Tsunade said, "Ok, let's teach you Senju-style taijutsu."
Tsunade explained, "Senju-style taijutsu relies on precise chakra control, an abundant chakra reserve, and a dense network of chakra pathways within the body. The result is superhuman strength."
Ryu asked, "Why don't other clans with superior chakra control show superhuman strength?"
Tsunade said, "They can poorly imitate Senju-style taijutsu like many others. Chakra-based muscle enhancement is very common among ninjas in every village, but the Senju clan's technique is far superior, and it is more advanced than other methods. Like, for example, there is another method that is called Inner Eight Gates Taijutsu. It is also very strong and equally difficult to learn."
Ryu asked, "Which one is better?
Tsunade replied, "Both have their own advantages and disadvantages. But if you ask me, Senju-style taijutsu is better because of the risk involved in the inner gate method."
Ryu asks, "I know that every jutsu has some risk involved."
Tsunade replied, "Yes, but that one is especially risky. In Eight Inner Gates Taijutsu, you remove the biological limiters that nature has placed on human bodies to draw more power for a short period of time. It's a very powerful but risky technique."
She continued, "But Senju-style taijutsu is less risky; you store and gather chakra in your limbs and release a large amount in a very short instant, in milliseconds. Timing plays an important part. If you are off by even half a second, then you will miss the window for impulse to hit the target. So you will be trained in gathering chakra and then releasing it in an instant and then releasing it at the right moment."
Ryu replied, "What about the recoil it creates and the stress on the body during that impulse?"
Tsunade said, "Those are the right questions. The body is rigorously trained to withstand those. It is not as easy as you might think, even with superior chakra control."
Ryu replied, "I have already accepted that nothing is ever easy. The most important lessons are always painful."
Tsunde continued with her explanation, "The training alone requires a large amount of chakra being wasted, so one cannot even train in it. Furthermore, mastering Senju-style taijutsu in childhood is crucial; otherwise, even with ample chakra and control in adulthood, the chakra network may not be compatible with the technique."
"It's because the new chakra pathways stop forming after reaching a certain age," Ryu enquired.
Tsunade smiled and said, "That is what I like about medical ninjas. They are smart and quick to understand."
She elaborated, "Yes, even with superior chakra control and abundant chakra, it is not a guarantee if one can master Senju-style taijutsu. Despite possessing these qualities, many adults cannot learn it."
Tsunde looked at Ryu and told him a harsh truth, "Your grandfather also failed to learn it."
Ryu asked, "My grandfather, you mean to say my blood grandfather?"
Tsunade nodded and remembered what the Senju clan's elder told her.
#Flashback start#
Natsurama, the current Senju clan leader, said, "I am glad, Tsunade, you are back."
Tsunade replied, "Not for long, Uncle Natsurama. I only came back to see the advancement that medical ninjutsu has made in my absence.
Natsurama said, "But something else caught your attention."
Tsunade didn't say anything.
Natsurama said, "I never expected a child to give you enough trouble, Tsunade. Even if you were only playing with him, he held on quite well for a child."
Tsunade replied, "That was no child. I have never seen any child with this much talent. If it were the old times, he would have already been promoted to Special Jonin rank at least."
Tsunde became silent and, in a serious and condescending tone, said, "If not for your father, then this boy could have been the pride of the clan."
Natsurama became silent and closed his eyes, not refuting Tsunade.
Tsunade then asked, "Are you regretting your predecessor's decision?"
Natsurama replied, "Yes, I do. Medical ninjutsu, ninjutsu, and fuinjutsu. It's rare to find someone talented in all of them. And there are also rumours of him being a technological genius."
Tsunade asked, "What about the rumours I heard as a child about Ryu's grandfather—how much of them are true?"
Natsurama told her, "Most of them are true. He failed to learn Senju-style taijutsu at a young age, and that gap in strength he never could fill back when he grew up. After he lost his hand, it got worse."
Tsunde said, "But the clan did not expel him for those reasons but for marrying someone. You shouldn't have expelled him for marrying as per his choice."
Natsurama replied, "Those were difficult times, Tsunade. It wasn't easy for my father. He was very sad when he made that decision. The Second Hokage had just died then, and the village was on the brink of a civil war due to a power struggle between the clans due to Hiruzen being chosen as the next Hokage. Hiruzen had support from the Senju clan, but not everyone supported him."
Natsurama continued, " At that time we needed the support of the Shimura clan, so he was expelled by the previous leader. You were too young at that time, so you don't know about the difficult situation of that time. Cloud and Rock Village were eyeing us for the opportunity to start another war. If a civil war had broken out, then it could have been the end of the village your grandfather built."
Tsunade said, "Is the threat of civil war a justification for allowing a clan to become extinct?"
Natsurama became silent. He knew what happened to the Hamura clan was not justified and could not defend his friend Hiruzen, i.e., the third Hokage's action and/or inaction.
Tsunade asked, "Don't you have anything to say?"
Natrusama was still silent.
Tsuande then said, "This is why I left the village. No one had the balls to do the right thing. I think it was the karma of this silence that our clan had kept over the years over this issue that caused the Senju to go extinct."
Natsurama was again silent in shame, unable to refute it.
Tsunade said, "If you don't change, then it won't be long before another clan may disappear overnight, like the Senju and Hamura clans disappeared."
She stood up, signalling her departure, and left the room.
#Flashback End#
Tsuande looked at Ryu and said, "Yes, your real grandfather. I am talking about Ryu Senju. He failed to learn Senju-style taijutsu."
Ryu asked, "So was that the reason he was an outcast?"
Tsuande replied, "I don't know. There were many Senju that could not learn it. If learning Senju-style taijutsu were that easy, then everyone would be as strong as I am. But that is not the case. But my grandmother was able to come up with a method to learn it even when one does not have a large amount of chakra. She was trying to create something else. Even that method will not work for everyone."
Pointing at her forehead, she asked, "Do you see this on my forehead?"
Ryu asked, "That is a fuinjutsu seal."
Tsunade replied, "Yes, it's a seal. It's called Strength of Hundred. It can grant you a larger-than-normal chakra reserve for a short period of time, hence the name strength of a hundred."
Ryu murmured, "Strength of Hundred."
Tsunade continued with her explanation, "One can learn Senju-style taijutsu if one can learn how to gather chakra for a period of time and keep storing it in compressed form for later use. This seal is the ultimate result of this method of storing chakra. But among all the people from my clan who had tried this seal, no one could achieve it. since they already had high chakra reserves, so they learned the Senju-taijutsu but did not bother with the Strength of Hundred technique."
Ryu thought, 'Sakura would be able to in the future. I guess she was superior to Sasuke and Naruto in this regard. This method is what enabled her to learn Senju-style taijutsu and catch up to them, even if only by a little.'
Ryu asked, "Aunty Tsunade, Will you also teach me this seal?"
Tsunade replied, "Only if you come with me and leave the village with me."
Ryu thought, 'I thought so. She has not given up on me. But I know the basic principle behind this seal. I will replicate it in the given time. My priority should be learning Senju-style taijutsu before reaching adulthood and getting a summoning contract from her later.'
Tsunade said, "But you don't need this seal to learn Senju-style taijutsu. You have sufficiently high chakra for a kid, and you have very good chakra control. That's likely because of your Senju and Uzumaki lineage, which are known for strong chakras."
Ryu nodded and thought, 'I was lucky in that aspect. When I reincarnated, I thought this body was trash, but I did not think that I would have such good lineage.'
Tsunade declared, "Alright, that's a sufficient explanation for now. Let's begin our training session."
##PoWeR StOnEs##
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