Afterward, the old Third began handing over administrative duties to Tsunade.
A few days later, the succession ceremony for the Fifth Hokage began.
At the ceremony, Tsunade solemnly declared that from this day forward, she would protect Konoha with her very life, and treat every villager of Konoha as her own family.
It should have been a deeply moving, heartfelt declaration—but at that very moment, Shinju sensed an unusual chakra presence among the crowd.
Following the trail with his sensitivity to chakra, Shinju discovered it came from the one-eyed old man wrapped in bandages, whom he had once seen in the Hokage's office—Danzo.
Danzo seemed very displeased with the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade. At the succession ceremony, his chakra had nearly spiraled out of control.
On the other side, sharp as he was, Danzo immediately noticed Shinju's gaze falling upon him.
The violent chakra within him instantly calmed.
Turning his head, Danzo forced a stiff smile in Shinju's direction.
Shinju felt a chill run down his spine.
That old man—he was better off not smiling.
Because whenever he did, it gave off a sinister feeling, as if he could devour someone whole at any moment.
People often say appearances can be deceiving, but Shinju believed that sometimes a man's looks were shaped by his heart. And this old man… no matter how he looked at him, he didn't seem like a good person at all.
From that day onward, Shinju kept his guard up against this strange old man.
...
The next few days passed quietly.
Shinju's life as a shinobi was rather plain—doing low-level missions, teaching Konohamaru and Naruto ninjutsu, and occasionally developing a few new techniques of his own.
One day, Shizune knocked on Shinju's door.
"What is it, Shizune-senpai?"
Shinju looked up at his senior and asked.
"Tsunade-sama said she needs your help."
Shizune was flustered, speaking hurriedly and out of breath.
Shinju nodded, thinking to himself that Tsunade-sensei had just taken up the position of Fifth Hokage. Of course, with any new leader, she would want to make some decisive moves—likely she wanted to bring him along for something that could win over the people.
...
Hokage's Office.
Now seated as Konoha's top leader, Tsunade sat with authority behind the Hokage's desk, giving off the air of an experienced elder.
When Shinju entered, Tsunade adjusted herself into a comfortable sitting posture and asked,
"How's the ninjutsu I taught you coming along?"
Even before asking, Tsunade already had a guess about his answer.
After all, this boy was a once-in-a-millennium genius when it came to ninjutsu. A few basic medical techniques would be child's play to him.
But when she saw Shinju's actual demonstration, Tsunade was still stunned.
Shinju precisely molded his chakra, gathering it into his hand.
"This is the chakra scalpel you taught me."
As he spoke, he began manipulating his chakra further.
"This technique is simple in practice. After mastering it, I found that I could alter the output of chakra, extending and widening the scalpel to use in combat."
As he finished speaking, the tiny chakra scalpel in his hand suddenly expanded with a sharp "shing!" into a massive chakra blade, two or three meters long!
Tsunade nearly dropped her jaw to the floor.
Changing the shape of a chakra scalpel wasn't difficult—but to extend pure, refined chakra into a blade of two to three meters? That required an enormous chakra reserve!
Ordinary shinobi could never possess such terrifying chakra reserves.
But Shinju was different. Not only could he forge such a massive chakra blade, but he looked completely at ease, as though it cost him nothing.
This kid… could he be a human-tailed beast?
To think he carried such an overwhelming supply of chakra within him!
Tsunade was shaken to the core.
Shinju, however, seeing Tsunade's silence after his demonstration, thought she was unsatisfied with his progress. He immediately continued reporting his results:
"Besides the chakra scalpel, I've mastered the Mystical Palm Technique and a whole series of other medical ninjutsu as well. As for the Strength of a Hundred Technique you emphasized, I did learn it—but honestly, it doesn't seem very useful to me."
Tsunade nodded in satisfaction at his report.
Shinju was right. The Strength of a Hundred Technique carried severe side effects—it was indeed unsuitable for someone still so young.
Then Tsunade rested her chin in her hands and explained the real reason she had called him here.
"There's a shinobi one year above you—Rock Lee. You know him, don't you?"
Shinju nodded. "Mm, I know him. During the Chunin Exams preliminaries, he fought the Sunagakure shinobi Gaara. Half his body was ruined in that battle."
"That's right," Tsunade nodded. "The reason I called you here today is for this boy's surgery. In that battle, he suffered catastrophic injuries—half his arm and thigh were shattered into fragments. Under normal circumstances, it would be nearly impossible for him to even walk again, let alone continue life as a shinobi."
"So I advised him to give up the path of a ninja."
She sighed. "But… since you know Rock Lee, then you must also know his personality. He's basically a brainless hot-blooded fool—utterly devoted to his ninja way. If he can't live as a shinobi, it feels like he wouldn't even want to live at all."
"That's why I designed a special surgical plan for him—one that could restore his body completely, allowing him to train in taijutsu once more."
"That sounds great!" Shinju said happily.
Lee was the epitome of a pure shinobi. His burning spirit and unwavering passion even made Shinju admire him.
So when he heard Lee had a chance at full recovery, Shinju was genuinely glad.
But Tsunade's expression grew grave.
"Don't celebrate too soon. High reward always comes with high risk. The success rate of this surgery is only 50%. If it fails, the boy will die."
Shinju frowned. "So you called me here… to assist you in the surgery?"
"No."
Tsunade shook her head.
"There's still one critical obstacle in the procedure we haven't solved—cell activation. If we can activate every cell in Lee's body during surgery, it would greatly increase his chances of survival."
Shinju blinked. "So?…"
Tsunade got straight to the point.
"You're Konoha's genius shinobi. I want you to research cell activation."
Shinju: "Huh? ◝₍ᴑ̑ДO͝₎◞ But I'm just an ordinary chunin! I've only just started learning medical ninjutsu—I'm not one of Konoha's professional researchers. How could I possibly figure something like that out?"
If it were about creating a new ninjutsu or training in taijutsu, Shinju would have agreed in a heartbeat.
But this—"cell activation"? He hadn't even heard of it until today. He had no idea where to even begin.
Tsunade continued, "You've likely come across it before—through Orochimaru, or Kabuto. This kind of cell activation… in essence, it can also be considered a type of ninjutsu."
When Shinju still didn't answer, Tsunade reluctantly sweetened the deal.
"If we succeed in researching cell activation, it could benefit all of Konoha. How about this—if you can pull it off, I'll personally reward you with two million ryo."
Shinju was speechless. "Oh, come on. You're already drowning in debt."
Tsunade muttered sheepishly, "Konoha's accounts still have several hundred billion… quietly taking out two million won't be a problem…"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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