Sister Tsunade

"Ugh... it hurts."

Seeing Uchiha Matsuri wake up, Kushina Uzumaki, who had been keeping watch for a long time, said excitedly, "You're finally awake!"

"How long have I been asleep?" Uchiha Matsuri opened his eyes, feeling a soreness throughout his entire body.

"You've been unconscious for three days," Kushina Uzumaki said.

"Is that so..." Suddenly, Uchiha Matsuri seemed to recall something and asked urgently, "How is Nohara Shin?"

"Shin is just like you; he lost too much blood and was unconscious. Fortunately, thanks to Lady Tsunade, Shin woke up two days ago." Kushina Uzumaki changed the subject, "By the way, when did you become so concerned about others?"

"..." Uchiha Matsuri did not answer.

Strictly speaking, whether in his past life or this one, Uchiha Matsuri had never been a person who cared about others. Yet this time, after truly experiencing "death," Uchiha Matsuri could clearly feel his concern for his companions.

Thump.

The hospital room door opened, and a woman with long blonde hair wearing a white coat walked in.

"Lady Tsunade." Kushina Uzumaki bowed her head in greeting from the side.

"You're awake." Tsunade nodded at Kushina Uzumaki, then asked Uchiha Matsuri with concern.

"Yes, thank you, Lady Tsunade," Uchiha Matsuri said gratefully.

Upon hearing this, Tsunade frowned slightly and waved her hand. "I don't like people calling me Lady Tsunade; it feels so distant. If you don't mind, just call me Big Sister from now on."

"Yes, Big Sister Tsunade," Uchiha Matsuri smiled.

For the next half hour, Tsunade talked to Uchiha Matsuri about various matters and then gave him a thorough set of instructions.

"Big Sister Tsunade is so gentle," Kushina Uzumaki blurted out as she watched Tsunade walk out of the room.

Heh, is she? Uchiha Matsuri immediately thought of the powerful Strength of a Hundred Fist Tsunade possessed in the original story, and the fate of Jiraiya, who had ended up with five broken ribs.

Hokage's Office.

After hearing Tsunade's report that Uchiha Matsuri had awakened, the Third Hokage couldn't help but recall the retort Orochimaru had given him three days ago when faced with his questioning. Orochimaru had said that a true ninja lived on the edge of a blade every day, and only those who experienced life and death could grow better and faster.

"Could it be that my thinking is too outdated?" the Third Hokage muttered to himself.

Two days later.

Ignoring Tsunade's warnings, Uchiha Matsuri snuck out of the hospital.

"There are only nine days left until the next assessment, yet my strength is still too weak," Uchiha Matsuri muttered to himself, looking at his bandaged arm.

During the two days in the hospital, Uchiha Matsuri had been thinking about how to rapidly increase his strength in a very short time.

Given his current physical condition, summoning a creature was indeed the best way to enhance his strength in battle. However, among the most likely candidates, Enma, the Third Hokage's summon, was out of the question; as the Hokage's personal summon, how could a lowly Genin like him ever gain the right to summon it? Princess Tsunade's Katsuyu was primarily for medical purposes and could also be ruled out.

That left only Orochimaru's Manda and Jiraiya's Gamabunta. Manda was notoriously unruly by nature, so trying to command it in battle was certainly unrealistic. That left only Jiraiya's Gamabunta.

However, to Uchiha Matsuri's disappointment, Jiraiya did not agree to his request. The reason was simple:

Uchiha Matsuri didn't even have enough chakra to summon a creature.

After his disappointment, Uchiha Matsuri set his sights on Tsunade's Yin Seal.

At first, Tsunade refused Uchiha Matsuri without a shred of mercy. Was he joking?! As an S-rank jutsu, many Jonin couldn't even master it, let alone this newly graduated Genin standing before her.

After Uchiha Matsuri pestered her relentlessly, Tsunade finally agreed to teach him the Yin Seal.

To Tsunade's surprise, Uchiha Matsuri mastered the basics of the Yin Seal in just one week.

"This child actually has such strong talent; he learned in just one week what took me half a year to master," Tsunade looked with complex eyes at the Uchiha brat she had once looked down upon.

After obtaining the Yin Seal, Uchiha Matsuri pressed his advantage and proposed learning Tsunade's medical ninjutsu. At first, Tsunade didn't believe Uchiha Matsuri had the talent for medical ninjutsu, but after witnessing him accurately perform the Healing Jutsu and Hemostasis Jutsu after hearing the explanation just once, she no longer worried about his aptitude.

During his three years at the Ninja Academy, Uchiha Matsuri had constantly practiced chakra control, which allowed him to display a unique "talent" when learning medical ninjutsu.

During his life-or-death battle with Orochimaru, Uchiha Matsuri had realized the importance of medical ninjutsu. As long as he mastered it, even if he were severely injured in battle, he could rely on his own strength to recover quickly and continue fighting.

Therefore, in the two days since waking up, Uchiha Matsuri hadn't wasted a second of that precious time; instead, he spent those two days learning basic medical ninjutsu and mastering the hand signs for some intermediate techniques.

Nine days was neither long nor short.

Aside from practicing medical ninjutsu and using the Yin Seal to gather chakra, Uchiha Matsuri did as he had in school: he lay in the grass at the edge of the training ground, using his single-tomoe Sharingan to secretly copy the ninjutsu and hand signs of other ninjas.

Nine days later.

Uchiha Matsuri, Kushina Uzumaki, and Nohara Shin arrived at the training ground on time, only to find that Orochimaru had already arrived.

"Let's go. We're going to pick up a mission," Orochimaru said, glancing at the three of them, who were fully geared up.

"Huh? Pick up a mission?" Nohara Shin asked, confused.

"Heh, you are too weak; you don't even have the qualifications to fight me," Orochimaru suddenly opened his snake-like eyes and said in a playful tone, "So, we'll just go straight to picking up a mission. Also, this is the first time I'm participating in a mission with you, and it will be the last. Future missions will have to be handled by the three of you alone."

"Do you have any objections?" Orochimaru's eyes suddenly turned cold, and he emitted an intense, invisible pressure.

"N-no problem," Nohara Shin replied with a stiff smile.

At the mission assignment desk.

"What? You want to take a B-rank mission? That's absurd!" the elderly Chunin managing the desk slammed his hand on the table.

"Lord Orochimaru, you can't be serious. According to custom, Genin who have just graduated from the Ninja Academy are usually assigned a few D-rank missions to practice. Compared to the simple, risk-free D-rank missions, B-rank missions are highly dangerous and are usually only assigned to Chunin," the ninja beside him explained patiently.

"Enough talk. I am well aware of what you're saying. If the Third Hokage asks, just tell him I did it." Orochimaru had already lost his patience and pulled out a B-rank mission card.

"This is interesting." After glancing at the B-rank mission card, Orochimaru let out a strange laugh. "Since the mission is accepted, let's move out."

"Yes."