Talk no Jutsu, Nuzzle Nuzzle!

"What do you think, Tsunade? How do you compare now to how you were during the Second Great Ninja War?"

Asuma stared intently at Tsunade as he asked.

Asuma's sudden move startled Tsunade. She immediately snatched back her sake bottle, took a swig, then sprayed the alcohol in Asuma's face. With a light snort, she said, "Of course I'm stronger now!"

Asuma nodded, then continued courting death as he asked, "Then if it were now, could you save Dan-senpai if he were critically injured?"

Tsunade's body trembled at once. She hurriedly took a gulp of sake, barely suppressing the bloody scene flashing through her mind, then shook her head.

Dan's internal organs had been blown away back then.

Though she was far stronger than before, with his internal organs missing and under those circumstances, she could not have done anything by herself.

That was precisely why she felt so powerless, and why the sight of blood filled her with fear.

After all, she had been known as the greatest medical ninja in the ninja world!

"Then what if it were the First Hokage, your grandfather? Could he have done it?"

Asuma asked again.

Tsunade froze. "Grandfather?"

"Yes!" Asuma nodded. "I heard that the First Hokage possessed unparalleled healing abilities."

Tsunade frowned. "Grandfather did indeed have astonishing healing abilities, but they couldn't be used on other people."

Asuma immediately declared in a resounding voice, "Then, Tsunade, first work hard to become like the First Hokage, then work hard to extend that ability to other people!"

Tsunade was stunned, then demanded, "Do you know just how powerful my grandfather was?"

I know!

No one knows better than I do!

Asuma gave a silent snort, but said aloud, "Tsunade, you are the First Hokage's descendant. His blood flows through you. Not everyone can surpass their predecessors, but as long as you strive toward that goal, you will definitely grow stronger."

"The closer you get to that goal, the closer you will be to achieving your wish!"

"You'll only know whether it can be done after you try. If you don't try, you'll never know!"

Tsunade could not refute him.

And Asuma gave her no time to do so, continuing with another question. "Tsunade, with your current strength and attainments in Medical Ninjutsu, if you wanted your own wounds—or even your internal organs—to regenerate rapidly, what would you need first?"

Faced with a professional question, Tsunade instinctively slipped into work mode. "First, I would naturally need a sufficiently enormous amount of Chakra!"

"Chakra..." Asuma pretended to ponder. "Tsunade, you've already passed your growth period. Your Chakra Amount probably won't increase by much anymore."

"Then is there another way to increase your Chakra Amount?"

Tsunade stared at Asuma for a moment, then nodded. "There is!"

"My grandmother mastered a type of Fūinjutsu called the Yin Seal. It can store away Chakra that isn't needed in daily life."

Clap!

Asuma clapped his hands and laughed. "See, Tsunade? We've already solved one problem."

"Then, once you have sufficient Chakra, the next step is figuring out how to use it to rapidly heal your injuries."

"Which means we must consider that injuries will not conform to our will. In other words, they could appear anywhere on our bodies."

Tsunade considered it. "So Chakra would have to fill the entire body, achieving an effect similar to Yin Healing Wound Destruction!"

As she spoke, she explained to Asuma, "Yin Healing Wound Destruction is a Medical Ninjutsu that requires predicting where an enemy will attack in advance, then placing a certain amount of Chakra at the likely point of impact. Once that spot is attacked, it immediately heals automatically!"

Asuma's eyes lit up. Pretending this was his first time hearing of such a Medical Ninjutsu, he smiled. "There's actually a Medical Ninjutsu like that? Then if an enormous amount of Chakra covered the entire body and Yin Healing Wound Destruction was maintained, no matter which part the enemy attacked, it could be treated rapidly."

Tsunade nodded, but then pondered further. "However, for vital areas, especially organs, to regenerate, Yin Healing Wound Destruction's recovery speed and potency aren't enough. A stronger Medical Ninjutsu would be needed to accelerate cell division."

Asuma immediately said, "I believe you can do it, Tsunade. In my eyes, you are the strongest medical ninja in the ninja world!"

A smile appeared at the corner of Tsunade's lips, but she immediately flicked Asuma on the forehead and huffed. "You little brat, acting so grown-up!"

"Ow!"

Asuma cried out in pain, clutching his forehead.

This time, he was not pretending.

It really hurt!

Tsunade took a drink and walked into the room. Sitting on the tatami, the spirit she had just mustered sank again.

Nawaki and Dan were already dead. Even if she succeeded, there would be no undoing it!

And on top of that, she suffered from Hemophobia.

Not only could she no longer return to the battlefield, it would even be difficult for her to remain a medical ninja.

Watching Tsunade slump back into depression, Asuma felt a toothache coming on.

My Talk no Jutsu is a little weak!

Or is my charm still not high enough?

Asuma secretly glanced at his attributes. His charm had already risen to 56.

Is it because of her Hemophobia, and because even if she succeeds, it won't change anything...

Asuma pondered silently, then walked before Tsunade, snatched the bottle from her, and drained the last of the sake in one gulp. "Even if succeeding now can't bring back Dan-senpai and Brother Nawaki, everything has to be done step by step."

"Like becoming Hokage—you first have to graduate from the Ninja Academy, then become a Genin, a Chūnin, a Jōnin..."

"Maybe one day, we can develop a ninjutsu that brings the dead back to life!"

Tsunade sneered as she got up to fetch more sake. "Kid, stop dreaming. Bringing the dead back to life is completely unrealistic!"

Asuma frowned. It seemed Tsunade did not yet know about Impure World Reincarnation.

But that was only natural. Other than someone like Orochimaru, who would research a sealed Forbidden Technique?

Tsunade continued drinking.

Asuma kept stealing sake from her while chattering away and continuing to unleash his Talk no Jutsu.

"Dreams and wishes wouldn't be called dreams and wishes if they looked so easy to achieve."

"Tsunade, have you heard of the Rinnegan? The legendary eyes that command the power of life and death?"

Before he knew it, Asuma's fake drunkenness had turned into real drunkenness. For the first time in over four years, he missed his evening studies and training.

The next day.

Asuma woke up groggily.

"Huh? When did my pillow become so much softer?"

Asuma thought to himself, then could not resist nuzzling against it.

Tsunade, who had just woken up, had already gone dark-faced. This little brat had actually mistaken her for a pillow.

"Bagua Yalu!"

Tsunade grabbed Asuma by one arm and hurled him outside.

If not for the fact that he was only nine years old, she would definitely have punched him to death.