Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 194 Elder Itachi is dead

Kakuzu formed hand seals, manipulating two masked, pitch-black monsters, one fat and one thin, who opened their mouths and gathered chakra from their dark mouths, using Water Release and Wind Release respectively.

Kakuzu combined the two techniques into one, unleashing a new combination ninjutsu: Ninja Art: Water Dragon Tornado.

The power of Wind Release and Water Release merged together, forming a vortex as fast as a tornado, rushing towards us.

This combination of ninjutsu left Aokiji sweating profusely. He knew he couldn't fight this move head-on, so he decisively chose to run away.

The waterspout was fast and covered a wide area, making it very difficult to dodge. Fortunately, the distance between the two sides was relatively far, giving him ample time to escape.

Looking back at the immense destructive power of the water tornado he had just unleashed, Aokiji was still shaken and secretly admired it. As expected of a combination ninjutsu, its power was far greater than that of a single ninjutsu.

Meanwhile, Kakuzu had launched another wave of combined ninjutsu, this time a combination of wind and fire ninjutsu. Anyone who didn't know better would think he was going to kill Aokiji.

Upon seeing this, Aokiji shouted urgently, "If you kill me, no one will pay you for your training fees!"

This statement had a remarkable effect. Upon hearing it, Kakuzu, who was in the middle of a fierce battle, reluctantly gave up, loosened his hand seals, and cut off the flow of chakra. Instantly, the wind and fire jutsu from the mouths of the two monsters began to shrink and eventually disappeared.

Aokiji let out a sigh of relief, and if he lays down again, there will be problems.

Kakuzu stopped fighting and let the monster beside him crawl back onto his back. Taking advantage of this opening, Aokiji walked over and praised, "Brother Kakuzu is really strong. I thought I was about to die."

"Remember to pay, I'm very expensive."

Kakuzu always talks about money, and Aokiji is used to it: "Don't worry, I will definitely give you a satisfactory price."

Kakuzu walked to the side, bent down to pick up the clothes from the ground, and said indifferently, "That's fine then."

Aokiji flattered, "Brother Kakuzu, what kind of ninjutsu was that that turned your whole body black just now? It looked amazing. You were able to withstand my ninjutsu with just your bare body."

Kakuzu narrowed his green eyes and gave him a deliberate look: "What are you trying to say?"

Aokiji cut to the chase: "How much?"

Kakuzu was clearly taken aback by Aokiji's words and paused for a moment, a rare occurrence for him: "What?"

Aokiji scratched his head, looking embarrassed, and said, "Brother Kakuzu's move is really amazing, so I thought, hehe..."

Kakuzu suddenly realized: "You went through all that trouble just to tell me this?"

"How about I use 20 million taels to buy it?"

"Ninjutsu is what ninjas rely on for survival, not..."

"Fifty million taels."

"This isn't about money."

"Eighty million taels."

"Remember to pay when the time comes."

Okay, so it's a matter of money.

"No problem, no problem."

Aokiji had a big smile on his face.

Kakuzu may seem unapproachable, but once you get to know him, you'll find him surprisingly easy to get along with—provided, of course, that you have money.

Before formally teaching him Earth Release: Earth Spear, Kakuzu casually asked, "This is an Earth Release ninjutsu. With the power of your Sharingan, you shouldn't be unable to see through it, right?"

Aokiji smiled and said, "Yes, I know."

Kakuzu glanced at him but said nothing.

After interacting with Aokiji, although the other party didn't explicitly say so, he was quite certain that Aokiji didn't possess earth-style chakra. In other words, it was impossible for him to unleash the full power of this technique.

Aokiji smiled and explained, "I plan to borrow this technique and develop a similar ninjutsu using Ice Release."

Kakuzu nodded, as if to say, "I see."

To some extent, Earth Release and Ice Release are quite similar, and it's not impossible to develop them.

"You're willing to spend a fortune on any ninjutsu. At this rate of spending money like water, you'll run out of money soon."

"Anyway, it's not my money being used."

Kakuzu was speechless at Aokiji's words, finding them quite reasonable. After a moment of silence, he said, "When do you want to start learning this ninjutsu?"

Aokiji said impatiently, "Of course, the sooner the better."

"Okay." Kakuzu kept his word and taught Aokiji how to form the Earth Release: Earth Spear seals, also thoughtfully adding some key points.

If you know how to form the hand seals, this ninjutsu won't be too difficult for most ninjas.

Aokiji memorized the ninjutsu and planned to teach it to Tsunade when he returned to the village. With her aptitude, learning this B-rank ninjutsu wouldn't be too difficult for her.

After learning Earth Release: Earth Spear, Aokiji planned to learn some ninjutsu combinations from Kakuzu.

Because of the Earth Grudge Fear, Kakuzu is very skilled at using combination ninjutsu.

Kakuzu hadn't expected Aokiji to be so greedy. Not content with just learning Earth Release: Earth Spear, he was also eyeing the combination ninjutsu. He gave him a dismissive glance.

Aokiji shrugged: "Why are you looking at me like that? It's not like I'm not going to give you money."

This sparring session with Kakuzu has reminded me of the direction I should take to become stronger in the future.

The Mangekyou Sharingan, Bloodline Limit, and Sage Mode Stage 3 are all too far-fetched. Aokiji plans to focus on improving his strength in more attainable areas, such as ninjutsu combinations.

Water Release + Ice Release.

Wind escape + ice escape.

These two combined directions.

As is well known, Ice Release is a combination of Water Release and Wind Release. Because they share the same origin, it should be easier to combine these two ninjutsu with Ice Release directly.

For example, combining Wind Release and Ice Release would likely create a technique resembling a blizzard.

As for the combination of Water Release and Ice Release, that's even more interesting.

Of course, Aokiji couldn't just freeze the water with Ice Release, because that would make Ice Release meaningless. What he wanted was to combine the flexibility of Water Release with the defensive power of Ice Release.

Specifically, refer to the second stage of Susanoo. In this stage, Susanoo will first develop veins and flesh, and then don armor.

Among the water-style techniques that Aokiji knew, there was one called Water Release: Water Whip, which was very resilient and could be used as a whip for attack.

Aokiji aims to utilize this characteristic and integrate it into Ice Release. The goal is to cover the surface without freezing the water, thus preserving both the defensive power of Ice Release and the flexibility of Water Release. This is the direction Aokiji will strive for in the future.

Theoretically, if he can combine ninjutsu to this extent, then his control over Ice Release: Crystal Dragon Subduing Technique will experience a leap forward, evolving into a ninjutsu close to the First Hokage's Wood Dragon Technique.

........................

After Aokiji and Kakuzu retired from their kidnapping ways, they decided to go into legitimate business. Their next move was to do just that, but before that, they needed the support of a country.

In this world, it's impossible to grow a large and powerful business without the backing of a nation, mainly because the taxes and fees are too high. Therefore, the two of them need to bring the Bear Kingdom under their control.

The Land of Bears is located below the Land of Fire, near the coast. The Land of Fire is a necessary stop on the way, and since it's convenient, Aokiji plans to return to Konoha and teach Tsunade the Earth Release: Earth Spear technique that he learned from Kakuzu at great expense, in order to improve her strength.

"Konoha Village is just ahead. I'll go back to the village for a few days and then come find you."

Kakuzu didn't say anything about it.

Aokiji left the group and returned to the village. Walking down the street, he didn't run into any acquaintances, so he went straight to the clan's territory. Anyway, he didn't have anything urgent to do for the time being, and it wouldn't make a difference if he was going to train. Aokiji decided to visit Elder Itachi and make his presence known.

Aokiji still respected the old man who had taken good care of him.

I went to his house and called his name a few times, but there was no response.

Aokiji didn't think much of it, assuming the elder wasn't there. So he randomly picked up a Uchiha clansman on the street and asked him about Elder Itachi's whereabouts, hoping to visit him and show his filial piety.

Upon hearing Elder Itachi's name, the clansman's eyes turned melancholy.

"Uh, is there something wrong with how I expressed myself?" Aokiji looked at the clansman, puzzled, as the other person seemed to be in mourning.

The clansmen, heavy with worry, said, "That's right. Aokiji, you've been traveling all this time and didn't know that Elder Itachi has been dead for some time now. Sigh..."

For a fleeting moment, Aokiji's mind went completely blank upon hearing the news: "Dead...dead!?"

(End of this chapter)