Chapter 173 - 173

Words : 1255 Updated : Oct 10th, 2025

However, since Natsuki had already developed these giant constructs, he naturally wouldn't mind using them. Sometimes in battle, you have to use whatever technique is most effective in the situation. Even an underwhelming move like Whale Impact can have unexpected results. Now that the Water Gundam was researched and perfected, it was time to work on the Rock Gundam next. But the principle was the same; the Rock Gundam's situation was similar to the Water Gundam. The key difference was controlling the density of the rocks – if the stone giant had high density, it wouldn't be easily shattered. Additionally, the Gundam's form had to be humanoid for convenience when fighting against Susanoo (Perfect Warrior Avatar). But other forms were necessary too. For example, like the Senju Kannon (Thousand-Armed Buddha), it needed to have many arms to be even stronger in combat. Besides that, stone dragons, stone tigers, stone lions, stone blind men – as long as one could control chakra well, anything was possible. The key was that its combat power had to be sufficient! Natsuki played around for another two days, and only when he felt he had grasped it thoroughly did he finally rest. Coincidentally, Tenten had just returned from a mission. As soon as she got home, Tenten collapsed into Natsuki's arms, her face utterly lifeless, as if something had happened that left even this queen of tsukkomi speechless. Natsuki straightforwardly helped Tenten out of her clothes and sent her to the bathroom for a bath. While helping her scrub her back, he asked: "Tenten, what happened to make you this exhausted?" Tenten silently slapped away his perverted hand, sighing helplessly. "Don't even mention it. Just thinking about it makes me want to show dead fish eyes like Kakashi-sensei. This mission was really speechless." "That serious? Come on, tell me! If you don't, don't blame me for getting rough!" "Alright, alright, where do you think you're putting that hand, huh? Help me into the bathtub first." Once Tenten was lying in the tub, she let out a comfortable sigh. "Home really is the best... This mission was, tsk tsk..." Natsuki finished washing himself and sat in the tub with her, waiting for her to continue. "This time, I was assigned to Asuma's team to escort a merchant caravan to the Land of Wind. The route went through the Land of Rivers, so it was pretty far. Also, the caravan was carrying a lot of expensive goods, so the risk along the way wasn't small. But I realized... Sakura's alertness was terrible. The bandits were practically in our faces before she noticed them. Choji and Ino did okay, but they couldn't coordinate with Sakura at all. Their fights against the bandits were full of mistakes, and the bandits almost succeeded. The merchant leader was nearly in tears, but he still trusted my abilities, so he kept moving forward. Then, when we were almost through the Land of Rivers, those three thought we were safe and completely let down their guard. Choji was even eating chips non-stop. That's when we walked right into an ambush. A group of rogue ninja attacked, and those three were a total mess. In the end, I had to step in to protect the goods. You can't imagine... when we arrived at the destination, the merchant leader was crying with gratitude, thanking me over and over, saying that next time he requests a mission from Konoha, he will only ask for me – and definitely not those three. Can you imagine the psychological trauma for him?" Ah... Natsuki knew this newly formed team was underperforming, but he didn't expect it to be this bad. No wonder Tenten was so exhausted. Back in Guy's team, everyone was so reliable. Neji would use Byakugan to scout ahead, Lee would charge in front, Neji was a powerful fighter, and Tenten's rear support meant they never needed Guy-sensei to complete missions safely. Seeing Asuma's team in such a state, it was no surprise Tenten was drained. Natsuki understood the situation well. The Ino-Shika-Cho formation was originally stable because of Shikamaru. Without him, and adding Sakura's unreliability, everything fell apart. But as the saying goes: You only realize how bad something is after you've seen something worse. Natsuki chuckled. "If your team was this bad, I bet Neji's team had it worse. Just think about Naruto's personality... I heard Kurenai's team mission completion rate is basically in the gutter." "That... that makes sense." Tenten unexpectedly sighed in relief. "I'll ask Neji later to see if he's just as speechless. We should ask Shino too." Natsuki nodded. "Shino's team is probably fine. You know how Lee, Rinya, and Megumi are." Tenten immediately felt jealous. "Yeah... why couldn't I be assigned to Aoba-sensei's team?" Seeing his girlfriend so dejected, Natsuki tried to cheer her up. "Tenten, forget about that for now. Let me show you the Water Giant technique I've been working on these past few days. I can't make it big in the bathtub, but I can show you a mini version. Watch closely!" He clapped his hands together. "Mizu Ningen (Water Giant)!" The next second, a cabbage-sized water person appeared in the bathtub, performing a set of punches on the water surface, instantly piquing Tenten's interest. "Wow, Natsuki, you call it a Water Giant... just how big can you make it?" Natsuki showed her a number with his fingers, grinning. "Hehehe, sixty meters!" Tenten's eyes sparkled with excitement. "That really is a giant! We should go to the river sometime so I can see it properly. I want to sit on its head!" "Sure, sure, anything you want. Let me finish my demonstration first." Natsuki continued performing, creating a water dragon and a whale, and finally summoning a small kraken. When he manipulated its tentacles to do certain things... well, the scene was too beautiful to describe. After the bath, Tenten's face was still flushed red as she glared at Natsuki. The two went out to find Neji, only to discover that Neji and Shino were eating at Ichiraku Ramen. They joined them for a meal. Turns out, Neji was so frustrated from his own mission that he sought out Shino to vent. For Neji to be like this, you could imagine how absurd Kurenai's team mission had been. After listening, Natsuki and Tenten wore matching "I knew it" expressions. This time, Naruto's team had been assigned to guard a noble's treasure for a few days because it was being targeted by thieves. At first glance, the team looked decent. Hinata and Kiba were good scouts, and Kiba and Naruto had decent combat power. As long as they coordinated, there shouldn't have been any problems. But that was the problem – coordination! Hinata had no opinions of her own and unconditionally trusted Naruto. Meanwhile, Kiba and Naruto were too busy trying to outdo each other, abandoning the treasure to chase the enemy. Naturally, the thieves took advantage and stole it. If Neji hadn't been patrolling the outer perimeter, the treasure would have been lost, and Konoha's reputation would have been ruined too! (End of Chapter) [Check Out My Patreon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/zaelum] [+500 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter] [Thank You For Your Support!]

Chapter 173 - 173

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