Like all newly graduated Genin classes, Team Ten also began with the most basic D-rank missions.
On the river, Shizune and Kurenai carried bamboo baskets on their backs, carefully searching and salvaging floating debris and accumulated junk from the water.
Higashino Shinichi, who should have been working alongside them, was currently sitting cross-legged in the shade of a tree on the bank.
The one busy in the river with the two girls was merely one of his Shadow Clones.
Tsunade sat on a flat boulder nearby, leisurely crossing her legs with a can of drink in her hand.
Her gaze swept over the two girls on the river surface, then fell back onto Shinichi's original body on the bank, and she raised an eyebrow.
"I say, kid, you're just going to watch? Letting two girls work in the river while you slack off here?"
At that moment, Shinichi was focusing on his right hand, repeatedly making a fist and then relaxing it.
With every contraction, the muscles on his forearm instantly tightened and bulged, as pale blue Chakra flooded in along specific meridians, flickering in the gaps between muscle and blood vessels.
Slowly relaxing his palm, the residual Chakra dissipated from between his fingers like fine blue specks of light, and those bulging veins gradually calmed down like a receding tide.
Tsunade watched for a moment and said, "Are you trying to condense Chakra into your fist more stably and efficiently?"
"Yes, Tsunade-sensei." Shinichi nodded. "I'm trying to precisely, quickly, and safely condense and maintain Chakra in specific exertion areas of the body, like the arms and fists."
"Oh, that." Tsunade shook the drink can in her hand, her tone casual. "I happen to know a little bit about that."
She said it lightheartedly, but in reality, she knew far more than just 'a little bit'.
The core of the Monstrous Strength she excelled in was precisely the extreme compression and condensation of massive amounts of Chakra, focused accurately on a specific part of the body, and then fully erupting at the moment of contact with the target to produce powerful destructive force.
The prerequisite for Cultivating Monstrous Strength is that one's fine control of Chakra must reach a demanding level.
It lies in compressing and refining enough Chakra to collapse a mountain to its limit, yet needing to perfectly restrain it before the explosion, without showing the slightest halo of Chakra or leaking fluctuations.
Only at the instant the attack actually hits the enemy is that suppressed-to-the-limit power detonated; only then can one be considered to have crossed the threshold of Monstrous Strength.
And one must wait until every punch thrown and every kick delivered allows the condensation, restraint, and eruption of Chakra to be controlled at will, with no trace of deliberate charging or sluggishness in every movement.
As if this mountain-shattering power was a natural part of daily life, as natural as breathing—only then is Monstrous Strength truly mastered.
And Tsunade had long since practiced this power to the supreme Realm where she could release and retract it at will, as natural as instinct.
At this moment, she looked at Shinichi's arm, where veins bulged and light flickered erratically due to the forced condensation of Chakra, and she shook her head.
Perhaps out of some instructor's sense of responsibility, or purely like many women who can't stand to see a man idle, Tsunade raised her chin and gestured toward the river.
"Go, get to work," Tsunade commanded. "Get your main body moving too. Later, if I'm in a good mood, I might give you a few pointers."
Hearing this, Shinichi stopped his attempts, glanced at his busy Shadow Clone and two teammates in the river, then looked at Tsunade's seemingly casual but non-negotiable expression, and nodded... As the sun set and the day's mission ended, Higashino Shinichi bid farewell to the members of Team Ten at the intersection and walked toward home alone.
When passing by a familiar newsstand, he habitually bought the latest issue of the "Current Affairs Weekly."
As he walked slowly, he flipped it open. The front-page headline that caught his eye was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, instantly capturing all his attention.
"Triennial Event! The Taketori Festival Grand Opening Imminent, Your Highness the Daimyo Personally Establishes the "Land of Fire's Number One" Gourmet Competition!"
The title font was eye-catching, accompanied by pictures of past festivals showing the bustling scenes of crowds and bright lights.
The article went on at length, detailing the traditions of this oldest and grandest celebration in the Land of Fire, as well as the brand-new segment personally proposed and hosted by the current Land of Fire Daimyo—the "Land of Fire's Number One" Gourmet Championship.
The report stated that the competition was open to the entire Land of Fire, including affiliated towns and Ninja villages, for all those who considered themselves skilled in cooking, aiming to discover folk delicacies and promote the Land of Fire's food culture.
The final winner would be awarded the title and certificate of "Special Grade Chef of the Land of Fire" personally by His Highness the Daimyo, and would have the opportunity to enter the Daimyo's imperial kitchen System for further studies or receive official support to open a restaurant.
Shinichi's gaze lingered on the words'Special Class Chef', 'Personally Awarded by the Daimyo', and 'National Attention' for a long time. His footsteps unconsciously stopped as he carefully read every detail.
With a slight thought, a corner of his Personal Panel emerged in his consciousness, reflecting the description of the Big Eater Entry:
[Big Eater (Green): Your digestive System and metabolic efficiency have undergone a qualitative change. You can not only eat at an amazing speed and capacity but also efficiently obtain energy and nutrition from food, gaining pleasure and energy recovery far exceeding that of ordinary people. At the same time, your perception of food has become exceptionally keen, allowing you to clearly distinguish the subtlest differences in ingredient quality, heat control, and seasoning balance.]
Compared to the white-quality Foodie Entry, Big Eater further improved the body's efficient absorption and transformation capabilities and added keen taste identification.
The label of having a large appetite ultimately wasn't deep or shocking enough for the outside world, unless Shinichi truly became a Taotie. But after obtaining the Big Eater Entry, Shinichi's appetite hadn't increased; instead, it had become a bit smaller.
This made Shinichi realize that this Entry, upgraded from Foodie, might not simply be about giving the world an impression of being "able to eat," because a Foodie is not just someone who "can eat," but someone who "knows how to eat" and "understands food."
Thinking this, Shinichi continued to look at the content in the newspaper, his eyes flickering as a bold idea suddenly popped into his mind.
If it's said that the First Hokage established Konoha and thus formed the One Country, One Village System in the Ninja World, which was considered the start of a new era...
Then the Six Paths Sage creating Ninshu and spreading the methods of Cultivating and using Chakra throughout the world could be considered the foundation of the entire world's operation, making the title of Six Paths Sage and the profession of Ninja a consensus and habit for everyone in the Ninja World for a thousand years.
If I can also make the name "Higashino Shinichi" and the things I create anchored in the cultural fabric and historical consensus of this world—just as the Six Paths Sage anchored Ninshu into history, forming a cornerstone of human civilization and a logic for the world's operation.
Even more specifically, if people unconsciously follow my traces in their daily lives, from clothing, food, housing, and transportation to cultural customs, festival celebrations, and even the language they use.
Then, what would happen?