Hope

Takemoto Shuichi stood up, looking at the sky with a sense of listlessness.

He said to his son and granddaughter, "We old folks don't have many years left. By the time we're all dead, Konoha will likely be at war with the outside world. When that time comes, the clan will depend on you two."

"Father, what should I do then?" Takemoto Masamasa asked anxiously. "Should we go and pledge our loyalty to the Hokage?"

Takemoto Shuichi laughed, his face twisted into a grim expression.

"My foolish son, the interest groups surrounding the Hokage are already massive. Every position is filled; if you go to pledge your loyalty to them, you'll only be used as cannon fodder."

Takemoto Anna spoke up, "So, we need to support our own Hokage?"

"Exactly." Takemoto Shuichi looked at Takemoto Anna with gratification, while simultaneously glaring at his foolish son.

"Yukihito clarified the situation for us years ago and even proposed an effective solution. For this, he sacrificed most of his family, and even his own son's life."

"He did well. Not only did he gain trust among the ninja clans, but he also established a solid reputation for the Shide among civilian ninjas. These are the foundations for the little one."

"Furthermore, his performance in the underground training grounds has only bolstered our confidence."

"As long as he comes of age, regardless of whether I am still alive or not, you must do everything in your power to push him to the top. The other clans will do the same."

Takemoto Masamasa looked dejected. "I understand. But what if he truly becomes the Hokage and then casts us aside?"

Upon hearing this, Takemoto Shuichi's eyelids twitched. He glared at Takemoto Masamasa with a look that suggested he wanted to devour him whole.

After a long silence, he said to Takemoto Anna, "Your father is a lost cause. I'll leave the future of the clan to you, Anna."

"I understand."

Another year passed.

Shiraishi Yoshijo was now ten years old.

He had spent this year in a rush, spinning like a top, moving from one task to the next without pause.

He worked at the hospital during the day, taking the opportunity to study medical knowledge, and continued his experiments and the development of his ninjutsu at night.

He only slept a few hours a day, becoming very thin. He often emitted a strange odor and had no time to groom himself, looking disheveled and unkempt.

However, the results were not ideal.

Eating did indeed mitigate the side effects of medical ninjutsu and replenished vitality, but the effect was extremely slow.

Shiraishi Yoshijo had calculated that the energy increase to the body's cells from a normal person's daily food intake was negligible.

Trying to increase Shiraishi Eizawa's vitality through ordinary dietary therapy was definitely not going to work.

Moreover, Shiraishi Eizawa had a drinking problem, and his gastrointestinal function was already very weak, making it impossible for him to sustain a large food intake.

He had demanded that Shiraishi Eizawa quit drinking more than once, but unfortunately, he couldn't control his uncle.

Whenever Shiraishi Eizawa was pushed too hard by him, he would even hang him up and beat him.

Shiraishi Yoshijo felt very melancholy; he had found a solution, but his uncle simply wouldn't cooperate.

He had explained everything clearly to Shiraishi Eizawa and even demonstrated his research findings.

But Shiraishi Eizawa turned a deaf ear to it all.

When it comes to people, if they want to die, no one can stop them.

It was likely that Shiraishi Eizawa was still longing for the life of a Ninja Butterfly.

Shiraishi Yoshijo had now taught Shiraishi Eizawa how to use medical ninjutsu, warning him not to use it in front of outsiders.

Shiraishi Eizawa learned it quickly; after all, their clan had always possessed excellent chakra control.

As for why he taught Shiraishi Eizawa medical ninjutsu, it was because if he didn't know it, he couldn't control the cell division within his own body.

The ninjutsu he was currently developing—which involved consuming large amounts of food and digesting it rapidly—required the user to control it personally.

Ultimately, it still required Shiraishi Eizawa to work hard on developing his medical ninjutsu.

He had basically fully grasped the principles of medical ninjutsu by now.

The foundation of medical ninjutsu was chakra control, and this level of control determined the ceiling of a medical ninja.

Some people needed twenty minutes to treat a wound, while others only needed ten.

The difference lay in their chakra control.

Shiraishi Eizawa did not lack chakra control; he lacked the will to live.

If Shiraishi Yoshijo's ninjutsu development succeeded, but Shiraishi Eizawa's medical ninjutsu didn't reach the minimum threshold, it would still be all for nothing.

However, not only was his ninjutsu development slow, but Shiraishi Eizawa's will to live remained consistently low.

Shiraishi Yoshijo couldn't understand it; even a dog knew to gnaw on a bone, but even if Shiraishi Yoshijo stuffed the bone into his uncle's mouth, he would probably spit it out.

What a headache!

Shiraishi Yoshijo thought to himself while desperately stuffing food into his mouth.

He was using his own body for experiments, then using chakra to digest the food.

But because the ninjutsu was incomplete, the more he ate, the more often he had to go to the bathroom.

He even felt like something was wrong with his stomach.

He had been suffering from diarrhea almost every day recently.

By the way, he was still a nursing assistant at the hospital, while Takemoto Anna had become a doctor half a year ago and now even had her own office.

Shiraishi Yoshijo did not participate in the examinations; he had his own goals and did not care at all about what kind of work he was doing.

His stomach let out a gurgling sound again, and after a while, Shiraishi Yoshijo emerged from the restroom, looking completely drained.

He felt he should go find the Akimichi clan; their ninjutsu, which involved consuming large amounts of food to store chakra, should be helpful to him.

However, such things were surely the most fundamental secret techniques of the Akimichi clan.

It was impossible for them to show them to him, and if he really went, the most likely outcome was that he would be carried out.

In fact, he had realized by now why his ninjutsu development was slow; it still came down to the fundamental reason of insufficient chakra control.

Shiraishi Yoshijo did not know what level his chakra control was actually at.

But this ability to digest rapidly required mobilizing all the cells in his body to extract energy from food, and the level of chakra control required for that had reached a terrifying degree.

Perhaps only Tsunade, who would become Hokage, possessed such control.

The more he developed the ninjutsu, the less confident he felt, and the feeling of being overwhelmed had occurred more than once.

If only the Butterfly Seed were fully mature. Thinking of this, he began to communicate with the Butterfly Seed.

"Yoshijo, is there any way to accelerate the formation of your soul?"

"There is, but there will be side effects."

"Let's hear it."

"Normally, I absorb your life force very slowly. If I accelerate suddenly, it will further shorten your lifespan."

"About how much will it be shortened?"

"Five years. Actually, you don't need to be anxious; at most, it will take another three years for me to form my own conscious entity, and your current chakra control is actually improving as well."

"At the latest, by next year, this ninjutsu of yours will definitely be successfully developed."

Next year. Shiraishi Yoshijo revealed a bitter smile.

This was already the fourth year, and next year, Shiraishi Eizawa would die.

Even if his ninjutsu was successfully developed, what would be the use?

"I understand. Don't worry about me, go ahead and accelerate."

"Very well. It will be a little painful, so bear with it."

After exiting the mental space, he sat cross-legged on the ground.

Suddenly, a sharp pain erupted from his heart and instantly spread throughout his entire body.

Cold sweat streamed down his cheeks, and Shiraishi Yoshijo gritted his teeth tightly.

In less than a minute, Shiraishi Yoshijo began rolling on the ground.

"You call this 'a little painful'? I'm going to kill you!"

This pain felt as if insects were eating away at his heart bit by bit. Shiraishi Yoshijo had the illusion that his internal organs had been hollowed out, leaving only an empty shell.

Ten minutes later, Shiraishi Yoshijo shakily climbed up from the ground.

He walked weakly for two steps before suddenly collapsing to the floor again.

His eyes closed tightly, and he fainted.

When he woke up, it was already the afternoon of the next day.

Shiraishi Eizawa was sitting by the bed, staring at him intently.

"You're finally awake. What on earth happened?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo felt uncomfortable all over, and his throat felt like it was burning with fire.

"Uncle, water."

Shiraishi Eizawa hurriedly brought him some water, and Shiraishi Yoshijo gulped it down.

Feeling slightly better, he looked at Shiraishi Eizawa.

"There was a problem with the ninjutsu development, it's nothing major."

He could not tell the truth about letting the Butterfly Seed accelerate the consumption of his life force.

Shiraishi Eizawa narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "I should have told you not to develop that kind of ninjutsu anymore."

Shiraishi Yoshijo was silent for a moment before saying, "You are the only family I have left, how could I give up? You are dying."

Shiraishi Eizawa's expression softened slightly, and he sighed, not knowing what else to say.

Both of them fell into silence.

"Actually, you know it yourself, even if that ninjutsu is successfully developed, it's not certain that I'll be able to use it."

"And at most, this would only slightly extend your lifespan; the result won't change, I will still die."

Shiraishi Eizawa reached out and patted his head: "I no longer look at you as a child, and you cannot always rely on me; sooner or later, you must face the storms on your own."

Shiraishi Yoshijo remained silent, not saying a word.

He knew that what his uncle said was not wrong.

He had long known that Shiraishi Eizawa's chakra control ability was inferior to his own.

It was simply unrealistic to expect Shiraishi Eizawa to learn ninjutsu that even he himself found difficult to use.

Even if he did learn them, he no longer had the time.

With a body at the end of its rope, it was impossible to replenish his vitality in such a short time; in the end, it would only be a case of being too weak to handle the nourishment.

The tiny glimmer of hope he had traded five years of his life for had just drifted away with the wind.

It was just like a petulant child.

It was not like him at all.