Chapter 185: What Kind of Illness Is That Even Supposed to Be?
Hanabi thought about it for a while but still couldn't figure out why Fū had gone to look for a medical ninja.
Was she worried that Shiromo might accidentally hurt her later during sparring?
After thinking about it briefly, Hanabi simply continued training with Shiromo.
Fū had already run off anyway, so there was no way to call her back and ask.
The Medical Department.
After a systematic examination, Ringo Ameyuri was diagnosed with a terminal illness.
If she hadn't known ahead of time that there was still hope for treatment, she would've already bolted off to stuff herself with food, drink like crazy, and enjoy the final stage of her life.
As for what terminal illness she had.
No one knew.
That's right, no one knew at all.
Same situation as Kimimaro.
Medical knowledge in the ninja world simply had no systematic inheritance.
Actually, it wasn't just medical knowledge.
The ninja world had no systematic inheritance of anything.
Even the most important profession, ninja, only got ninja academies a few decades ago when Senju Tobirama first founded them, and even then they were just prototypes, never fully refined.
Even history, which should logically have been the most important, had no systematic records.
If things continued like this, in a few decades Shiromo's… no, Kakashi's "Buff Man" novel series would be dug up and studied as official history.
Which meant that right now, even if they figured out exactly what was wrong with Ringo Ameyuri and Kaguya Kimimaro, the only thing they could do was name the diseases after them.
In short, once the examination ended, Fū ran over anxiously.
"Nono-nee, Hanabi might've gotten sick because of my Scale Powder! Hurry and go check on her!"
"Scale Powder? Don't rush. Can you take a little sample for me to see first?"
Yakushi Nonō soothed her.
"Oh… sure!"
By now, Fū could skillfully control the Seven-Tails' power, so using Scale Powder was effortless.
With a thought, a pair of wings appeared behind her. She flapped them twice, and some scales fell into her palm, which she placed into Yakushi Nonō's petri dish.
Impure World Reincarnation bodies really did come with many inconveniences.
For example, she couldn't directly sense the special properties of the Scale Powder right now.
After a quick round of tests and lab-mouse experiments, Yakushi Nonō came to a conclusion.
"This Scale Powder causes paralysis, but it doesn't last very long."
"How long is 'not very long'? Hanabi fought me yesterday, and she's still acting up now!"
Fū tilted her head in confusion.
"Hm? Still acting up after that long? What symptoms does she have?"
Yakushi Nonō asked curiously.
"When she spars with someone and gets touched a little, she cries out like it really hurts."
Fū did her best to describe it.
"Could it be skin sensitivity?"
Yakushi Nonō picked up a small medical kit, stuffed in some medicine she thought might be useful, and walked toward the door.
"Let's go. Take me to see her."
"Okay."
Fū flapped her wings and flew quickly toward the training room.
"I'll go see what's going on too."
Ringo Ameyuri followed behind.
After all, treatment for her wasn't going to start anytime soon.
Sitting around doing nothing and wasting time, and life, didn't fit her style.
Even if she really couldn't be cured, she'd still enjoy her final days properly.
So the three of them arrived at the training room entrance.
Before opening the door, they heard sounds coming from inside.
Yakushi Nonō and Ringo Ameyuri stopped in their tracks and fell silent.
Just like before.
Without seeing the scene, who could guess what was actually happening inside?
Was it really appropriate for them to go in right now?
Wait.
Hanabi was still so young.
How could something like this be happening?
Caught between awkwardness and the instinct to protect a child, Yakushi Nonō quickly let the latter win and pushed the door open.
"Stop!"
Yakushi Nonō shouted.
"Ah~"
Hanabi had just slammed a block-and-strike into Shiromo, only for the rebound to make her own hand sting a little.
Hearing the shout, she looked over in confusion.
She only saw Fū poking her head out from behind Yakushi Nonō, looking this way.
Realizing the scene wasn't what she had imagined, a flash of embarrassment crossed Yakushi Nonō's face.
But the next second, she found an excuse.
Carrying the medical kit, she stepped forward and began examining Hanabi.
"That child said you got sick after sparring with her, maybe skin sensitivity or something. Do you feel anything unusual?"
"Huh?"
Hanabi was still confused.
She was sick? Since when?
"No? After fighting Fū yesterday, I didn't feel anything wrong at all?"
Hanabi looked helplessly at Yakushi Nonō as she checked her over.
"Then why were you making such strange sounds?"
Fū popped out from behind.
"What was strange about them?"
Hanabi tilted her head and asked back.
Yeah.
What was strange about them?
That was a fatal question.
If you said what was strange, wouldn't that mean admitting your thoughts had gone somewhere dirty?
Faced with that question, Fū, Yakushi Nonō, and the spectacle-seeking Ringo Ameyuri all fell silent.
"I-I mean, why didn't you make those sounds when you fought me!"
Fū finally managed to find another angle.
"Because you didn't hit me like that. And… when I'm sparring with Shiromo, I can completely relax, so I end up…"
Hanabi explained, though it was clearly the second half that mattered most.
But for Fū, the part she noticed was the first half.
Thinking about it carefully, it really did make sense.
Even though their ages weren't that far apart, Fū was about the same age as Hanabi's sister Hinata, because Fū had mastered tailed beast power, the difference in strength between them was enormous.
Especially since Fū's control over her power wasn't anywhere near Shiromo's level.
When sparring with Hanabi, once she used the tailed beast's power, she had to be extremely careful.
The Seven-Tails specialized in speed and strength.
The wings provided agility and speed, while the rhinoceros beetle (Kabutomushi) form provided brute force.
Speed was fine.
Strength wasn't.
One mistake and she might seriously injure Hanabi.
So every attack from Fū was "just enough," literally just enough, tapping with a finger.
Thinking about it that way, it was perfectly normal that Hanabi didn't cry out.
That was how Fū saw it, after all, she was still young.
Yakushi Nonō, however, was different.
As the head of an orphanage, what kind of situations hadn't she seen?
She began worrying about the early-romance atmosphere spreading through Konoha and even the ninja world.
Completely relaxed around Shiromo, yet unable to relax at the Hyūga household, huh?
What else was there to say?
"So how is it?"
Shiromo asked Ringo Ameyuri.
"What else could it be? Just like you said, terminal illness."
Ringo Ameyuri had a lollipop in her mouth, who knew where she'd swiped it from.
It was a very sad answer.
Whether it could be cured was still unknown.
However, a few days later.
Just as Orochimaru and Senju Tobirama had put forward a theoretical treatment method, news suddenly came from Konoha.
Tsunade had figured out the true ability she gained after using the stone Shiromo had given her.
(End of this chapter)