Tobirama's Corpse

Uchiha Gen spent the entire afternoon at the Senju Old House, working over that rabbit.

Training only ended when evening arrived and night drew near.

He could not yet be called highly proficient in the Hemostasis Technique, but under Tsunade's guidance, he had successfully gotten started. Basically, as long as he was not disturbed, he only needed one or two minutes to perform a basic Hemostasis Technique.

"Good. Next, all you need to do is become proficient in applying the Hemostasis Technique. Once you can stop bleeding quickly in a battlefield environment, you'll basically qualify. This is the next course: the Healing Technique, which stimulates bodily cells to accelerate wound recovery, and Live Fish Nerve, which uses the Healing Technique to reconnect severed nerves. Only once you reach that stage will you qualify to learn the Mystical Palm Technique. That is the foundation of all high-level Medical Ninjutsu."

Tsunade nodded in satisfaction, holding a small booklet in which she recorded Uchiha Gen's performance throughout his Medical Ninjutsu training.

This record held considerable reference value for her.

She had already more or less organized and established the Medical Ninjutsu system. What she needed now was a guinea pig to learn it and provide firsthand data for adjustments.

Uchiha Gen's learning speed was acceptable to Tsunade—not slow—so she still held certain expectations for him.

As long as this Medical Ninjutsu system proved viable, it would mean Medical Ninja could be trained on a large scale. Once their numbers grew, there would be a much greater chance of producing high-level Medical Ninja.

Then, with Konoha's support, Medical Ninja could theoretically take the stage in the Ninja World alongside specialized ninja professions such as Puppet Masters, changing the course of warfare in the Ninja World, greatly reducing needless casualties, and increasing a ninja village's capacity for sustained combat.

And she, Tsunade, would become the founding master of all Medical Ninja. She would live up to the great name of her grandfather, the First Hokage, and become a legendary ninja spoken of by all.

Therefore, the better Uchiha Gen performed in Medical Ninjutsu, the more persuasive he would be to the Third Hokage and the rest of Konoha's upper ranks in the future.

"Thank you for teaching me, Lady Tsunade."

Uchiha Gen packed up the equipment and thanked Tsunade.

As the only living descendant of the First Hokage, Tsunade had been born after Konoha's founding. Unlike other Senju ninja, she did not cling to the grudges between the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan. Like her grandfather, she was broad-minded and held little sectarian prejudice.

When she had something to teach, she truly taught it.

"You're Orochimaru's Disciple. Our relationship isn't that distant, so there's no need to be so polite."

Tsunade waved a hand grandly.

Just then, the door was pushed open, and an elderly woman with several red strands mixed into her white hair walked in leaning on a cane.

"Grandma, why did you come over?"

Tsunade hurried forward to support Mito Uzumaki.

"It's almost time to eat. Of course Grandma came to call you to dinner. Young man of the Uchiha Clan, would you like to join us? This rabbit would make a fine drinking snack too. This old woman may be old, but my cooking is still excellent. Even your First Hokage used to praise it endlessly."

Mito Uzumaki looked at Tsunade with a loving smile, then turned to Uchiha Gen.

"Wouldn't that be too much trouble for you? How about I cook? Can you eat spicy food?"

Uchiha Gen did not refuse. Instead, he pointed at the rabbit that had nearly been tormented to death.

His cooking was actually decent. Making something like spicy rabbit meat would not be a problem.

"Fine, it's settled!"

Tsunade made the decision with her usual boldness.

But just then, another knock sounded outside.

"Lady Tsunade, Lady Mito, the Third Hokage summons you."

Mito Uzumaki and Tsunade exchanged a glance before the former spoke.

"Do you know what this is about?"

"The Kumogakure Negotiation Delegation delivered some items. The Third Hokage believes they may be related to the Six Paths Tools Seal from legend. If it can be undone, perhaps the Second Hokage's sealed corpse can be recovered."

The Second Hokage's corpse—Tobirama Senju's corpse.

Back then, Tobirama Senju had led six disciples as the Hokage Guard Unit to Kumogakure, where he was to conclude a peace alliance with the Second Raikage. Then the Kinkaku and Ginkaku rebellion broke out, resulting in the Second Raikage's death.

During the ensuing escape, Tobirama Senju had stayed behind to cover his disciples and fought Kinkaku and Ginkaku. As one of those involved, the Third Hokage knew the details better than anyone. He had personally led search parties afterward in an attempt to rescue Tobirama Senju.

But the Second Hokage had mastered the Flying Thunder God and was known as the fastest ninja in the Ninja World. There were almost no things capable of killing him, except for certain unfair things.

For instance, the Six Paths Tools, whose functions were almost equivalent to rule-based artifacts, had the potential to seal Tobirama Senju.

Without familiarity with the relevant intelligence, even a ninja as outstanding as Tobirama Senju in both strength and intellect could reasonably suffer a setback.

For the Third Hokage, if there was a chance to recover Tobirama Senju's body, he had to give it everything he had.

He was Tobirama Senju's disciple. Tobirama Senju had raised him up, and the position of Hokage had also been passed to him by Tobirama Senju. If he refused to go all out over something like this, not only would his fellow disciples of the Second Hokage object, but so would the old members of the Senju Clan, who still held considerable influence in Konoha even today. If word got out, he would lose even more face.

Not to mention Danzo, who had always coveted the Hokage's position.

If Hiruzen Sarutobi handled this in a way that dissatisfied the people, Danzo would certainly step forward and try to shake the seat beneath the Third Hokage.

"Looks like we won't have the chance to eat spicy rabbit meat today. Boy Gen, you should hurry home for dinner too. Tsunade and I will likely have to stay at the Hokage Building tonight."

Mito Uzumaki shook her head.

"Then we'll be going first. Kushina will be back from school soon, so we'll leave the door open for now."

Supporting Mito Uzumaki, Tsunade was the first to leave the house.

"Then this junior will take his leave as well, Lady Tsunade, Lady Mito."

Uchiha Gen gave the two a slight nod, then followed them outside. Once out the door, he headed toward the Uchiha Clan Grounds.

The day's training had been immensely fruitful.

Under Jiraiya and Tsunade's guidance, he had successfully gotten started in both Composite Ninjutsu and Medical Ninjutsu. It was truly worth celebrating.

By that count, he had received joint instruction from the future Konoha Sannin.

His tasks for the next few days were to quickly become proficient in the Hemostasis Technique and improve his mastery of Wind Release Ninjutsu.

Just as Uchiha Gen was taking stock of today's gains, his steps suddenly halted. He looked toward several Ninja Academy students on their way home from school in the distance and frowned.