After breakfast…
Yūhi Kurenai remained by Kaede's bedside, recounting everything that had happened while he was unconscious. Shizune and Rin soon joined in, and before long, the tent was filled with cheerful chatter and laughter.
The reason the atmosphere was so warm and relaxed was simple: Kaede was currently a recovering patient. As long as the girls were reminded of this fact, they all became remarkably well-behaved, careful not to do anything that might cause him stress or trouble.
By midday…
Tsunade returned from the medical zone where she had been treating other seriously wounded soldiers. Stepping into the tent and spotting the group of girls gathered around Kaede's bed, her brow twitched slightly as she said:
"Well, aren't you popular, kid?"
Kurenai, Shizune, and Rin all stood up quickly and bowed respectfully.
"Lady Tsunade."
Kaede smiled as he looked at Tsunade.
"Well, I am a patient right now. I can't move around much, so all I can do is listen to them tell me stories. If you were injured, Lady Tsunade, I'd stay by your side and take care of you too."
Tsunade snorted lightly.
"Hmph. Fine, I'll let that one slide… Shizune, go get me a glass of water."
"Yes, Lady Tsunade."
Shizune immediately got up and obediently went to fetch water.
Tsunade took a seat where Shizune had just been, and Kurenai and Rin shared a cautious glance before quietly retreating to the opposite side of the tent.
Despite their own family backgrounds, Kurenai being the daughter of a Jōnin, they both felt nervous in front of Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin, whose reputation was nothing short of overwhelming.
"You're healing fast," Tsunade said, placing two fingers on Kaede's wrist. A soft green chakra glow pulsed as she checked his condition, then she tilted her head slightly. "That's… unusually fast recovery. Did you train in Orochimaru's jutsu?"
Kaede nodded.
"I learned Cellular Activation. Speeds up recovery quite a bit. Otherwise, I wouldn't dare use such high-risk forbidden jutsu. You probably noticed yesterday, right?"
Of course Tsunade had. During the treatment the day before, she had already noticed the unusual condition of Kaede's body. His cellular regeneration, enhanced through Orochimaru's technique, had made the entire healing process smooth and unusually straightforward.
"What else have you learned? Was that forbidden jutsu also something Orochimaru taught you?"
She withdrew her hand and looked directly at Kaede.
Kaede thought for a moment, then replied,
"I learned about lightning chakra nature transformation from Orochimaru-sensei. As for the forbidden jutsu, that one's my own creation. Aside from that, I've adapted the Hatake blade style I inherited from my father into a full-fledged sword technique."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow.
"I thought it was another one of Orochimaru's jutsu. So you created it yourself, huh? No wonder you use it so recklessly, you clearly don't understand how dangerous forbidden jutsu really are."
She had originally been frustrated, thinking Orochimaru had passed down something so dangerous to a child, but hearing that Kaede had invented it himself caught her off guard.
Kaede chuckled.
"Well, it's not entirely original. I just combined a taijutsu technique I picked up from someone else with chakra flow ninjutsu. That's all."
"That's still not something just anyone can do."
Tsunade replied calmly. At her level, she understood better than most how complex combining ninjutsu and taijutsu was. Anyone capable of creating a forbidden jutsu like that was undoubtedly exceptionally talented.
She took the glass of water from Shizune and drank half of it, then added,
"In any case, don't use that technique again unless absolutely necessary. Even if your body heals afterward, it's still cutting into your lifespan, even if you did learn from Orochimaru."
Kaede resisted the urge to retort.
If we're talking about techniques that reduce lifespan, isn't the Strength of a Hundred Seal the worst offender? Accelerating cellular division is a direct trade-off with one's life. The only reason he could use such techniques freely was because of his time-reversal ability. Tsunade, on the other hand, was literally gambling her life for power.
"I understand."
He swallowed his sarcasm and nodded obediently. Then, turning to Tsunade, he said:
"By the way, I'd like to learn some medical ninjutsu. Would you be willing to teach me?"
He wasn't sure if Tsunade had already developed the Strength of a Hundred technique at this point, but since that jutsu was based on medical ninjutsu, learning the basics would be a good starting point.
Right now, his chakra control has hit a bottleneck. Further improvement would be extremely difficult. Medical ninjutsu, and puppetry, were the most precise forms of chakra manipulation. He had no interest in puppetry, which had no real use for him. Medical ninjutsu, on the other hand, was a perfect fit.
"You want to learn medical ninjutsu?"
Tsunade gave him a curious look.
She was a little surprised by his request but didn't hesitate for long. As long as he was serious, she was more than willing to teach him.
"Thank you, Tsunade-sensei."
Kaede smiled and changed his form of address, making a helpless gesture to indicate that he couldn't properly bow from bed.
Tsunade stood up.
"Alright, just lie there and rest. I need to go back and continue treating the wounded."
After Tsunade left the tent…
Kurenai and Rin both let out a long breath of relief.
Rin glanced toward the entrance where Tsunade had disappeared, still a bit shaken.
"Lady Tsunade's presence is terrifying…"
Kaede chuckled as he looked at the two of them.
Different people saw Tsunade in different ways. For someone like him, who knew her well and had a close relationship with her, her presence wasn't intimidating at all.
But for Kurenai and Rin, the gap in status was overwhelming. Before someone like Tsunade, they didn't even feel qualified to speak.
No wonder the two of them had been nervously huddled in the corner.
"I could barely breathe just now," Kurenai admitted, exchanging a glance with Rin. The two found comfort in sharing the same anxiety.
The only one unaffected was Shizune. She had been with Tsunade for a long time, knew her temperament well, and was also her student. She cheerfully picked up another cup and handed it to Kaede.
"I didn't expect you to be interested in medical ninjutsu. Looks like we'll be training together from now on."
Kurenai and Rin silently turned to look at Shizune.
They might be intimidated by Tsunade, but not by Shizune. Under their gaze, Shizune felt a little awkward, but she still puffed out her chest with confidence.
Just as the tension in the tent was beginning to rise again, a flurry of footsteps sounded from outside, many of them. Kurenai and the others turned their heads toward the entrance.
And when they saw who it was, they all immediately stood up and bowed respectfully.
"Lord Jiraiya!"
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