The patient gingerly felt his arm—and was stunned.
He slowly raised it, feeling no discomfort at all, then waved it in the air in disbelief.
"Healing? Complete healing? This… this is a real medical miracle!"
No pain—only a sense of warmth and lightness. Breathless with excitement, the patient exhaled:
"Thank you, Lady Tsunade! Thank you so much! I think my arm is fully healed!"
"Ha! Yes!" Tsunade jumped for joy, shot a defiant look at Uchiha Ran, and declared triumphantly:
"Well, bastard? Let's see how you plan to beat me today!"
"Heh." Ran gave her a look of lazy disdain and smirked. "You really think you're the only one making progress?"
"Lucky for you, I've recently developed a new healing technique. And today, I'll beat you again—so thoroughly you won't even have words left."
Laying the patient back down, Uchiha Ran began unwrapping the bandages from his leg.
And the patient? He looked like the happiest man on earth.
"I mean, how many people can say they were treated by both of Konoha's greatest medics?"
Those forty-seven "victims" of their last contest—they were the stuff of legend. People still envied them!
And now, at last, luck had smiled on him. The whole thing felt like a dream.
"Alright, sir. Please stay still," Ran said seriously, taking a deep breath and pulling out a set of silver needles.
Even though the patient wasn't a shinobi—meaning his chakra couldn't be activated—Ran's acupuncture technique could still stimulate cellular regeneration, accelerating recovery.
When the last needle was in place, Ran stretched out his hands.
Chakra surged into his palms, splitting into two distinct energies.
In his right—Shōsen Jutsu, the Mystical Palm Technique, created by Tsunade herself.
Over years of competition, Ran had mastered it completely.
He even used it right in front of her once—and won. That near gave Tsunade a heart attack.
Especially when he said:
"Beating you with your own technique… that's what I call true defeat."
But the chakra in his left hand was something Tsunade didn't recognize at all.
And yet she could clearly feel the powerful vitality radiating from it… and something else—something tied to the nervous system?
"What technique is that?.. Just looking at it, I feel like I'm already healing…"
Ignoring her stare, Ran placed both hands on the patient's fractured shin.
"Oooh…" the man moaned, unable to hold it back as the healing began.
And no, it wasn't lewd—it was just so blissfully pleasant that resisting it was impossible.
But the euphoria didn't last long.
Within a minute, Uchiha Ran was panting heavily, soaked with sweat as if all his strength had been drained.
He pulled his hands away—and immediately staggered, barely staying upright. A nurse quickly stepped in to catch him.
"What's the matter, bastard? Burnt out already?" Tsunade seized the chance to throw his old words back at him. "Come on, you're a guy! What's with the 'I can't' crap? That's not how men talk, you know!"
But Ran didn't answer. He just sat there, breathing deeply, doing his best to recover his chakra and strength.
Ten minutes passed—his color returned, his breathing steadied.
He raised his hands again, summoned his chakra, and resumed healing.
This time, he lasted only thirty seconds.
Then his face turned ghostly pale… and his chakra vanished completely.
But Uchiha Ran didn't back down. Silently, he kept focusing on recovery.
"Dr. Ran, I feel much better already!" the patient said, watching his exhausted healer with growing concern.
"My leg barely hurts now. I'm sure I'll be fully recovered within a week. Thank you—I don't want to push you any further!"
Ran only shook his head stubbornly and continued waiting.
Another half hour passed, and after four treatment sessions, the patient's leg was fully healed.
But compared to Tsunade's ten-minute miracle, Ran's result… just didn't look as impressive.
"Ha-ha-ha… pathetic," Ran muttered bitterly, staring down at his own hands, his voice tinged with quiet sorrow.
Then, after a moment, he turned to Tsunade and said:
"This time, you win. Congratulations. I guess I'm no longer your rival."
With that, he stood up with effort and began to drag himself out of the room, heavy-legged and hunched over.
Uchiha Ran had admitted defeat. Plain and without fanfare.
But Tsunade felt no joy.
Did she really win…?
No. This was a true loss.
A victory earned purely through sheer chakra volume, while skill and talent lost—how could that be called a real win?
Tsunade refused to accept such a victory.
Sure, Ran's treatment took nearly thirty minutes—but if you counted only the active healing time, it barely added up to three.
He'd been forced to stop repeatedly because he had never been allowed to train as a child—his chakra reserves were pitiful.
If he'd been allowed to develop them even to a special jōnin's level, the title of "world's greatest medical ninja" would've been his without question.
And in that moment, for the first time, Tsunade felt doubt.
Why had her grandfather, Senju Tobirama, ordered a complete ban on Uchiha Ran's training right before his death?
That order had essentially destroyed a genius—a man who could've become a medical legend.
She had never questioned it before. Always trusted—if Grandpa did something, there must've been a reason.
But now, seeing such raw medical talent held back by chakra deficiency—it felt like a tragedy.
---
In his office, sensing the subtle shift in Tsunade's emotions through his sensory perception, Uchiha Ran allowed a small, quiet smile to curl his lips.
"If I play this right… there's no way she won't feel pity."
He had spent three years setting up this scenario, guiding Tsunade step by step toward what she felt now.
They'd been rivals for five years, and by now, Ran knew her personality inside and out.
Tsunade was loyal and sentimental, even if she came off as stubborn and hot-headed.
Sure, she still liked to win—but envy wasn't in her nature, unlike Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Tsunade admired talent.
Still deeply loyal to Konoha, she would naturally wish there were more like Uchiha Ran.
She would never want a gift like his to be wasted.
They might bicker, snipe, and one-up each other—but apathy was never part of the equation.
"Come on, little princess. Let your sentimental heart do its thing. My future escape depends on it. Your grandfather killed my path cold—so using your help feels… karmically fair. If you help me out, maybe I'll even spare your pride once or twice."
Ran's mood had lifted.
Tsunade's, on the other hand, had only darkened.
---
In the courtyard of the Senju estate, Tsunade paced back and forth, brooding.
On the veranda, gracefully sipping her tea, Uzumaki Mito watched her with amusement and asked lightly:
"Tsu-na, what's the matter? Lost to that Uchiha boy again?"
Tsunade shook her head, frowned, and muttered gloomily:
"I won."