Leaving the Land of Wind

In the world of Naruto, there were three kinds of energy.

They were spiritual energy, physical energy, and Natural Energy. Spiritual and physical energy were contained within the human body, while Natural Energy existed in the natural environment.

Physical energy was the Yang Release energy used by the Sage of Six Paths, except that physical energy itself was not Yang Release; it had to be converted. However, having abundant physical energy could also improve the body's ability to heal itself.

Life force was a special kind of power. It affected a person's lifespan and vitality, and also contained physical energy.

Genma and Karura sat facing each other across a table, Genma holding Karura's hand.

"Your body has almost completely recovered. All that's left is to restore your physical energy."

"You can restore physical energy, too?"

As a ninja, Karura knew, of course, that physical energy came from the countless cells in the human body.

"It's really just a matter of directly transferring life force to indirectly replenish your physical energy."

"But that must put quite a strain on you!" Karura said worriedly. "My body has already healed, and my physical energy is sufficient. I only need to take my time refining it."

The scene of Genma treating her yesterday was still fresh in her mind. It was the first time she had seen him look "tired."

Genma raised a hand to stop her. "That won't do. I'm leaving soon, and I can't feel at ease letting you slowly refine your life force. If I replenish your life force, you can skip the process of refining physical energy from your body and produce chakra faster."

Refining physical energy was a gradual process, and Genma had no plans to stay in the Land of Wind for long. If Karura ran into danger after he left, wouldn't all his efforts have been for nothing?

Before Karura could refuse, Genma activated Oonamuchi and transferred life force to her.

In just one day, Karura's chakra had reached Jonin level. Genma could finally leave with peace of mind.

The next day, to be safe, Genma got Karura's permission to place a Wood Clone Seed on her.

The seed could last for at least a month, which would be enough time for Karura to recover to her peak.

The two parted ways in town. In the glow of the setting sun, they gazed at each other before Senju Genma headed toward the Land of River, while Karura stayed behind in the small town.

After a day of traveling through the desert and crossing an oasis in the Land of Wind, Senju Genma returned to the Land of River.

Standing at the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of River, Senju Genma looked back at the barren land in need of nourishment, looking forward to seeing her again.

The Land of River battlefield.

Konoha camp, medical ninja headquarters, command tent.

Shimura Danzō sat in a chair with a frown, his face dark.

He was in a very bad mood.

The reason was simple. Earlier that day, after finally getting the chance to lead his forces against the Sand Ninja, he had run into the Sand Ninja troops led by Chiyo. Chiyo had developed a new poison, rendering the antidotes carried by the Konoha Ninja useless.

Danzō's forces had suffered a crushing defeat and taken heavy losses.

He had joined the war not only to defend Konoha as a member of the hardline faction, but also to earn military merit and prestige.

But now, forget military merit and prestige—he'd be lucky if he wasn't held accountable when he returned.

Various test tubes were arranged in front of Tsunade. They all contained antidotes for different poisons.

"Tsunade, how's the research on the antidote going? If we don't get one soon, our losses will continue to mount," Danzō said coldly. "You can't take responsibility if we lose the chance to turn the tide."

Tsunade shook the test tube in her hand and replied calmly, "This defeat was entirely your fault."

"If you hadn't underestimated them and charged in recklessly, we wouldn't have suffered such heavy losses."

"I'll make sure Orochimaru and Sakumo report your failure to our teacher truthfully."

Tsunade beckoned to a medical ninja nearby and held out two items.

"Here's the antidote to the Sand Ninja's poison, along with its formula. Take them and gather a team to prepare more, then distribute them."

"Yes, Lady Tsunade." The medical ninja took the formula and antidote sample, nodded, and turned to leave.

"Danzō, you're in command of this battle. I don't intend to question the orders you gave during the operation, but your decisions were far too rash. You clearly didn't care whether our Konoha Ninja lived or died!" Tsunade said bluntly, showing no regard for Danzō's seniority.

Why had she worked so hard during the war to improve the medical ninja system? Why had she proposed at a meeting of the higher-ups that every three-man team on a mission should include a medical ninja?

Wasn't it to improve the ninjas' survival rates and chances of completing their missions?

Yet now Danzō had cost Konoha so many ninjas for his own achievements. It only made Tsunade hate him more.

Danzō's anger grew, but he didn't show it. Instead, he spoke without changing expression. "For the greater good, these sacrifices are necessary."

"Everything is worth it for the village! If necessary, I can sacrifice myself for the village, too."

Tsunade scoffed. "Don't flatter yourself. You're just sending the village's ninjas to their deaths for nothing. It's a pointless sacrifice."

"Lady Tsunade." A medical ninja suddenly called from outside the tent.

"Come in."

"Lady Tsunade, Lord Genma has returned."

"I know. You can leave."

"Yes."

"Chiyo's poison has been dealt with," Tsunade said, speaking to herself. "I have important business to attend to, so I'll leave you to it."

With that, Tsunade left the tent without looking back.

Danzō snorted and said nothing, only glaring coldly at Tsunade's retreating figure.

Senju Genma naturally had no way of knowing what had happened in the medical ninja command tent. Having just completed an S-rank mission, he was heading toward Tsunade's tent.

Along the way, the Konoha Ninja who saw Senju Genma stopped and watched him.

This was the special treatment reserved for a legend of the Ninja World. They hadn't shown even Hatake Sakumo this much respect.

When he reached Tsunade's tent, Senju Genma noticed that it was spotless. Tsunade was clearly someone who liked to keep things clean and cleaned often.

But the clothes of his on the bed stood out.

Looking closely, the clothes were wrinkled, and there seemed to be traces of drool on them.

Senju Genma had already guessed what Tsunade might have done.

Senju Genma sat on the bed and took out his payment.

A thick stack of cash, all in bills worth one hundred thousand ryo, totaling nine million ryo.

Two million ryo was the mission payment, and the other seven million was Makima's bounty.

Although Makima was an Elite Jonin of Sunagakure, her status couldn't compare to Asuma's in the future, so her bounty wasn't high—only one-fifth of Asuma's.

"Since when did you become so interested in money?"

Feeling the petite softness behind him, Genma pursed his lips and said, "It's because of you. Do you know how much of a burden you've placed on the clan?"

It wasn't until he became the Senju clan head that Senju Genma understood how difficult it had been for Uzumaki Mito to keep the family afloat.