The emerald-green light grew intense. Tsunade's hands were as steady as the most precise instruments, manipulating medical chakra into countless tendrils thinner than hair that delved into the minutest corners of the wound.
She needed to first cautiously strip away and neutralize those violent residual energies before guiding her medical chakra to repair the torn and scorched muscle fibers, delicate nerves, damaged blood vessels, and even the cracked bones.
This was an extremely taxing process that demanded the utmost precision in control.
As time passed, Tsunade's face grew increasingly pale, and fine beads of cold sweat broke out on her forehead, sliding down her cheeks.
Her body began to tremble slightly uncontrollably, and her breathing became somewhat rapid.
The bloody sight, the details of the damaged tissue, and even the unavoidable tactile sensations during treatment were constantly challenging her psychological defenses.
However, her hands remained as steady as a rock, without the slightest tremor.
Those hands, which wielded the power to bring back the dead yet felt as heavy as a thousand catties at this moment, displayed an absolute professionalism and resilience belonging to a legendary medical expert—a stark contrast to her trembling body.
Her lips were tightly pressed together, and her eyes were locked onto the wound, as if she were pouring all her willpower into those steady fingers, fighting a silent and fierce battle against the waves of turmoil within her heart.
"Lady Tsunade, would you like to take a rest first?" Seemingly sensing her pale face and slight trembling, the boy on the hospital bed asked in a gentle voice.
"Shut up! Don't distract me!"
Tsunade scolded without looking up, her voice sounding somewhat tense as she suppressed some emotion, yet the green light from her hands didn't falter in the slightest.
At the same time, the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, having finished dealing with urgent official business, also arrived at the hospital.
His arrival naturally drew the attention of the hospital staff, giving everyone a new understanding of how much this young genius was valued.
The Third Hokage did not disturb the treatment inside the ward; he just stood quietly at the door, peering through the observation window to see his disciple, Tsunade, bent over and fully focused on the treatment.
He then silently stepped back and gently closed the door. In the corridor outside, the burly Enma was already waiting, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
The Third Hokage walked over. Without needing many words, Enma clearly recounted the events to him in a low, concise voice.
---
Inside the ward, the treatment continued.
Perhaps to combat the instinctive fear of blood and trauma that was constantly assaulting her nerves, or perhaps simply wanting to talk to distract herself, Tsunade stared intently at the wound and suddenly spoke, her voice cold and hard:
"Listen up, kid! This technique... don't ever use it again." Her tone left no room for doubt. "The backlash it has on your body causes irreparable trauma, and the destructive power will accumulate. You're lucky this time that your constitution is different from ordinary people and that the treatment was timely. But if you use it a few more times, this hand of yours will suffer irreversible damage from the meridians to the bones, becoming completely useless. By then, even the best doctor will be helpless."
However, Shinichi just shook his head calmly. "I'm sorry, Lady Tsunade, but I have a reason why I must continue to perfect and use it."
"You!" Tsunade suddenly looked up and glared at him, a spark of nameless anger rising in her heart.
'Why was this brat so stubborn?'
'He'd give up his hand just for some lousy technique?'
She was so angry she almost wanted to stop the treatment and let him suffer the pain himself.
But when she met the boy's calm eyes, the words of reprimand got stuck in her throat. She lowered her head again, focusing more on the work at hand. After a moment of silence, she asked that question again.
"Why... go to such lengths? Why work so hard?"
Shinichi was silent for a moment. Instead of answering directly, he said softly, "Lady Tsunade should have noticed it too, right? That's why you had that argument with Shizune a few days ago, hoping she would give up on becoming a ninja."
Tsunade's fingers, which were manipulating chakra, faltered almost imperceptibly. She didn't admit it, nor did she deny it; she just pursed her lips tighter, which served as a silent admission.
The boy's calm and gentle voice sounded again, but it was like a precise scalpel, slicing toward another wound she was trying to hide:
"Just now, when Lady Tsunade saw my injuries, your face turned pale and you even took two steps back... You are afraid of seeing blood, afraid of seeing severe injuries, aren't you? I remember medical books recording similar symptoms, calling it hemophobia."
!!
Tsunade's heart jolted violently. She suddenly looked up at Shinichi, her eyes filled with unconcealable shock and a trace of panic at being seen through.
Even the steady glow of medical chakra in her hands fluctuated for a moment because of this.
Outside the ward, the Third Hokage, who was talking in a low voice with Enma, had incredibly sharp hearing; those words reached his ears clearly.
His fingers twisting his pipe stopped abruptly, and a sharp, realizing light flashed in his eyes.
He had always known that this disciple had deep psychological scars after the war and was not in the right state of mind, but he had only thought it was the immense grief and despondency from the successive deaths of her loved ones. He had never thought in any other direction... hemophobia?
"So, your complexion has been poor during the treatment and your body has been trembling slightly, not entirely because the injury is complex and taxing... but mainly because of this, right?" Shinichi continued to ask, his tone devoid of offense, carrying only a calm observation.
"Of course not!" Tsunade retorted subconsciously, her voice sounding somewhat hurried due to a lack of confidence. "It's just that this injury of yours is very troublesome to handle! I'm the best medical ninja in Konoha, how could I be afraid of blood?! Stop acting so smart!"
Her denial carried her usual toughness, but it was more like a blustering defense.
Shinichi did not argue with her. He just followed his own train of thought, continuing in that steady tone of analyzing facts. "Perhaps describing it as hemophobia isn't entirely accurate. I think it's more appropriate to call it post-traumatic stress disorder."
He used a professional term that might exist in this world's medical system but was not commonly used, leaving both Tsunade and the Third Hokage outside the door stunned.
"Rather than saying you're afraid of blood and wounds themselves... it's more like you're afraid of the things they remind you of. Those images, those feelings, they're like brands. So, it's not the blood that's scary; it's everything the blood represents and evokes that makes one feel fear and want to escape."
Every word was like a heavy hammer striking the most fragile part of Tsunade's heart. Her face was deathly pale, and she wanted to shout for him to stop, but she found she couldn't make a sound.
The boy's words were not intense, yet they precisely tore open the scars she had long wrapped in layers of alcohol, escapism, and anger, exposing the raw, still-bleeding truth underneath that had never healed.
"So, that is my answer, Lady Tsunade."
Shinichi's voice pulled Tsunade back from nearly drowning in painful memories.
He looked at her with clear and firm eyes. There was no sympathy, only a nearly cruel, honest understanding.
"It's precisely because I've seen it, felt it, and don't want to see any more of it... that I must work hard, I must become stronger. Strong enough to create new power, strong enough to change something at a critical moment, even if this power hurts myself, even if the road ahead is difficult."
"I just hope that with these hands, I can bring a few more smiles and a few fewer partings to this village."
"For this, I have no choice, and I can never stop!"
"..."
Hearing this, Tsunade fell into a deep silence.
---
"Self-righteous brat!"
After a long silence, Tsunade suddenly spoke. Her voice regained its usual impatience and toughness, as if that soul-touching conversation just now had never happened.
"Use it as much as you like from now on! It's not me who'll be in pain, and it's not my hand that'll be ruined anyway! I don't care if you die!"
She said those words, but the slight trembling of her body caused by the psychological impact had completely subsided at some point. The emerald-green light from those hands, which were steadily releasing medical chakra, also became more condensed.