Hemophobia

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

"'Such a trivial matter'? Boy, if you don't explain every last detail to me today, just see how I deal with you!" She stared Yizhe down like a furious lioness ready to tear someone apart.

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

She did not want to see Yizhe beaten half to death by Tsunade.

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

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

"Methods outside of medicine?" Tsunade reined in her anger, looking thoughtful.

Ever since Kato Dan's death, she had developed Hemophobia. Naturally, part of it stemmed from her weariness with treating illnesses and injuries, but she had never intended to completely abandon her medical skills.

So she had privately considered countermeasures as well.

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

She had not expected this little brat before her to make such outrageous claims, saying he could solve her current predicament. It made her furious; he simply did not take her seriously at all.

But when Yizhe said it could be handled through methods outside medicine, she fell silent.

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

Perhaps this boy really could solve her predicament through some non-medical method.

"Well? Say it already!" Shizune urged.

She had seen Tsunade's Hemophobia for herself, but even Tsunade had no solution, so Shizune could only worry helplessly.

Now that she had heard Yizhe say there was a way outside of medicine, she was curious too.

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

"Speak!" Tsunade was growing impatient.

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

"I refuse!" Without a moment's thought, Tsunade rejected him. Then she added, "If you don't want to say it, forget it! I swear on the name of one of the Three Sannin that I'll find a way to cure Hemophobia!"

"As for your injury, you can just wait until I find a solution and cure my Hemophobia before I treat you!" After saying that, Tsunade even gave Yizhe a playful wink.

She was not in any 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 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 accept it. The name of the Three Sannin carried too much weight. If he could become Tsunade's disciple, the benefits would be enormous. Not to mention Tsunade's ninjutsu that preserved her youth forever—having such a beautiful master by his side to teach him would be a massive win!

"There are countless people in this world who want to become my disciple! If just anyone came along and asked, would I have to agree? Why should I?"

"Besides, you may have a little cleverness and seem to possess some talent, but there are plenty of people in the world with better talent than you! Why shouldn't I find someone more gifted?"

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

"Didn't you beat me up last night? Why isn't it over yet?" Hearing that she still intended to settle old scores, Yizhe was utterly speechless. He felt as though half his heart had gone cold.

If Tsunade refused to let go of what happened last night, all he could do was take a 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, all right?" Yizhe said helplessly.

It seemed becoming her disciple would not work for the time being. He would have to think of another way.

"Then hurry up and tell me how to cure my Hemophobia!" Tsunade glared at him fiercely and urged him on.

"Actually... the method is very simple! It's just that..."

"Just that what?" Tsunade snapped.

"It only treats the symptoms, not the root cause," Yizhe said helplessly.

"Go on!"

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

"What is there to see in a lens that covers the eyeball and hides the color of your iris?" Though Tsunade said that, she stared at it intently.

Clearly, she was very interested in the dyed lens Yizhe used to conceal his iris color.

"What does this have to do with solving my Hemophobia?" Tsunade asked curiously.

"It has everything to do with it!" Under the reluctant gazes of the two women, Yizhe put the lens away and 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 in a low, icy voice.

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

"So if I wear a pair of glasses made of colored glass, I won't be able to see the red of blood!" Tsunade continued his thought in a serious tone.

Though she had never seen colored glass, she quickly reached 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 lot of ketchup would make you uncomfortable too, Lady Tsunade?"

"Mm," Tsunade answered softly.

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

"That's it! Observing things through colored glass can remove red from a person's field of vision! This cannot completely cure your Hemophobia, but if it is used for clinical surgery or treatment..."

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

"However, once you put on colored 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 really are something! I'll remember this favor!" As she spoke, Tsunade stood up, embraced Yizhe, and kissed his forehead through the white headband.

Heavens! There was actually a benefit like this! If I'd known, why would I have worn a headband? Yizhe's heart churned like a stormy sea.

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

Before he could even react, just as he wanted to savor the warmth within those waves again, the tide had already receded.

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

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

What a terrible regret!