Saving Nawaki

"From what I can tell, there doesn't seem to be any rejection reaction at the moment, but his vital signs are still extremely weak. After such severe injuries and such a major operation, whether he wakes up will depend on fate."

Jing Hang carefully observed Nawaki, who floated in a glass tank filled with nutrient solution, still connected to an oxygen tube. He spoke helplessly.

"I've done everything I could. I've done everything I could." Tsunade panted heavily and wiped the blood from her face. Her vacant eyes stared at the glass tank as she muttered to herself like someone possessed.

Jing Hang tightened the bathrobe around himself. Looking at the White Zetsu on the operating table beside him, which had already been chopped into pieces by Tsunade, he could not help recalling the startling events of the previous night.

After finishing a day's work, Jing Hang had been soaking in the bath at his villa. Compared to a bathtub, he preferred a traditional pine bathing tub. With the rising steam and faint scent of pine, the exhaustion in his body seemed to drift away. It was simply an incomparable pleasure.

Just as Jing Hang closed his eyes to enjoy himself, there was suddenly a bang. After a puff of white smoke, two more people appeared in the bathroom. Jing Hang focused his eyes and saw Tsunade covered in blood, holding a young man who was likewise drenched in blood. The moment she saw Jing Hang, she did not care about the situation at all and roared at him.

"Quick! Take me to the underground laboratory."

Jing Hang stared blankly at Tsunade for roughly two seconds, then more or less understood what was happening. Saving someone was like putting out a fire—there was no time for nonsense. He grabbed a bathrobe and wrapped it around himself, scooped up Tsunade and Nawaki, then activated his Lightning Armor and sped all the way to the underground laboratory. He even smashed his own bathroom door to pieces on the way out.

This had to be the incident where Nawaki was attacked. But why had Tsunade come here? Hidden Leaf Village's medical facilities had to be better than this place's, right? Besides, in the original manga, Nawaki had been dead as dead could be. How was he supposed to be saved?

Wait? How had Tsunade gotten here? The Flying Thunder God Technique? The Second Hokage, Tobirama, had been dead for years, and the Fourth Hokage, Minato, was probably still in elementary school. Could someone else have mastered this technique? He definitely had to ask about it later.

Jing Hang pondered all these questions as he raced onward without slowing down in the slightest. The hospital was not far from his villa, and they soon arrived at the underground laboratory.

After swiping open the main door, Tsunade rushed straight into the operating room. She placed Nawaki on the operating table and instructed Jing Hang.

"The patient has severe blood loss. Go to the blood bank and get 1,000 cc of type B blood. Turn on the shadowless lamp, prepare the surgical instruments, activate the nutrient tank, and get ready for surgery! I'm going to get the donor! Hurry!" Tsunade quickly attached oxygen and monitoring equipment to Nawaki, then left without even lifting her head.

Jing Hang was no slower. Without asking a single question, he rapidly followed Tsunade's instructions, though countless questions still swirled through his mind. The biggest was—donor? Where was she getting a donor?

However, he got his answer soon enough. Just as Jing Hang finished transfusing blood into Nawaki's vein, Tsunade walked over gripping the last remaining White Zetsu sample as if it were a chick. Apparently dissatisfied by its struggling, she flexed her arm. With a crack, White Zetsu's neck twisted to an absurd angle. Then, with another bang, she threw it onto an adjacent operating table.

"How's his blood pressure? How are his vital signs?" Tsunade asked as she put on gloves.

"Blood pressure is 65 over 32, pulse rate is 33. His vital signs are extremely weak," Jing Hang said, looking at the instruments.

"Ten milliliters of epinephrine! Hand me the instruments—I'm starting the operation!" Tsunade's expression hardened as she took up the scalpel and cut open Nawaki's abdomen.

Having seen plenty of bloody scenes, Jing Hang naturally was not afraid of a mere surgery. He dutifully took on the role of both assistant and nurse at her side.

One moment he handed her instruments, the next he wiped Tsunade's sweat. He did not say a word, merely watching silently as she worked frantically. Only when he saw her carefully place White Zetsu's faintly beating heart into Nawaki's chest did Jing Hang finally understand exactly what Tsunade intended to do. She was performing an organ transplant!

Damn, this was way too reckless! No compatibility testing beforehand?! She was just cutting him open like this? This was insane! If a rejection reaction occurred, wouldn't all this have been for nothing? Fine, maybe she did not consider White Zetsu human and could carve it up however she liked, but had she considered whether Nawaki's body could withstand this?

"Get another 1,000 cc of type B blood." Without raising her head, Tsunade continued working. Nawaki's blood had already flooded the operating table. His body was like a sieve, and the bleeding would not stop at all.

Jing Hang efficiently replaced the blood bag and waited for Tsunade's next instruction. Then he saw her suddenly dip a finger into some blood, slap the ground, and shout in a low voice, "Summoning Technique!" A massive Katsuyu appeared in front of the operating table.

"Lady Katsuyu, help me stop Nawaki's bleeding."

Katsuyu did not waste words. She slowly crawled onto the operating table, partially wrapped herself around Nawaki, and emitted a green glow. Before long, the bleeding truly stopped. His blood pressure stabilized at 80 over 40 and showed signs of slowly rising.

Watching White Zetsu's white heart gradually begin beating steadily in Nawaki's chest, Jing Hang silently gave Tsunade a thumbs-up. For such a complex heart transplant to succeed under such rushed conditions was nothing short of a miracle.

Thinking back, this White Zetsu had been produced from the spores of Primitive White Zetsu Tobi. Tobi had been created from humans affected by the Infinite Tsukuyomi and fused with Hashirama Cells. Nawaki was Hashirama's grandson, so it was reasonable enough that no rejection reaction had occurred.

Tsunade's hands did not stop. Under Jing Hang's watchful eyes, the liver, spleen, kidneys—virtually all of Nawaki's abdominal organs were replaced. As for the White Zetsu lying beside them, it had already been "cut into ten thousand pieces" by Tsunade.

"Lady Katsuyu, you can let go now. Thank you for your help." After Tsunade stitched up the final wound, she wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"No need to be polite." Katsuyu crawled down from the operating table and vanished without a trace with a bang.

"Come, help me put Nawaki into the nutrient tank." Tsunade lifted Nawaki by the shoulders, and Jing Hang hurriedly picked up his legs.

Only then could the entire operation be considered temporarily complete.

"Nawaki is a child, while this White Zetsu is an adult. The other organs are manageable, but the heart is troublesome. I didn't fully close his chest cavity just now. Even if he wakes up later, he'll need to stay in the nutrient tank for at least two years. Once his chest cavity is large enough to hold this heart, he'll need another suturing operation before this can truly be considered finished." Tsunade looked blankly at Nawaki in the tank as she spoke.

"Sigh, keeping him alive comes first, right? As long as there's life, there's hope," Jing Hang quickly comforted her.

"As long as there's life, there's hope." Tsunade repeated the words twice to herself, then turned and looked at Jing Hang gratefully.

"Thank you!" Tsunade gave Jing Hang a shallow bow, then suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed into his arms.

"Looks like you were under too much pressure." Jing Hang picked Tsunade up and carefully carried her toward the rest room. Of course she was. First, she had expended a huge amount of chakra saving Nawaki. Then she had endured the Flying Thunder Formation Technique to travel thousands of miles to the Hidden Sand Village. After that, she had completed such a massive operation. From the beginning of this ordeal until now, she had gone more than ten hours without food or sleep, her nerves stretched taut. It would have been strange if she had not fainted.

The moment they entered the rest room, Tsunade slowly woke up. Looking at Jing Hang holding her, at his long blue hair, at his handsome face, everything about him seemed pleasing to the eye. Coupled with the faint scent of pine on his body, Tsunade could not help wrapping her arms around Jing Hang's neck and kissing him directly on the lips.

The sudden attack caught Jing Hang completely off guard. He was already barely dressed, and his body immediately reacted. More than twenty years before transmigrating, plus more than twenty years after—an old virgin who had held back for a full fifty years could not withstand this. He immediately returned the passionate kiss in his arms.

He had not expected that response to be such a big deal. It was like setting a pile of dry firewood ablaze. Tsunade twisted around and directly pounced on Jing Hang, stripping herself bare in a few swift motions and revealing her stunning figure.

Jing Hang wanted to say something, but a wet kiss immediately sealed his lips. Overwhelmed by the double sensation, he could only give up struggling completely. Forget it, what the hell was there to say? They could talk after this was over. With one hand, Jing Hang controlled the iron door of the rest room, closing and locking it himself.