A Strange Illness

On a day in Year 8 of Konoha, Satomi Senju learned that the two Senju brothers who had gone out to visit Lord Daimyo had returned. She hurriedly left home and rushed to the place where Hashirama Senju lived to pay him a visit.

Hashirama Senju was always kind to people. Although Satomi only came from a branch family, Hashirama did not treat her coldly; on the contrary, he was very fond of energetic girls like Satomi. In Hashirama's view, girls like Satomi were the very proof of a peaceful era. In his childhood, the people around him had never known laughter, and everyone worried about the battles or farewells that might happen tomorrow.

Therefore, Hashirama was happy to spend time with the children of Satomi's generation. When he entrusted government affairs to his younger brother Tobirama, he would put on casual clothes and come into the main clan grounds to play with the children. If an outsider were to see this, they would never believe that this man was the First Hokage who had single-handedly established Konoha Ninja Village.

Satomi hurried to Hashirama Senju's house and stepped forward to knock on the door. After a moment, a maid came out to open it. Recognizing Satomi's identity, she asked, "Is there something you need?"

"I want to see Lord Hashirama. Please pass along the word," Satomi said anxiously.

Seeing Satomi's expression, the maid figured it might be a matter of importance, so she led Satomi into the house to see Hashirama Senju. At that moment, Hashirama was talking with his wife Mito, while his younger brother Tobirama waited outside the door. Once his elder brother and sister-in-law finished exchanging sentiments, Tobirama was going to take his brother off to the Hokage Building to discuss politics.

Just then, Tobirama saw Satomi following the maid into the house and gave a slight start. He also knew this girl Satomi, yet he had no idea why she would come here. If she merely wanted to see his elder brother Hashirama, there was no need to choose this particular time.

Seeing Tobirama, Satomi said somewhat nervously, "Hello, Lord Tobirama."

Unlike the kindly-natured Hashirama, Tobirama's demeanor always made people feel hard to approach. Although Satomi knew that Tobirama was a person who was cold on the outside and warm on the inside, and that beneath his stern exterior lay the same care for the people of the village as his brother Hashirama had, every time she looked at Tobirama's expressionless face, Satomi still could not help feeling nervous, and she could not speak as naturally as she did when meeting Hashirama.

"Satomi, is something the matter?" Tobirama said.

"Zhenghui has fallen ill, and no one in the village can cure him, so I've come to beg Lord Hashirama," hearing Tobirama ask about the purpose of her visit, Satomi said in a rush.

Hashirama Senju was a powerful ninja, and at the same time, he was extremely skilled at using Medical Ninjutsu, able to heal physical injuries without needing Hand Seals. Satomi had seen it with her own eyes before: a child had accidentally fallen and bled, and Hashirama merely stroked the wound site, whereupon the injury vanished without a trace, leaving not even a scar.

"Hm?" At that moment, Hashirama heard the commotion outside as well, and he stood up to pull open the door. Seeing Satomi standing before his younger brother, he laughed heartily, "Isn't this Satomi? What brings you to see me?"

Although Hashirama was already in his early forties, he still laughed just like a big boy, and his appearance was similarly very youthful. Standing next to people of the same age, one could completely tell that he was of a different generation.

"I imagine it's about that boy Zhenghui." Behind Hashirama, a woman with an equally youthful appearance walked out. She was Mito, Hashirama's wife. She smiled gently at Satomi, letting her know she did not need to be nervous.

"Zhenghui?" Hashirama glanced at his wife and asked, "Did something happen to Zhenghui while we were away?"

Mito said, "I heard he was injured while out hunting, and fell ill after returning. We initially thought it was just a common minor sickness, but unexpectedly his high fever suddenly wouldn't break. Satomi hurriedly found people to help treat him, but they were helpless, and I went to take a look as well, with no way to fix it either. However, if it's you, there's probably a chance you can cure him. That's what I told this child Satomi, so the moment she heard the news of your return, she came straight to find you."

"Oh—an illness even you have no way to handle." Hashirama's gaze turned somewhat grave. An illness that even Mito could not treat was bound to be extremely tricky, and it looked like he would indeed have to step in.

"Don't worry, Satomi," Hashirama smiled at Satomi. "We'll go take a look at young Zhenghui right away."

Then, Hashirama looked over at Tobirama. Just as he was about to speak, Tobirama shook his head and said, "Go ahead, Elder Brother. We cannot stand by and ignore a person's life; his illness didn't develop in a single day, and the one who needs Elder Brother the most right now is him."

"Sorry, Tobirama, it really is a lot of trouble for you." Hashirama felt somewhat apologetic toward Tobirama. He was not a man devoid of self-awareness; he knew very well that his own willful behavior caused Tobirama an enormous amount of trouble.

"It's fine. Besides, I am also somewhat curious about this matter—what kind of illness could baffle even Sister-in-law," Tobirama said. He was a person with a strong investigative spirit, and he felt it necessary to figure out the situation with Zhenghui's condition, as it might raise the internal medical standards of the village.

Hashirama apologized to his wife, then took Satomi and Tobirama as they left the Senju Main Family grounds and headed toward a certain place in Konoha Ninja Village—that was where Kazemori Masaki lived.

The Kazemori Clan was an ordinary ninja clan of the Warring States Period. The clan members possessed slender builds and lighter body weight, and they excelled at using Wind Release Chakra. Their combat style focused primarily on speed, defeating opponents by relying on sharp blades of wind-attribute chakra.

The Kazemori Clan and the Senju Clan had once shared a period of fighting side by side. When Hashirama intended to establish Konoha Ninja Village, he went to seek out the Kazemori Clan as a member of the joining ninja clans. However, by the time Hashirama reached the location of the Kazemori Clan, the clan had already perished in an internal clan conflict. If not for Hashirama's timely arrival, Kazemori Masaki, as an orphan of the Kazemori Clan, would not have been able to survive either.

Regarding this outcome, Hashirama could only sigh helplessly. In the Warring States Period, such events were commonplace. He had originally thought that the Kazemori Clan, while not powerful, could not be considered weak either, yet at such a crucial moment, they had become part of those casualties.

This matter made Hashirama even more resolute in his determination to establish Konoha Ninja Village. Afterward, he took the young Kazemori Masaki away with him, and following the establishment of Konoha Ninja Village, Kazemori Masaki—at only eight years of age—represented the Kazemori Clan in becoming one of the joining ninja clans of Konoha Ninja Village.

Hashirama paid close attention to a situation like Kazemori Masaki's, granting him certain preferential treatment. Following the establishment of Konoha Ninja Village, Hashirama pondered how to make the ninja clans cast aside their mutual prejudices, view each other as family, and realize the ideal village in his mind. After a period of thought, Hashirama decided to discard the old customs of the Warring States Period and have the ninja clans intermarry to deepen their mutual understanding, thereby changing the initial circumstances of the ninja village's establishment where the clans harbored suspicions and distrust toward one another.

And as the founder of Konoha Ninja Village, Hashirama's own Senju Clan naturally had to lead by example. To give the other clans confidence, Hashirama had the women of the clan's branch families marry into the various large and small ninja clans of Konoha Ninja Village. Although the ninja clans worried that intermarriage would cause their own secret techniques to leak out, they did not refuse the proactive marriage alliances offered by the Senju Clan—every clan knew the powerful bloodline of the Senju Clan, and if the Senju bloodline were mixed into their own households, it would naturally be all benefit and no harm for their descendants. Under various considerations, and out of trust in Hashirama and his leading by example, basically every clan agreed to let Senju women marry into their families, with the sole exception being the Uchiha Clan.

The Kazemori Clan, which was now left with only a single person, naturally agreed to this arrangement as well. Not only could it strengthen their own bloodline, but it could also be used to revive the clan; what reason did they have to refuse?

The branch-family maiden prepared to marry into the Kazemori Clan was Satomi Senju. Of course, at that time the two of them were still only eight or nine-year-old children and could not possibly marry at that moment, so under Hashirama's witness, the two were betrothed as a fiancée and fiancé, to be wed once they reached adulthood.

As an engaged couple, Kazemori Masaki and Satomi Senju had spent their childhoods together. Kazemori Masaki had a hot-blooded personality and was easily excitable, while Satomi Senju also possessed a restless temperament. Naturally, things were very pleasant between the two at first, but when conflicts arose, neither of them agreed to easily admit fault. Because of this, Hashirama had acted as a peacemaker between the two on more than one occasion.

Eight years later, although Kazemori Masaki and Satomi Senju still bickered from time to time, their affection for each other ran deep. They should have been married by now, but the headstrong Kazemori Masaki intended to achieve better results for himself before coming to wed Satomi Senju, which was why it had dragged on until now.

Regarding Kazemori Masaki's persistence, Satomi was somewhat displeased, but she also felt a sliver of joy. After all, this proved that Kazemori Masaki was a person with ambition; she certainly did not want her husband to be someone who lacked drive.

During the previous hunting trip, Kazemori Masaki had fallen ill unexpectedly, and Satomi had been so frantic she did not know what to do. With Mito's help, Kazemori Masaki had managed to hold on until Hashirama's return. On the way rushing over, Satomi prayed in her heart, hoping Hashirama could cure the illness afflicting Kazemori Masaki.

Arriving at Kazemori Masaki's home, Satomi opened the door, and Hashirama and Tobirama stepped into the house immediately. In the bedroom, a thin young man was lying on the bed, his breathing somewhat rapid, his face covered in sweat. To one's astonishment, there was an eerie pattern on his neck, and moreover, this pattern was slowly creeping upward.

"What is this? A Cursed Seal?" Tobirama noticed this at first glance and frowned slightly. In the Shinobi World, a Cursed Seal was a secret technique possessing binding effects, generally used to protect one's own secrets from being leaked or to restrict an enemy's movements. Why would Kazemori Masaki have this on his body?

"I don't know either; it just appeared all of a sudden." Satomi stared nervously at Kazemori Masaki.

"No, this isn't a Cursed Seal." After observing for a moment, Hashirama's expression grew slightly solemn. Reaching out to touch it lightly, he confirmed his judgment in his heart and said to the two people beside him, "This is a Sage Mark."

Not only Satomi, but Tobirama as well wore a trace of astonishment. Regarding the term spoken by his elder brother, Tobirama said with a sense of disbelief, "Elder Brother, are you talking about that mark which appears when one reaches the Sage Realm?"

Hashirama nodded slightly, and immediately afterward he formed a few hand seals, pressing his fingers against Kazemori Masaki's neck and slowly infusing his own chakra. Under the gazes of Tobirama and Satomi, that eerie pattern rapidly faded away at an astonishing speed.

Once the pattern vanished completely, Kazemori Masaki's breathing gradually grew steady, and the high fever that had consistently refused to subside likewise receded at that moment.