Chapter 273: Smoking is Harmful to Your Health, Old Man!
"How should I put it? You have some abnormal tissue growth. Look, here in your lungs." Tsunade pointed at the film in her hand as she spoke to her teacher.
Hiruzen leaned in and took a look, but he quickly realized he could not understand it. This was too specialized for him. Still, where Tsunade pointed, there were indeed several small shadows.
Hiruzen was puzzled.
To be honest, he had personally dissected enemy ninja before. It helped shinobi learn how to kill efficiently. But in truth, his understanding of internal organs was not that deep.
For Hiruzen, as long as a ninja could kill an enemy efficiently, that was enough.
Besides, medical ninja were developed later. Konoha had not paid much attention to them in the beginning. Only after they promoted medical ninjutsu and discovered it could effectively reduce the death rate did it become widely valued.
"So, is something wrong?" Hiruzen asked, confused.
Frankly, he did not feel anything wrong with his lungs. He still smoked for long periods every day. He coughed a few times now and then, but that was normal for smoking.
Especially after Biwako's death, Hiruzen felt an indescribable loneliness every day at home, so he naturally smoked even more.
Coughing? He did not care at all. A few coughs would not kill anyone.
"A normal person's body should not have this," Tsunade said, glancing at her teacher.
It seemed her teacher still had not realized how serious this was. When a normal person's body suddenly gains or loses something, it is usually a very troublesome disease, and often a fatal one.
Originally, Tsunade had not planned to return to Konoha.
Although Orochimaru had helped cure her hemophobia and made her realize that running away could not solve problems, she still felt instinctive resistance toward Konoha. Whenever she thought of that place, where her lover and little brother had died, a nameless irritation welled up inside her.
It was not something she could easily vent, so she simply rejected Konoha itself.
But after hearing about the Uchiha Clan's rebellion, Tsunade, who owed an unknown amount of gambling debt outside, decided to return.
The main reason was the rebellion itself. It made her worry about the clan members who had already integrated into the broader Konoha population.
The Senju Clan.
According to Hashirama's original idea, the Senju gradually merged into Konoha's civilian population. That was one reason Konoha later produced so many civilian ninja. The Senju bloodline and talent had been passed down into the village at large.
Otherwise, the odds of shinobi appearing in Konoha would not have been so high.
Of course, this choice caused the Senju Clan as a clan to disappear, but it also tied the Senju to Konoha completely. As long as Konoha endured, the Senju would not truly vanish.
Now that the Uchiha had rebelled, Tsunade worried that those integrated descendants might die in the war. Together with several other reasons, that was what brought her back.
Of course, the crushing gambling debts and the debt collectors were also part of the reason.
"But I don't feel any discomfort," Hiruzen said.
He instinctively picked up his pipe and was about to take a puff, but after seeing Tsunade's displeased expression, he silently set it back down.
No smoking in Konoha Hospital.
That was a rule Tsunade had established long ago.
When she was away, the rule had become nearly meaningless, especially for Hiruzen. He smoked whenever he pleased, and the hospital director would even help light it for him.
But now that Tsunade had returned, the rule regained its teeth. At the very least, ordinary people truly did not dare violate it.
Even Hiruzen obediently put down his pipe after seeing Tsunade's face. He did not want to experience Tsunade's monstrous strength.
"Smoking is harmful to your health, old man." Tsunade took a deep breath and barely suppressed her irritation. Looking at Hiruzen's indifferent attitude, she decided to remind him again.
"Even if I don't know exactly what this is, I advise you to be careful. Otherwise, you might die in bed from illness one day," Tsunade said grumpily.
In her view, the abnormal tissue in Hiruzen's lungs was at least somewhat related to his smoking.
After returning to Konoha, Tsunade had already given checkups to some jonin, partly to see whether Konoha's medical standards had declined. But only Hiruzen's lungs showed this strange condition.
Even the Mystical Palm Technique could not deal with it, which meant the tissue had grown from his own body. The technique did not recognize it as foreign harmful tissue.
"Can the Mystical Palm Technique cure it?" Hiruzen asked.
He was, after all, a ninja doctor in the broad sense and knew many jutsu. He also knew that many common illnesses could be handled with the Mystical Palm Technique, which was why minor problems like colds were easy to treat.
One use of Mystical Palm could solve most such issues. Even ordinary poisonings like food poisoning were not difficult to handle with it.
"No." Tsunade shook her head. "These things seem to have grown out of your own body, so ninjutsu can't identify them as something that should be removed."
She had tried long ago, but it simply did not work. These strange growths were highly resistant to the Mystical Palm Technique.
As she spoke, Tsunade glanced at her teacher.
She had naturally noticed what he had been doing just now, the Telescope Jutsu, and on the other side there had been a blond child.
"Old man, who was that child you were watching just now?" Tsunade asked with a frown.
She already had a guess. She had met Orochimaru before, and Orochimaru had told her some of what had happened in Konoha.
Among children, the only one worthy of such close attention from the Third Hokage was the jinchuriki.
"The Nine Tails jinchuriki, Uzumaki Naruto," Hiruzen said, smacking his lips and glancing regretfully at his pipe, but he still answered honestly.
He knew Tsunade was no fool. Trying to hide it would be pointless.
Tsunade's guess was confirmed. It really was the Nine Tails jinchuriki.
"Do you know," Tsunade said as she sat down and placed the film on the table, "if Jiraiya found out about this, he probably wouldn't forgive you for the rest of his life."
Silence fell over the office.
After a while, Tsunade heard Hiruzen's reply.
"…This is all for the Village."
Hiruzen's eyes were dim and unreadable. His tone carried guilt, but he still had no intention of improving Naruto's life.
The worse Naruto lived, the less suspicious it looked. And as insurance, Hiruzen had also arranged ANBU to protect Naruto and make sure nothing happened.
He knew Jiraiya's relationship with the Fourth Hokage.
But Jiraiya was not in Konoha, and no one knew when he would return.
By rights, someone gone for so long could already be treated as a rogue ninja. But Jiraiya and Tsunade were exceptions. Hiruzen could not allow his two disciples to truly sever ties with Konoha.
As long as the Sannin still existed, even if only in name, they still counted as Konoha's theoretical strength.
Tsunade was deeply disappointed.
Orochimaru had been right. Konoha had already become a place so rotten it disgusted even him.
The old man had spoken of the Will of Fire his entire life, yet the Fourth Hokage's orphan had been reduced to fishing alone in the wild just to eat.
This was not some harmless hobby.
Tsunade had been back in Konoha for several days now. She had seen how the villagers and even ninja isolated Naruto, and some of what she saw had disgusted her.
If Jiraiya learned about this, what would he do?
Minato had been Jiraiya's disciple. Even Naruto's name was tied to Jiraiya. Tsunade had also read Jiraiya's book, The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja.
Suddenly, Tsunade felt exhausted.
Even staying in Konoha felt like torture.
In that moment, she almost felt Jiraiya had made the right choice by not staying here. If he knew all this, things would probably only become even more troublesome.
"Is this your Will of Fire?" Tsunade shot back sarcastically, then turned and left.
The Third Hokage sat alone in Tsunade's office, silently staring at the curtains.
They were thick, but sunlight still forced its way through. Hiruzen narrowed his eyes against the brightness.
"Amemiya nii, what is the Will of Fire?"
Looking at Sasuke's clear eyes, Kenichi scratched his head. That question was genuinely hard to answer.
But there was no helping it. Current Konoha ninja, especially civilian ninja, loved quoting the Third Hokage's famous line:
"Where the leaves dance, the fire burns. The fire's shadow will light the Village, and new leaves will bud."
It was as if they could not prove their love for the village without saying it.
The Third Hokage really was skilled at speeches. The Will of Fire had indeed stirred many people into passionate devotion. In this atmosphere, Kenichi felt that if someone told these ninja to die, many of them would do it without hesitation.
"To put it simply, it means the sacrifices of dead ninja are not meaningless," Kenichi said briefly.
In truth, he could turn this topic into a four thousand word essay, but he had no interest in explaining that much.
Something that exists only as a slogan has no real power unless people believe in it, and there was no need to dig into it right now.
"There's another meaning too. It encourages young ninja to grow into excellent ninja, then work hard so the next generation of leaves can bud."
A familiar voice spoke from behind them.
Kenichi's whole body stiffened.
His luck could not be this bad, right?
Even so, Kenichi immediately put on a puzzled expression and turned around.
Then he saw a woman standing not far behind him.
Tsunade.
Her appearance was distinctive, but the most eye catching thing about her was still her exaggerated figure. She was practically an evergreen presence in Naruto fanfiction, appearing in all kinds of works.
Kenichi really did not want to run into Tsunade here.
He had sneaked into Konoha this time. He was not here to make trouble, but being recognized by Tsunade would still be a huge headache.
"Oh." Sasuke nodded, though he still did not fully understand. The topic was too complicated for his age.
"May I ask who you are?" Kenichi asked, pretending to be confused.
His current persona was a rustic outsider bringing his younger brother to seek treatment, so not recognizing Tsunade was perfectly normal.
"No one. Just…" Tsunade replied casually, but then she paused. "Hm?"
Looking at the two of them, she suddenly felt a strange sense of familiarity.
Kenichi's expression did not change, but his heart tightened.
No way.
Tsunade should not be able to see through his disguise technique, right? Even his teacher had said this jutsu was extremely deceptive and very difficult to detect.
Orochimaru had specifically researched this jutsu. It had no combat use, but in other situations, it was very practical.
"What's wrong, Ninja sama?" Kenichi asked nervously, perfectly acting out the fear an ordinary person would feel toward a ninja.
He had seen that look many times before, so he had experience copying it.
"Nothing." Tsunade waved her hand. She decided it must be her imagination.
Hearing that, Kenichi immediately smiled obsequiously and led Sasuke away.
Sasuke also politely said goodbye to Tsunade, which made her smile widen a little.
After all, she still liked being called young, even if she was no longer young.
"But why do I keep feeling like I know him?" Tsunade watched Kenichi's retreating back.
She was sure she felt some familiarity, but she could not place it.
Kenichi led Sasuke into another street before finally letting out a long breath.
He had genuinely been scared just now.
He had no idea why Tsunade showed up there. He had not even gone near Konoha Hospital.
If Tsunade had recognized him, things would have gotten very interesting. What was supposed to be a relaxing trip might have turned into an emergency escape from Konoha.
And possibly on hell difficulty.
Just the thought of facing both the Third Hokage and the future Fifth Hokage inside Konoha made Kenichi's scalp tingle.
Fortunately, Tsunade had not noticed anything.
.....
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