Failure

If he were truly swayed by such rhetoric, Danzo would likely find ways to approach and control him.

Thereby using him to achieve absolute political leverage.

Once he lost his utility, he would probably be kicked to the curb, or used as a tool to trip someone else up.

Such tactics were truly quite boring.

Thinking this, Shiraishi Yoshijo shook his head in disinterest and said, "No matter what you say, my mind won't change. As for the battle, I am currently just a hospital orderly."

Aburame Ryoma wanted to continue, but Shiraishi Yoshijo had already turned and walked away.

People in the various wards had been disturbed by the commotion and began peeking out.

Seeing this, Aburame Ryoma had no choice but to retract his Kikaichū; he wasn't stupid enough to start a fight in a hospital.

Returning to the hospital office, Takemoto Anna saw him enter and remarked, "It seems you've been pestered by a strange person."

Shiraishi Yoshijo glanced at her and returned to his seat to start reading.

The book was borrowed from the hospital library, and it contained records of the various meridian distributions in the human body.

Seeing Shiraishi Yoshijo buried in his book, Takemoto Anna huffed and looked out the window, just in time to see Aburame Ryoma's back as he walked down the street.

She fell into deep thought, her eyes gradually turning cold.

Time passed slowly, and Shiraishi Yoshijo gradually adapted to his work at the hospital.

By the way, he was a paid employee at the hospital, with a monthly salary of twenty thousand ryo.

This salary wasn't high; perhaps a genin performing a D-rank mission would earn more than that.

However, Shiraishi Yoshijo didn't care. He had no real need for money anyway, so he kept the necessary pocket money each month and gave the rest to Shiraishi Eizawa.

One day, a year later, Shiraishi Yoshijo and Takemoto Anna were heading home after their shift.

"I'm exhausted today. That old lady getting the IV drip was so annoying—she talked too much and was so demanding."

Takemoto Anna began her routine complaining.

Shiraishi Yoshijo held a medical text in his hand, reading as he walked, without the slightest interest in talking.

Seeing that he wouldn't engage, Takemoto Anna rolled her eyes and changed the subject.

"Doctor Yanwu said we're just about ready to transition into full-fledged doctors. Once the new orderlies arrive, he'll arrange the assessment for us. What do you think?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo still ignored her.

Takemoto Anna grew angry, snatched the medical book away, and snapped, "Shiraishi Yoshijo, did you hear a word I said?"

"I heard you, I heard you. Give the book back."

Shiraishi Yoshijo looked helpless. He had joined the hospital for medical ninjutsu, not because he actually wanted to heal the sick and save lives.

Whether he was a doctor or not didn't matter. He felt that being an orderly was fine for now; after all, he was already familiar with the workflow and handled it with ease.

If he actually became a doctor, he would inevitably have to learn other things, which would be a waste of time.

Even with the medical texts, he studied selectively, learning only the medical knowledge regarding the human body. As for identifying herbs or compounding medicine, he had no interest in that at all.

"Since you heard me, will you take the assessment?"

"Becoming a doctor would be too much trouble. I won't take it; things are fine as they are."

Takemoto Anna counted on her fingers, saying, "After becoming a doctor, not only will your salary increase, but you won't have to do those menial tasks. If you perform well, you might even get your own office. You actually think that's a hassle?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo responded with a series of "uh-huhs" while snatching the medical book back.

And that was the end of that.

Takemoto Anna stomped her feet in anger, turned around, and ran to the dango shop by the street to vent her frustration.

Back home, Shiraishi Yoshijo sat in the courtyard and set the book down.

He fished out a fish he had been keeping in the courtyard pond and placed it on the table.

Using a knife, he made a cut on the fish, and red blood began to flow.

Shiraishi Yoshijo placed his hand over the wound and began to use medical ninjutsu.

A pale green light shone, and the fish, which had been on the verge of death, began to flap its tail.

Before long, the wound on the fish disappeared completely.

Shiraishi Yoshijo marked the fish and returned it to the water, then took out his experimental log to jot down some notes.

His experiments with medical ninjutsu had been completed six months after he entered the hospital; it had been unexpectedly simple.

Shiraishi Yoshijo understood that this was related to his chakra control ability.

He also understood that this type of medical ninjutsu, which could only heal wounds, was meaningless to him.

Shiraishi Eizawa's physical condition was not that simple.

Over the past six months, he had examined Shiraishi Eizawa's body more than ten times.

Aside from some adverse effects from excessive alcohol consumption, he had found absolutely nothing wrong with Shiraishi Eizawa's body.

This was strange; Shiraishi Eizawa could not have lied to him.

The loss of vitality was something Shiraishi Eizawa had stated himself, but wouldn't such a loss cause abnormalities in the body?

Yet, he simply hadn't discovered any issues at all.

He had proposed many hypotheses, and he had flipped through every book on the human body in the hospital library time and time again, but he could not find any answers.

As he was deep in thought, a fish in the tank floated to the surface, belly up.

Seeing this scene, Shiraishi Yoshijo's pupils constricted sharply.

This is...

He hurriedly scooped the fish out and placed it on the table, casting medical ninjutsu on it.

As the pale green light illuminated the room, the fish, which had still been able to blink its eyes, stopped moving entirely.

Cold sweat broke out on Shiraishi Yoshijo's forehead as he hurriedly flipped through his experimental records.

He soon found the record for this specific fish.

The fish's body had been cut three times, its belly once, and the healing had shown no abnormalities.

If he remembered correctly, this type of fish could live for at least three years, yet it had died after only half a year.

It had been healed to death by his medical ninjutsu.

Shiraishi Yoshijo began to examine the fish, discovering that aside from those few wounds, there was nothing unusual about it.

In other words, this fish had died of natural causes.

Could it be...

Shiraishi Yoshijo thought of a certain possibility, and his hands began to tremble.

Does medical ninjutsu consume one's lifespan?

He scooped a fish that had never been experimented on out of the tank.

He cut three wounds directly into the fish's body and began to use medical ninjutsu.

Soon, the three wounds began to heal, and he proceeded to cut three more.

This time, not only did the wounds heal slowly, but the fish was ultimately healed to death by him.

After confirming the fish was dead, Shiraishi Yoshijo clenched his fists tightly, his face shifting between shades of uncertainty.

He had wanted to use medical ninjutsu to treat Shiraishi Eizawa, but the result was the exact opposite?

Come to think of it, something as convenient as medical ninjutsu couldn't possibly be without side effects.

Using chakra to stimulate cell division was, at the end of the day, consuming one's lifespan.

He should have thought of this sooner.

A nameless rage flared up instantly, and Shiraishi Yoshijo slammed his fist onto the table.

The shattered table scattered across the floor.

Shiraishi Yoshijo plopped down onto the ground, staring blankly at the floor.

Medical ninjutsu was a failure; was there any other way?

After thinking it over, Shiraishi Yoshijo couldn't come up with any solutions.

He sighed, feeling as though he had reached a dead end.

Perhaps he shouldn't have been working alone; if he had brought Tsunade in to research medical ninjutsu together...

Tsunade had a brilliant mind; whether it was learning or combat, she could always develop things that suited her.

But just thinking about Tsunade's terrible temper made Shiraishi Yoshijo feel stifled.

Shiraishi Eizawa didn't have much time left; should he still be worrying about his pride and reputation?

There was no other choice.

Shiraishi Yoshijo stood up, preparing to go find Tsunade.

It would be best if he could persuade Tsunade, but if he couldn't...

That shouldn't happen, right? Tsunade was, after all, the person who would later be known as the Saint of Medicine; she should be very interested in this.

Shiraishi Yoshijo took two steps and stopped, his expression turning ugly.

That woman, Tsunade, had a truly awful temper.

Perhaps she would be interested in medical ninjutsu, but she would absolutely never have the thought of researching it alongside him.

If he went to find her, he would likely be rejected, and then she would definitely research it in secret.

Once she had results, she would 100% show them off and then mock him.

Just imagining that scene made Shiraishi Yoshijo feel as if he had eaten excrement.

No!

He absolutely could not go find that woman!

Shiraishi Yoshijo sat back down.

Should he try taking a roundabout approach?

He could first go to Orochimaru and reveal that he was researching medical ninjutsu, then have Orochimaru inform Tsunade, and wait for Tsunade to come to him herself?

That might be feasible, but it still carried a degree of uncertainty.

After all, that guy Orochimaru was quite difficult to deal with!

As for Jiraiya, he was ignored immediately; it would be a miracle if the two of them didn't start fighting the moment they met.

Shiraishi Yoshijo felt troubled.

He began to recall all of Tsunade's interpersonal relationships, but...

Wait!

Shiraishi Yoshijo's expression turned strange; he suddenly remembered that in the story, Tsunade would consume a massive amount of food every time she released the Yin Seal.

He didn't know how many battles Tsunade had experienced in her life, but she must have used medical ninjutsu quite frequently.

Yet, this woman not only became the Hokage, but she also lived until the very end of the series.

Even after Naruto became the Hokage, she still made appearances.

Medical ninjutsu was supposed to shorten one's lifespan, but that was completely unnoticeable in Tsunade's case.

Why?

Shiraishi Yoshijo muttered, "Dietary therapy?"

Everyone has to eat; if you don't eat, you won't grow up and you'll die—even a three-year-old understands such a simple truth.

Shiraishi Yoshijo reached out to cover his face, a strange, inexplicable laugh bubbling up from his throat.

"Hahaha... I really am a foolish guy!"