Creating a Ninjutsu? This Is Starting a War, Isn't It?

With the hand speed of a jonin and skilled cooking techniques,

Yamanaka Kei prepared a lavish dinner in less than an hour.

That was only because Kushina had come in halfway through and specifically requested an extra-large pot of rice—enough for ten people—and had the later dishes made into oversized portions as well.

Otherwise, at Yamanaka Kei's speed, half an hour would have been more than enough.

The food was served.

Tsunade, who had long since been starving, said, "Thanks for the meal," then began demonstrating a vacuum-cleaner-like eating spree.

The rice in the pot vanished as though someone had hit fast-forward.

The generously portioned stir-fries on the table also began disappearing at a visible rate.

No, Elder Sister, hadn't you just finished fighting Pain?

Seeing Tsunade like this, Yamanaka Kei paused mid-reach with his chopsticks.

If Kushina hadn't told him earlier that Tsunade had been waiting for him for several days, he would have suspected this woman had just returned from a real-life brawl.

"Tsunade-sama has been developing a ninjutsu recently, and the expenditure is rather high."

Seeing her boyfriend startled by Tsunade's eating habits, Kushina explained, though there was unmistakable envy on her pretty face.

She did not care about developing ninjutsu. What she cared about was Tsunade being able to enjoy all kinds of delicious food without any reservations.

Advanced Medical Ninjutsu required the nature transformation of Yang Release.

Just like the Akimichi Clan's secret techniques, which allowed them to rapidly store fat through food before converting that fat into chakra.

With Tsunade's mastery of Medical Ninjutsu, no matter how much she ate, the right places would get fuller and the right places would stay slim. She did not need to worry about her figure going out of shape at all.

She could even replenish the chakra in her Mitotic Regeneration by eating more.

She was so jealous she wanted to cry, okay?

"????"

Yamanaka Kei immediately thought of that seal which assisted Mitotic Regeneration and was specifically designed to counter Genjutsu.

But upon further thought, it did not seem likely. After all, she was the formidable person who had developed Creation Rebirth — Strength of a Hundred Seal in the original story, someone who could reconnect her body even after it had been split in two.

It was just a small seal with low technical difficulty. For Tsunade, who had the Medical Master trait, she would figure it out in a few hours at most. It really should not take this long.

Then it was a new ninjutsu?

Right...

"Tsunade-sama, with your current Medical Ninjutsu, could you create a technique that transfers life?"

Yamanaka Kei hurriedly asked while Tsunade was between swallowing and chewing.

Tsunade's hand, which had been about to scoop up rice, paused slightly. She instinctively thought of Orochimaru and raised her head from her bowl, her gaze turning sharp.

"Life transfer? Heh... You know Medical Ninjutsu?"

"Uh... I know a few medical Water Release techniques."

Yamanaka Kei set down his chopsticks, feeling somewhat embarrassed to talk about it.

Back when he was in the Analysis Team, he had seen the memories of several Medical Ninjas and had even spent some time specifically practicing Medical Ninjutsu.

Unfortunately, Yang Release was not among his innate chakra natures, and whenever he activated Medical Ninjutsu, he instinctively mixed in some Yin Release chakra nature.

The training was difficult enough, but the resulting effects were also extremely unstable.

After a half-dead fish was treated, it would either do a Thomas flair, followed by a turn and two and a half flips before croaking, or become straighter than a pig that had been smacked on the head—stiffer than if it had been dead for three days—and croak on the spot.

If he had not obtained the purple Water Release Master trait, and the System had given him a boost that let him quickly master several medical Water Release techniques from those memories...

His Medical Ninjutsu...

Well... its greatest use would be adding a few grilled fish or a few pots of fish soup for his colleagues in the Analysis Team.

"Medical Water Release is a very gentle technique."

Upon hearing Yamanaka Kei's answer, the sharpness in Tsunade's eyes softened considerably.

Unlike Medical Ninjutsu such as the Mystical Palm Technique and Mystical Regeneration Technique, which were driven by Yang Release Chakra, medical Water Release relied more heavily on water-nature chakra.

Because of the difference in chakra nature.

The former forcibly activated all the cells around a wound, stimulating them to rapidly divide and regenerate in the shortest possible time in order to heal the injury.

The latter used Water Release chakra to supply the body with the energy and nutrients it needed, allowing the cells to independently enter a stable state of division and regeneration through the introduction of that energy.

In terms of healing efficiency alone, conventional Medical Ninjutsu left medical Water Release far behind.

However, massive cellular division and regeneration inevitably consumed the patient's life energy at a rapid rate, shortening the body's lifespan.

That was also why many severely injured ninjas remained weak for a period even after recovering.

Although medical Water Release restored injuries much more slowly, it was undoubtedly more patient-friendly and caused far less harm to the body than conventional Medical Ninjutsu.

It was also more suitable for treating people whose bodily functions had severely deteriorated.

In short, if someone passed over conventional Medical Ninjutsu with its stronger instant healing effects to specifically learn medical Water Release, which was gentler on patients, just how bad could that person's character be?

Tsunade resumed shoveling rice into her mouth at high speed. After wolfing down a bowl, she spoke again while refilling it.

"What do you want to do by asking about life transfer?"

"...I've heard of a technique called Dragon Life Reincarnation. Through the nature transformation of Yang-nature chakra, it gives the caster's life energy to another person. No matter how severe that person's injuries are, they can be healed."

"Yes, I've heard of it. It is a technique activated through the Kekkei Genkai of the Dragon Life Clan in Grass Village. As long as it is used once, the caster dies. Can you accept that price?"

"Some people and some things are more precious than life. Besides... sometimes, regret is more frightening than death."

After Yamanaka Kei said that, silence fell over the dinner table.

Holding the bowl she had just filled with rice, Tsunade stared blankly as she poked at the grains with her chopsticks.

Kushina was touched and was just about to start wiping away tears when she saw Yamanaka Kei quietly make the hand sign for the Mind Body Switch Technique beneath the table.

Emmm...

You bastard!

Give my feelings back!

Kushina puffed out her cheeks. Afraid that Tsunade would spot the flaw in her expression, she hurriedly lowered her head and began poking at her rice with chopsticks as well.

Rice: I might as well have died in the pot.

"...Do you have any ideas about this kind of ninjutsu?"

Tsunade came back to her senses from her memories.

She had to admit that even someone like her, who believed she had nothing left to lose, would feel a longing for such a ninjutsu.

If she had possessed such a technique back then, then perhaps...

"Among the inherited secret techniques of the Hozuki Clan that I just acquired, there is a ninjutsu called Water Transformation Healing Technique. By transforming oneself into water and using that water-transformed state to envelop the target's wound, it can rapidly heal the target. It involves life transfer."

"However, that life transfer is entirely passive and does not touch upon the fundamental core at all. I've heard that Waterfall Village's secret technique, Earth Grudge Fear, can completely transfer life energy into special black tendrils..."

"The Underground Exchange in the Land of Fire also has several dangerous figures who know a technique called Corpse Demon Reincarnation, which can transfer life energy along with blood into hair..."

"And the Fuma Clan has a ninjutsu that can only be used once in a lifetime, called Dragonfly Ninja Art: Butterfly Transformation. It can use life energy to achieve a complete metamorphosis, eliminate injuries, and emerge from a cocoon as a butterfly..."

"Right, that Medical Ninja, Shinno, who has visited our Konoha several times—I've heard he has conducted extensive research into Flesh Activation and has mastered a forbidden technique for Flesh Regeneration..."

"I think that after mastering the first few methods of life transfer, making some improvements, and then supplementing them with the Fuma Clan's Butterfly Transformation or Shinno's Flesh Regeneration technique, it might be possible to create a technique similar to Dragon Life Reincarnation?"

Yamanaka Kei laid out his original plan in detail.

The look in Tsunade's eyes shifted from gentleness back to vigilance and suspicion.

Did this brat know what he was talking about?

The Dragon Life Clan of Grass Village alone had been one thing, but now there was Mist Village, Waterfall Village, the Underground Exchange, the Fuma Clan, and Shinno, whose origins were unclear...

You weren't trying to create a ninjutsu. You were trying to start a war!