Shin, after all, was a man who inherited all of Tobirama's talents, so his sensory abilities were among the very best in the entire shinobi world, perhaps second to none.
As a gifted, and in his eyes, evil member of the Senju clan, Tobirama had been born with extraordinary sensory perception.
He could even detect enemies thousands of miles away by channeling chakra into the ground, an ability both powerful and precise.
Before the age of cheats and hacks, Sasuke and Naruto, he had been rightfully considered the number one sensory-type ninja in the shinobi world.
"That's enough!" Shin spoke up to stop what was happening once it seemed things were ready.
He then lifted the injured ninja's shirt, exposing his chest and abdomen, quickly opened a pack of silver needles, and began inserting them into specific acupoints in a set sequence.
As the twelve needles went in, the injured ninja instantly felt a tingling sensation all over his body. At the same time, his chakra began flowing on its own, gradually converging at the site of the injury and activating the cells around it.
"T-This…" Feeling how much faster the wound was healing, the injured ninja was stunned.
"Thank you, thank you so much!" he said, nearly in tears.
Thanks to that treatment, his healing speed had improved by at least 30%. And the faster the wound healed, the fewer long-term side effects remained.
For ninjas, strength was everything.
After all, ninjas didn't produce anything; if an injury prevented them from taking on missions and making money, what would happen to their wives and children?
That was why Shin's medical techniques were enough to excite any ninja. Even the nurse nearby and the medical-nin observing him looked at him with awe. No matter how severe the injury or how strange the illness, there had never been a case he couldn't handle. By then, everyone in Konoha knew that at Konoha Hospital, there was someone with hands that could bring the dead back to life. It was a bit exaggerated, but that was how most civilians and ninjas felt.
"No need to thank me. Just go pay the treatment fee at the front desk," Shin said calmly. "Come back in three days for another session."
Returning to his office and closing the door behind him, he walked over to the window. He furrowed his brows as he sensed the presence of an ANBU ninja monitoring him. That was because he had never shown any abnormal behavior, and the chakra he emitted always matched that of an ordinary genin.
Perhaps thinking a full squad was overkill, the Third Hokage had withdrawn several people two years ago. Now, only one person remained to monitor him. But that remaining person was way too diligent.
Shin had often wanted to shout out the window: Sakumo, can you fucking stop already? Back then, when you were injured, I was the one who saved your life. If you ever get hurt again, don't come begging me for help. If you do, I'll stab you to death!
Though he could only grumble in his mind.
Pretending to take a nap, he closed the curtains to block Sakumo's view, then quickly formed hand seals with both hands.
Feeling the chakra flow within his body, he nodded in satisfaction.
Not bad, a close-range, offensive B-rank ninjutsu: Water Release: Water Fang Bullet. After using this jutsu, water was compressed into a projectile and spun at high speed to maximize damage, attacking from multiple angles.
It seemed that injured guy earlier wasn't weak. Judging by the amount of chakra in his body, he was probably a special jonin.
Over the years, he had secretly learned over a hundred types of jutsu through this method. And every time he thought about it, he felt even more frustrated.
With his current talent, if he hadn't been forced to interrupt his training, his strength would probably have already reached Kage-level by now.
Seven years. Seven golden, precious years!
For an average ninja, missing those seven years would have meant total ruin.
Shin wasn't ruined, per se, but even now, all he had going for him was his chakra reserves, which were only slightly greater than those of an elite ninja.
He had to admit, the talent of that twisted bastard was truly astonishing.
On the surface, he hadn't trained a single ninja technique over the past seven years, but he had mastered chakra training techniques from a very young age.
Six years ago, after developing a jutsu to conceal his chakra presence, he finally began molding chakra again, and even improved his control methods.
However, aside from increasing his chakra reserves through chakra control exercises and basic physical conditioning that he disguised as ordinary civilian exercise, his combat training remained severely limited. His hospital work gave him the perfect excuse to maintain his physique, after all, a medical practitioner needed stamina for long surgeries. Regular jogging, stretching, and resistance exercises could easily be justified as health maintenance rather than ninja training. But actual combat techniques, jutsu practice, and weapons training existed only in his imagination.
Just thinking about it made him want to cry.
That was also why, even though he always wanted to escape from Konoha, he had remained obedient and quiet until now.
Fortunately, five years ago, he had developed a method of using chakra to stimulate pressure points and circulate it throughout his body to gradually enhance physical strength.
He called it the Chakra Body-Enhancement Technique.
For five years now, his physical abilities had been improving every single day. Alongside that, he simulated taijutsu training and combat scenarios daily in his mind.
So once he got the chance to actually start real training, his strength would undoubtedly skyrocket in a very short period.
If he ever got the chance...
That was why he never intended to stay in Konoha. If even the smallest opportunity arose, he would flee, run as far and as fast as he could.
To hell with Konoha, to hell with Tobirama, to hell with Hiruzen, to hell with Sakumo… to hell with a lot of people!
Just as Shin was about to pretend to nap and resume his chakra body-enhancement practice and mental training simulations, the office door was rudely flung open.
"Shin! Get out here!" A furious Tsunade stormed in, completely ignoring any sense of decorum, grabbed him by the collar, and started dragging him out.
"You barbaric brute! Let go of me or I'll make you regret it!" Shin struggled wildly. "You lunatic, you savage, you baboon, gorilla, monkey, female Tarzan—!"
But her strength was overwhelming. Even with all his effort, he couldn't break free, especially since he had to keep pretending to be weak.
Tsunade ignored his furious rant and dragged him into a hospital room, straight to a patient's bedside.
The patient, cowed by her intense glare, trembled and cautiously asked, "L-Lady Tsunade, w-what are you doing?"
"Shut up!" she snapped, cutting him off. "Last time I lost to this guy in a medical jutsu contest. Today I'm challenging him again. Just lie there and stay still!"
Seeing Shin trying to sneak away, she instantly grabbed his wrist.
"Still trying to run?" She applied a bit of pressure, and he immediately broke into a cold sweat from the pain.
After being manhandled like that, his temper flared. Even though his whole body was shaking from the pain, he didn't make a sound, just stared at her coldly.
"You diva… Did you skip lunch today?" he snarled through gritted teeth after a long moment, glaring at her with a look that practically screamed, go ahead and kill me if you dare!
Seeing him looking so stubborn and unyielding, Tsunade faltered slightly. Her eyes shifted away, and she instinctively loosened her grip.
Trying to save the situation, she forced herself to say, "You're not allowed to leave. Or else you'll answer to me!"
But her tone had clearly softened. Compared to before, it almost sounded like she was pouting, and the change gave Shin goosebumps.
There was no denying Tsunade's beauty. At seventeen, she was already stunning, carrying herself with the natural confidence of someone born to lead. Although her figure hadn't yet fully matured, her clothes could no longer hide the curves that hinted at perfection and stirred the imagination.
He wasn't blind, he could see all of this clearly.
Her noble status, jaw-dropping looks, and great figure had captivated countless young men.
There were enough boys in Konoha with a crush on her to form a line from one end of the village to the other. But he never wanted to speak kindly to her, he didn't even want to spare her a glance.