"Ah? It's nothing."
Hinata, slightly flustered, tidied up the things around her, then began to add water to the stove. Watching her clumsy movements, a faint smile touched the corners of Kusuo's lips. Having lived her whole life in a great noble clan, Hinata had never done this kind of rough work before. Her fumbling actions said it all.
And now, there was a man for whom she was willing to devote herself so completely. The thought that this man was him brought a sense of satisfaction to the usually calm Kusuo.
He quietly walked up behind Hinata and gently wrapped his arms around her from behind.
"Kusuo..."
A firm, warm embrace enveloped her, and Hinata's face instantly became scorching hot. In front of her was the gradually heating water.
Splash!
The sound of splashing water echoed. From outside the house, two silhouettes could be seen flickering in the dim lamplight.
...
The night faded away with the chirping of insects. The next day, new sunlight spilled across the land.
Naruto was taken by Asuma to practice tree-climbing. Kusuo and Hinata, however, had already mastered this skill to perfection. Therefore, Asuma generally let the two of them train on their own.
Hinata was still hiding in her room, refusing to come out. Now, only Kusuo was left, walking to the shore with his sword in his arms.
"Looks like I teased her a bit too much last night. She won't come out no matter how I persuade her..." He rubbed his nose, a knowing smile on his face as he thought about the previous night.
The Land of Waves was an island in the great sea. At this moment, the ocean waves glittered under the golden sunlight.
Kusuo gripped the sword in his hand, facing the sea, and suddenly felt a stirring in his heart. The previous battle, although easy, had yielded significant gains. The sword aura that had shocked Asuma and Zabuza looked powerful, but it was actually an attack where he was deliberately holding back. In his state of Total Concentration: Constant, Kusuo could unleash such attacks at will, as long as he had the stamina.
But when he went all out, the range of his sword aura would expand even further. The price was the interruption of his breathing rhythm, which required time to readjust.
Now, this boundless ocean gave him an incomparably vast state of mind. Kusuo no longer needed to restrain his breathing rhythm. He raised the sword in his hand and, with a single swing...
"Sun Breathing, Tenth Form—Beneficent! Radiance!"
In that instant, a sharp, incredibly霸道 (bàdào) - domineering - and peerless sword aura shot out from his blade.
SWOOOSH!!!
It was as if heaven and earth were being split apart.
The powerful, astonishing sword aura sundered everything. Carrying the scorching heat of the sun, like a spiraling pinwheel, it howled forth.
CRASH—
The waves surged violently, kicking up a massive storm. The very world trembled under this single slash. That sword aura, like a display of heavenly might, easily cut open the surface of the sea as if it were tofu, shaking the entire ocean to its core.
If one were to look down from high above, they would see that after Kusuo's sword fell, the aura rushed forward unstoppably, cleaving a bottomless chasm in the water. Looking out, it seemed to have no end.
This one slash tore through the sky.
This one slash parted the sea.
Beneath the heavens, a roar as deep as thunder echoed.
SIZZLE!
The flames burned the seawater, creating a massive amount of white steam that shrouded the entire coastline, and a torrential downpour began to fall.
He retracted his sword and sheathed it. He watched as the parted sea, after a brief pause of a few seconds, began to rapidly flow back, crashing together and creating a huge amount of white spray.
Witnessing this scene, Kusuo let out a long breath, his chest rising and falling as he readjusted his breathing rhythm. Looking at the result of his slash, he was very satisfied.
...
"Asuma-sensei, why do I have to learn such a boring skill like tree-climbing? Can't you teach me a powerful ninjutsu? One I can use to beat Sasuke right away!"
At the base of a tree, Naruto, bruised and swollen from falling, complained to Asuma.
Hearing this, Asuma's expression turned serious. "Naruto, don't aim too high and neglect the basics! Remember that the core of a ninja's combat power is chakra. Everyone's innate talent is limited; we can't control the quality or quantity of our chakra. But as its master, controlling the distribution of chakra is an essential skill for everyone."
"Having you practice tree-climbing now, and later walking on water, is all so that you can properly master the chakra distribution between each jutsu and control the power of your techniques in the future."
"The same jutsu can have vastly different power in the hands of different people. Some genin's Great Fireball can only be used to cook rice, while some jonin can incinerate an entire forest!"
"Like the 'Demon' Zabuza we encountered before. You could say he's a master of Water Style, but he's still a long way off from our Konoha's Second Hokage!"
"A truly strong person can use ninjutsu to move mountains and overturn seas, to change the very landscape. If we encounter such a ninja during a mission, we wouldn't even be punished for retreating immediately. For example, in the history of our Konoha..."
Before he could finish his sentence, CRASHHH———
A fierce wind suddenly whipped up along the coastline by the trees. The originally calm sea surface suddenly became savage and turbulent.
Then, before Asuma and Naruto's wide, shocked eyes, a massive wave tens of meters high came surging towards them like a collapsing mountain. It was like a natural disaster. The sight was terrifying. In the face of that towering wave, a human body seemed as insignificant as an ant.
Gulp.
Naruto swallowed hard. He pointed a trembling finger at the giant wave, where some residual sword energy still seemed to linger.
"A-Asuma-sensei... do you think... any ninja can unleash a jutsu of this scale?"
Asuma was also dumbfounded. "I don't know... maybe... perhaps... there is?"
-------
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