Tsunade: Sakura Seems Like a Genius

"That bastard Orochimaru." Jiraiya unslung the scroll from his back and leaned it against the table leg, reaching for the sake flask on the table. This time, Tsunade didn't stop him. "He bit Sasuke's dog with a Cursed Seal."

Tsunade's hand paused mid-pour.

She set the flask down on the table, her gaze sweeping from Jiraiya's face to Sasuke's, then back again.

"Bit what?"

"A dog." Jiraiya filled his cup to the brim, lifted it, and downed it in one go, his Adam's apple bobbing twice. "A Black Dog, Sasuke's summon."

Tsunade's eyebrows shot up. She tilted her head to stare at Sasuke, her mouth opening and closing.

Jiraiya slammed his cup onto the table.

"Orochimaru snuck into Konoha, intending to plant the Cursed Seal of Heaven on Sasuke."

"Sasuke didn't let him bite him, so he bit the dog instead. Now there are three tomoe on that dog's neck, exactly like the one Anko has."

Shizune's fingers tightened around Tonton, causing the pig to open its eyes and grunt in annoyance.

"Wait." Tsunade raised a hand. "Since when did that guy Orochimaru become so reasonable? He couldn't bite the person, so he just bit the dog?"

"He didn't want to bite." Sasuke took over. "I fought him."

The air in the room went still.

Tsunade stared at him, her lips trembling; she wanted to ask why he would fight him.

But in the end, she let it go. As long as he was standing there in one piece, that was enough.

"And then?"

"Then he finished planting the seal on the Black Dog and left."

Tsunade was speechless. How much had he skipped over?

Tonton hopped off Shizune's lap and squatted on the floor. Shizune leaned forward.

"The Cursed Seal is a forbidden jutsu. Once planted, if left unchecked, it continuously erodes the chakra, and there's also Orochimaru's mental—"

"I had only just left Konoha when Anko was branded with the seal." Tsunade set her cup down and touched her own neck.

She knew the mechanism of the seal's erosion on the human body all too well.

"I have no way to remove it completely. Medical ninjutsu and sealing techniques are about the same; they can only slow the erosion. What do you mean by 'treatment'? To what extent?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "The Cursed Seal has become a pure enhancement; it won't go berserk. Anko's treatment was the same; the symptoms have basically been eliminated."

Tsunade slammed both palms onto the table.

The sake flask jumped, and Shizune hurriedly reached out to steady it.

Tsunade stared into Sasuke's eyes.

"That's impossible."

"The Cursed Seal isn't just some ordinary toxin or chakra disturbance."

"That guy Orochimaru mixed something else into the seal. Mental-level erosion isn't something conventional medical ninjutsu can reach."

"Even my medical ninjutsu can only alleviate physical damage; things on a mental level—"

Tsunade spoke rapidly, losing her usual languor, sounding more like she was talking to herself.

"The essence of the Cursed Seal is akin to him leaving a part of himself on another person. Such trauma is undoubtedly uncontrollable."

Shizune chimed in from the side, her voice much lower.

"Lady Tsunade, the 'part' you mentioned—is it really a part of him?"

"That guy is even crazier than we thought." Tsunade's fingers tightened on the tabletop.

"He must have carved off a piece of his own soul and sealed it within the Cursed Seal. This isn't a forbidden jutsu; this is—"

"Dark magic," Jiraiya finished for her.

Sasuke stood in the corner of the room, watching the expression on Tsunade's face shift from suspicion to calm.

Tsunade was silent for a moment, taking a few deep breaths, and finally seemed to regain her composure.

"Sasuke, summon your dog. I want to confirm the state of the Cursed Seal."

Sasuke looked down at the shadow beneath his feet. The patch of darkness obscured by the low table began to churn.

Black sludge surged from the shadows, coalescing in front of her into the silhouette of a Black Ninja Dog.

The Black Dog stepped out from the shadow, shook its fur, and scouted the surrounding environment.

"Hmm? So many people."

"Show her the Cursed Seal," Sasuke commanded directly.

The Black Dog walked up to Tsunade and tilted its head, exposing the Cursed Seal on the side of its neck.

Tsunade stared at the seal for a long time, then reached out and pressed her thumb against its edge.

She closed her eyes, and chakra seeped from her fingertips into the Black Dog's meridians.

Tsunade opened her eyes, her expression filled with bewilderment.

"Hiss... I've never seen a situation like this."

Shizune leaned in closer to observe as well.

Tsunade shook her head. "There's no use in just staring; let's take a look at the treatment unit."

Sasuke looked down at his shadow again.

This time, the churning of the shadow was far more violent than before.

Black sludge expanded outward, forming a black disc nearly two meters in diameter in the center of the room.

The massive figure of Round Deer slowly rose from the shadow.

It looked down at Tsunade, who was sitting cross-legged opposite the low table, then glanced at Jiraiya and Shizune beside her, and finally at Tonton, who was crouching on the floor and trembling while staring at it.

Round Deer's four eyes began to twitch.

It scraped its front hooves against the wooden floor twice, then took a step back.

"So many people." Round Deer's voice was muffled. "First time seeing so many people."

Shizune's mouth hung open, and Tonton hid behind her, leaving only its tail exposed.

Round Deer lowered its head, all four eyes focusing on Tsunade.

"Hello. My name is Round Deer." Its voice was very tense.

Tsunade stared blankly at Round Deer, then at Sasuke.

"Why is it so nervous when talking to me?"

"It's afraid of people; it has social anxiety."

Round Deer lowered its head, bypassed Tsunade and Shizune, and walked silently to the side of the table, facing Black Dog's position.

It lowered its head, staring at the Cursed Seal on Black Dog's neck; its four eyes stopped twitching and locked onto the target.

"Although it has social anxiety, it gets into the zone very quickly," Sasuke explained.

The antlers atop Round Deer's head emitted a pale blue light.

As that light shone onto the Cursed Seal on Black Dog's neck, the outlines of the three tomoe began to tremble slightly.

The grayish-white patterns expanded outward and then contracted inward; the components within the Cursed Seal that did not belong to Black Dog were being slowly stripped away.

Tsunade stared at Round Deer's antlers for about thirty seconds.

Then, she reached out and patted Sakura on the knee.

"What do you see?" Tsunade asked.

Sakura was stunned for a moment, then looked back at the light emitted by Round Deer's antlers.

"That's not chakra. Chakra is refined from a mixture of physical energy and spiritual energy, but its energy lacks the physical energy component."

Tsunade's eyebrows arched.

"Go on."

"It's pure positive energy, generated directly from its body without going through a refining process," Sakura's voice became serious.

"When the blue light radiates from its antlers, chakra is converted in reverse at an extremely high speed, like the process in medical ninjutsu where chakra is reduced to pure physical energy, but in the opposite direction, and even purer."

Jiraiya frowned; he was also observing the blue light of the antlers intently.

He knew how medical ninjutsu worked, but what Sakura was saying left him completely unable to interject.

"It's not using chakra to heal, is it?" Sakura paused, tilting her head to look at Sasuke.

Round Deer raised a hoof, pushed Black Dog slightly toward itself, and focused all four eyes on Black Dog's neck.

Tsunade looked at Sakura, silent for a moment.

Then she smiled—the kind of relieved smile one gives after finishing an assessment.

"No one taught you what you just said?"

"No one taught me," Sakura answered truthfully, then added, "Sasuke-kun just told me the key points of chakra control."

Tsunade leaned back, resting against the back of her chair.

"Kid."

"Yes?"

"Aren't you teaching yourself medical ninjutsu? Your ability should go beyond this."

Tsunade extended a finger and poked Sakura lightly on the forehead.

"Do you want to learn something more suitable for you?"