Suddenly, Ryuji thought of a question. "The nerve-linking technology has strategic value for the entire village, right? Why didn't you ask the village for the trade, instead of paying for it yourself?"
"Why?"
Hearing this, Tsunade, who had her head on the table, lifted it slightly. Under her messy blonde hair, her cheeks were flushed. Her normally sharp eyes were unfocused… clearly drunk.
"…" Ryuji was a bit speechless. As one of Konoha's Legendary Sannin, getting this drunk in the middle of the day showed a real lack of concern for her image. And she was responsible for important hospital work. He hoped she didn't make mistakes during surgery, especially during something like an organ removal.
"Why are there so many 'whys'?"
Tsunade murmured softly, her eyes dazed and unfocused. It sounded like she was talking to herself, or like the ramblings of a drunk.
She was thinking about Ryuji's question. But her alcohol-numbed mind was sluggish. She couldn't seem to grasp the thought.
She pushed herself up, shaking her head hard, trying to clear her mind. But in the end, she only saw the two figures she could never forget.
'Was it for him?'
Tsunade's vision grew blurrier, but the two images in her mind became sharper.
'— Dan, Nawaki.'
One was her first love, the other her younger brother.
They had something in common: they saw the village as their family, the villagers as their kin, and were utterly determined to become Hokage.
Tsunade herself had no desire to be Hokage, so she had given the crystal necklace, a symbol of the Will of Fire, to each of them.
The result? After getting the necklace, her brother died in an ambush on his very first mission, with no chance for rescue.
And Dan also died on a mission not long after receiving the crystal necklace. Even with Medical Ninjutsu skills revered across the Shinobi World, she couldn't save them.
Because of this, Tsunade had lived with regret ever since.
She had believed her brother could become Hokage. She had believed Dan could succeed, carrying the hopes of all those who wanted to be Hokage but died trying.
But they both died.
She felt like she had cursed them.
If she hadn't supported their dreams, if she hadn't given them the crystal necklace symbolizing the Will of Fire, maybe they wouldn't have died.
To her, that necklace was a curse, the thing that killed her brother and her love.
If it weren't her grandfather's heirloom, she would have wanted to throw it away long ago.
But...
That necklace also held her brother's and her love's dreams. No matter how much she hated and resented it, it was still the only thing left that carried her heart and her memories.
She could have discarded it, but she would never have traded it away like a commodity.
But now she had. So...
"I did it for myself."
Managing to say that much, Tsunade slumped back onto the table and started snoring.
She had fallen asleep.
But before she did, she remembered the answer.
It wasn't for Konoha. It wasn't for the dreams of those she once held dearest. It was for herself.
She just didn't want people to die for no reason anymore. She didn't want to watch someone close to her fall in front of her, powerless to help, ever again. She didn't want to feel that agony of wanting to save someone but being utterly helpless.
She... didn't want to be a loser.
She knew the value of nerve-linking tech, but Konoha's elders didn't. It was just like when she proposed going all-out to train Medical-nin and was laughed at by everyone except Dan.
If not for the wars of the last ten years proving the value of medics, Konoha probably wouldn't have the medical corps it has today.
In normal times, she might have had the confidence to persuade Hiruzen and the others like she did back then.
But now, Konoha was at war with three villages at once. Expenses were enormous. Funds were tight.
There was simply no way they'd allocate a huge sum to buy a technology they didn't understand.
To reach her goal, she had to pay out of her own pocket, offering up this necklace as the price.
She didn't know if this was right or wrong, whether she'd regret it or be glad later. This was a gamble. A gamble staking her very heart and convictions.
If she lost, her heart would sink into depths worse than in the fate originally waiting for her… a darkness no one could pull her out of.
Looking at the woman sleeping soundly on the table, Ryuji's expression was complex.
Even though Tsunade had only answered, 'for myself', Ryuji could guess her real thoughts.
Maybe not perfectly, and he couldn't understand just how much conviction it took for her to make this move. But from what he knew of her life's story from the series, he could guess most of it.
People in this world are different.
Some are realistic. Some are naive and cling to hopes and dreams. And some cling to those hopes while understanding reality perfectly, making every move with cold rationality.
Ryuji was the third type.
That was exactly why he felt complicated.
"I hope we don't become enemies someday," Ryuji murmured to himself.
He paid the bill and left.
As for Tsunade...
Were they that close?
With her status and strength, even drunk, no one in Konoha would dare mess with her.
It was better to use the time to get back to his research.
He still had so many projects on hold!
Chakra Radar, the crystal necklace, Swift Release, the formation principles of Dragon Veins, the difference between Dragon Vein Chakra and normal Chakra... and now he also had The Book of Golden Fairies and the Strength of a Hundred Seal research to study.
Back at his place, Ryuji entered the Portable Space.
He first input the Strength of a Hundred Seal research data into the observation instrument, setting it to analyze and extrapolate based on Tsunade's research direction.
Even though Tsunade in this era hadn't finished developing the Strength of a Hundred Seal, she would succeed in the future. So the research direction in her current notes was probably correct.
With the observation instrument's processing speed and this data as a foundation, he was sure it would produce results quickly. It might even extrapolate the Creation Rebirth and Byakugo Techniques developed from the core seal.
If he could complete all this research and give Gin a body made primarily from Sage cells, she'd become a super-powered version of Tsunade.
Well... in terms of combat ability, anyway.
For healing, Gin didn't know how.
With his body-replacement technology, Ryuji didn't place much value on healing abilities himself.
After handing the Strength of a Hundred Seal data to the observation instrument, Ryuji took out the crystal necklace to study.
He had many projects waiting, but the most urgent matters right now were the Wood Release Shinobi and the Mechanical City.
The Mechanical City would take six years to build and had a complete blueprint, so there was no rush to study the Floating Island tech from The Book of Golden Fairies.
Mastering that kind of technology and converting it into formulas that worked with this world's rules couldn't be done quickly.
On the other hand, if he didn't resolve the Wood Release user issue during the Sunagakure's delegation's stay in Konoha, it would be much harder to find an opportunity later.