Yin Healing Wound Bullet

Uchiha Ling felt no guilt. In his view, it had truly been an accident, and he hadn't done anything out of line.

On the contrary, he was curious to see how Tsunade would handle the situation.

"Watch closely!" Tsunade seemed to want to break the suffocating awkwardness by getting straight to the lesson.

She raised her right hand. Chakra quickly gathered in her palm, but no healing green light appeared. Instead, a faint, destructive energy rippled around it.

"This technique is called Yin Healing Wound Destruction." Tsunade spoke a little faster than usual, as though reciting from a textbook. "It doesn't work like traditional healing. Instead, you store a large amount of chakra inside your body in advance.

"The moment you're struck by an enemy, you precisely direct that chakra to the injured area. You don't use it to repair the damage; you use it to greatly accelerate cell division and regeneration.

"Before the injury is fully inflicted, you forcibly 'cancel it out' or 'reverse it.' From the outside, it looks as though you were never injured at all."

She explained the principle succinctly, doing her best to avoid unnecessary words and eye contact.

Then she walked over to a sturdy wooden post, clenched her left fist, and slammed it against one of its sharp corners.

Crack! The skin on the back of her hand split open, and blood welled from the wound.

But almost the instant it appeared, a rich glow of chakra enveloped the injured area.

When the light faded, the wound on the back of her hand had vanished without a trace, as though the blow had been nothing but an illusion.

"That's how it works." Tsunade shook her hand, her tone casual, trying to make the extraordinary technique sound as simple as eating and drinking.

"The key is absolute control over your chakra, along with precisely predicting and reacting to the moment you're injured. You need an extremely detailed understanding of your body and complete control over it."

After the demonstration, she looked at Uchiha Ling, her gaze still wandering uneasily. "You... you should try to understand the principle first. Build up your chakra, then simulate directing it at the moment of injury..."

She gave him a very vague instruction, a far cry from her usual hands-on, meticulous teaching style.

Tsunade wanted nothing more than to minimize close contact and conversation with Uchiha Ling.

Uchiha Ling was quick to catch on to her state of mind.

He chuckled to himself, but kept up the appearance of an earnest student.

"Yes, sensei. I'll give it a try."

Uchiha Ling closed his eyes and began to move the chakra inside him according to the principle Tsunade had explained.

A different kind of silence settled over the training ground.

It was no longer the quiet focus of their usual training, but an invisible, awkward tension.

Tsunade stood where she was, feeling every second stretch out unbearably long.

She could sense Uchiha Ling's chakra flowing steadily, which meant he really was practicing. But that did nothing to put her at ease.

The boy's very presence was a silent reminder, prodding at her sensitive nerves.

She couldn't help sneaking glances at Uchiha Ling from the corner of her eye. His focused profile was sharply defined, his nose straight, his dark bangs falling across his forehead. He had a composure beyond his years.

Suddenly, an unwelcome thought intruded: Last night, those calm, unreadable eyes of his had seen...

Stop! Tsunade abruptly cut off the thought, her cheeks heating up again.

She forced herself to focus on the woods in the distance, but her mind refused to settle.

Although Uchiha Ling's eyes were closed, his senses were exceptionally sharp.

He could "hear" Tsunade's slightly hurried breathing and "feel" her restless gaze occasionally sweep over him before quickly darting away.

Uchiha Ling knew that his sensei's mind was far less calm than she appeared.

There was something strangely satisfying about being able to sense the subtle emotions of such a powerful woman.

So Uchiha Ling wasn't in a hurry to break the mood. He was content to play along, maintaining an outward calm while the undercurrents swirled beneath the surface of their teacher-student relationship.

After quite some time, Uchiha Ling finally opened his eyes and said, "Sensei, I have some questions about the density and stability of chakra stored at specific points in the body..."

Uchiha Ling raised a technical question in a sincere tone, as though he had genuinely hit a stumbling block.

Tsunade stiffened slightly.

It was inevitable. She would have to offer close guidance. She took a deep breath and tried to make her voice sound normal. "Where?" She stepped closer, though she still kept more distance than usual.

Uchiha Ling pointed to several spots on his arm without touching them. "Here, and here? I feel like the chakra doesn't flow smoothly when it gathers at these points..."

Tsunade had no choice but to focus on the places Uchiha Ling indicated.

As she drew closer, the faint scent of sweat and sunshine clinging to the boy reached her. Her heartbeat, which she had only just managed to calm, started to race again.

She extended her index finger, intending to point at the spots as she usually did, but stopped a few centimeters from Uchiha Ling's skin, as though an invisible barrier stood between them.

"Mm... roughly these points."

Tsunade's fingertip trembled slightly. In the end, she didn't touch him, merely gesturing in the air.

"The chakra needs to flow more gently. Don't push it too forcefully, or you'll damage your pathways... Try to get a feel for it yourself."

She finished quickly, then retreated two steps like a startled rabbit, putting more distance between them.

Even Uchiha Ling found her obvious avoidance and stiffness a little amusing.

Uchiha Ling nodded and didn't press the matter. Instead, he went back to "diligently" practicing, while actually enjoying Tsunade's rare embarrassment.

The rest of the training passed in much the same bizarre atmosphere.

Tsunade kept her instructions as brief as possible, avoiding any unnecessary contact or eye contact.

Uchiha Ling played the part of a hardworking student, occasionally asking questions at just the right moments to maintain their delicate balance, watching Tsunade struggle in the awkward whirlpool he had created.

By the time training was nearly over, Tsunade felt almost exhausted.

The mental strain wore her out more than a satisfying fight would have.

"That's... enough for today."

Tsunade announced the end of the lesson almost impatiently.

"You understand the principle behind Yin Healing Wound Destruction now. The rest is just practice, over and over. Make sure you work on it."

After speaking, she didn't dare linger. She turned and hurried out of the training ground, looking almost as though she were fleeing.

Watching Tsunade's retreating figure disappear, Uchiha Ling finally let a blatant, playful smile curve across his lips.

He casually rotated his wrist and looked at the system energy on his panel, which had increased after absorbing a large amount of "awkwardness" and "embarrassment."