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Tsunade - Ch 87
🕑 Added 2025-05-16 16:00:16 +0000 UTCChapter 87: Tenten's First Battle Against Ino-Shika-Cho
"Maintain formation! Choji, main defense! Ino, sneak attack! I'll support!" Shikamaru quickly laid out the strategy, and Ino and Choji followed his lead, charging straight at Tenten.
"Hmm, interesting. Looks like these kids can take a beating!" Tenten cracked her knuckles before dashing forward to meet them.
"Take this—Meat Tank Impact!"
Choji spread his arms wide and rushed to tackle Tenten.
Hearing his shout, Tenten hesitated for a moment, but when she saw he was just going for a body slam, she smirked. When it came to taijutsu, she was leagues ahead.
"Soft Fist Style: Slapping Barrage!" Tenten, playing along, gave her attack a name.
Her hands struck Choji’s body in rapid succession—one hit, two hits, three hits, four hits...
Each iron-hard slap left bright red handprints on his skin, and soon his arms trembled uncontrollably, robbed of strength.
"What a vicious woman!" Shikamaru muttered under his breath—only to freeze as Tenten turned and flashed him a sweet smile.
'Oh no!'
Alarms blared in his mind, but it was too late. Tenten’s palms were already upon him, mercilessly battering him until he joined Choji on the ground.
'This really hurts...'
That was Shikamaru’s last thought before collapsing.
Ino watched her two teammates fall, rolled her eyes at their pathetic display, then charged at Tenten herself.
Moments later, she too was on the ground.
Tenten never held back against boys.
And against a girl like Ino? She was even less forgiving.
"W-wait, Hikari-senpai, I protest!" Shikamaru raised a shaky hand, gritting his teeth through the pain as he voiced his complaint.
"Go on." Kamizuki Hikari walked over, silently impressed that the trio hadn’t given up yet.
"This isn’t fair! None of us have formally trained in taijutsu. How are we supposed to fight Tenten like this? And her palm strikes—they feel different from standard Leaf-style taijutsu." Once he finished speaking, Shikamaru flopped back down, pretending to be dead.
His whole body ached as if his bones had been shattered.
This was the first time in his life he’d felt such excruciating pain. He wanted to cry.
But in front of his teammates, he had to endure—had to set an example.
Being a man was hard.
"This is a modified version of the Mystical Palm Technique. It uses chakra to protect the hand while simultaneously releasing a stronger strike. Want to learn it?"
"No way!" Ino stared at Hikari in disbelief. She couldn’t believe a mere chūnin like him could modify a jutsu—something even many jōnin struggled with.
Learning a jutsu was difficult enough. Modifying one was even harder.
If Kamizuki Hikari had that kind of skill, he should at least be a Special Jōnin by now.
"Hikari-senpai is right. This is a combined taijutsu style integrating palm strikes, footwork, kicks, and punches. It might not compare to Kumogakure’s secret Lightning-Style taijutsu, but it’s at least on par with Leaf-style taijutsu!" Tenten wagged her finger proudly.
Back in Team Gai, her agility and stamina had been her weakest points. Rock Lee could follow Gai’s Eight Gates path, and Neji had the Hyūga’s Gentle Fist.
But she had nothing—until Hikari used principles of martial arts he remembered from his previous life and combined them with Leaf-style taijutsu to create a new physical combat style.
After mastering it, Tenten’s strength skyrocketed. She could now hold her own against Neji and even fight evenly with Lee in his base state.
"That powerful, huh?" Shikamaru clicked his tongue.
"It’s decent. But it demands precise chakra control. Ideally, your chakra nature should be Water or Neutral—something that doesn’t harm the body."
(Truthfully, Yang Release would be best. But at this point, most people only recognize the five basic chakra natures. Yin and Yang Release are virtually undetectable by conventional means.)
"Can... we learn it too?" Choji suddenly spoke up.
Shikamaru blinked in surprise.
Choji had barely spoken to Hikari these past few days. For him to ask now meant he really liked this taijutsu.
Choji might seem chubby and slow, but he was sharp.
Hearing Tenten describe the training method, he realized it was perfect for him.
First, the chakra wouldn’t damage his body—something the Akimichi clan was naturally suited for. Second, chakra control was already a core part of their Multi-Size Technique training.
The same effort, but with an extra layer of combat ability? Why wouldn’t he want that?
Still, he wasn’t sure if Hikari would actually teach him.
"I called Tenten here to demonstrate. If you want to learn, ask her." With that, Hikari casually strolled away.
Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino: "...So you’re not even gonna teach us yourself?!"
Mentally cursing Hikari, the trio picked themselves up and crowded around Tenten.
Ino: "Tenten-nee, please teach us!"
Shikamaru: "Yeah, Tenten-nee, we’d really appreciate it!"
Choji: "Please, nee-san!"
Tenten put on a stern face. "Just call me Tenten. No need to be so formal."
But her grin betrayed her delight.
"First, this taijutsu requires strict chakra control and physical conditioning. You don’t need a body that can tank ninjutsu, but at the very least, you’ll need this level of toughness."
Tenten suddenly drove her fist into the ground.
Crack—!
The impact left a three-inch-deep crater.
Standing up, she gestured for them to inspect it.
The trio was stunned.
They’d thought Tenten was brutal before. But if that punch had landed on them? Broken bones would’ve been guaranteed.
The training grounds were reinforced with Earth Release hardening techniques, making the surface as tough as stone. Yet Tenten had punched a ten-centimeter hole into it.
Insane.
"Don’t worry, my body isn’t that strong. I used chakra to protect my fist—otherwise, I’d have shattered my own hand." Tenten clarified, not wanting to mislead them.
"It feels very different from traditional Leaf-style taijutsu!" Ino, ever observant, noted.
Leaf-style taijutsu was mostly a label slapped onto basic combat techniques. Nearly every shinobi in the village knew it, but most abandoned it once they realized it didn’t suit them.
