Tsunade woke up, her mind drifting back to the events of the previous night. She pressed her hand to her forehead, feeling a sense of embarrassment.
How humiliating! Maybe I should just leave the village!
Then, a darker thought crept in: Should I take out Shinho Aburame before I go?
Grinding her teeth, her mind filled with wicked thoughts. But after a moment, she shook her head and returned to her usual self.
Of course, she was joking about killing him. As for the embarrassment—well, she would get used to it.
Tsunade reminded herself that there was still a month left of this treatment. Deep down, she did want to be rid of her hemophobia.
It wasn't just an inconvenience for a ninja—it was something that deeply affected her daily life.
Getting out of bed, her bare, fair skin was exposed to the warm air. It was already May, and the chill of early spring had given way to warmer weather.
She didn't feel cold, even without clothes, as ninjas bodies were naturally more resilient to temperature changes.
Tsunade stretched lazily, enjoying the feeling of the air on her skin. She pulled on her cropped pants, followed by a sleeveless kimono-style top, finishing it with a black sash at her waist.
As for an undershirt, she skipped it. She preferred freedom of movement, and thanks to her Yin Seal, she didn't have to worry about any physical problems—her body was always in peak condition.
Pushing open the door, she noticed Shinho Aburame already meditating in the living room, immersed in his training.
Tsunade couldn't help but reflect for a moment. He's mastered Mystical Palm Technique and Chakra Scalpel. Could he be ready to learn the Yin Seal?
She chuckled softly. No, it's too early for that.
Still, it was easy to forget how young Shinho was when he displayed such maturity.
"Good morning, teacher," Shinho said, observing her closely. She seemed the same as usual, with no outward signs of stress from the previous night's treatment.
"Morning," Tsunade replied briefly, heading toward the bathroom.
Fifteen minutes later, the three of them were seated around the breakfast table, enjoying their meal—pork bone ramen.
"It's not quite as good as Ichiraku Ramen," Tsunade remarked after taking a bite.
"Teuchi-san really is an incredible cook," Shizune added, smiling.
Her mood was noticeably lighter today, mainly because Tsunade had accepted the treatment for her hemophobia. It was a good sign.
"By the way, teacher, Uchiha Itachi came by last night," Shinho said casually.
Tsunade frowned slightly, but it didn't take long for her to understand why. It must be about the Uchiha clan.
She sighed inwardly. Is there any way to reach the Uchiha now? Only someone with power akin to that of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, could likely sway them at this point.
"Did you send him away?" Tsunade asked, snapping back to the present.
"You were asleep at the time," Shinho replied smoothly, improvising. "But he mentioned that he'll come back with more sincerity."
"Sincerity, huh?" Tsunade rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on. "Whatever. We'll deal with it later."
"Understood," Shinho nodded. He had planted the seed in her mind, which was enough for now.
As for whether Itachi would later reveal the truth, Shinho doubted it. Itachi was desperate, like a drowning man clinging to the last lifeline.
After breakfast, Shinho grabbed his schoolbag and headed toward the academy. On his way across the Konoha River, he noticed Uchiha Sasuke standing under a tree, arms crossed and looking deep in thought.
"What's wrong with my brother?" Sasuke asked, hurrying over as soon as he saw Shinho.
"Shouldn't you be asking him yourself?" Shinho replied, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"I asked him about Uchiha Madara yesterday. He didn't answer me—he just left, and he hasn't come back since," Sasuke said, worry evident in his voice.
Itachi really is efficient, Shinho mused, impressed by how quickly the older Uchiha had acted.
"He'll be fine," Shinho reassured him. "Your brother is incredibly strong. What could even happen to him?"
Sasuke fell silent. Normally, he would agree with that statement. But after witnessing the death of Uchiha Shisui, he had started to doubt everything.
"So, who exactly is Uchiha Madara?" Sasuke pressed, unable to suppress his curiosity.
"It's a long story," Shinho replied. He thought for a moment and then shared the key details.
"We had someone in our clan who could rival the god of the ninja world?" Sasuke was stunned. To most, Senju Hashirama was considered unbeatable.
Konoha even had a genjutsu called Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death, which was specifically designed to invoke the fear of facing Hashirama's legendary Wood Release. The mere thought of being ensnared by it struck terror in the hearts of many.
"That proves it—Sharingan really is invincible!" Sasuke suddenly burst out in excitement.
How did you even come to that conclusion? Shinho wondered, shaking his head internally.
"Shinho!" Sasuke's eyes were brimming with determination. "Once I awaken my Sharingan, I'll show you what real defeat feels like!"
"When will that be?" Shinho asked, amused.
Sasuke froze for a moment, unsure of how to respond.
"My brother awakened his Sharingan at eight," Sasuke quickly recovered. "I may be a bit behind, but I'll definitely awaken mine before we graduate."
"Do you even know how to awaken it?" Shinho asked, still smiling.
"How else? It happens when you're strong enough!" Sasuke replied confidently.
"Good luck with that," Shinho said, offering his support.
Sasuke tilted his head, feeling like there was something off about Shinho's words, but he couldn't quite figure out exactly what.
Arriving at the academy, Shinho exchanged greetings with Hinata Hyuga and the others before settling in for the day's lessons.
Although he had already surpassed the level of what was being taught in ninjutsu, there were still other useful subjects in the curriculum.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Itachi had successfully located the man known as "Tenzo" in the Anbu. The night after his conversation with Shinho, Itachi had returned to the Anbu headquarters, determined to follow through on his investigation into Root.
Root, being a shadowy division of Anbu, was shrouded in secrecy. Even as an Anbu member, Itachi knew little about it.
But the one thing he did know was the existence of its members and their assigned code names. Despite the high level of secrecy, the Anbu maintained records of Root's operatives.
Using his Mangekyō Sharingan, Itachi bypassed the usual protocols, gaining unauthorized access to the files. Although some were heavily encrypted, he managed to extract the information he needed—Root's list of operatives.
Surprisingly, the name "Kinoe" wasn't listed among them. However, he did find a Anbu member under the name "Tenzo."
After some effort, Itachi tracked down Tenzo, using his Sharingan to gain the upper hand. After encountering Tenzo's Wood Release during their brief skirmish, Itachi quickly disengaged.
He had gathered enough information, but what he had learned shocked him.
Wood Release... Could it be? Itachi thought, his heart pounding. Why would someone with such a rare ability be kept hidden?
If Tenzo had inherited the Wood Release, which was the signature ability of the First Hokage, why hadn't the village made use of it as a deterrent against other nations? The only logical conclusion was that Tenzo's origins were kept in secret—a secret that likely tied back to Root.
Shinho's words echoed in his mind: You'll understand why after investigating.
With this new information, Itachi's faith in Konoha's current leadership began to waver further. If Root is truly experimenting with the First Hokage's abilities in secret, is Konoha's leadership even worth trusting?
A week later, at the residence of Chinori and Karin, Shinho casually tossed a kunai into the air.
Chinori, who was in the middle of walking up a tree as part of her chakra control training, easily dodged the kunai, moving with a grace and ease that showed her progress over the past month.
"Your progress has been impressive," Shinho remarked, genuinely impressed.
Chinori gave a demure smile in response, her reserved and gentle nature making her appear even more graceful.
"Next, you'll be moving on to walking on water," Shinho instructed, thinking it through.
Most ninja could proceed to learning ninjutsu after mastering tree walking, but sealing techniques required greater precision in chakra control.
Practicing water walking would help ensure that Chinori's control was flawless.
"Understood," Chinori replied without hesitation.
"For the water-walking exercise, you'll use the tub here instead of a river," Shinho suggested. Given her unique status, it was safer to conduct her training in the privacy of their home.
They moved to the bathroom, and once the tub was filled with water, Chinori raised her bare foot, focusing her chakra to float on the water's surface.
Shinho glanced at her now fully healed feet, which had been badly damaged when they first met. The sight of her smooth, pale skin and perfectly healthy feet made him smile. He had been a part in her recovery, after all.
The sound of a splash broke his thoughts as Chinori lost focus.
She fell into the water.
Her kimono was soaked, revealing the outline of her graceful figure beneath the fabric.
"You can continue practicing on your own," Shinho Aburame said, glancing briefly before turning to leave.
"W-wait," Chinori called out, lowering her head and hesitating before saying, "It would be better if you stayed... to guide me."
Something feels off! Shinho's instincts, honed over countless battles of wits with vixens all day started tingling.
This feels more than a little strange. Shinho hesitated for a few seconds but then agreed to stay.
I'm completely righteous, so what do I have to fear? he thought.
Chinori bit her lip and stood once more on the water's surface. Water droplets trickled down her hair and skin, creating small ripples on the surface.
Shinho shifted his gaze downward, focusing on her feet. After all, that was the key part to mastering water-walking.
[tl/n: I can't defend you anymore author!]
With her prior tree-climbing training, Chinori had already laid a solid foundation for walking on water.
The morning passed quickly, and she only fell into the water five times. However, each time she fell, the transparency of her kimono became more pronounced, as the water soaked through.
Shinho took a deep breath.
Back in his previous life, a friend had once told him that subtlety was the height of sensuality. Now, Shinho finally understood what his friend meant. It was indeed a valid observation.
After observing Chinori for a moment, Shinho said, "That's enough for today."
He turned and left, closing the door behind him.
"Brother Shinho," Karin asked curiously as she approached, "Were you playing in the water with my mom?"
"We were practicing chakra control," Shinho corrected her.
"When can I practice… I mean, play with water too?" Karin covered her mouth quickly.
She, like Chinori, was still laying the groundwork, though she was at an even earlier stage, focusing on basic jutsu techniques. For her, the idea of water practice seemed far more fun.
Shinho chuckled. "You'll have to wait a bit longer."
He turned and headed into the kitchen. After some thought, he whipped up two dishes—twice-cooked pork and minced eggplant with meat.
By the time he set the dishes on the table, Chinori had already bathed and changed into fresh clothes. She was once again dressed in a kimono, this time a softer white one, adorned with pink sakura blossoms. The look gave her a delicate, graceful aura.
"This is delicious!" Karin exclaimed, licking her lips exaggeratedly.
To an outsider, it might seem like Shinho had sprinkled some mind-altering herbs into the food. But given Karin's past in the impoverished Grass Village, her excitement over a decent meal was understandable.
After lunch, Shinho returned to the Senju estate. After exchanging brief greetings with Tsunade, who was lounging around, he focused on his medical ninjutsu studies.
Following the mastery of Mystical Palm Technique and Chakra Scalpel, his next challenge was a more advanced medical technique called Delicate Illness Extraction Technique.
This was a high-level medical ninjutsu that allowed the user to extract poison or even transplant organs.
For practice, Shinho had upgraded from using one fish to two. His goal was to remove the liver and pancreas from one fish and transplant them into the other.
He avoided practicing on hearts since he wasn't yet skilled enough, which would likely result in the fish's death. Failing with the liver and pancreas wasn't as immediately fatal… hopefully.
And even if it failed, Shinho could heal the fish using Mystical Palm Technique. That way, he could practice two medical jutsu at once—a win-win situation.
As he worked, Tsunade sniffed the air, catching the faint scent of fish. Wrinkling her nose, she retreated to her room. With Shizune away at the hospital, the house was quiet.
At least, until a knock came at the door.
Shinho set the fish aside for the moment and went to answer the door, raising an eyebrow as he saw who it was. It was none other than Uchiha Itachi, back after a week.
"It took longer than expected because some of the documents were heavily encrypted," Itachi explained.
Shinho nodded in understanding.
Despite having the powerful Mangekyō Sharingan, Itachi couldn't simply waltz through Konoha without repercussions. Especially when it came to high-level classified documents—those were heavily protected.
"Did you find anything?" Shinho asked.
"A lot," Itachi said with a grim expression, producing a scroll from within his cloak. "I need to see Lady Tsunade."
In his mind, Shinho was still more of a messenger for Tsunade than anything else.
"Let me take a look first," Shinho said, standing firm and not moving aside to let Itachi pass.
Itachi hesitated for a moment before handing over the scroll. He'd begun to recognize that Tsunade and Shinho had a much closer relationship than he initially thought.
After all, Shinho had known about Tenzo and his possession of Wood Release even before Itachi had discovered the truth.
Shinho opened the scroll and quickly scanned its contents. The details were extensive, outlining a series of forbidden experiments conducted by Root. Most of them were inhumane experiments involving living subjects.
Konoha's official policy prohibited human experimentation, especially when it involved unwilling participants. But according to the documents, many of Root's test subjects were Konoha citizens or shinobi.
As Shinho reached the end of the scroll, he found records detailing the experiments involving Hashirama's cells and the creation of Wood Release users, including the file on Tenzo.
After considering for a moment, Shinho said, "Come inside."
This scroll would undoubtedly ignite Tsunade's fury. Even in her current state of apathy, she still had boundaries, and this scroll crossed them.
"Want something to drink?" Shinho asked casually.
"No, thank you," Itachi declined, clearly too focused on the matter at hand. "Where is Lady Tsunade?"
"She's resting in her room. I'll go get her," Shinho said. "But give me the scroll—I'll make sure she sees it."
Itachi nodded in agreement.
"Teacher," Shinho said, entering Tsunade's room with the scroll in hand.
"What is it?" Tsunade muttered from her bed, looking for all the world like a lazy slug.
"It's Uchiha Itachi's 'sincerity,'" Shinho replied, handing her the scroll.
"A scroll?" Tsunade opened it, barely glancing at the contents before freezing in place.
Her body shot upright, her brow furrowing as she began reading through the information carefully.
Knowing Danzo's character, Shinho wasn't surprised. The man had always been ruthless in his pursuit of power, willing to sacrifice even his own people for the supposed greater good of Konoha.
"Root, huh? And Danzo… that bastard!" Tsunade muttered, her voice rising with anger. She slammed the scroll shut halfway through, her fists clenching audibly.
If Danzo were in front of her now, Shinho had no doubt she'd flatten him with her super strength.
"Keep reading to the end," Shinho suggested.
Tsunade shot him a glance before resuming her reading. She knew part of the story—Orochimaru had conducted human experiments, but many details had been kept hidden from her, especially regarding the use of Hashirama's cells.
When she saw the notes on Wood Release and Tenzo, her eyes widened in shock.
Tsunade had only been aware of the first Wood Release experiment, authorized by the Third Hokage. That experiment had involved volunteers, but none had survived. The experiments were eventually stopped.
She had strongly opposed the experiment at the time, feeling it was a desecration of her grandfather's body. It was only through Hiruzen's impassioned pleas that she reluctantly allowed it.
But to find out that a second round of experiments had been conducted in secret, using non-voluntary participants, including babies… that crossed every line.
"Teacher," Shinho quickly grabbed her wrist as her body tensed up in anger. "Calm down."
"Calm down?!" Tsunade snarled through clenched teeth. "How can I calm down?!"
"This is your home—and your bed. If you break it, you'll have to buy a new one," Shinho said matter-of-factly.
"..." Tsunade was speechless.
I'm so mad I could crush Danzo's head, and you're worried about the furniture?
But, despite herself, Shinho's words had interrupted her anger just enough for her to regain control.
What mattered now was fixing the situation. She couldn't allow the village her grandfather built to become this corrupted.
And a Wood Release user being relegated to the shadows of the Anbu? That was a disgrace beyond measure.
"What does Itachi want?" Tsunade asked, finally shutting the scroll.
"He wants peace between the Uchiha and the village," Shinho replied, releasing her wrist.
"He's no different from Shisui," Tsunade grumbled. "What the hell is the old man doing?"
The answer was simple: nothing.
Shinho's mind flashed to Uchiha Fugaku. Both Hiruzen and Fugaku seemed to have mastered the art of doing nothing while everything fell apart around them. The result? The Uchiha massacre.
"Let's go," Tsunade said, getting up from the bed and heading for the living room.
"Itachi," she said upon entering, "You've done well."
"Thank you, Lady Tsunade," Itachi replied, bowing deeply.
"If it weren't for you, I'd still be in the dark about the atrocities Root has been committing," she added, shaking her head.
Itachi paused, his gaze drifting to Shinho. Wait… does that mean she didn't know?
The realization that he might have been mistaken this whole time hit Itachi hard.
Itachi, ever composed, then laid out the plan that Shinho had proposed earlier. However, Itachi shouldered the blame, presenting the plan as his own.
He claimed his motivation for investigating Root was revenge for Shisui's death at Danzo's hands. The decision to hand over the incriminating scroll was driven by a desire to preserve Konoha's strength.
Tsunade listened in silence, her expression hardening as she absorbed the audacity of the proposal.
It was bold and ruthless—cutting off Root's corruption at its source while removing the Uchiha clan's more dangerous elements in one move.
"It's a brilliant plan," Tsunade finally said, after a long pause. "Bold, decisive... and something I'd never have the guts to do."
"Lady Tsunade," Itachi said, bowing even lower, "Please, grant me your approval."
Tsunade sighed deeply.
For her, this plan was almost too perfect. It not only rid the village of Danzo and his treacherous Root organization but also opened a clear path for her to ascend as the Fifth Hokage.
"And even if you refuse," Itachi said, lifting his head to meet her gaze with unwavering resolve, "I will carry it out regardless."
Tsunade pursed her lips. Uchiha Itachi's determination was ironclad, and his offer was impossible to refuse. If this was what it took to secure peace…
"Fine," Tsunade said after a long, heavy pause. "I'll agree to your plan."
[tl/n: Demure~ I like this word, but it feels like a word that can be overused.
Aargh, I so wanted to add more tl notes, But i know it's distracting when reading, so I held myself back. Of course I couldn't hold myself back with the foot fetish thing... How could I? I'm sorry!Q.Q]
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