Chapter 48: Danzo's Concern
Returning to Konoha was much easier than when they had come; Minato immediately used Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport Kakashi back to the village.
After arriving, Minato promptly reported the mission's results to the Third Hokage.
The Third Hokage felt somewhat regretful upon learning that Tsunade stubbornly refused to return to Konoha.
However, he was somewhat relieved to hear Tsunade was willing to help develop an antidote for the Sand's deadly poison.
It seemed that despite her resentment toward him, Tsunade still cared about Konoha—after all, it was the legacy left by his grandfather.
Minato also told the Third Hokage that Tsunade intended to accept Uchiha Nan and Shizune as disciples, which delighted him greatly.
Nan's medical ninjutsu skills were already astonishing. If he could learn from Tsunade, he might become the one to replace her.
Even if Tsunade refused to return, Konoha would still have an excellent medical ninja.
Moreover, Nan was not only a genius medical ninja but, according to Orochimaru, also a prodigious ninja overall.
As disciples of two of the Legendary Three Ninjas, one day Nan could combine their powers and become Konoha's backbone.
Hearing that Nan fiercely defended the honor of the Hokage by fighting Tsunade, the Third Hokage was even more satisfied with him.
Konoha's next generation had its own disciples, the generation after had outstanding ninjas like Minato, and the future generation had geniuses like Nan. At least before the Third Hokage's death, Konoha could be said to have successors.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Konoha, one person received this news with less pleasure—Danzo.
Unlike the Third Hokage, who inherited the First's will and still hoped for the Uchiha, Danzo, inheriting the Second's will, had deep prejudice against the Uchiha.
He had been closely watching the unprecedented prodigy from the Uchiha clan since Nan's predecessor awakened the Sharingan.
When Nan's memories fully awakened and he became Orochimaru's disciple, Danzo's attention deepened.
Danzo had been cooperating with Orochimaru and once proposed taking Nan into his Root organization to monitor him closely and use this genius for his own purposes.
But for some unknown reason, Orochimaru had refused.
Not long ago, Danzo heard that the Third Hokage had taught Nan the Flying Thunder God Technique and even had Minato personally instruct him.
Danzo sensed something was wrong—Flying Thunder God was a Hokage-exclusive technique, and this displeased him.
He immediately confronted the Third Hokage, and the two quarreled.
Danzo believed the Uchiha always harbored ill intentions toward the village, and if clan members learned Flying Thunder God, they would eventually become a threat.
The Third Hokage, however, believed the problem between the village and the Uchiha stemmed mainly from mutual distrust.
He had personally witnessed Nan's abilities and knew he was unlike typical Uchiha, who could become an excellent bridge to ease conflicts.
Danzo could never accept an Uchiha becoming Hokage, even if it was decades in the future.
Now he saw Nan as a thorn in his side.
What made it worse was the news that Nan was about to become Tsunade's disciple.
The Third Hokage had inherited the Hokage position from the First and intended to pass it onto his own disciple.
If Nan inherited the abilities of two of the Legendary Sannin, becoming Hokage was almost guaranteed.
Danzo had abandoned his prior plans to take Nan for himself; now he only wanted to eliminate him quickly before he could grow into an even greater threat.
Nan was unaware that the Third Hokage already saw him as Konoha's future and also unaware that Danzo was scheming to remove him.
Even if he knew, he wouldn't care—he would welcome Danzo to come face him, confident he could kill him with a single blow without activating his full Susanoo.
Meanwhile, in Tanzaku Street, Tsunade had begun developing the antidote alongside Nan and Shizune.
She was clearly treating them as her successors.
While guiding them on the antidote, Tsunade often imparted other knowledge unrelated to the antidote.
Nan had anticipated this and knew that although Tsunade cared deeply about Konoha, her hemophobia held her back—so she wanted to leave something behind for the village.
She wanted to pass some of her abilities on to Nan and Shizune, hoping they would inherit them.
Although she didn't yet act fully as their master, the knowledge she shared with Nan was no less than what Orochimaru had given him.
Since Nan was exceptionally talented to begin with, he easily grasped the advanced medical concepts.
Shizune was different; her level was average. Tsunade taught her basic medical ninjutsu, but Shizune had noticed something unusual about Tsunade.
When teaching basic medical ninjutsu, Tsunade always avoided eye contact.
Once when Shizune showed Tsunade a small animal she had just treated, the blood stains on the wound frightened Tsunade, who trembled visibly.
Only then did Shizune understand why Tsunade was unwilling to return to Konoha—it was because of her hemophobia.
For a medical ninja, developing hemophobia was almost equivalent to losing all meaning in life.
Understanding Tsunade's condition, Shizune and Tsunade grew closer.
Outwardly, Tsunade was Shizune's master, but in reality, Shizune took care of Tsunade.
When Tsunade was drunk and unable to care for herself, Shizune looked after her; when Tsunade made mistakes, Shizune scolded her.
Their roles seemed reversed.
Nan had a deep understanding of the Sand's poison but lacked the method to detoxify it.
After cooperating with Tsunade, the antidote development accelerated greatly, and within less than a month, it approached completion.
During the cooperation, Tsunade saw Nan's talent as a doctor.
His medical ninjutsu was still far from hers, but his understanding of diseases, toxins, medicines, and the human body was on par or even subtly superior in some respects.
During this period, Nan didn't neglect his training.
While assisting Tsunade with the antidote, he constantly used shadow clones to practice techniques.
His training included water and earth nature transformations and many ninjutsu learned from Orochimaru, enriching his combat capabilities.
More importantly, he focused on mastering two newly acquired jutsu—the Chidori and Flying Thunder God.
Chidori was easy for Nan and quickly became proficient.
Flying Thunder God also improved greatly, though he still couldn't teleport very far and needed long preparation, limiting its practical use.
However, as long as he didn't teleport many times in a short period, he no longer felt dizzy.
Throughout this time, Tsunade watched quietly as Nan diligently trained and improved himself.
(End of chapter)