When Uchiha Tatsumi walked down from the training field, Mizumon and the others still hadn't reacted.
Uchiha Tatsumi smiled as he looked at Rope Tree's jaw hanging open.
"What's wrong? Surprised? That was just the power of a C-rank jutsu at best," Tatsumi said nonchalantly.
"But when did you learn something like that? That's way too sneaky!" Rope Tree exclaimed.
"This technique is the result of my recent training with your sister," Tatsumi replied.
"Impossible! My sister's terrible at throwing shuriken," Rope Tree said with disbelief.
"It's true. But that destructive power—how'd you manage that? It looked way too exaggerated," Mizumon added, still shocked.
Despite Tatsumi's explanation, Mizumon didn't believe a word. As someone who'd spent a lot of time with Tatsumi, he knew how secretive his friend could be when it came to new tricks.
Mikoto, meanwhile, didn't say anything, but she stared at Tatsumi with quiet curiosity.
And Kushina looked on with clear envy—clearly wishing she had such a flashy throwing technique.
"This is indeed a result of my training with Tsunade-sensei. I've been learning chakra control from her lately," Tatsumi explained.
"…Chakra control? Isn't that the principle behind her monstrous strength?" Mizumon asked.
"Exactly. As you know, Tsunade-sensei is one of the Sannin and a master of medical ninjutsu. Both her healing and her superhuman strength rely on precise chakra control."
"So this throwing technique you used is based on that?" Mizumon tilted his head, thinking aloud.
Tatsumi nodded. "Right. I call it Weird Strength Throwing. It's classified as a C-rank technique, but its power can scale depending on the user's chakra control."
As he spoke, Tatsumi raised his hand. A swirling orb of chakra formed in his palm.
"Here, I'll show you."
He pulled out a kunai from his ninja pouch and carefully positioned it at the center of the chakra sphere in his palm. The chakra slowly began to rotate, spinning faster and faster under his control.
"You see, I maintain a stable rotation while gradually accelerating the chakra," Tatsumi explained.
Under the gazes of Mizumon and Mikoto, the chakra sphere spun faster, starting to give off a low hum. Its rotation became unstable from the speed, tiny arcs of chakra flickering around the edges.
"Then, just as it's reaching peak stability, I throw the kunai—and simultaneously, I trigger the chakra burst."
He demonstrated.
The moment the kunai left his hand, the chakra sphere detonated behind it. The explosion gave the kunai a massive acceleration boost, and it shot into the sky with a piercing shriek—spinning and streaking upwards until it vanished from sight.
"That's insane," Rope Tree muttered in awe. "My chakra control sucks, I could never do that…"
Tatsumi ignored Rope Tree's sulking and continued, "It is powerful, but the technique has some major flaws."
He ticked off the points on his fingers.
"First, it requires extremely precise chakra control to maintain the spin. One slip and the chakra will destabilize."
"Second, if you mistime the throw or the detonation, the chakra explodes in your hand. That's obviously not ideal."
"But I see a lot of potential here. For example, I could combine it with Uchiha-style shuriken techniques—using multiple kunai in coordination. With that, the power could be boosted to B-rank or even A-rank."
Tatsumi continued discussing his thoughts on further developing the technique. Mizumon and Mikoto might not be able to replicate it right away, but the concept was clearly valuable.
Looking thoughtfully at Mizumon, Tatsumi asked, "How far can you go with chakra control right now?"
After all, in the manga, Jiraiya later said that Minato Namikaze developed the Rasengan by observing the Tailed Beast Bomb, and it took him three years. But that started with chakra control training.
Even though Minato hadn't yet conceived the Rasengan, Tatsumi hoped to nudge him toward that path early.
"Chakra control, huh…" Mizumon held out his hand. A few thin wisps of spiraling chakra appeared in his palm, but they never formed a proper sphere.
"This kind of thing is still hard for me. Chakra control isn't really my strength yet. Also, how much chakra does that jutsu of yours use?" Mizumon asked.
"Not a lot, unless I'm aiming for more destructive power. Then it ramps up," Tatsumi replied.
...
Time passed quickly, and the exam came to an end. Rope Tree, because of lingering injuries, would have to take the test another day.
When the day ended, the group split at the crossroads.
Rope Tree and Kushina walked toward the Senju Clan compound. After school, Kushina usually visited Uzumaki Mito to continue studying sealing techniques.
Mizumon headed toward his home.
And Mikoto walked alongside Uchiha Tatsumi toward the Uchiha district.
They walked in silence along the road.
It was May. The golden sun filtered through drifting clouds, casting long shadows and bathing the Hidden Leaf Village in its signature twilight.
The roadside was lined with tall trees swaying gently in the wind. Above them, the evening sky was painted with hues of crimson and amber, as if it were dipped in watercolor.
This quiet part of Konoha felt like a world apart—just the two of them, alone with their thoughts.
"Look… the sky looks like the sea," Mikoto suddenly said.
Their silhouettes were swallowed by the sunset.
Then, the girl broke into a run.
She took a few light steps forward before spinning to face him, her black hair catching the evening light.
"Chen."
"Hmm? What is it?"
"Do you think we'll always be like this?"
"Huh? Of course," Tatsumi answered without hesitation.
Mikoto echoed his words softly. "Then it's a promise."
And with that, she ran ahead again.
"Wait for me, Mikoto!"
Uchiha Tatsumi chased after her.
Under the setting sun, their shadows stretched long across the road.