Some time later, at Minato Namikaze's home, the dinner gathering ended amid a somewhat quiet atmosphere.
Minato declined Kakashi and Obito's offer to stay and help clean up.
After the two left, Minato rolled up his sleeves and cleaned the dining table and kitchen by himself.
Just as he placed the last cleaned plate back into position and wiped the water from his hands, another knock came at the door.
"Kakashi? Did you forget something?"
Kakashi stood at the entrance as though organizing his thoughts before speaking.
"Minato-sensei, sorry to bother you again. I've encountered some new problems in my Lightning Style training and wanted to ask for your guidance. Are you free right now?"
"Of course. Let's talk at the training ground." Minato smiled.
He originally thought Kakashi was still struggling with issues related to Chidori.
However, a short while later, at Konoha's fifth training ground under the moonlight, looking at the countless arcs of lightning flickering around Kakashi, Minato Namikaze widened his eyes in surprise.
"This is!? Lightning Style Nintaijutsu?!"
...
Meanwhile, inside the laboratory, Tsunade stormed in together with Kushina and Rin Nohara.
"I brought the person!"
Tsunade nodded toward Shinichi and stepped aside to reveal the red-haired kunoichi behind her.
"This is Kushina Uzumaki, the top Sealing Jutsu expert in the Shinobi World today. Kushina, this is Shinichi Higashino. You've probably heard about him many times already."
"Heard of him? Big sister Tsunade, I'm a loyal fan of Cooking Master Boy! I haven't missed a single issue!"
Kushina's eyes instantly locked onto the black-haired boy behind the experimental table. Her eyes lit up immediately as she strode forward.
"So you're Shinichi? The real person is way more handsome than the photo in the manga's author introduction! Big sister Tsunade already told me the general situation. Nicely done!"
As she spoke, Kushina's gaze had already swept across the blueprints, scroll samples, and various records spread out across the experimental table.
"Alright, we can save the small talk for later. Let's get started immediately! Time waits for no one. First, show me all the current experimental data, failure records, complete analytical reports on material properties, and every sealing formula structural diagram you've tried so far! I need to understand the situation as quickly as possible and find the breakthrough point for mass-produced sealing!"
Five days later, inside the laboratory.
"Yay! It's a success!!!"
A shout filled with joy suddenly exploded, breaking the tense and quiet atmosphere of discussion that had lasted for days.
Kushina Uzumaki held high the medical scroll that had just passed the final test, her face overflowing with uncontrollable excitement and pride, making her red hair seem to fly along with her movements.
On the workbench before her, more than fifty medical scrolls of the same specifications were neatly arranged.
Each one represented a successful seal and stable chakra storage.
"That's great!"
"We really did it!"
Kurenai Yuhi, Shizune, and Rin Nohara beside her all revealed smiles filled with relief and immense joy.
The exhaustion from continuous high-intensity research over the past few days was completely washed away by the overwhelming sense of achievement.
Kushina carefully placed down the scroll, turned toward everyone in the laboratory, especially Tsunade and Shinichi, and quickly explained with sparkling eyes: "Look! This finalized medical storage sealing method! The structure is stable, chakra circulation efficiency meets the standard, and most importantly, it's simple enough! As long as a ninja has a certain foundation in Sealing Jutsu, after short-term training, they can skillfully master and rapidly inscribe qualified empty storage scrolls!"
"At that point, Medical Ninjas only need to inject and seal Medical Ninjutsu like Healing Technique or Hemostasis Technique, both C-rank Medical Ninjutsu, and a completed medical scroll is finished! We've established a theoretical foundation for mass production!"
But after the excitement faded slightly, she sighed.
"However, it's a pity that for now we can only perfectly seal C-rank Medical Ninjutsu like Healing Technique and Hemostasis Technique. If only we could make medical scrolls for higher-level techniques like Healing Jutsu or even Mitotic Regeneration..."
(Note: Yes, Healing Technique and Healing Jutsu are two different things. Mystical Palm Technique is called Healing Jutsu in anime, while Healing Technique is only called that and only appears in the movie.)
"That would be wonderful. We could deal with even more difficult and dangerous situations."
Hearing that, Shinichi beside her smiled.
"Senior Kushina, you have to take things one step at a time. In such a short period of time, we've already overcome the two major difficulties of materials and foundational Sealing Jutsu, achieving a breakthrough from zero to one and turning the stable storage of Medical Ninjutsu from theory into reality. That alone is already a miracle unseen in the Shinobi World for hundreds of years."
He picked up a scroll and continued: "For the vast majority of battlefield casualties and common mission injuries, timely and reliable Healing Technique and Hemostasis Technique are already enough to stabilize injuries. In many cases, even if they can't do much for extremely serious wounds, they're still enough to let injured comrades hold on until they reach a place with better medical conditions. That alone can already save countless lives."
"As for how to increase the storage limit in the future, how to optimize the sealing formulas to adapt to higher-level Medical Ninjutsu, and how to further reduce costs and increase production, those deeper and more difficult problems will still require you, senior Kushina, to continue researching deeply in the field of Sealing Jutsu."
"Leave it to me!" Kushina Uzumaki nodded fiercely while unconsciously clenching her fists as blazing fire ignited in her eyes, then she said excitedly: "In the future, I will definitely develop new sealing formulas capable of stably sealing even higher-level Medical Ninjutsu! I'll make these medical scrolls become the strongest support protecting our comrades' lives!"
To her, this feeling was incomparably precious.
Although the third Hokage and the other Konoha higher-ups all said that, as the nine-tails Jinchuriki, she was extremely important to the village, that kind of importance often left her feeling somewhat empty.
Now, she had finally found something where she could actively create value, be genuinely needed, and directly benefit countless comrades.
"However..."
Kushina frowned again and looked at Tsunade and Shinichi.
"What about the materials problem? These five days of high-intensity testing and trial production have already nearly exhausted the special trees left behind in the Forest of Death by the first Hokage's Wood Style. If we truly want large-scale mass production, the raw material supply chain is the primary issue."
"There's no need to worry about that for now."
Tsunade crossed her arms and spoke: "Within the territory of the Senju clan's ancestral grounds, back then, grandfather left behind a large forest of special trees that he personally cultivated through Wood Style while training and experimenting with it. That forest is quite large. It's just that nobody thought of using it this way before. The raw material supply will remain sufficient for a very long time."
"That's great!" Kushina's eyes lit up as the huge burden in her heart disappeared, then a bright smile once again filled her face as she impatiently said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's hurry and tell the Hokage-sama! He has to know what an incredible thing we've accomplished while shutting ourselves away all this time! For the village, we've made a huge contribution!!!"
She could already imagine the shocked yet gratified expression the third Hokage would have upon hearing this news.