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“I’m back. Where is everyone?”
Shin returned home to find the house empty—Kushina, Tsunade, Mikoto, Konan, and Mei Terumī were nowhere to be found.
“Did they go train? Have they all become so diligent? That’s actually good news.”
Shin stepped out of the house and headed towards their usual training spot.
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Sure enough, they were all there. Konan and Mei Terumī were training diligently, while Kushina, Mikoto, and Tsunade watched from the sidelines.
It wasn’t that Kushina, Mikoto, and Tsunade weren’t working hard; they simply felt they had hit a ceiling in their strength and couldn’t improve much further.
They had reached the peak of Super Kage level. The next step was Six Paths level, but achieving that was incredibly difficult.
Looking back at the Naruto World, how many actually reached Six Paths level through their own power? Almost everyone relied on some external boost or cheat.
Kaguya Ōtsutsuki had the God Tree Fruit. Shin didn’t know the full details about the Sage of Six Paths and his brother, but their lineage already placed them far above others.
Then there was Six Paths Madara, Six Paths Obito, Naruto, and Sasuke—all relied on external power. Madara and Obito became the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki. Naruto and Sasuke received power directly from Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki.
Even Shin himself had reached Six Paths level with the help of his System. Without it, Kage level would likely have been his limit, maybe not even Super Kage.
So, Shin was also a cheater. This world ran on cheats. Want to get stronger without one? Keep dreaming.
In the later stages of Naruto, characters without cheats became practically irrelevant.
Seems I got a bit sidetracked.
“You’re back?”
Kushina turned her head, looking at Shin who stood behind them.
“You sensed me? You’re improving,” Shin said, ruffling Kushina’s vibrant red hair.
“Stop it! You’re messing up my hair!” Kushina glared at Shin, slightly annoyed.
“You three are just watching Konan and Mei train? Not working hard yourselves?” Shin sat down between Kushina and Mikoto, casually putting an arm around each of them.
“It’s not that we don’t want to—it feels like we can’t get any stronger,” Mikoto said, shaking her head.
“We’ve maxed out our Ninjutsu and Sharingan abilities. Our chakra feels like it’s hit its limit. There’s not much else we can do to improve.”
“You could train your Taijutsu,” Shin suggested, looking at Mikoto.
“No way. I don’t want to become a muscle-bound behemoth. Would you still like me then?” Mikoto shuddered slightly at the mental image.
Shin looked at Mikoto, speechless. Did training Taijutsu automatically mean bulging muscles? He hadn’t exactly turned into a hulking brute himself.
“My Monstrous Strength is good enough.”
Tsunade chimed in at that moment.
Indeed, being able to shatter a building with one punch was sufficient. Besides, their strengths didn’t lie solely in Taijutsu.
While Tsunade in the original story relied heavily on medical ninjutsu and her Monstrous Strength, her most powerful technique now was Wood Release.
Shin looked at Kushina, Mikoto, and Tsunade. He could help them reach Six Paths level, just as Hagoromo had granted power to Naruto and Sasuke. But he was reluctant.
Forcing their power like that might limit their future potential, making it harder for them to grow stronger on their own.
That’s why Shin hadn’t granted them Six Paths power directly.
He believed that with their potential and his guidance, they might reach Six Paths level eventually. If they truly couldn’t, then he’d reconsider directly gifting them the power.
“What are you spacing out about?”
Kushina noticed Shin lost in thought and playfully poked his cheek.
After poking him twice, she found the sensation quite pleasant and couldn’t resist pinching it.
“What are you doing?” Shin asked, exasperated, grabbing both of Kushina’s cheeks.
“Mmphh, let go!” Kushina mumbled incoherently, struggling and even trying to bite him, though his grip made it impossible.
“Don’t you get tired of this?” Shin asked, looking at the flailing Kushina.
“You’re always bullying me! Mikoto, help me! Shin’s getting too cocky, lets punish him!” Kushina yelled towards Mikoto.
“Don’t drag me into this. I’m not as bold as you, Kushina. Good luck.” Mikoto watched with amusement.
This was Kushina’s own doing; Mikoto wasn’t getting involved. Getting involved meant getting bullied by Shin too. Even together, she and Kushina couldn’t beat him. Mikoto knew her limits and stayed out of it.
“Punish me? Let’s see who punishes the other”
Shin picked Kushina up, and his figure vanished instantly, leaving Mikoto and Tsunade sitting there.
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“What do you think will happen to Kushina?” Tsunade asked Mikoto.
“Nothing too serious, I imagine. She’ll probably just be too weak to move for a few days,” Mikoto replied with a smile.
Tsunade looked at Mikoto, speechless. That wasn’t serious? Although, with Kushina’s constitution, it wouldn’t take her days to recover, but she wouldn’t bounce back instantly either.
The memory of that particular weakness made Tsunade’s own face flush slightly.
“Tsunade-nee, you’re blushing. Feeling like joining them? If you go now, Kushina might even be grateful,” Mikoto teased.
“Mikoto, you’ve gotten awfully bold, teasing me like that.” Tsunade glared playfully at Mikoto, moving to grab her, but Mikoto, anticipating the move, used the Body Flicker Technique to quickly put distance between them.
Just then, Konan and Mei Terumī finished their training and walked over.
“Where are Shin-nii and Kushina-neechan? I saw Shin-nii come back earlier,” Konan asked curiously. She’d noticed Shin’s arrival despite being focused on her training.
“They went off to do… ‘good deeds.’ Maybe you should go check on them, Konan,” Tsunade said with a subtle, mischievous smile.
Konan, seeing that smile, immediately became wary. She’d been tricked by Tsunade before and knew that expression meant trouble.
“Tsunade-nee… you seem… mischievous.” Konan took a few steps back, keeping her distance.
Tsunade sighed dramatically, feigning hurt. Did Konan really distrust her that much? It stung a little, even though she had intended to tease her.
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