"Another ordinary person. Looks like I'm still not at the point of changing Tsunade's fate."
"Or maybe I haven't fulfilled some summoning requirement?"
Link released his Summoning Technique and pondered carefully.
"Stepping on the Executioner's Blade let me summon Haku, so there must be some 'holy relic' connection."
"Shouldn't the two Hokage be most attached to the village? Why can't I summon them at the Hokage Monument or the Hokage Building? I'm also a Konoha shinobi, aren't I?"
"The First's necklace…" Link mused. That necklace would be tough to get—by rights he shouldn't even know about it, or else he'd have many pretexts to borrow or claim it.
Perhaps summoning Haku had less to do with stepping on the Executioner's Blade, more to do with standing on his grave?
"Where are the First and Second Hokage buried, then?"
"Danzo and Yamato both have the First Hokage's cells…"
Link's mind wandered. Before he knew it, he'd spent ten minutes in his training room lost in thought. He quickly cleared his head of random ideas and signaled a shadow to fetch medical texts, flipping through them with a blank face.
At present—aside from likely unlearnable forbidden-level jutsu (Yin Seal, Creation Rebirth, Byakugō no Jutsu)—he had three medical ninjutsu to master:
1. Ranshinshō (Body Pathway Derangement)
2. In'yu Shōmetsu (Yin Healing Wound Destruction)
3. Chikatsu Saisei no Jutsu (Healing Resuscitation Regeneration Technique)
Ranshinshō belongs to Tsunade alone. Even Kabuto, nominally taken in by the Medical Corps chief, had never seen it. By transforming chakra into electrical pulses to disrupt the body's signals, it sounded interesting, but from its name, Link guessed it wouldn't mutate into anything especially useful.
In'yu Shōmetsu is Kabuto's specialty. The principle isn't too complex: you accumulate healing chakra before the body is injured, so you can heal instantly once you are hurt. But it ties partly to Kabuto's special physique and talents. It's A-rank, hard to learn, not held by Konoha, meaning he'd have to develop a variant himself later—or possibly with Shizune's and Tsunade's help.
Chikatsu Saisei no Jutsu was simply too difficult, far too advanced. He hadn't managed it at all. Even for Chakra Scalpel or Delicate Illness Extraction, he'd just barely reached the threshold—enough to cast them once, then left them. He never refined them. Chikatsu Saisei no Jutsu demanded complicated incantations and the ability to alter cellular structures with chakra, truly high-level stuff.
Still, the name suggested it might mutate into a formidable jutsu. He'd started studying it early on but failed. His chakra control wasn't good enough to manipulate cell ratios. Now that a top mentor was around, it was time to pick it up again.
"So tough…" Reading page after page, Link felt a headache but kept forcing himself onward.
…
Next Day — Medical Corps Building, in a Laboratory
"Slap!"
A lively fish placed on a scroll was gradually losing its vitality.
Shizune, wearing a white coat, gave Link a glance: "You try it."
Link walked up, channeled his chakra to activate the fish's cells, smoothly reviving it.
"Not bad." After checking, Shizune praised him. Then, showing no mercy, she grabbed a scalpel from the side and stabbed the fish again, which had just been revived and was still flopping around.
"Squelch—" Stepping back half a step, she signaled Link to continue.
She'd cut it precisely to avoid vitals and organs, but the blood loss was huge for a fish, and the wound was large. There was no way to do a transfusion. You couldn't stitch it. Theoretically, you'd need a Chakra Scalpel to sever certain points and stem the bleeding, then Mystical Palm to reactivate the cells for healing and close the wound, and finally reconnect the severed bits.
But…
Link felt awkward. Though he'd reviewed some relevant treatments last night, and his chakra control was enough in principle…
But…
His version of Chakra Scalpel and Mystical Palm was somewhat…
"Chakra Scalpel, Mystical Palm!" Shizune reminded him, seeing the fish about to expire.
Link snapped out of it. "My techniques aren't quite the standard versions," he said, "and my healing approach differs, too."
He could safely share such details with Tsunade. Currently, Ensui-sensei and Sasuke knew everything, Kakashi and Guy somewhat suspected, while Nara Shikaku certainly had it deduced. Given Link's position and power, plus controlling Nawaki, it was safe to reveal enough to earn Tsunade's goodwill. Nothing to fear. Also, he required Tsunade's help for future training, so partial honesty was necessary.
"Gulp~" The fish opened its mouth in a strange noise, rolling its dying fish eyes, as if accusing these humans of letting it die.
Shizune was stumped by Link's words: medical ninjutsu is all about applying chakra, right? Regardless of fancy names like Mystical Palm or Chakra Scalpel, they're still the same fundamentals. Releasing chakra can't be that different. She'd verified he had decent knowledge.
"Sigh…"
Link exhaled, pressing a large chunk of chakra into the fish's near-dead body.
Delicate Illness Extraction.
After extracting a large number of subtle "afflictions," he switched to standard chakra healing. The wound closed at a speed visible to the naked eye. Once reactivating the cells mostly finished healing, he added another Delicate Illness Extraction. By then, a full third of his total chakra was gone.
Though Delicate Illness Extraction theoretically used small amounts of chakra each time, patching up a large physical wound required an enormous overall cost, which was unfit for normal medical use. Rapid healing at that scale would likely demand the chakra reserves of a jinchūriki.
Shizune shook her head. Without Mystical Palm or the Chakra Scalpel…that long of a process, the fish should have died ages ago. Yet—
"Slap!"
Abruptly, the fish, which had been almost motionless, flipped like it was returning from the brink, thrashing in a suffocating panic, slapping at the scroll.
"Huh?" Shizune had fully expected to fetch another fish. That extent of bleeding was too severe even for Mystical Palm, let alone a standard approach.
Startled, she rushed forward to inspect it. "How is this possible?!" Not only was the wound fully healed, but some cells damaged by asphyxiation were restored as well. The massive blood loss left no ill effects.
She repeatedly examined the fish, now lively as if freshly caught—and perhaps healthier.
"How…did you do that?" she blurted in her astonishment. Then she realized her mistake, that it was wrong to question a personal secret jutsu. She tried to catch herself—
"Delicate Illness Extraction," Link answered, spreading his hands. "My ninjutsu is weird."
He extended his arm, conjuring the Chakra Scalpel. "This is my Chakra Scalpel. That technique just now was Delicate Illness Extraction. As for Mystical Palm—" He shook his head, "It has zero healing effect."
"Huh?"
"What—?"
Shizune was dumbfounded. Was this correct? Logical? Had she fallen into a genjutsu again?
But…why "again"?
…
One Hour Later
"Huh—?"
"Er??"
Tsunade's expression was even more astonished than Shizune's. She observed in detail: that fish's injury wasn't just closed; certain cells appeared as if newly created, effectively lengthening its lifespan.
"Slap!" The repeatedly tormented fish, fed up, whacked Tsunade's forearm with its tail, snapping her out of her daze.
"That jutsu of yours…" she said sternly, "How many people know about it?"
But then it occurred to her that since this boy was an eligible medic, voluntarily revealing it, he must have a plan. She rephrased, "Never mind—I won't pry. Just don't spread it around needlessly."
Tsunade glanced at Link's forehead, now beaded with sweat. She figured the technique must be draining, and it took quite some time, plus help from standard healing. Those "fresh" cells only formed partly—though in theory it might prolong life, sustaining the jutsu repeatedly would burn him out. Yet it was still remarkably valuable.
After all, even she couldn't spontaneously regrow an organ in the heat of battle. Her lover, Dan Katō, died because a kidney was completely destroyed. If it could be widely used…
But Tsunade sighed. She recalled having read Link's file the previous day: even though he used the same "title" for ninjutsu, the effect mutated differently, apparently a "kekkei genkai " for mutated ninjutsu. No one else could replicate it. She'd initially assumed only jutsu with seals changed, but apparently merely unleashing medical chakra produced a different outcome.
[How does it work…?] She couldn't hold back her curiosity.
"Understood," Link nodded.
Tsunade paused in thought. "Your healing effect is outstanding, but you can't rely on it as a standard medical measure—the chakra cost is too big. Even if you combine it with standard cell activation—"
Link waited for this exact moment. He took out a soldier pill and swallowed, smiling.
I see.
Tsunade realized instantly that this kid might be smarter than she'd expected, quite adept at developing his jutsu. A technique healing hidden injuries down to the cellular level pairs well with swallowing strong side-effect drugs. Not just soldier pills for chakra recovery, but also doping potions for training, presumably. Yet those doping meds had long been banned. If she made them, assisting this boy's training…
"You really are sneaky," she said, roughly guessing why he wanted her to come back.
"I'll help you, but you have to do something for me too." Raising a single finger, Tsunade thought, Aside from Nawaki, there's another matter I want him to handle.
~~~
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