"Little brat! You're way too arrogant. A kid like you can't possibly handle that old fossil Onoki!" Tsunade stood with one hand planted firmly on her hip, glaring down with a frown carved deep across her face.
"Hey! But didn't that old fossil still end up seriously injured from the combo attack between me and Minato-senpai?" Asahi replied coolly, his tone indifferent despite the obvious jab.
"Tsk!" Tsunade clicked her tongue. "That was pure luck! If anything like that happens again, you back off immediately. You're still a child! No one expects you to throw your life away like that!"
Asahi fell silent, his gaze dropping momentarily. He understood where her anger was coming from—he wasn't oblivious to Tsunade's pain. His injuries must have brought up painful memories of the past, especially of Senju Nawaki, her younger brother. She had once begged Nawaki to stay away from danger. He hadn't listened... and he died on a mission. The thought stung her even decades later.
"I'm not just some ordinary kid." Asahi said quietly but firmly. "I'm a Special-Jōnin now—the youngest in Konoha's history. If I see fellow Konoha shinobi in danger and I have the power to change the outcome... how can I stand by and do nothing?"
Tsunade's expression twisted, grief and anger flickering behind her eyes. His words echoed Nawaki's, the same defiance wrapped in noble conviction.
"Do you understand that you could've died yesterday?!" she roared.
"If Konoha hadn't taken me in, I would've died a long time ago anyway!" Asahi snapped back, eyes unflinching.
Tsunade stood frozen. His words hung in the air, sharp and immovable.
"...Do you really want to protect Konoha that badly?" she finally asked, her voice lower, almost a whisper.
"Yes." Asahi replied without hesitation. "Because Konoha is my home."
"Hmph!" Tsunade turned her head with a scoff, though her eyes shimmered with emotion. "Don't say that like it's something grand. Do you have any idea how many people have died for that word—'Konoha'?"
"Of course I know." Asahi said. "Countless shinobi—our predecessors—have spilled their blood for this village. Even yesterday, we suffered heavy losses. But all of them, every single one, were fighting for peace... for the safety of their comrades... for the villagers who live simple, peaceful lives under our protection."
He leaned forward despite the soreness in his body, locking eyes with her.
"If we had lost that battle yesterday... what do you think would've happened to those innocent people?"
Tsunade said nothing.
"Can all of them be sacrificed while I'm the only one who's supposed to be spared?"
Her jaw tightened. "Then go to hell, you reckless idiot!" she snapped, whirling around. "And don't expect me to keep patching you up like this!"
She stomped toward the tent flap, but just before stepping out, she halted. From her ninja pouch, she pulled out a scroll and tossed it toward Asahi without looking back.
"You're still my disciple." she muttered coldly. "If you die too easily, it would be an embarrassment to me."
Asahi caught the scroll midair. "Tsunade nee-san... I know you're only saying all this because you're worried about me. But my will won't change. I'm sorry... Tsunade nee-san."
"Hmph!" Tsunade snorted but didn't turn back. She pushed through the tent flap and was gone.
"Alas." Asahi sighed as he looked down at the scroll in his hands. "Seems like I'm still not as good at emotional talk-no-jutsu as Naruto."
He smiled wryly to himself. "I guess changing Tsunade's heart will have to be left to Uzumaki Naruto, the ultimate mouth-to-mouth technique master."
But as his eyes fell upon the scroll, his heart skipped a beat.
"This technique... no way!" he muttered, eyes wide. "It's the Yin Seal!"
He knew Tsunade had been researching the technique, but to think she had completed it in less than a year...
The Yin Seal—a legendary sealing technique. It allowed the user to store an immense amount of chakra in a compressed seal, forming a diamond mark on the forehead. When released, that stored chakra could instantly flood the user's system, enabling techniques like Creation Rebirth and the Hundred Healings Technique.
But even without those medical applications, the ability to stockpile chakra itself was a game-changer for Asahi.
'If I can store senjutsu chakra in the Yin Seal...' he thought, eyes shining with anticipation. 'Then I won't need to pre-load Sage Mode. I can instantly activate it in battle—and with a massive reserve!'
Unlike Naruto, whose Sage Mode had strict time limits, Asahi could potentially extend it endlessly by tapping into stored senjutsu chakra.
This scroll... this technique... was priceless.
Excited, he sat up—only to wince in pain. His right arm was tightly bandaged, completely immobilized. He sighed in frustration. 'Figures... Tsunade was planning to treat me herself. I pushed her too far trying to awaken her from that hemophobia... and now I've handicapped myself.'
But he wasn't worried. Tsunade might be furious now, but Asahi knew her heart. She wouldn't abandon him. She was sulking—just as he expected.
"If I knew this would happen, I wouldn't have provoked her so much!" he muttered with regret, glancing at his unusable arm.
Just then, the tent flap opened and Eiko stepped in, carrying a tray of herbal medicine.
"Asahi-sama! What happened? Why did Tsunade-sama leave so angry?" she asked, confused.
"It's nothing serious," Asahi said with a weak smile. "Anyway, I need your help."
"Help?"
"I can't make seals with one hand right now. I'll tell you the sequence, and you just follow my lead."
"But... I don't know how to!" Eiko said, flustered.
"Don't worry. I'll guide you step-by-step. It's just basic palm healing ninjutsu."
"Okay... if you say so, Asahi-sama." she said nervously.
Working together, Asahi painstakingly directed Eiko through the proper seals. With her help, he activated Mystical Palm Technique and began mending the last internal damage to his right arm. The bones were stabilized, and now he only needed to stimulate controlled cell regeneration.
He made sure not to overdo it.
He understood the cost of healing. The human body had a finite number of cell divisions. If he forced rapid regeneration too much now, it could lead to long-term consequences.
"That should be enough." he exhaled, flexing his fingers slightly. Pain still lingered, but the arm could move again.
With his hand slowly recovering, he turned back to the scroll Tsunade had left him. The seal on the parchment pulsed faintly with chakra as he unrolled it, his heart filled with awe and determination.
'Yin Seal... I'll master you. And with you, I'll take the next step forward—not just as Tsunade's disciple... but as the one who will surpass her!'
He took a deep breath.
Now it was time to truly begin.
*****
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