"Problem solved?" Tsunade asked lazily, continuing to lie down as if nothing had happened.
"Just a small matter." Shin nodded. Suddenly remembering something, he asked, "How's your progress with the Revitalization Technique?"
At the mention of the technique, Tsunade's face instantly fell.
"How did you even come up with such a jutsu?" she complained. "It's way too difficult. I've been learning it for three months, and I've only just started to grasp the basics."
The Revitalization Technique sounded like a medical ninjutsu. But in reality, it was a complex neural technique that Shin had developed through tremendous time and effort for the sake of future research.
The jutsu involved using chakra, transformed in a specific and unique way, to enter the human body and travel through every nerve, conducting a complete diagnosis and repair of the nervous system.
Once the technique was mastered to a high degree, it allowed the user to replace a person's nervous system with countless, microscopic chakra threads, effectively transmitting nerve signals artificially.
Even if someone's head was cut off, as long as it wasn't too far from the body and the technique was applied quickly, the person wouldn't die immediately.
They could even barely control their body while the head was separated.
If emergency surgery was performed at that moment, the head could be reattached, possibly without any major aftereffects.
This technique held revolutionary strategic significance for the entire shinobi world. It was a life-saving jutsu that could bring someone back from the brink of death.
But learning the Revitalization Technique was just as difficult as mastering the Flying Thunder God Technique.
To practice it, one first needed an extraordinary understanding of the human body, every pathway, every nerve, and how they conducted signals. And that was just the most basic requirement.
In addition, the user needed exceptional medical talent, vast reserves of vitality, and skills that made them one in ten thousand even among medical ninja.
Finally, they had to be able to precisely simulate neurons using chakra.
This was not something achievable by ordinary human means. After all, neurons are invisible to the naked eye, and even the most sensitive perception couldn't detect them. Without a detailed understanding of how neurons functioned, simulation was impossible.
If it weren't for the scientific advances from his previous life, and the painstaking research of many biologists that had already revealed the structure and signal transmission methods of neurons, even Shin himself wouldn't have stood a chance.
The fact that Tsunade had a clue after only three months genuinely impressed him.
"Don't be discouraged," he encouraged her. "It took me four years to develop this technique. The fact that you're making sense of it after just three months is already amazing."
"You spent four years?" Tsunade was surprised. Shin hadn't mentioned that when he was teaching her.
"What did you think?" Shin chuckled. "This is a jutsu that brings people back from the dead! So if you can master it fully within four years, that's already pretty fast. Besides me, you're probably the only one who could even learn it. I couldn't teach it to anyone else even if I wanted to."
Tsunade immediately regained her confidence. "I'll learn it in three years!"
"Alright, three years it is!" Shin laughed, clearly entertained.
After eating with Tsunade and letting her continue to rest, he made his usual rounds through the hospital wards.
---
In an ICU ward reserved for critical patients, several pairs of eyes turned toward him the moment he stepped through the door.
"Shin!" Aside from Rika, who lay on the bed, and Hanma, who looked gloomy and cold, the others stood up and greeted him.
"No need to stand, I'm just doing my rounds," Shin said casually. He walked over to Rika, carefully observing her complexion before nodding and asking, "How are you feeling?"
"Thank you!" Seeing Shin's face again, the feelings she had suppressed for so long were suddenly stirred. Her voice even carried a strange tone. She had once been Shin's neighbor, they were childhood friends.
However, after Shin was expelled from the clan, she was strictly forbidden from having any further contact with him.
Although she had always been the obedient daughter at home and felt deeply saddened by this, she ultimately chose to follow orders.
Over the years, it wasn't as if she'd never seen him, but it had always been from a distance during police patrols. Every time she caught a glimpse of him, her heart was filled with mixed emotions, but she had never once greeted him.
After waking up this time and hearing that it was Shin who had saved her, she suddenly recalled all their memories together. Now, seeing him again at such close range, her heart felt uncontrollably restless.
"I'm a doctor. Saving lives is my duty," Shin said routinely. "Hold out your hand."
"Huh?" Rika was a bit flustered.
Shin was speechless. He repeated, "I told you to hold out your hand. I need to give you a check-up."
"Oh!" Rika obediently extended her right hand.
Shin took her hand and checked her pulse while simultaneously guiding a small thread of chakra through her body to examine the condition of her healing wounds.
"Not bad," he nodded as he released her hand. "I'll provide you with some recovery treatments over the next few days. You'll be ready to transfer to a general ward in three days and be discharged in ten."
"Oh, right!" As something occurred to him, he suddenly asked, "I heard you were injured during training?"
The moment he said that, the atmosphere in the room turned awkward.
Indeed, Rika wasn't injured on a mission, she had been hurt during training, accidentally struck by Hanma. She had nearly died because of it.
"Be more careful in the future," Shin said simply. Then, after nodding briefly to everyone else, he turned and walked out of the room.
Inside the room, however, one person's expression had turned especially ugly.
That person was Hanma.
Although he had a nasty personality, he wasn't stupid. He understood perfectly well the way Rika had just looked at Shin. But what infuriated him even more was that Shin had nodded politely to everyone, but had completely ignored him from beginning to end, treating him like air.
You're a doctor, fine, treat the patients. But what does how Rika got injured have to do with you? Why the hell would you bring that up?
What's he so smug about?
He couldn't suppress the rage surging in his heart. Deep down, he swore that he would make Shin fully understand what it meant to go against the clan.
---
Two hours later, Shin left the hospital and headed home.
Someone had come to tell him that there was a problem at his family's shop.
Hearing this, he sighed inwardly.
He hadn't expected Hanma's retaliation to come so quickly.
Ten minutes later, he arrived outside the small general store run by his parents.
"Stop right there! Police patrol, unauthorized persons must take a detour!" Hanma, seeing Shin approach, spoke with a sinister gleam in his eyes, though his tone remained official and businesslike.
Shin observed Hanma's theatrical display of authority. Seriously? The dramatic declaration, the power play in front of a small shop... What's next, demanding I kowtow three times before entering my own family's store? Goddammit! I'm in the Naruto world, not in some wuxia world!
A slight smile played at his lips as he considered his options. Perhaps it was worth playing along, for now. After all, every good ninja knew when to observe before striking.