Hemophobia

"Hmph, hmph... Ha, ha, ha!" Tsunade laughed in extreme anger.

"'Such a trivial matter'? Kid, if you don't explain this to me properly today, just see how I deal with you!" She glared at Yizhe as if she were a furious lioness ready to devour her prey.

"Yizhe, apologize now! Lady Tsunade is a master of medical ninjutsu herself. If even she can't solve her own problem, what nonsense are you spouting here?" Shizune gently tugged at his sleeve and whispered.

She did not want to see Yizhe get brutally beaten by Tsunade.

Yizhe lightly patted Shizune's hand, signaling that she need not worry. He fearlessly met Tsunade's gaze and said seriously, "Although I don't know medical ninjutsu or understand medicine, that doesn't mean I know less than you do, Lady Tsunade!"

"Just because Lady Tsunade can't solve this problem through medical means doesn't mean methods outside of medicine can't solve it!"

"Methods outside of medicine?" Tsunade reined in her anger, deep in thought.

Ever since Dan Katō's death, she had developed hemophobia. Naturally, part of it came from her growing weariness of treating and healing others, but she had never intended to completely abandon her medical skills.

So she had been privately considering countermeasures as well.

But even now, she had not found a way to treat herself!

She had not expected this brat before her to make such grand claims, saying he could solve her current predicament. It made her furious. He was taking her far too lightly.

Yet when Yizhe said the problem could be handled through means outside medicine, she fell silent.

Because she had been so confident in her medical abilities, she had never considered methods beyond medicine.

Perhaps this boy truly could resolve her predicament through other means.

"Well? Say it!" Shizune urged.

She had seen Tsunade's hemophobia for herself, but if even Tsunade had no solution, all Shizune could do was worry helplessly.

Now that Yizhe had said there was a non-medical solution, she was curious too.

"I can tell you! But Lady Tsunade, you have to agree to one condition!" Yizhe glanced at her and spoke cautiously, afraid of angering her again.

"Speak!" Tsunade was becoming impatient.

"Lady Tsunade, how about taking me as your disciple?" Yizhe asked tentatively.

"I refuse!" Tsunade rejected him without a second thought, then added, "If you don't want to tell me, forget it! On the name of one of the Three Legendary Ninja, I refuse to believe I can't find a way to cure hemophobia!"

"As for your injury, you'll just have to wait until I find a solution and cure my hemophobia before I treat you!" With that, Tsunade even gave Yizhe a playful wink.

She was in no hurry to cure her own hemophobia. On the contrary, someone here was even more anxious than she was for her to treat his injuries!

"Beautiful lady, isn't that a little too heartless? Even if you refuse, you should at least give me a reason!" Yizhe shrugged, spreading his hands helplessly.

He truly was unwilling to give up. The Three Legendary Ninja were far too famous. If he could become Tsunade's disciple, the benefits would be enormous. Not to mention Tsunade's ageless ninjutsu—having such a beautiful master personally guide him would be an absolute steal!

"There are countless people in this world who want to become my disciple! If just anyone comes asking, do I have to agree? Why should I?"

"Besides, you may be a little clever and seem to have some talent, but there are plenty of people in this world more talented than you! Why shouldn't I pick someone with even better aptitude?"

"More importantly, you bullied Shizune yesterday! I haven't settled that score with you yet!" Tsunade counted off several reasons on her fingers in earnest.

"Didn't you beat me up last night? Why isn't this over yet?" Hearing that she still intended to settle old scores, Yizhe was completely speechless. His heart sank halfway.

If Tsunade refused to let go of what happened last night, he would have no choice but to take another beating!

Seeing Yizhe at a loss, Shizune let out a snort and laughed.

"Fine, fine, fine! I won't bring up becoming your disciple anymore, alright?" Yizhe said helplessly.

It seemed becoming her disciple was impossible for the time being. He would have to think of another way.

"Then hurry up and tell me how to cure my hemophobia!" Tsunade shot him a fierce glare and pressed him.

"Actually... the method is very simple! But..."

"But what?" Tsunade snapped.

"But it treats the symptoms, not the root cause," Yizhe said helplessly.

"Go on!"

"Lady Tsunade, take a look!" Yizhe carefully removed the lens from one eye, balanced it on his fingertip, and waved it around before Shizune and Tsunade.

"What is there to see in a lens that covers the eyeball and hides the color of your pupils?" Though Tsunade said that, she stared at it without blinking.

Clearly, she was very interested in Yizhe's tinted lens used to conceal his eye color.

"What does that have to do with curing my hemophobia?" Tsunade asked curiously.

"It has a lot to do with it!" Yizhe retrieved his lens from the two women's reluctant gazes, then continued, "Lady Tsunade, have you ever seen colored glass?"

"Colored glass?" Tsunade knew such a thing existed, but she had never seen it. She shook her head. "No."

"No wonder!" Yizhe scratched his head and sighed. "If you had seen colored glass, you probably would have solved your hemophobia long ago!"

"Speak!" Tsunade said coldly in a low shout.

"When we look at things through colored glass, everything we see turns the color of the glass!" Yizhe explained seriously.

"So if I wear a pair of glasses made of colored glass, I won't be able to see the red of blood!" Tsunade picked up where Yizhe had left off, speaking gravely.

Though she had never seen colored glass, she quickly arrived at the answer based on Yizhe's explanation.

Yizhe glanced at Tsunade and continued, "Hemophobia is merely a fear of the color red. I imagine that seeing a great deal of ketchup would make you uncomfortable too, Lady Tsunade?"

"Mhm!" Tsunade replied softly.

Whenever she saw anything red that resembled blood, she felt uncomfortable.

"That's right! Looking at things through colored glass can remove red from a person's vision! This cannot completely cure your hemophobia, but if it is used for clinical surgery and treatment..."

"There won't be much of a problem!" Yizhe said with certainty.

"However, once you put on tinted glasses, everything in your field of vision will become one color! You may not be used to it at first, so Lady Tsunade, you'll need some time to adapt!" he added at the end.

"Kid, you're really something! I'll remember this favor!" As she spoke, Tsunade stood, embraced Yizhe, and kissed his forehead through his white headband.

Heavens! There was even a perk like this! If I'd known, why would I have worn a headband?! Yizhe's heart was thrown into a stormy sea.

Happiness had come too suddenly. A fragrant wave had swept over him, drowning him in an ocean.

He had not even reacted before he tried to savor the warmth within those waves again, only for the tide to have already receded.

What he regretted most was that white headband. After leaving the village, he had stopped wearing a forehead protector, but he could not let Bird in a Cage remain so openly exposed either, so he had made a white headband to cover Bird in a Cage.

This time, if not for that headband, Tsunade would have kissed his forehead directly!

What a regret!