The vibrant green light intensified. Tsunade's hands were as steady as the most precise instruments, manipulating her medical chakra into countless tendrils finer than hair to penetrate the deepest, most microscopic corners of the wound.
She needed to meticulously isolate and neutralize the violent residual energy first. Only then could she guide her medical chakra to repair the torn and scorched muscle fibers, the microscopic nerve endings, the damaged blood vessels, and the fractured bone.
It was an incredibly taxing process that demanded absolute, extreme precision.
As time ticked by, Tsunade's face grew paler. Fine beads of cold sweat formed on her forehead and slid down her cheeks. Her body began to tremble uncontrollably, and her breathing grew slightly rapid.
The bloody spectacle, the intricate details of the damaged tissue, and the unavoidable tactile feedback of the treatment were constantly hammering against her psychological defenses.
Yet, her hands remained as steady as boulders. There wasn't the slightest tremor in her fingers.
Those hands—capable of pulling someone back from the brink of death, yet feeling as heavy as mountains right now—displayed the absolute professionalism and resilience of a legendary medical saint, in stark contrast to her shaking body.
She pressed her lips tightly together, her eyes locked dead onto the wound. It was as if she were pouring her entire willpower into her steady fingertips, fighting a silent, desperate battle against the storm raging inside her mind.
"Lady Tsunade, do you want to take a break first?"
Perhaps noticing her pale face and subtle tremors, the boy in the bed asked in a gentle voice.
"Shut up! Don't distract me!" Tsunade snapped without looking up. Her voice was tight with suppressed emotion, but the green light flowing from her hands didn't waver.
Meanwhile, having finished his urgent paperwork, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, arrived at the hospital.
His presence immediately caught the attention of the staff, giving everyone a new understanding of just how highly valued this young genius was.
The Third didn't interrupt the treatment inside the ward. He simply stood quietly by the door and glanced through the observation window, seeing his disciple completely absorbed in treating the boy.
He silently stepped back and gently closed the door. Out in the hallway, the massive Ape Demon King was already waiting, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
The Third walked over. Without needing to be asked, the Ape Demon King gave him a low, concise, and clear rundown of what had happened.
Inside the ward, the treatment continued.
Perhaps it was to fight back against the instinctual terror of blood and trauma constantly assaulting her nerves, or perhaps she just needed to talk to distract herself. Staring intently at the wound, Tsunade suddenly spoke, her voice hard and cold:
"Listen well, kid! Do not use this jutsu again." Her tone left no room for argument. "The backlash it inflicts on your body is irreversible trauma, and the destructive damage will accumulate. You got lucky this time because your constitution is abnormal and you got treated immediately. But use it a few more times, and everything from your chakra pathways to your bones will suffer permanent damage. Your arm will be completely crippled. When that happens, even the best doctor in the world won't be able to save it."
However, Shinichi simply shook his head calmly. "I'm sorry, Lady Tsunade. But I have a reason that requires me to continue perfecting and using it."
"You...!" Tsunade's eyes snapped up to glare at him, a sudden wave of inexplicable anger flaring in her chest.
Why is this brat so damn stubborn?! He's willing to throw away his arm for some stupid jutsu?!
She was so furious she almost wanted to stop the treatment and let him rot in pain.
But when she met the boy's calm eyes, the scolding died in her throat. She lowered her head again, focusing harder on her work. After a moment of silence, she asked the question once more.
"Why... why go this far? Why push yourself so desperately?"
Shinichi fell silent for a moment. He didn't answer directly. Instead, he spoke softly: "You've noticed it too, haven't you, Lady Tsunade? That's why you had that fight with Shizune a few days ago, hoping she'd give up on becoming a shinobi."
Tsunade's fingers, manipulating the chakra, paused for an imperceptible fraction of a second. She didn't confirm or deny it; she just pressed her lips tighter together in tacit admission.
The boy's calm, gentle voice rang out again, but this time, it acted like a precision scalpel, cutting straight into another wound she had been desperately trying to hide:
"Earlier, when you saw my injury, your face went pale and you even took two steps back... You're afraid of seeing blood, afraid of seeing severe injuries, aren't you? I remember reading about similar symptoms in medical texts. It's called hemophobia."
!!
Tsunade's heart jolted violently. She shot a look at Shinichi, her eyes filled with unconcealable shock and a flash of panic at being seen through.
Even the steady glow of the medical chakra in her hands flickered for a second.
Outside the ward, the Third Hokage—who possessed incredibly sharp hearing—caught every word clearly while conversing in hushed tones with the Ape Demon King.
His fingers, which had been tapping his pipe, froze. A sharp, sudden flash of realization crossed his eyes.
He had always known that his disciple carried deep emotional baggage and hadn't been right since the war. He had always assumed it was just profound grief and depression from losing her loved ones one after another. He had never considered it from any other angle... Hemophobia?
"So, the reason your face has been pale and you've been shaking slightly during the treatment isn't entirely because the injury is complex and draining... It's mostly because of that, right?" Shinichi continued. There was no offense in his tone, only calm observation.
"Of course not!" Tsunade retorted instinctively, though her voice sounded a bit rushed from a lack of confidence. "It's just that your injury is incredibly annoying to treat! I am Konoha's best medical ninja—why the hell would I be afraid of blood?! Stop acting like you know everything!"
Her denial carried her usual stubbornness, but it felt more like a desperate, blustering defense.
Shinichi didn't argue with her. Following his own train of thought, he continued in the same analytical, steady tone: "Perhaps 'hemophobia' isn't entirely accurate. I think 'Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder' is a much more fitting term."
He used a clinical term that existed in this world's medical system but was rarely used, causing both Tsunade and the Third outside the door to freeze.
"It's not so much that you're afraid of blood and wounds themselves... It's more that you're afraid of what they make you remember, isn't it? Those images. Those feelings. They're burned into you like a brand. So, it's not the blood that's terrifying. It's everything the blood represents and triggers that makes you feel fear and want to run away."
Every word struck like a heavy hammer against the most fragile part of Tsunade's heart. Her face was deathly pale. She wanted to scream at him to stop, but found she couldn't make a sound.
The boy's words weren't aggressive, yet they precisely tore open the scars she had spent years wrapping in layers of alcohol, avoidance, and anger, exposing the bloody, unhealed truth beneath.
"So, that is my answer, Lady Tsunade."
Shinichi's voice pulled Tsunade back just as she was about to drown in agonizing memories.
He looked at her, his eyes clear and resolute. There was no pity, only a brutally honest understanding:
"It's exactly because I've seen it, felt it, and don't want to see any more of it... that I have to fight desperately. I have to get stronger—strong enough to create new power, strong enough to change things when it matters most, even if that power hurts me, even if the path ahead is difficult."
"I just hope that with these hands, I can bring a few more smiles and a few less farewells to this village."
"For that, I have no other choice. And I absolutely cannot stop!"
"..."
Hearing this, Tsunade fell into a deep silence.
"You self-righteous little brat!"
After a long pause, Tsunade finally spoke. Her voice had returned to its usual impatient, tough tone, as if that soul-piercing conversation had never happened.
"Use it all you want from now on! I'm not the one in pain, and it's not my arm getting crippled! Go die for all I care!"
Despite her harsh words, the subtle tremors in her body caused by the psychological shock had, at some point, completely ceased. The steady hands releasing medical chakra glowed with an even more solid, vibrant green light.
---