"Tsunade, you have no sense of propriety! Is this a place where you can come and go as you please?" Danzo seized the opportunity to interrogate Tsunade.
However, Tsunade completely ignored him. She was entirely focused on examining Taiichi's injuries, even sending her Chakra into his body to check for internal damage.
Seeing the situation, Captain Shikyō hurriedly addressed the Hokage. "Lord Hokage, if there's nothing else, I will take my leave."
"Go ahead. Get some rest; you must be tired after a busy night," the Hokage said with concern.
"It is my duty." With that, Shikyō exited the Hokage's office.
By this time, Tsunade had finished her examination of Taiichi. Frowning, she scolded, "How did your Chakra pathways sustain such severe damage? Don't you know how dangerous this is? Do you want to stop being a ninja? And you're still here giving reports!" Her tone was stern and sharp.
Taiichi was surprised. Is the internal damage really that bad?
Hiruzen Sarutobi asked nervously, "What's wrong, Tsunade? Is it serious? Taiichi looks fine to me."
Danzo, on the other hand, sneered inwardly. If I can't have him, destroying him is the next best thing.
"The external wounds are minor. The problem is internal. Sustained, high-intensity ninjutsu usage has overloaded his cakra pathways. They are on the verge of collapse." Tsunade looked grave. "I need to take him to the hospital for treatment immediately."
"Go quickly then!" The Hokage urged, disregarding everything else. Such a promising seedling couldn't be ruined by something like this.
Watching Tsunade leave the office with Taiichi, Hiruzen spoke first: "What does everyone think about this incident? Any leads?"
"I think it's most likely the Cloud Village's doing. Last time they tried to snatch Kushina; this time they're stealing children from other Kekkei Genkai clans. Hiruzen, we absolutely cannot let them off this time."
"Whoever it is, we must retaliate." x2
Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado both agreed on retaliation. If something like this could happen to the Kurama clan today, it could happen to the Hyuga clan tomorrow, or even their own clans the day after.
If they didn't retaliate, other clans would live in fear. Once morale scattered, it would be hard to lead the village.
Moreover, the current Konoha wasn't the recovering village post-Third War. The current Konoha leadership consisted of ninjas in their prime, full of ambition and pride.
"It's decided then. We'll wait for the final confirmation from the Torture and Interrogation Force to see which village dares to do such a thing!" Hiruzen Sarutobi made the final decision.
...
Downstairs at the Hokage Building.
"Big Sister Tsunade, are my injuries really that serious?" Taiichi finally asked the question he had been holding back. He was starting to doubt if he had learned medical ninjutsu correctly.
Tsunade rolled her eyes at him. "If I didn't say that, could you have gotten out of that quagmire? Do you think Danzo would have let you go?" It turned out Tsunade had heard the conversation inside before entering and devised this plan to get Taiichi out.
"Thank you, Big Sister Tsunade." Taiichi felt grateful that Tsunade cared so much for him.
"Don't celebrate too early. Your Chakra pathways really are damaged quite badly. You'll definitely be hospitalized for a few days to recuperate. And who did this bandaging? Aside from being a temporary fix, it's utterly useless." Tsunade criticized the bandages on Taiichi mercilessly.
"Ah? I still have to be hospitalized?" Taiichi instantly felt dejected. Hospitalization meant wasting several days.
Konoha Hospital was as busy as ever. Tsunade personally handled Taiichi's admission procedures and led him to the Trauma Department.
This was the department where Taiichi had once interned. To return not as a healer but as a patient... life was truly unpredictable.
The one receiving Taiichi was Director Fujita again. She was shocked to see Tsunade leading a bandage-wrapped Taiichi.
"Taiichi-kun, I didn't expect us to meet like this!" Director Fujita teased.
"Director, please don't laugh at me. I'll have to trouble you with these injuries," Taiichi said sheepishly.
"Alright, sit over there!" Director Fujita pointed to a chair. "Nanako, bring the debridement tools."
"Well then, Fujita," Tsunade pointed outside, "I'll leave Taiichi to you. I'll wait outside."
"Sure, don't worry!" Fujita replied without turning her head, already cutting away Taiichi's messy bandages.
"Ah! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" Taiichi wailed like a ghost. He hadn't felt it during the fight, but now the pain was unbearable. "Director, gently! I'm a wounded patient!"
"You're a ninja now, yet you're so afraid of pain? Aren't you embarrassed screaming so loud?" Director Fujita scolded.
But as more bandages were removed, Fujita fell silent. There were simply too many wounds.
After clearing away all the extra bandages and seeing the wounds clearly, both Fujita and the young nurse Nanako gasped.
Taiichi had as many as eleven lacerations of varying sizes. The most dangerous one had missed the brachial artery by mere millimeters; a little closer, and he would have bled out.
They hurriedly and carefully cleaned the wounds, suturing the larger ones. It took nearly an hour to treat all the injuries.
By now, Fujita and Nanako looked at Taiichi with respect. Not every ninja could sustain such injuries. Judging by the locations of the wounds, Taiichi must have engaged in close-quarters combat with the enemy to receive them.
Taiichi finally breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't that he couldn't tolerate pain, but watching someone threading a needle through his skin was pure torture.
After saying goodbye to Director Fujita, Taiichi met Tsunade outside and headed to the inpatient ward.
Lying in bed, Taiichi began receiving Tsunade's specialized treatment. The gentle Mystical Palm Jutsu fell upon him, caressing his Chakra pathways like a warm spring breeze, alleviating the pain in his cakra pathways.
Taiichi hummed comfortably while recounting the day's events to Tsunade in detail.
When Tsunade heard that Taiichi had outsmarted and defeated the first Special Jonin, she breathed a sigh of relief. But when she heard that another heavily injured Jonin showed up, her heart, which had just settled, leaped into her throat again.
By the time she finished listening to Taiichi's story, Tsunade felt more exhausted than if she had fought herself.
Tsunade's treatment ended. After instructing Taiichi on precautions, she prepared to leave.
She had a lot to do herself. If she hadn't heard about Taiichi, she would have been "killing it" at the casino right now.
Just as Tsunade walked out the door, Taiichi called out to her, "Big Sister Tsunade, please help me find my Jonin Sensei. His name is Masasuke Yamaguchi. We were supposed to meet at 9:00 AM tomorrow for a mission. I'm afraid I'll have to ask for leave now."
"Alright, I got it. So troublesome..." Her voice drifted back from the distance.
With Tsunade gone, Taiichi was left alone in the ward. He could finally check his gains from this battle, filtering out the unimportant panel notifications.
> [Your Constitution +2]
> [Your skill Hatake Style Kenjutsu has leveled up. Experience +500]
> [Epiphany during battle. Fire Nature Transformation +500]
> [Epiphany during battle. Wind Nature Transformation +500]
> [Moment of inspiration during battle. Water Nature Transformation +1000]
> [Breakthrough during battle. You combined Water Style: Water Wall and Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu, sublimating them in combat to create the self-invented A-Rank Water Style: Great Water Prison Jutsu]
> [Water Style: Great Water Prison Jutsu: Creates a water wall around a distant enemy at their location, eventually trapping them in a water prison formed by the wall.]
...
> Name: Taiichi Matsushita
> Class: Genin Lv2 (45/200)
> Talents: Diligence, Academic Genius, Potency
> Age: 8
> Constitution: 21
> Strength: 20
> Agility: 18
> Spirit: 23
> Chakra: 14,000 (16,400)
> Attribute Points: 12
> Skill Points: 14
> Nature Transformation:
> Fire Nature Transformation Lv7 (350/1200)
> Wind Nature Transformation Lv7 (412/1200)
> Water Nature Transformation Lv6 (812/1000)
> Yang Nature Transformation Lv6 (459/800)
> Skills:
> Shape Transformation Lv6 (467/1000)
> Chakra Control Lv5 (476/800)
> Advanced Taijutsu Lv0 (976/1000)
> Advanced Meditation Lv0 (934/1000)
> Hatake Style Kenjutsu Lv10 (1478/2000)
> [Fire Style]
> B-Rank Dragon Flame Bomb Lv7 (777/1200)
> B-Rank Intelligent Hard Work Lv3 (357/400)
> [Wind Style]
> C-Rank Gale Palm Lv8 (724/1400)
> B-Rank Pressure Damage Lv4 (26/600)
> [Water Style]
> B-Rank Water Wall Lv9 (453/1600)
> C-Rank Water Prison Lv6 (124/1000)
> C-Rank Water Clone Lv6 (153/1000)
> B-Rank Water Dragon Bullet Lv3 (275/400)
> [Medical Ninjutsu]
> Mystical Palm Jutsu Lv9 (329/1600)
> Delicate Illness Extraction Technique Lv8 (463/1400)
> Chakra Scalpel Lv6 (464/1000)
> [Max Level Skills]
> ...
> Evaluation: You survived a life-or-death test. Your improvement in strength was bought with your life.
Indeed, as the evaluation said, every brush with death brought a leap in strength. But Taiichi still hoped to improve his strength methodically, rather than living on the edge of a blade every day...