Konoha Hospital, within the village.
Jiraiya, Tsubaki of Nadeshiko Village, and Shizuka were waiting outside the ward. Shizuka looked visibly uneasy, pacing back and forth along the hospital corridor without stopping.
"Shizuka, don't be so nervous," Jiraiya said in a calm voice. "Tsunade's medical ninjutsu is the best in the entire shinobi world. She'll definitely be able to solve your master's problem."
Shizuka finally stopped. She nodded, sat down on a nearby chair, and forced a smile.
"Hokage-sama, I know the reputation of the Slug Princess," she said softly.
"I'm just a little nervous, that's all…"
After speaking, she lowered her head and nervously bit at her thumbnail, betraying her anxiety.
Inside the ward, Tsunade was using medical ninjutsu to examine Tsubaki's physical condition. As the examination progressed, her expression grew darker and more severe, her brows knitting together.
Only after inspecting her from head to toe did Tsunade remove her disposable medical gloves and toss them into the medical waste bin beside her.
"You have far more problems than you realize," Tsunade said flatly. "Are you even aware of it?"
Her voice wasn't loud, but the restrained anger beneath it was unmistakable.
"Lady Tsunade," Tsubaki replied calmly, "as a shinobi, I am naturally aware of the state of my own body."
After a brief pause, she looked up.
"Please tell me… how much time I have left."
"It doesn't matter if these injuries can't be cured. I just want to hold on as long as possible—to give Shizuka more time to grow."
Her voice sounded weak, yet the resolve within it was unshakable.
Tsunade raised her hand in silence and extended four fingers.
"Four months," she said bluntly. "If you hadn't come to Konoha, you would have had at most four months left."
"The muscles throughout your body show varying degrees of rigidity, especially in your limbs."
"Your internal organs are severely weakened. Your kidneys are close to failure. All of this is the result of years of excessive chakra consumption."
"The bones in your forearms also show clear signs of past fractures. Some of the bone seams haven't fully healed even now."
She listed each symptom one by one.
Tsubaki shook her head helplessly and gave a faint smile.
"They're just injuries," she said softly. "In order to protect Nadeshiko Village, this was a necessary sacrifice."
"It was worth it."
Tsunade fell silent.
After a moment, she turned, walked to the door, opened it, and called out:
"Shizuka. You're her apprentice—come in."
Shizuka stood up instantly and hurried over, her movements stiff as she asked cautiously,
"Lady Tsunade… how is my master?"
At the same time, Jiraiya spoke up, his tone unusually anxious.
"Tsunade, how is Tsubaki?"
Jiraiya's reaction made Tsunade raise an eyebrow.
"Why are you so concerned about her?" she asked coolly.
"Don't tell me you—"
Jiraiya froze. His old face flushed red as he hurriedly waved his hands.
"No, no! That's not it!"
"I'm just worried because of the cooperation plan between Nadeshiko Village and Konoha, that's all!"
Without replying, Tsunade grabbed Shizuka by the wrist and dragged her into the ward, casting Jiraiya a sideways glance.
"You're getting old," she said bluntly. "It's time you found someone."
Bang.
The door slammed shut, leaving Jiraiya sitting outside with an awkward expression. He fidgeted for a long while before letting out a long sigh, leaning back and staring up at the ceiling, lost in thought.
Behind the curtain inside the ward, Tsubaki looked at Tsunade and then at her apprentice standing beside her. A faint blush rose to her cheeks, though it did little to conceal her pale complexion.
"Tsunade-sama," she said gently, "please don't tease me."
"Lord Jiraiya and I are just friends."
"He rejected me very clearly back then."
A bitter smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
Tsunade cut her off immediately.
"That was then. This is now," she said bluntly. "If a woman chases a man, it's usually easy. Why not try a little harder?"
Shizuka, standing to the side, didn't know where to look and suddenly felt her presence was a little awkward. (・・;)
But Tsubaki clearly understood the deeper meaning behind Tsunade's words. A faint glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes.
"Lady Tsunade…" she asked, unable to hide the anticipation in her voice.
"Are you saying… I can still be saved?"
Tsunade nodded.
Then she shook her head.
Shizuka grew even more confused.
"So… it can be saved, but it's very difficult?" she asked hesitantly.
Tsunade didn't answer. Instead, she took a test tube filled with pale green liquid from the refrigerator beside her and injected it into Tsubaki's forearm chakra pathways with a medical instrument.
A few minutes later, warmth spread through Tsubaki's limbs. Strength slowly returned, her complexion becoming noticeably rosier. Surprise flickered across her face.
"This is Konoha's healing medicine—the one you were looking for before," Tsunade said. "How does it feel?"
Tsubaki nodded.
"So this is it…" she murmured. "It seems I worried too much."
"Although I feel much better than before, this only stabilizes my condition. It can't truly cure me."
Tsunade nodded again.
"Yes. This medicine adapts to the user's physical condition. If used on a healthy shinobi in their prime, it could even heal bone fractures within minutes."
"But your body can no longer achieve that level of regeneration. At best, it can only relieve your current symptoms."
"There are two methods that could completely cure you."
"First: organ transplantation. You would need a donor whose body is compatible with yours. However, willing donors are rare—and your condition doesn't allow you to wait that long."
"The longer you delay, the lower the chance of success."
"The second option is surgery," Tsunade continued. "But the success rate is only about fifty percent—and that's with Shizune and me performing it personally."
"During the operation, your disciple will need to master a special medical ninjutsu to use chakra to forcibly maintain your heartbeat."
"We'll also need to inject high-concentration therapeutic drugs directly into your internal organs in stages, coordinated with cell extraction techniques."
"Which path you choose… is up to you."
Without hesitation, Tsubaki gave the same answer as Shizuka.
"The second option."
Shizuka and Tsubaki looked at each other and nodded.
"Please be careful," Shizuka said firmly. "For my master's sake, I will definitely learn that ninjutsu."
Tsubaki gently stroked Shizuka's hair.
"I believe in my disciple."
Tsunade nodded. Without saying anything more, she took a white scroll from the nearby shelf and handed it to Shizuka.
"This is a medical chakra transfer technique," she explained. "It's classified as a B-rank ninjutsu, but its difficulty rivals that of an A-rank."
"It's only rated B-rank because the conditions for using it are extremely harsh."
"Even I…" Tsunade added quietly,
"…haven't mastered it."
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Second Bonus Chapter - 200 Power Stones
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