantly, as if it had been absorbed into his body.
Immediately afterwards, a layer of scorching red light flashed across the skin of his entire right arm, from his shoulder blade to his fingertips, as if lava had surged through his veins for a moment. Then the light quickly receded and disappeared, and his arm returned to normal, as if the strange phenomenon just now was just an illusion.