Konoha Village battlefield
During the Second Shinobi World War, after a deafening explosion rocked the battlefield, searing pain tore through my entire body, and I sank into darkness.
I vaguely heard someone calling, "Nawaki, Nawaki," in a hoarse voice.
When I awoke in a daze, I was already lying on a soft bed, surrounded by white.
"Where am I?"
"Wasn't I just having a late-night snack and a little drink with my friends? How did I end up in a hospital?"
A man stood guard beside me. He wore a Forehead Protector, and on his hand was a strange mark: two circles on either side of a cross, each with a gap facing outward.
He suddenly sprang up in delight and cried,
"Young Master Nawaki, you're finally awake!"
"You suffered such terrible injuries and still survived. You truly are one of the Senju Clan!"
He immediately told the ninja at the door to fetch a medical ninja.
Li Yu had just opened his eyes. He thought to himself,
"Nawaki?"
"That Forehead Protector and the mark on his arm... This is the Senju Clan of Konoha. According to Naruto's storyline, Senju Nawaki should have been blown to pieces after triggering an enemy Explosive Tag trap."
"Did I get transmigrated? Could this be a dream?"
The intense burning pain in his body made Li Yu realize that this was no dream.
A medical ninja dressed all in white and wearing a Konoha Forehead Protector arrived and examined Li Yu from head to toe.
With a sigh, he said, "What a shame..." He left the rest unsaid, then turned to the ninja beside him.
"You're a ninja from the Senju Clan, right?"
"Please come with me for a moment."
"Y-yes."
The two moved a short distance away, deliberately keeping out of Li Yu's earshot, and began speaking in hushed voices.
"Although he survived the explosion, he suffered severe burns over much of his body, and his left arm and left leg have compound fractures."
"I think it will take a long time for him to recover. If that were all, things would be fine."
"But his left arm and leg have sustained severe damage. His injuries are too serious."
"I hate to say it, but he can no longer live as a ninja."
After saying this, the medical ninja hurried away. Konoha Hospital had plenty of wounded brought back from the front lines who still needed treatment.
"How is that possible? Young Master Nawaki was determined to become Hokage!"
Clenching his fist in secret, the ninja came to Li Yu's side and tried to comfort him.
"The people at Konoha Hospital couldn't heal you, young master, but once Lady Tsunade comes back from the front, she'll definitely be able to."
"Enough. I understand. Go outside and leave me alone for a while."
Li Yu wasn't about to be fooled by a few words from someone else. Once everyone had left the room and he was alone, he gritted his teeth and endured the pain, struggling to move each of his limbs in turn. His body was wrapped so tightly in bandages that he looked like a mummy.
His heart lurched. "My left hand and left leg can't feel anything at all."
He tried to gather chakra inside his body, but he couldn't concentrate it at all. It was running wild within him.
Li Yu's hopes plummeted. His injuries were far worse than Rock Lee's had been during the Chunin Ninja Exams.
He had just transmigrated to the Naruto World. He'd thought he'd start with a sword and earn the rest through battle, but what could he possibly fight with this broken body? Now that he'd joined the ranks of transmigrators, he'd be spending the rest of his life with a wheelchair and crutches.
Other transmigrators got all kinds of systems and arrived full of ambition for the future. He didn't even have a normal body. He'd come to the Naruto World, the place he loved most, and couldn't even be a ninja. He was disabled.
"Nawaki is Tsunade's younger brother. She'll surely find a way to heal me," Li Yu reassured himself in his heart.
He kept repeating to himself,
"System, system, come out already!"
"Give me some miraculous medicine that can turn decay into wonder. Give me a cheat!"
Unfortunately, the system showed no response to Li Yu's desperate cries. Exhausted, he eventually fell into a deep sleep.
Late that night, a figure wearing an Anbu animal mask and a black robe sneaked past Konoha's patrols, climbed in through the window, and entered Li Yu's hospital room. After forming Hand Seals and casting a genjutsu, the figure reached out toward the sleeping Li Yu.
As if sensing something, Li Yu secretly opened one eye halfway. Through the narrow gap, he saw a shadow reaching out and slowly passing a hand over his entire body.
A few minutes later, the figure nodded and murmured, "Nothing but a cripple."
Then he turned and leaped out the window, quickly vanishing into the darkness.
As soon as the shadow was gone, Li Yu opened his eyes and gasped for breath. His heart pounded wildly, and he broke out in a cold sweat from the shock of having narrowly escaped death.
Li Yu should have been caught in the genjutsu, but the chakra running wild inside him had caused him to break free of it almost instantly. Otherwise, he would never have known that someone had visited him in the middle of the night.
"Damn, that guy was wearing an animal mask."
"Anbu?"
"No, maybe he was from Root."
"Someone in Konoha Village doesn't want Senju Nawaki to survive. Good thing my serious injuries and disability saved my life."
"Should I be happy or sad?"
"Since they didn't kill me this time, my life should be safe for a while."
Li Yu had a lot on his mind, but the pain and exhaustion soon overcame him, and he fell asleep.
Days passed in a daze as he lay there, lost in his thoughts and growing more despondent. A week later,
Konoha's Second Shinobi World War ended in victory for Konoha.
Just like in the original story, Tsunade had developed hemophobia after Dan Katō's death. When she learned that her younger brother, Senju Nawaki, had been gravely injured and had woken up in the hospital, she hurried back to Konoha Village with the other Konoha Ninja. She rushed to the hospital as fast as she could.
Still wearing her bloodstained green Konoha jonin vest, Tsunade hadn't even had a chance to change. She threw herself onto Li Yu, who was lying in bed.
A little while later, seeing Tsunade's whole body trembling and her eyes brimming with tears, her emotions out of control, the turmoil in Li Yu's heart settled.
With his bandaged left hand, he gently patted Tsunade's soft back, thinking to himself,
"Having an older sister who cares about me isn't so bad."
"In my previous life, I was an orphan. I devoted myself entirely to scientific research, working to unlock the secrets of the human genome, and somehow ended up here."
Li Yu's gaze gradually grew more resolute. Since he was here, he would make the best of it. Since he had come to the Naruto World in Nawaki's body, he would inherit his bonds and protect what Nawaki had wanted to protect.
He awkwardly called out, "Sis, I'm fine. I'm doing great," then raised his still somewhat mobile right hand and waved it a few times, enduring the pain.
Tsunade slowly lifted her head and looked at Nawaki with tear-filled eyes.
Li Yu immediately gave her a thumbs-up with his right hand. "Becoming Hokage is my dream. How could I die so easily?"
Even though Li Yu's exaggerated acting was obvious, it still eased much of Tsunade's grief.
Just then, a ninja from the Senju Clan standing nearby reminded her, "Lady Tsunade, Young Master Nawaki is seriously injured. Please check whether you can heal him."
Tsunade didn't waste any words. She immediately stood up, examined Li Yu's body with chakra, and began treating him.
Li Yu, lying in bed, watched Tsunade with a nervous, hopeful look, wishing she could heal him.
But when he saw her brow furrow more and more, he knew things were bad.
Tsunade stopped the healing chakra in her hands and looked Li Yu in the eye, her expression grave. She stayed silent for a long time, wrestling with her thoughts.
Suddenly, she let out a breath and made up her mind. "I'll find a way to heal you, no matter what. Becoming Hokage is your dream."
With that, she kissed Li Yu on the forehead, gave instructions to the clan ninja, and hurried out of the hospital.
Although she hadn't said much, seeing Tsunade leave and feeling the state of his own body, Li Yu more or less understood his condition.
"Ah, Nawaki really gets different treatment from Rock Lee. She didn't tell Nawaki to give up on being a ninja. She understood her younger brother's wishes and agreed without hesitation."
After Tsunade's treatment, most of the pain throughout Li Yu's body had eased, but he still couldn't feel his left hand or left leg at all, and he still couldn't gather chakra.
His injuries were in the same places as Rock Lee's had been during the Chunin Ninja Exams: compound fractures in his left arm and left leg. He hoped Tsunade could perform surgery and heal him.
He had planned to wait for Tsunade to read through a pile of medical books before performing an operation similar to the one Rock Lee had undergone.
Li Yu could already picture Tsunade visiting him after some time and telling him that if he wanted to become a ninja again, he would need surgery. There would be a fifty percent chance of recovery, and failure would mean death.
Li Yu planned to lie in the hospital for a while longer, but someone's arrival changed his mind.