Chapter 85: Tsunade Is Quite the Little Schemer

Kimimaro’s surgery was extremely difficult and required quite a few precious medicines.

Naruto returned to the Sound Village to gather the missing medicines.

After bringing Sasuke back to Konoha and informing Uchiha Izumi that he wouldn’t be coming back that night, he returned to Tanzaku Town.

Seeing how quickly Naruto had prepared everything, Tsunade gave him a meaningful glance.

But she didn’t press the matter.

Among shinobi, one of the biggest taboos was probing into another person’s abilities.

With everything prepared, the surgery officially began.

It was extremely bloody.

One section of flesh after another was cut open, the bacteria on the bones scraped away, and medicine was either applied to or injected into the bones.

Every time one bone was completed, Naruto immediately injected chakra with healing properties into the wound, causing the severed flesh to rapidly heal.

Shizune couldn’t accurately determine whether all the bacteria had been completely removed from each bone.

So all she could do was wipe Tsunade’s sweat and hand her medical supplies.

As for Karin, who couldn’t really help with the procedure, she could only stand guard outside the door.

Kimimaro was a tough one too!

A shinobi’s reaction speed was extremely important. Even the slightest mistake could mean being cut down by a blade.

So Kimimaro didn’t use anesthesia.

He simply lay motionless on the operating table without making a single sound.

While carefully scraping the bones, Tsunade asked, "When you use Shikotsumyaku, do you often retract the bones back into your body?"

"Yes."

Kimimaro gave a soft response.

Tsunade understood.

"Although your bones and body have greater resistance than an ordinary person’s, doing that will still cause them to become contaminated with bacteria.

"That should be how the bacteria ended up on your bones.

"From now on, you can’t retract the bones back into your body anymore. Understand?"

Learning that his own actions had caused the problem, Kimimaro felt remorseful and softly answered, "Yes."

Naruto’s heart stirred, and he asked in confusion, "If he doesn’t retract them, won’t the loss of elements from the bones in his body become even more severe?"

Tsunade glanced at Naruto while continuing to scrape the bone.

"That’s right. It will.

"It’s essentially a vicious cycle.

"Retract the bones, and they become contaminated with bacteria. Don’t retract them, and the elements in the bones are depleted more severely."

It really was a vicious cycle.

Remembering that Tsunade had said earlier that replenishing the lost elements was relatively easy, Naruto asked, "There’s a way to replenish them through external means or medicine, right?"

Tsunade nodded.

"Yes. Some relatively precious medicines can replenish them.

"But that basically means fighting with money.

"And the replenishment may not necessarily keep up with his rate of loss. That depends on how frequently he uses Shikotsumyaku."

That made sense.

Naturally, restoring the body would require quite a bit of money.

Naruto continued asking, "What about increasing his resistance? Is there any way for him to resist the bacteria while still retracting his bones?"

Tsunade shook her head.

"To raise his resistance to the point where he can completely withstand the bacteria, even I have no way to do it."

Hearing this, Naruto nodded.

His eyes flickered as he tentatively asked, "What about the Senju clan’s Yang Release body? Would that be enough to resist it?"

Tsunade’s hand paused slightly.

Thinking Naruto was merely asking out of curiosity, she answered, "If he uses medicine before and after using Shikotsumyaku, it shouldn’t be a problem."

Naruto understood.

It was like going into battle without an umbrella, then taking an anti-inflammatory medicine afterward.

You wouldn’t be so prone to getting sick.

Having gained a general understanding of the situation, Naruto stopped disturbing Tsunade.

The surgery continued until dawn before it was finally completed.

Kimimaro wanted to test his body, but Naruto directly used his genjutsu to put him to sleep.

"This is the medicine list."

Tsunade wrote out a prescription for the medicines Kimimaro would normally need to replenish the elements in his bones, as well as antiviral medicine to be taken before and after battle.

Naruto sincerely thanked her.

"Tsunade-sama, thank you very much for your help. How much should I pay you?"

Tsunade shook her head.

"Forget the payment. Your genjutsu has been very useful to me. Can you tell me more about it?"

Understanding what Tsunade meant, Naruto shook his head as well.

"It’s an ocular technique unique to the Mangekyo. There’s no way to replicate it."

Hearing this, disappointment appeared on both Tsunade and Shizune’s faces.

They had already expected there to be some sort of limitation.

After all, Tsunade had spent more than a decade without finding a solution.

How could something like this possibly be replicated so easily?

They had only asked because they still held onto a sliver of hope.

After a moment of silence, Tsunade stared into Naruto’s eyes.

"I heard that using Mangekyo ocular techniques too frequently can affect your eyesight, and if your ocular power is exhausted, you may even become blind."

Several years ago, during Konoha’s war with the Cloud, Shisui’s Mangekyo Sharingan had been exposed.

Tsunade had taken an interest and investigated quite a bit after leaving Konoha, including the records she had stored in the Shikkotsu Forest.

All the precious books that the Senju clan had accumulated throughout the generations had been moved to the Shikkotsu Forest by Tsunade.

Therefore, Tsunade now had a certain understanding of what Mangekyo ocular techniques were and the characteristics of the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Naruto gave a soft "Mm" and didn’t deny it.

Tsunade was talking about the Mangekyo Sharingan, and she wasn’t wrong.

It was simply that Naruto possessed the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

Tsunade asked with some anticipation, "Then, if I asked you to use it on me once, would it have a major effect on your ocular power?"

"Not much."

Naruto shook his head slightly, his expression calm.

He knew Tsunade had taken the bait.

Once someone had regained the will to live, who would willingly return to despair?

Tsunade didn’t want to return to her former state either.

Spending every day in a drunken stupor and drowning her sorrows in alcohol.

Therefore, she would need Naruto’s genjutsu to help her.

Unless Tsunade was willing to agree to become the future head of his medical department, Naruto had no intention of curing her completely.

A permanent Kotoamatsukami had a two-year cooldown, and it still hadn’t recovered.

He might as well keep Tsunade hanging and make her work herself to the bone for him!

After confirming that the effect on Naruto wasn’t significant, Tsunade said, "I need you to help me maintain the genjutsu. You can name whatever conditions you want."

After waiting for a while, Tsunade saw Naruto hesitate and assumed he was concerned about the favor she had just done for him.

She waved her hand.

"You don’t need to worry about the fact that I treated your friend.

"The genjutsu currently affecting me has already offset the payment. We’re even.

"So if you have any conditions, just name them.

"Mm... We can settle it by the number of times. Every time you help me cast the genjutsu, I’ll pay you once."

As she finished speaking, Tsunade looked at Naruto with a faintly eager expression.

More than ten years.

It had taken her more than ten years to finally encounter a method that could solve her problem.

Even if it was only treating the symptoms, Tsunade wasn’t willing to give it up!

As long as Naruto was willing to keep using the genjutsu on her, what difference was there between that and a permanent cure?

But she also knew that Mangekyo ocular techniques affected the eyes.

Naruto might be putting on a brave face, trying to appear relaxed because he was young and proud.

That was why he said the effect wasn’t significant.

Tsunade had already prepared herself to be charged an exorbitant price.

Hearing this, Naruto’s thoughts raced.

He had originally wanted to make Tsunade work herself to the bone for him.

But at present, Tsunade wasn’t particularly useful to him.

There was nothing he needed her help with in the short term.

This gave him quite a headache.

Seeing this, Tsunade, who was becoming a little anxious, suddenly glanced at Karin beside Naruto.

Her eyes immediately lit up.

"Your younger sister has an exceptional talent for medical ninjutsu. If you’re willing, I’d like to take her as my disciple."

This was an idea Tsunade had already had after seeing Karin’s special constitution.

Shizune’s talent was simply too limited, and there was no way for her to fully inherit Tsunade’s legacy.

So Tsunade had always wanted to take another disciple.

Unfortunately, there weren’t many people with enough talent to catch her eye.

Karin was a member of the Uzumaki clan, which was precisely what made her take an interest.

It would also help make up for the guilt she felt toward the Uzumaki clan.

At the same time, with Karin by her side, Naruto naturally wouldn’t be able to disappear.

She wouldn’t have to worry about being unable to find him whenever she needed something.

Taking on a disciple would allow her to pass down her medical ninjutsu, make up for her guilt, and solve her own problem.

Three birds with one stone!

Tsunade really was quite the little schemer.

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