Tsunade knew very well—
The same tactics wouldn't work twice.
Worse still, she had no weapons left in her scroll to perform another long-range, large-scale blockade. This time, she could only wait—cautiously—for Maki to make the first move.
If she got hit first, she'd die.
That much was clear to both of them.
Which is exactly why it was so hard to land a decisive blow.
All Tsunade could do was stay sharp and adapt.
"That mucus… it's troublesome," she muttered.
Her regular parasitic insects were completely restricted now. Functionally, this wasn't much different from facing an "absolute defense" like Susanoo. Her bugs were useless here.
But then Maki smiled, cold and calm.
And spoke as if telling a joke:
"'Absolute defense,' huh?"
She narrowed her eyes.
"Let me teach you something, Brain. The thicker the armor—
—the harder it is to crack when it breaks."
With that, she stabbed her sword into the ground, forming seals with both hands.
Insect Secret Art: Vacuum Poison Jade.
Tiny wind bullets, rapid and precise, shot forward—one after another.
Fast. Continuous. Deadly.
A purple wind style?
Many onlookers were confused.
"Purple wind?"
"Is that a chakra nature transformation?"
But a few, the well-informed ones, knew better.
A panicked voice suddenly shouted from the sidelines:
"Tsunade, dodge!!"
It was Grandma Mito.
Without hesitation, Tsunade paused mid-swing. Even though she knew this level of Wind Release wouldn't match her raw power, her instincts—and Mito's voice—told her to trust the warning.
She dodged.
"Tch," Maki clicked her tongue, annoyed.
"Damn adults…"
The barrage of purple wind bullets struck a tree behind where Tsunade had stood. The impacts didn't seem powerful—at first. Small craters formed on the bark.
But then—
The crowd gasped.
Purple marks spread across the tree, crawling up like a creeping infection. The tree withered, then cracked apart from the base and collapsed with a sickening groan. The wood at the wound hissed, bubbling like lava.
Poison.
A deep, corrosive poison.
"That thing's lethal!"
"One hit and you're dead!"
Onlookers, already wary of Tsunade's fists, now backed even further away—terrified of Maki's technique.
Medical ninjutsu was still primitive at this stage.
To most, poison meant certain death.
But from afar, the Third Hokage watched through his crystal ball. His eyes gleamed with interest.
"A combination release?" he murmured.
"Comparable to a Kekkei Genkai…"
An exceptional talent.
Yet someone else watching understood far more.
Hidden in the trees, Uzumaki Mito clenched her teeth.
"Bloodline elimination…" she whispered.
"What kind of monster is that girl?"
The ANBU nearby turned sharply toward her.
"Uzumaki-sama, what do you mean?"
Mito's voice was grim.
"The fusion of three chakra natures—more dangerous than Dust Release from the Stone. That girl's ancestor, Shiki Aburame, used this same forbidden technique. Many of your fathers died because of it."
The four Senju ANBU stiffened.
"If it hits, you die. Instantly. There's no surviving it."
In the arena, Tsunade swallowed hard, her face pale but steady.
She understood now.
This wasn't a simple sparring match.
In raw destructive power, they were equal.
Then, a gentle voice whispered in her ear.
"If needed, Tsunade-sama… you may use me as a shield."
It was the voice of Katsuyu, the slug.
Tsunade nodded slightly, then turned her fierce gaze back to Maki.
"You think you're clever, huh? If you're in middle school—
—I'm a whole high school senior. Let's go."
Although Tsunade didn't recognize the old saying, she didn't care.
"Aim for the forehead, and you die if you're careless."
Maki calmly pulled her sword from the ground and ran a finger along its edge, coating it in a sheen of bright, toxic purple.
Insect Secret Technique: Venom Coating.
Tsunade's expression darkened.
At first, she hadn't taken the sword seriously.
A stab wound like that? No bigger than a thumb—she'd heal in a day.
But now?
Even a graze could mean death.
---
"Uzumaki-sama, should we stop the exam?" an ANBU asked anxiously.
Mito shook her head, smiling.
"No. Let everyone witness the talent of Konoha's princess. Let's see whether she has the strength to lead."
"Understood!"
Mito turned her eyes to Maki, her gaze thoughtful.
"What a lovely child. Let's see if you're as strong as your grandfather claimed. Strong enough to stand beside Senju Tsunade…"
---
Maki charged forward.
Tsunade's pupils narrowed—
Then, she grinned.
"Bring it on… just what I wanted."
Insect Secret Technique: Dance of the Centipede – Dust Eater.
Head-on attack?
Of course not.
Everyone knew—centipedes crawl.
To the shock of the crowd, Maki launched into a strange motion.
She dove to the ground, belly down, crawling low with frightening speed—propelled only by the tips of her toes. Her movement was fluid, insect-like, and unnervingly fast.
It looked unnatural.
Like a massive bug scuttling across the arena.
The crowd, especially the girls, recoiled.
Screams echoed through the stands.
Disgusting? Yes.
But also effective.
Her sword dragged barely above the ground, like a venomous fang—ready to strike at any limb with lethal precision.
And that wasn't just for show.
It was deadly.
---
"What an unorthodox technique," the Third Hokage whispered.
He could already see it—how fearsome this was in real combat.
In a warzone filled with traps and projectiles, this tactic would let her slither beneath enemy lines, skimming the ground with minimal exposure.
It wasn't just crawling—it was tactical maneuvering.
Had it been a grassy battlefield, she would've been indistinguishable from an actual predator lying in wait.
And that strange movement…
The Hokage squinted.
It wasn't just chakra enhancement. She had created a membrane of wind-style chakra along her stomach, allowing her to glide along the surface—similar to walking on water, but inverted.
Smooth. Low friction.
All propulsion came from her legs.
Her free hand clawed the earth for steering.
It was… genius.
---
"As expected of her," the Hokage murmured.
"Completely unexpected… and terrifyingly effective."
Tsunade, meanwhile, was starting to panic.
Her skin crawled watching Maki slither toward her.
It was like her body instinctively rejected the sight.
She tried to shake it off, but there was something wrong.
Something felt off.
She couldn't put her finger on it.
---
"Tsunade's never trained against attacks from this angle," Mito explained quietly.
"She doesn't know how to position her strength properly."
Just as she finished speaking, the two girls clashed.
Tsunade stepped forward and kicked downward at Maki, but her footing was unstable—off-angle. The blow lacked its usual force.
"That Aburame brat is scary!"
Several shinobi watching caught on.
Maki raised her right hand just slightly—angling her sword toward Tsunade's foot—and pushed forward with a burst of speed.
Tsunade's kick didn't even disrupt her rhythm.
She jumped back, avoiding the sword just in time, and landed several paces away.
Her mind was racing now.
That approach hadn't been in her plans at all.
---
Maki didn't press the attack.
Instead, she slithered along the ground in a wide circle around Tsunade, never rising—watching.
Waiting.
Like a centipede stalking its prey.
Unhurried. Patient. Deadly.
"Wow… creepy," Uchiha Naori muttered from the stands, rubbing her arms.
"What the hell do I do if someone pulls that on me…?"
____________
Support me on patreon and read
1)Insect princess from Konoha
2)Second girls journey in Naruto
3)Orochimaru's Magic lamp
patreon.com/Silver757