Chapter 81: Awakening—The Shinobi World's Greatest Blood Tank
Taking the headband engraved with his shinobi number, Yoru successfully collected his jonin vest.
He didn't wear it, though.
Despite his build and looks making anything he wore look good—a natural clothes hanger—the jonin vest was too heavy and bulky. It usually required pairing with a skintight underlayer. Wearing it over loose long sleeves would just look ridiculous.
Yoru much preferred his self-designed black coat. Lightweight yet windproof, large-capacity pockets, and wide sleeves that could conceal his hands.
The village had no regulation requiring chunin and jonin to wear their vests.
Those who constantly wore them did so for two reasons: first, convenient proof of identity; second, fear of encountering danger—enemy assassinations or sudden combat situations.
The vest's defensive properties might save their lives, much like a headband's protective effect.
For Yoru, the Flying Thunder God Technique was his calling card.
His portrait had already spread throughout the shinobi world.
Aside from civilians and fresh academy graduates, few shinobi wouldn't recognize him.
With his intangibility, Yoru had no need for the vest's meager protection. He only needed extreme speed.
So after collecting the vest, Yoru sealed it away in his closet at home.
Checking the refrigerator's ingredients and finding nothing spoiled, Yoru was about to make dinner for himself.
But thinking of the First Hokage's mansion, which seemed to have no servants—whether Tsunade and Nawaki had dismissed them after Mito's death, given them leave, or simply had them come periodically for cleaning—gave him pause.
When four people lived there together, they might have employed a chef for Mito and Nawaki's dietary health.
Now without even servants, a chef was even less likely.
After some consideration, Yoru retrieved more ingredients to prepare a meal for two.
Placing the food and chopsticks on serving trays, Yoru neither used a basket to carry them nor delivered them personally.
He first took two sheets of white paper, inscribing Flying Thunder God seals on them before the paper vanished into thin air.
After a few seconds, Yoru gently touched the serving tray. It too disappeared without a trace.
Flying Thunder God Transfer—also called Flying Thunder God Guiding Thunder—could transport target objects to other Flying Thunder God seals.
The next morning, Yoru glanced at the wall clock and saw class hadn't started yet, so he continued using this method to send breakfast to Tsunade and Kushina.
Knock knock knock.
Half an hour later, someone knocked on the Gojo household door.
Opening it, he found Kushina returning the cleaned serving trays.
Noticing the wrong number of dishes, Yoru raised an eyebrow. "Tsunade-sama didn't eat?"
"I don't know. She kicked me out. She wants some quiet." A trace of worry colored Kushina's expression.
Yoru spoke gently to comfort her: "Since it's already happened, there's no changing it. Tsunade-sama will work through this herself, just like we did."
Taking the trays, Yoru was about to lead Kushina upstairs.
The moment he turned his back to her, Yoru felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist from behind.
A small face pressed against his back, and Kushina's exhausted, slightly hoarse voice gradually reached his ears.
"Yoru, I can't stop you from going to the battlefield, but please... please be careful. I'm... I'm scared."
Worried her words might be inauspicious, Kushina didn't even dare voice her actual fears.
Yoru, who could communicate with her through eye contact alone, naturally knew what she wanted to say.
Clearly, Nawaki's death by explosive tag had left quite a shadow on the girl.
So there were things like that which could kill people, beyond just jutsu and weapons.
Yoru transferred the trays back upstairs, then turned to embrace Kushina in return, stroking her head as he spoke softly: "You didn't sleep last night, did you?"
His tone wasn't questioning—it was certain.
"Mm. Couldn't sleep at all."
Kushina raised her head, and only then did Yoru notice her violet eyes—the whites completely bloodshot.
This wasn't just missing sleep. She'd probably cried who knows how many times.
Otherwise simple sleep deprivation would mean nothing to an Uzumaki clan member's recovery ability, much less a Nine-Tails jinchuriki's.
So Yoru stated firmly: "You're not going to class today. Sleep properly at my place."
"Then stay with me."
Kushina leaned against Yoru's chest in a rare display of vulnerability, acting spoiled.
"Alright."
For once, Yoru didn't tease her or think about banter.
Leading Kushina to teleport to his room, Yoru lifted the girl directly onto his bed.
Lying in Yoru's sheets, the pillow and blanket carrying his familiar scent, the fear in Kushina's heart finally dispersed.
With Yoru's companionship, the girl who hadn't slept for a full day quickly closed her eyes and drifted into dreams.
From start to finish, neither felt the slightest embarrassment.
During training sessions before, they'd often slept leaning against each other at the training grounds or beside the waterfall pool. This was merely a different location.
By noon, Kushina still hadn't woken. Yoru tiptoed out of the room and made lunch for three, transferring one portion to Tsunade.
For the next five days, Yoru sent three meals daily this way, not caring whether Tsunade ate them or not.
Having experienced the destruction of her country and clan, Kushina recovered by the second day.
Nawaki's death impacted her less than Mito's had.
Her fear and sleeplessness stemmed from worry about Yoru.
She had complete confidence in Yoru's strength, but traps like that were impossible to guard against.
After recovering, Kushina's resolve only grew stronger.
She absolutely had to master the Nine-Tails jinchuriki's special characteristics. Combined with Yoru's Flying Thunder God Technique, she could provide him chakra at any time.
With Nine-Tails chakra protection, Yoru wouldn't need to worry.
Perhaps this thought's willpower was too intense.
On the fourth day, Kushina suddenly awakened a unique ability.
Not the Mind's Eye of the Kagura or Adamantine Sealing Chains she'd trained so hard hoping to awaken, but rather... Body Healing—something she'd barely practiced in medical ninjutsu, with an extremely low probability of awakening.
"Yoru! Look quick, I awakened one of my clan's unique abilities!"
Kushina immediately shared this news with Yoru, demonstrating before him.
She pulled out a kunai and directly carved a wound across her forearm.
The cut was long but only drew a few drops of blood.
Because the moment the wound appeared, white mist began rising from it as it visibly healed at an observable rate, ultimately not even leaving a shallow scar.
This speed was absurd—far faster than canon Naruto Uzumaki's.
If not for the blood that had leaked out, it would've rivaled Tsunade's Strength of a Hundred Technique.
Yoru looked genuinely surprised, then asked knowingly: "This is...?"
"This is my Uzumaki clan's unique ability, called 'Body Healing.'" Kushina's expression radiated excitement. "This ability's effect—by biting skin, I can convert chakra into medical ninjutsu-type energy, rapidly restoring my own or others' chakra and injuries."
"From now on, if your chakra runs out or you're accidentally injured, you can teleport to me and bite my skin to recover your chakra and wounds."
As though worried Yoru might refuse, Kushina looked at him seriously: "Yoru, don't feel embarrassed. You know my special status—I absolutely don't lack chakra. So if you need chakra or wound treatment, you must come back to me. Don't try to tough it out alone!"
Yoru froze slightly, then looked at the girl with gentle eyes.
So... that's why you're so excited?
Raising his hand to stroke Kushina's round face, Yoru smiled and nodded: "Alright, I promise. But you have to promise me something too—besides me, you can't reveal this ability to anyone else. Including Orochimaru-sensei."
Yoru had no intention of letting moral blackmail happen to Kushina.
Aside from people he cared about, Yoru didn't give a damn about anyone's life or death. Even Nawaki's death only made him lament the boy couldn't escape his fate.
Cautious and careful by nature, he hadn't even indirectly reminded Kushina or Tsunade to warn Nawaki about watching the ground, using shadow clones to scout ahead, and avoiding traps like explosive tags.
Because if he had and Nawaki survived, it would prove only idiots died to explosive tags.
If Nawaki died anyway, who knew whether Tsunade would think him a jinx and resent him?
Having never spoken a single word to Nawaki, Yoru had no interest in doing something with only downsides and no benefits.
If others learned about Kushina's Body Healing ability, and some important figure was injured and dying, who knew whether Konoha's leadership would morally blackmail her?
After all, Kushina was Uzumaki clan and a complete Nine-Tails jinchuriki. After awakening Body Healing, she was now the shinobi world's greatest blood tank. Saving someone on death's door would barely consume any of her chakra.
Yoru had no desire to see that scene play out, then be forced to eliminate that person and break with Konoha's leadership.
Kushina understood his meaning through his eyes instantly, her heart growing sweet as she nodded vigorously.
***
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