Naruto: Starting with Creating a Genius Persona

The emerald green light intensified, and Tsunade's hands became as steady as the most precise instruments, manipulating medical chakra into countless tentacles finer than a hair, penetrating even the smallest corners of the wound.

She needs to carefully strip away and neutralize the violent residual energy before guiding her medical chakra to repair torn and burned muscle fibers, delicate nerves, damaged blood vessels, and even fractured bones.

This is an extremely demanding process that requires the utmost precision in control.

As time went on, Tsunade's face grew paler and paler, and fine beads of cold sweat appeared on her forehead, sliding down her cheeks.

Her body began to tremble slightly and uncontrollably, and her breathing became slightly rapid.

The bloody scenes, the details of the damaged tissue, and even the unavoidable tactile sensations during treatment constantly challenged her psychological defenses.

However, her hands remained as steady as a rock, without the slightest tremor.

Those hands, which wielded the power of resurrection but now seemed as heavy as a thousand pounds, displayed an absolute professionalism and tenacity befitting a legendary medical master, completely opposite to their trembling bodies.

Her lips were tightly pressed together, her eyes fixed on the wound, as if she were pouring all her willpower into her steady fingers, waging a silent but fierce battle against the turbulent waves churning within her heart.

"Lady Tsunade, would you like to rest for a while?" The boy on the hospital bed asked in a gentle voice, seemingly noticing her pale face and slight trembling.

"Stop nagging! Don't bother me!"

Tsunade rebuked without looking up, her voice tense as she suppressed some emotion, the green light in her hand remaining perfectly still.

Meanwhile, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had finished dealing with urgent official business, also arrived at the hospital.

His arrival naturally attracted the attention of the staff at the academy, and everyone gained a new understanding of the importance attached to this young genius.

The Third Hokage did not disturb the treatment inside the ward. He simply stood quietly at the door and glanced inside through the observation window, where he saw his disciple Tsunade intently bending over to treat the patient.

He then silently stepped back and gently closed the door. In the corridor outside, the burly Ape Demon King was already waiting, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

The Third Hokage walked over, and without a word, the Monkey King clearly recounted the events to him in a low, concise voice.

Treatment continues inside the ward.

Perhaps to combat the instinctive fear of blood and wounds that constantly assaulted her nerves, or perhaps simply to distract herself by talking, Tsunade stared intently at the wound, then suddenly spoke, her voice cold and hard:

"Listen up, kid! This technique... don't use it again." Her tone left no room for argument: "The backlash against your body is irreversible trauma, and the destructive power will accumulate. You were lucky this time, your constitution is extraordinary, and the treatment was timely. But if you use it a few more times, your hand will suffer irreversible damage from the meridians to the bones, becoming completely unusable. At that point, even the best doctor will be helpless."

However, Shinichi simply shook his head calmly: "I'm sorry, Lady Tsunade, but I have reasons to continue to improve and use it."

"You!" Tsunade suddenly raised her eyes and glared at him, a nameless anger rising in her heart.

Why is this kid so stubborn?

Would you really give up your hands for a worthless technique?

She was so angry that she almost wanted to stop the treatment and let him suffer the pain himself.

But when she met the boy's calm eyes, the words of rebuke stuck in her throat. She lowered her head again, focusing more on her work. After a moment of silence, she asked the question again.

"Why...do it to this extent? Why work so hard?"

Shinichi paused for a moment, not answering directly, but instead said softly, "Lady Tsunade must have noticed it too, right? That's why she had that argument with Shizune a few days ago, hoping she would give up becoming a ninja."

Tsunade's fingers, which were manipulating chakra, paused almost imperceptibly. She neither admitted nor denied it, but pursed her lips even tighter, which could be considered an admission.

The boy's calm and gentle voice rang out again, but it was like a precise scalpel, slicing into another wound she was trying to hide:

"When Lady Tsunade saw my injuries just now, her face turned pale and she even took two steps back... You were afraid of seeing blood, afraid of seeing serious injuries, right? I remember there was a similar symptom recorded in medical books, called hemophobia."

! !

Tsunade was shocked and looked up at Shinichi with undisguised astonishment and a hint of panic at being seen through.

Even the steady medical chakra light in her hand fluctuated for a moment because of this.

Outside the ward, the Third Hokage, who was whispering with the Monkey King, had incredibly sharp hearing, and those words clearly reached his ears.

His fingers, which were holding the pipe, suddenly stopped, and a sharp, sudden glint flashed in his eyes.

He had always known that his disciple was deeply troubled by the war and was not in a good state, but he only thought it was due to the great grief and depression brought about by the successive deaths of his loved ones. He never thought of any other possibility... hemophobia?

"So, the reason you looked unwell and trembled slightly during treatment wasn't entirely due to the complexity of your injuries and the strain on your mind... but mainly because of this, right?" Shinichi continued to ask, his tone devoid of offense, only one of calm observation.

"Of course not!" Tsunade retorted instinctively, but her voice sounded somewhat hurried due to a lack of confidence. "It's just that your injury is very troublesome to treat! I'm Konoha's best medical ninja, how could I be afraid of blood?! Stop being so presumptuous!"

Her denial, though characteristically forceful, seemed more like a bluffing defense.

Shinichi didn't argue with her, but continued in his own calm tone, as if analyzing a matter, following his own train of thought: "Perhaps, describing it as hemophobia is not entirely accurate. I think it is more appropriate to call it post-traumatic stress disorder."

He used specialized terminology that might exist in this world's medical system but is not commonly used, which surprised Tsunade and the Third Hokage outside the gate.

"It's not so much the fear of blood and wounds themselves... but rather the fear of what they evoke. Those images, those feelings, are like brands. So, it's not the blood itself that's scary, but everything that blood represents and evokes that fills you with dread and makes you want to run away."

Every word struck Tsunade like a hammer blow to her most vulnerable spot. Her face turned ashen, and she tried to shout at him, but found herself unable to utter a sound.

The boy's words were not harsh, but they precisely tore open the wounds she had long covered with layers of alcohol, escapism, and anger, exposing the unhealed and still bleeding truth beneath.

"So, this is my answer, Lady Tsunade."

Shinichi's voice pulled Tsunade back from drowning in painful memories.

He looked at her, his eyes clear and firm, devoid of pity, only a cruelly honest understanding:

"It is precisely because I have seen and felt, and do not want to see any more... that I must fight desperately, I must become stronger, strong enough to create new power, strong enough to change something at crucial moments, even if this power will hurt me, even if the road ahead is difficult."

"I just hope that with these hands, I can bring more smiles and less farewell to this village."

"Therefore, I have no choice, and I must not stop!"

"........."

Upon hearing this, Tsunade fell into a deep silence.

"You arrogant brat!"

After a long silence, Tsunade suddenly spoke, her voice regaining its usual impatience and harshness, as if the soul-touching conversation had never happened.

"Use it as much as you want from now on. It's not me who'll be in pain, and it's not my hand that'll be ruined! I don't care if you die!"

That's what she said, but the slight trembling in her body caused by the psychological shock had completely subsided at some point, and the emerald green light emanating from her hands, which were steadily releasing medical chakra, had become even more solid.

…………