Walking behind Tsunade, Toru sighed as he watched Lee. He had already noticed the boy's condition just by looking at him and it was not favorable at all. Considering the damage he received from Gaara, along with the damage he caused himself by using the five inner gates, the result of this is something very depressing. But to be 100% sure of this, Toru wanted to wait for Tsunade to give her diagnosis.
"Lee will be able to be cured..."
Guy smiled slightly as he whispered. He was happy that his student could go back to training and fighting like before, it was only a matter of time before everything would be back to normal. That's not how this works though, it's not as easy as it looks.
Once everyone was in the room, Tsunade ordered Lee to sit on the stretcher and take off his shirt. Lee obeyed and took off the top of his clothes.
Almost instantly, Tsunade touched Lee's back with her hand, which for a moment was enveloped by a strange green light.
Guy at the sight of this jumped for joy, but his expression quickly changed when he saw the seriousness with which Tsunade was doing this.
"This is for your own good. You should give up, you can no longer be a shinobi. Give up this path you have chosen."
Lee and Guy's eyes widened in disbelief at Tsunade's words. On the other hand, Shizune seemed to understand what her teacher has said, which only left her with a strange feeling of sadness.
'It was to be expected, no one would come out unscathed after taking so much damage in one place. Lee's spine is damaged, it will be difficult to heal it with medical ninjutsu alone.'
Toru knew about the anatomy of the human body, every bone, every nerve, he had already studied the human being before, in his past life. That's why he knew about Lee's condition, so there was no choice but to perform an operation on his spine. But first he would have to make his own diagnosis, after all he did not know for sure the state of this boy's spine.
"Tsunade-sama, making this kind of joke doesn't go with you. It's not funny."
With a trembling voice, Guy did not want to accept reality.
"A large number of bone fragments are embedded deep in the nervous system of his spine."
"Tsunade-sama, as I said before, these kinds of jokes are not funny at all."
"In this state he will not be able to perform missions as a shinobi and, even if he performs surgery on the affected area..."
"Ahhh! Lee, don't listen to this woman! She's an imposter, I'm sure!"
This man could not bear the weight of reality, it was like being bathed with a bucket of cold water.
"Damn you, who are you! You've usurped Tsunade-sama's identity!"
"Sensei...!"
Toru's voice at last echoed throughout the room and, because he raised the pitch of his voice too much, all eyes were on him.
"You are an adult, you should accept reality as one. Lee won't be able to work as a ninja again, that's what he said, isn't that right, Hokage-sama?"
"Yes... that's what I said."
Tsunade closed her eyes and sighed. Guy's reaction was normal, but she still wondered to herself how this guy was still here. She tried to get rid of him, but Toru easily evaded all her attempts to send him to hell.
"Are you sure there's no chance?" Lee said in a tone of voice that could barely be heard.
"There is a surgery that only I can perform. However, it will take too much time, plus it also carries a great risk."
This information was too detailed, just what Toru needed. It made his mind start to think about a few things, but what he would hear next would tip the scales in his favor.
"The chance of the operation succeeding is, at best, 50%. But, if I fail... you will die..."
Toru's eyes twinkled slightly upon hearing this. From the beginning he thought that waiting so long together with Naruto for this woman to appear was a waste of time, but now....
'It looks like my investigation will become easier.'
If he wanted to discover the truth behind what happened that night five years ago, Tsunade would be a key player in this investigation game.
Having heard Tsunade's diagnosis, sweat slowly trickled down Lee's forehead. Right now, his dreams, aspirations... his goals... all that was gone to shit. All that effort, all to prove that someone like him could be stronger than someone with talent.
He slowly put on the top of his clothes, picked up his crutch and, without a word, left the room.
Silence lingered after Lee disappeared.
"If I had known this was going to happen... I would never have brought her to this place..."
"What do you-?"
"Shut up, Shizune.... Guy, I understand how you feel, but it's better for that child to know now, because, had I told her later, it would have hurt her a lot more..."
Tsunade had a valid point. It was the best they could do for Lee.
Guy clenched his fists. He felt useless knowing that his student would never be able to go back to his old self. The whole thing was depressing.
"I think I've seen enough, I'll go now..."
He let out a long sigh as he headed for the exit door.
Everyone looked at Toru in confusion. Lee had just left, that this boy was also claiming to leave at that moment was a bit awkward, but this Toru didn't mind as he left the room without looking back.
-Outside somewhere.
Soon the gloom descended upon the land, covering everything in its deep darkness. The cold breeze slowly blew over all of Konoha, ushering in the night of the full moon.
Sitting on the roof of his home, tasting the fruit-filled bread he was so obsessed with, Toru thought seriously about what he would do next.
As Tsunade said earlier, only she can perform the surgery, with the only problem being the low success rate. The fragments in Lee's nervous system is a bit of a concern as well, eventually these will only ruin his health, leading to his slow and painful death.
'In my past life I studied many subjects related to biology, chemistry, robotics, among other things. Ha~ now that I remember everything, I can realize that I studied too much. However, now that this unfortunate situation has arisen... I can use that knowledge to benefit from it. I can use my knowledge of human anatomy to increase the chances of success in surgery. All that remains is for Lee to take courage and agree to the surgery.'
He took a small bite of bread and then leaned back on the roof.
'If all goes well, I will be able to gain the trust of the Fifth Hokage and thus be able to get the information I need, which is in the best guarded place in Konoha, perhaps. It all starts with this, but first I have to do some research on her, I don't know who she is after all...'
Joining in his own ignorance about the woman who will become the next Hokage, Toru's plan was almost finished, only that was missing....
-The next day...
Time passed quickly for everyone in Konoha, except for Toru, who stayed up all night reading about Tsunade's past so he could talk to her better knowing who she is.
'Gama Sennin, Konoha no Shiro Hebi, Tsunade-hime... The Three Legendary Sannin...'
Crossing his arms as he walked through the streets of Konoha, remembering everything he had read, Toru sighed heavily.
'Looks like the new Hokage really is someone special...'
Finding information about Tsunade, for some reason, was extremely easy. Not only information on her, but also on her former teammates, Jiraiya and Orochimaru, both of whom are also extremely powerful ninja, prodigies in different aspects. This information was very helpful to Toru, as he now knew who he was talking to.
To get the information about that night, Toru needs to search for it at the Hokage Mansion, the only place where it is possible that there is information about the village's past. This is where the plan begins, to help Tsunade with Lee's operation, to gain her trust so he can investigate more about the mansion until he finds what he is looking for.
'If I'm not mistaken, she should be in her office right now. I have a secret weapon to convince her to integrate me into this plan to cure Lee, if my negotiation does not go well, I will resort to her'.
With a slight smile on his face, Toru made sure that no ninja was spying on him, to seconds later, disappear into the leaves of the trees.
-Hokage Mansion, Hokage's office.
He slowly turned the pages of the book. His gaze was absorbed in the paper.
Every word, every illustration, this book had stolen his attention completely.
'The probability goes up if I do this... but still, cell regeneration is an almost impossible fact, but...' He rested his forehead on the desk gently and let out a sigh.
She had been searching all night for any kind of information that could help her increase the chances of success in Lee's operation, but this has become more complicated than she expected, since, the only thing she could find was data related to cell regeneration.
For medical ninjutsu, doing something like that is almost impossible, no one could do it.
"If only I could make it before the ceremony..."
On this last night, Tsunade had overthought things. Somehow she wanted to help this boy, that's what a true Hokage does, help his people.
On the other hand, there was Shizune, who was standing next to her teacher.
Having accompanied Tsunade all night, she was feeling too tired, as she hasn't slept a wink all night from watching over this woman.
"If you don't feel well, you can go rest, I'll take care of the work later..."
She said without looking away from the book.
This made Shizune feel confused. Tsunade would never do her job, at least someone has to force her to do her duty as Hokage, but right now, the only person doing that is about to pass out due to exhaustion.
"Are you sure about this, Tsunade-sama?"
"Yes, I'll be busy for a while longer..."
Dropping her shoulders onto her arms, Shizune had no choice but to go rest. Though she still felt worried that her teacher was overexerting herself with this whole surgery thing.
"I'll be back in an hour..." Shizune said, then left the office.
'Where am I staying? 'Cell regeneration... the nerves connect here and the chakra network coils around here...'
She ran her finger across the sheet of paper as she pictured the operation of a spinal column in her mind, but this would be interrupted by the presence of someone in the room.
"Shizune, I told you-"
She looked up slowly, but her words got stuck in her mind when she saw that silver-eyed boy. He had a large scarf with torn ends, an earring in the shape of a wolf's claw, and a cloak covering him from the neck down.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Hokage-sama. I wanted to speak with you."
Toru's voice echoed in the room.
"It's you...the boy who was with Naruto. Ha~ I don't have time to talk to anyone, come back later."
With a small gesture of her right hand, Tsunade went back to reading the book, she had important things to worry about right now, she didn't want to get into childish trivia right now, but since it's Toru she's talking to, that won't do.
"Hokage-sama... what I have to say is something important..."
Toru looked at the woman sitting at the desk, but she seemed to ignore him completely. So, slowly approaching, he saw the contents of the book Tsunade was reading.
'Cell regeneration, uh...'
Reading these words brought back a small flashback, a memory of his past life, after all he too was studying cell regeneration in the human body, he thought that speeding up and improving this process was possible.
'Come to think of it, with medical ninjutsu that's too easy...'
This discovery made Toru feel like laughing. The research that had taken him so long was finished in an old book.
"Cell regeneration can be a complicated thing for a novice. But if you take into account the structure that makes up every cell, every tissue, every atom... with the skills granted to us by medical ninjutsu, something like that can be possible very easily."
Tsunade frowned after hearing this boy speak.
"Cell structure is not the only thing that is taken into account" Tsunade said.
"Of course, the chakra network is also something paramount in cell regeneration."
"No, it's almost impossible..."
"Wrong, cell regeneration has always been possible. When someone cuts their finger, the immune system and white blood cells immediately act to regenerate the affected area. Cells soon regenerate in just a few days. If that process can be accelerated, the chances of removing the bone fragments from Lee's nervous system increase by 12%."
Tsunade looked up and saw Toru, unable to believe what this child had just said. This was not something a twelve year old could know just like that out of the blue.
"The odds only go up by 8% due to the resources I have at my disposal."
"I don't think so, that's what I'm for..."
"What?"
This had already gotten out of hand, how did this kid know so much? Something like this didn't make sense, at least that's how Tsunade perceived it.
"How do you know so much?"
Tired of keeping her own comments to herself regarding what Toru said, Tsunade decided to turn her attention to this boy, but when she heard his response... she was in for a surprise.
"When something interests me, I research about it until I know everything. No matter the method, I always get the information I want."
Tsunade's eyes widened like saucers for a moment.
'...Orochimaru?'
She saw the reflection of the young Orochimaru in Toru. That coldness with which he said things, the expression on his face and how he addressed other people, all of that was very similar to that man who betrayed his friends. He even knew about cell regeneration, this obviously made her lose her composure.
She narrowed her eyes, looking intently at this boy. There was something strange about him, not only in his personality, but also in his eyes.
"What's your name? You never mentioned your name."
Tsunade placed her arms on the table, putting her hands in front of her mouth. She was waiting for this boy's answer.
"Toru... Asahi Toru."
'That last name...'
Hearing Toru, Tsunade could now understand everything. The reason for this boy to be know so much was revealed along with his name.
'The Asahi clan, those who are descendants of the Uchiha clan...'
_______
Author's note: The end is near! Volume 1 is just a few chapters away from being finished. Ha~ I'm excited, it's been a long time since I've known how to write this fanfic.
The story started out as a mess, the MC's personality was lousy, a dull and lifeless boy, but somehow I managed to fix that, all of that up to this point.
I thank you for reading this fanfic this far, obviously the story will continue in next volumes, but I still feel excited. Thank you from the bottom of my heart :D