A Crippled Body

Konoha Village Battlefield.

During the Second Shinobi World War, after a thunderous explosion rocked the battlefield, a heart-wrenching pain tore through my entire body before I plunged into darkness.

In my ears, I could vaguely hear someone calling out in a hoarse voice, "Nawaki, Nawaki."

Waking up in a daze, I found myself lying on a soft bed, surrounded by nothing but white.

"Where am I?"

"Didn't I just have a late-night snack and a few drinks with friends? How did I end up in a hospital?"

Just then, the person guarding my side—who wore a forehead protector and a strange emblem on his sleeve featuring a cross with two symmetrical circular notches on either side—suddenly stood up, overjoyed.

"Young Master Nawaki, you're finally awake!"

"To survive such heavy injuries... you truly are a member of our Senju clan."

He immediately ordered a ninja at the door to fetch a medical ninja.

Li Yu, who had just opened his eyes, thought to himself, Nawaki?

That forehead protector and the emblem on his arm... this is the Senju clan of Konoha. According to the Naruto storyline, Senju Nawaki stepped into an enemy explosive tag trap and should have been blown to pieces.

Did I transmigrate? This can't be a dream, can it?

The intense, burning pain throughout his body made Li Yu realize at that moment that this was no dream.

A medical ninja in white robes and a Konoha forehead protector arrived and gave Li Yu a full-body examination.

He sighed, "What a pity," and left the rest unsaid before turning to the ninja beside him. "You are a ninja of the Senju clan, correct? Please come with me for a moment."

"Y-yes, I am."

The two moved a distance away, deliberately avoiding Li Yu, and began to whisper.

"Although he survived the explosion, he has suffered extensive burns over his entire body, and his left arm and leg have suffered comminuted fractures."

"I think recovery will take a very long time, and if that were all, it would be fine."

"But his left limbs have sustained severe damage; the injuries are too grave."

"I hate to say this, but he can no longer continue to live as a ninja."

After saying this, he hurried away, as there were still many wounded from the front lines waiting to be treated at the Konoha Hospital.

"How can this be? Young Master Nawaki was determined to become the Hokage!"

Clenching his fists in secret, the man came to Li Yu's side to comfort him. "The people at Konoha Hospital just can't treat you properly, Young Master. Once Lady Tsunade returns from the front lines, she will surely heal you."

"Alright, I understand. You can go out now; let me have some peace and quiet."

Li Yu wouldn't be fooled by a few words from others. Once everyone had left the ward and he was alone, he acted.

Wrapped tightly in bandages like a mummy, Li Yu gritted his teeth, endured the pain, and struggled to move his limbs one by one.

Thud. Li Yu's heart sank. My left arm and leg have absolutely no sensation or pain.

He tried to gather the chakra within his body, but he felt it was impossible to concentrate; the chakra was simply rampaging through his system.

Li Yu's spirits plummeted to rock bottom. His injuries were far worse than those Rock Lee suffered during the Chunin Exams.

He had just transmigrated into the Naruto world, hoping to start with a blade and gear up through combat, but with this crippled body, who could he possibly cut down? He had joined the ranks of transmigrators only to face a future of wheelchairs and crutches.

Others transmigrated with all sorts of systems and were full of ambition for the future, while he didn't even have a normal body. He had arrived in his favorite world, only to find he couldn't even be a ninja—he was a cripple.

Nawaki is Tsunade's younger brother; she will definitely find a way to heal me, Li Yu comforted himself in his heart.

He kept chanting internally, "System, System, come out!"

"Give me some kind of elixir, something to turn decay into magic, give me a cheat!"

Unfortunately, there was no response to his silent cries. Feeling exhausted, Li Yu drifted into a deep sleep.

In the dead of night, a ninja wearing an Anbu mask and a black robe snuck past the Konoha patrols, climbed through the window into Li Yu's ward, performed a hand seal to cast a genjutsu, and reached out toward the sleeping Li Yu.

As if sensing something, Li Yu secretly opened half an eye and, through the slit, saw a dark figure slowly brushing a hand over his entire body.

A few minutes later, the person nodded and muttered, "A cripple."

He then turned quickly, jumped out the window, and vanished into the darkness.

Seeing the figure leave, Li Yu immediately opened his eyes and began to gasp for air, his heart pounding wildly. Having survived a brush with death, he broke out in a cold sweat.

Li Yu should have been caught in the genjutsu, but because his internal chakra was in such disarray, he had instantly broken the spell himself; otherwise, he wouldn't have known someone had visited him in the middle of the night.

Damn it, he was wearing an animal mask.

"Anbu operatives."

"No, that's not right. It might be the Root organization."

"It seems there is someone in Konoha who doesn't want to see Senju Nawaki alive. It's fortunate that I managed to keep my life, even if I ended up severely wounded and crippled."

"Should I be happy, or should I be sad?"

"Since they didn't kill me this time, my life should be safe for the foreseeable future."

Lost in these thoughts, Li Yu eventually succumbed to his pain and exhaustion, drifting off to sleep.

He spent his days in a daze, wallowing in decadence, until a week had passed.

The Second Shinobi World War ended with Konoha's victory.

Just as in the original story, Tsunade was suffering from hemophobia due to the death of Kato Dan. When she learned that her younger brother, Senju Nawaki, had woken up in the hospital after being critically injured, she followed the Konoha ninja back to the village with great urgency, rushing to the hospital as fast as she could.

Still wearing her blood-stained green Konoha jonin vest, Tsunade didn't even take the time to change before throwing herself onto Li Yu, who was lying in bed.

But after a moment, seeing Tsunade's body trembling and her eyes filled with tears as she lost control of her emotions, the restless heart within Li Yu calmed down.

He used his bandaged left hand to gently pat Tsunade's soft back, thinking to himself, Having an older sister who cares about me isn't so bad.

In my past life, I was an orphan who poured my entire soul into scientific research, trying to unlock the genetic code for humanity, only to end up here for no reason.

Li Yu's gaze gradually grew firm. Since I am here, I will make the best of it. Since I have borrowed Nawaki's body to come to the world of Naruto, I will inherit your bonds and the things you wanted to protect.

He gave an awkward shout, "Sister, I'm fine, I'm doing great," and stretched out his right hand, which was still functional, waving it a few times despite the pain.

Tsunade slowly raised her head, looking at Nawaki with tear-filled eyes.

Li Yu immediately gave a thumbs-up with his right hand. "Becoming Hokage is my dream; how could I possibly die so easily?"

Although she could see through Li Yu's exaggerated acting, it still managed to dispel most of Tsunade's sorrow.

At this moment, a ninja from the Senju clan reminded her, "Lady Tsunade, Young Master Nawaki is severely injured. You need to see if you can heal him."

Tsunade didn't waste any words. She stood up immediately, used her chakra to examine Li Yu's physical condition, and began the treatment.

Lying on the bed, Li Yu watched Tsunade with nervous anticipation, hoping she could heal him.

However, seeing Tsunade's brow furrow deeper and deeper, he knew the situation was dire.

Tsunade stopped the flow of healing chakra and looked into Li Yu's eyes with a grave expression. She remained silent for a long time, as if struggling with an internal conflict.

Suddenly, she let out a breath, having made up her mind. "Sister will definitely find a way to heal you. Becoming Hokage is your dream, after all."

With that, she kissed Li Yu on the forehead, gave instructions to the clan ninjas, and turned to leave the hospital in a hurry.

Although she hadn't said much, watching Tsunade leave and feeling his own body, he had a rough idea of his condition.

Sigh, the treatment for Nawaki is indeed different from Rock Lee's. She didn't tell Nawaki to give up being a ninja, but instead understood her brother's heart and agreed to it directly.

Under Tsunade's comprehensive treatment, most of the pain throughout his body had vanished, but Li Yu still felt nothing in his left hand and left foot, and he was unable to gather any chakra.

His injuries were in the same locations as Rock Lee's during the Chunin Exams—shattered bones in his left hand and left foot. He hoped Tsunade would perform a surgery to heal him.

He had planned to wait for Tsunade to finish reading through a mountain of medical texts and perform a surgery similar to the one Lee had undergone.

Li Yu already foresaw that when Tsunade came to see him later, she would tell him that if he wanted to become a ninja again, he would need to undergo a surgery with a 50% chance of success, and that failure would mean death.

Li Yu had intended to continue playing dead in the hospital for a while longer, but the arrival of a certain person changed his mind.