Chapter 215: What Is She Actually Afraid Of?
Yugito's injuries were extremely severe.
They were basically no different from Naruto in the original story when he was pierced through the body by Satori and left on the brink of death.
Tsunade's medical ninjutsu was top-tier in the shinobi world, but even she was helpless in the face of wounds like this.
Her Creation Rebirth could repair her own organs, letting her recover even after being cut in half at the waist, but it couldn't grant that same effect to others.
People always say a doctor can't heal themselves, Tsunade was the exact opposite.
Before meeting Shiromo, she possessed one of the most powerful medical techniques in existence, yet could only use it on herself.
To heal Yugito now, she had to borrow Shiromo's power, gain authority over natural energy and use Life Bestowal.
Otherwise, with a hole that big in her chest, even if Tsunade somehow saved her, she'd still have to stuff something in there, Hashirama cells, silicone, or something similar, fill it up and treat it like a rock plug.
Fortunately…
Tsunade reached behind her head, removed her hair ribbon, and grasped the crystal embedded in it.
Strength of a Hundred Seal and transformation activated simultaneously, multicolored flowing patterns spreading across her entire body in an instant.
After transforming so many times, Tsunade had grown increasingly proficient in it and became much faster now.
In her transformed state, she pressed her hand against Yugito's abdomen. The wound immediately began regenerating at high speed, flesh knitting together until smooth, unbroken skin returned.
Suddenly, Tsunade stopped and tugged at Shiromo's clothes.
"I almost forgot, come feel it."
What Tsunade meant by "feel it" wasn't telling Shiromo to touch Yugito and check whether she was smooth. It referred to what they had already decided before coming, letting Shiromo experience the power she gained after transforming.
Why explain this?
Because it seemed like no one had misunderstood, right?
Not exactly.
After elbowing Killer Bee away and returning to the platform, the Raikage had sent Samui and Karui, who were guarding Mui, to go help Tsunade.
They were female ninja, so there was no need to avoid anything.
As soon as Samui and Karui arrived, they saw Yugito lying on the ground with her wounds visibly healing.
They exchanged glances, both seeing shock in each other's eyes.
They had been too far away earlier to know exactly how badly Yugito was injured, but that massive spike piercing straight through her body had been impossible to miss.
And now, aside from the hole torn in her clothes, there wasn't the slightest sign of injury.
Of course, it wasn't fully healed yet.
Tsunade had only repaired the outside; the internal organs and flesh still hadn't been restored. She'd just called Shiromo over to "feel it."
But to Samui and Karui, who had just arrived, that line sounded very strange.
Yugito was already healed, so what was there to "feel"?
Their gazes instinctively drifted toward Yugito's body.
Yugito normally wore tight-fitting clothes, but now they'd been torn open by the impalement, so…
"Absolutely not! Why don't you let him feel yours instead?!"
Karui rushed forward in a panic, throwing herself in front of Yugito to block her.
"What do you mean yours and mine? I was always telling him to feel mine."
Tsunade was completely thrown off by this sudden Kumogakure ninja and had no idea what she was talking about.
"Huh?"
Karui and Samui, who had been about to step in and calm Karui down, both froze.
Wait… wasn't Tsunade, the legendary Slug Princess, supposed to be dignified?
Was she really this open?
Or did she have some strange fetish, liking to be touched while treating people?
While the two of them stood there stunned, Shiromo had already placed his hand on Tsunade's shoulder.
Tsunade ignored them and continued the treatment, healing the rest of Yugito's injuries completely.
Shiromo withdrew his hand at the end as well.
He had basically figured out the principle behind this kind of life-force transmission.
"Hey, you two, stop spacing out and take off a piece of clothing."
Tsunade said to Samui and Karui.
Her gaze lingered on Samui for an extra second.
So this was the blonde big-X Kumogakure ninja Ryūzetsu had mistaken in yesterday's intel?
"Huh? Oh, I'll do it."
Karui snapped out of it and, after only a second's hesitation, removed her jacket and draped it over Yugito.
Once she took it off, she was left with just a small tank top underneath, but if Samui took hers off, there'd be nothing left at all.
Just a [tray].
After covering Yugito, Tsunade canceled the transformation and lightly tapped Yugito's forehead.
The healed Yugito slowly woke up and opened her eyes.
She instinctively tried to sit up, then noticed the clothes covering her, and immediately saw Karui standing there without her outer jacket.
Yugito hurriedly reached under the covering clothes and checked.
Sure enough, her southern hemisphere was completely uncovered.
"Thank you."
She thanked Karui while wrapping the clothes tightly around herself like a chest binder, then stood up.
"You should be thanking the Hokage. Her medical ninjutsu saved you."
Karui stepped aside.
"Right, sorry! Thank you so much, Hokage-sama, for saving my life. And also…"
Only then did Yugito fully realize she'd almost died.
After bowing deeply to Tsunade in gratitude, she turned her gaze to Uchiha Hikari.
This girl was also her lifesaver.
It was Hikari's Susanoo that had blocked Satori's follow-up attack and kept her alive long enough for Tsunade to arrive.
"Don't thank me. If you're going to thank anyone, thank Shiromo. Coming here was his idea, we were just carrying out his orders."
Uchiha Hikari cut her off before she could finish speaking.
The novelty of "riding the big cat" had already worn off. She didn't want to form any clingy emotional bonds with Yugito.
Honestly, Hikari was already a little regretful.
She should've said from the very start that Shiromo told her to save Yugito, instead of trying to patch it up afterward.
She'd gotten carried away earlier and completely forgotten the classic [hero saves the beauty] scenario.
She'd nearly created a troublesome emotional connection with her own hands.
"D-Don't thank you?"
Yugito was confused.
Even if this had been someone else's mission, shouldn't it be "no need to thank me"?
This "don't thank me" sounded more like… the other party was afraid of her?
Yugito was puzzled.
This girl hadn't shown the slightest fear even when facing Satori, so why would she be afraid of her?
Then Yugito remembered something.
Earlier, when the girl had started talking about what she was afraid of, she'd suddenly stopped, and not long after that, Yugito had lost consciousness.
So what exactly was she afraid of?
An unsolved mystery.
Yugito felt torn.
Everyone knows curiosity kills the cat.
And Yugito was especially full of cat-like traits.
Still, basic manners as a person made her suppress that curiosity for now.
They weren't familiar yet, and the other party was her lifesaver, how could she just ask something like that?
"Muku…"
With no one watching her anymore, Ryūzetsu finally regained her freedom and ran over, slowly approaching Muku, who seemed to still have one last breath.
Pa-ji.
Without even turning her head, Uchiha Hikari silently activated Susanoo and delivered a single Susanoo punch, smashing Muku into a pile of minced flesh.
The sight made Yugito jump in shock.
She'd thought there was about to be some emotional final farewell scene over there.
Now Yugito was even more confused.
Just what in the world could this girl possibly be afraid of?
(End of this chapter)