The Uchiha compound had enough space for a duel, so there was no need to find another location.

But they were supposed to be here for medical treatment, so why had it suddenly turned into a fight?

Naruto Uzumaki still hadn’t caught up with what was happening. He looked at the two people already standing on the open training field, facing each other from a distance, completely bewildered.

"Are you really going to fight?"

"Of course. Did you think I was joking?"

"Alright."

Ethan was still wearing the casual clothes provided by the Uchiha family. It wasn’t ideal for combat, but it didn’t matter. It was just Tsunade, after all.

"Then let’s fight."

"Huh?" Tsunade looked at Ethan’s ’come at me’ attitude with a hint of surprise. "Aren’t you curious why I want to fight you?"

"It’s not hard to guess," Ethan ran a hand through his slightly messy hair. To avoid standing out, he had let his hair grow to an average length. Since staying at the Uchiha compound, it had gotten a bit long. "You’re just suspicious of me, aren’t you?"

Tsunade nodded, not bothering to hide her thoughts at all. "That’s right. Unlike the old man, I don’t trust you one bit."

She was different from the Third Hokage. Hiruzen had basically watched Ethan grow up in Konoha. Ethan’s records were simple and ordinary, no different from any average child in the village, which gave him a sense of being ’one of their own’.

As a guardian, one naturally preferred to trust their own. So even if Ethan showed signs of being suspicious, the Third Hokage’s first reaction was to trust rather than doubt. You could see this tendency clearly from how he didn’t give up on Orochimaru until he personally witnessed his crimes, despite all the red flags.

Tsunade, on the other hand, had been away from Konoha for many years. To her, Ethan was a total stranger. The only connection was that they were both Konoha ninja.

Without a personal bond, it was natural for her to remain wary of him.

In fact, Jiraiya probably suspected him too.

The fact that Jiraiya stood silently outside the ring, not stopping the fight between Tsunade and Ethan, was proof enough that he had his own doubts. Unlike Tsunade, though, he chose not to confront Ethan directly but to observe over time. After spending some time around him, although his suspicions hadn’t vanished, he no longer saw Ethan as an immediate threat.

So Jiraiya was also there as a safety measure. If Tsunade went too far, he could step in.

"So, this fight was unavoidable anyway. I’m too lazy to waste words."

"Smart. Saves time."

Tsunade curled her lips into a strange smile. It was hard to tell if she found Ethan arrogant or if she was just happy she didn’t need to argue anymore.

"Let’s get it over with quickly. The sooner we finish, the sooner we eat."

"..."

Naruto, still confused, thought Ethan’s focus on eating at a time like this was definitely not appropriate.

"Ethan, be careful! Grandma Tsunade is really scary!"

"You brat, shut up!"

"Grandma?"

Sasuke had been standing quietly to the side the entire time. He was also confused, but he had very high expectations for a duel between Ethan and Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin.

This was a rare opportunity to witness the strength of a legendary ninja and to get a better idea of how strong Ethan truly was.

Ever since he learned that Ethan had forced Orochimaru to retreat and had fought against Itachi, he had wanted to know the answer. But with his current power, he couldn’t force Ethan to show his real strength at all.

But... Grandma?

Thinking about it more carefully, he understood. The Sannin had been famous for decades. Tsunade’s youthful appearance must have been the result of some kind of jutsu.

"Did she use a technique to conceal her real age?" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Just then, Ethan suddenly waved at Tsunade on the other side. "Hey, are we starting or what?"

"..."

Tsunade felt the veins on her forehead twitch. She took a deep breath to calm her rising anger, then growled, "Are you looking down on me, brat? You’re fighting me while wearing those things?"

"You noticed?"

Tsunade took a deep breath. She was now fighting the urge to rush over and beat the crap out of this arrogant punk.

Suspicious of him? Maybe she was overthinking it. This was just an arrogant brat.

Ethan didn’t continue provoking her. He calmly opened his shirt, pulled it down to his waist, and then took off the tight-fitting black vest he wore underneath. It was the same type of mesh armor worn by Jiraiya and Anko. He casually tossed it aside.

This didn’t surprise Naruto and Sasuke. They both knew Ethan wore weighted gear regularly. However, when the vest hit the ground and sank into it, both of them were visibly shaken.

"This one’s even heavier."

Sasuke walked over and tried to lift it. He had to use a lot of strength just to pick it up.

"This..."

He looked back at the field. Ethan had already put his clothes back on, casually tied his hair, and then nodded at Tsunade to signal that he was ready.

"Hmph."

Tsunade hadn’t calmed down yet. Seeing that Ethan had removed his weights, she jumped into the air and charged straight at him.

"Her speed’s not impressive, and she jumped so high... what’s the point of that?"

After going through his training, Sasuke had already accepted the principle of efficient and controlled combat. In his opinion, Tsunade’s approach was far too reckless. Even he could think of dozens of counters.

"This is... a Sannin?"

He thought Ethan would block the punch and launch a counterattack, just like the many times Ethan had taught him a lesson in training.

But to his surprise, Ethan didn’t meet the attack. As if the punch were incredibly dangerous, he immediately leaped back to dodge.

While Ethan was still in the air, Tsunade’s punch struck the ground.

Boom!

The once-flat training ground was torn apart by a massive crater. Without even looking, the sound alone made it clear how destructive the punch was.

"This is... a Sannin?"

Sasuke’s eyes widened, his face flushing with embarrassment. Thankfully, he hadn’t voiced his earlier thoughts. At the same time, Ethan’s previous critique of him came to mind—overconfident, carrying an unjustified sense of superiority. He had clearly fallen into that mindset again.

Ethan’s backward leap wasn’t just a simple dodge. Based on Tsunade’s words and her attack, he understood that this woman wanted him to go all out.

"Then, as you wish."

While retreating, he flicked his right hand and released a red rose. Since Tsunade came directly from the Third Hokage, she likely already knew about his abilities.

If it had been Jiraiya, knowing the effects of Ethan’s roses, he would never get close to one. The roses weren’t just deadly on contact; even the scent was extremely toxic.

So as soon as the rose appeared, Jiraiya immediately pulled the two brats back to a safer distance and began preparing for a possible intervention.

"Huh? Pervy Sage, why’d you pull us back so far?"

"That technique is dangerous. It’s not safe to be too close."

"A technique? But it’s just a flower..."

Sasuke had similar questions, but having been hit by Ethan’s strange vine jutsu before, he knew better than to underestimate anything Ethan did. Especially after watching Tsunade’s power firsthand, he had completely abandoned any misplaced confidence.

Now he just wanted to know how dangerous this rose was. From Jiraiya’s reaction, he could guess it was serious, but he still didn’t know the specifics.

Thankfully, Jiraiya had taken on the role of commentator. Maybe to help the two young ninja better understand, he started explaining details they couldn’t see on their own.

"Ethan is a genius. Through his own efforts, he mastered Wood Style, which is incredibly difficult to learn."

"Wood Style?"

Naruto, who knew less than most academy students, didn’t think Wood Style was anything special. He was simply curious about what kind of technique it was.

Sasuke, on the other hand, had a decent grasp of essential knowledge. He wasn’t very clear on the details of Wood Style, but he knew of its significance. The First Hokage’s legacy was too far removed from the current generation, and since no one had truly mastered it since then, most younger ninja didn’t know much about it.

"That rose is Wood Style?"

But how lethal could a rose be? Tsunade grabbed it without hesitation. From the looks of it, this so-called Wood Style didn’t seem very dangerous.

"Wood Style... That was the technique used by the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. He ended the Warring States period and founded Konoha using that power."

After hearing Jiraiya’s explanation, Naruto and Sasuke finally understood just how powerful Wood Style was. The fact that no one had truly mastered it since Hashirama’s death made Ethan’s accomplishment even more impressive.

Even though Jiraiya mentioned Ethan’s Wood Style was different from the First Hokage’s, they were still curious about what this rose could do.

Jiraiya continued, briefly explaining Ethan’s Royal Demon Palace Rose and specifically noting how Orochimaru had suffered from it.

"Just a light touch... no, even just inhaling its scent causes poisoning. You’ll slowly lose sensation and mobility."

"Huh? Then isn’t Grandma Tsunade going to lose?"

Jiraiya suddenly laughed.

"Tsunade is an exception..."

(To be continued.)