Konoha: Tsunade, I Am the Hokage! [20]

Kagenori's entire arm was dyed red with blood.

He hadn't expected the entry-level form of that jutsu to drain him so severely or to cause such devastating backlash. By the end, he couldn't even retreat on his own.

Shizune quickly examined him, anxiety flooding her voice. “He needs the hospital immediately!”

“No hospitals!” Kagenori bit through the pain. “If we go there, Tsunade-sama’s condition will get exposed. Just give me basic treatment here—enough to close the external wounds.”

“This…” Shizune hesitated briefly, then realized he was right.

Beside them, Tsunade stood frozen, still trapped in the grip of fear.

Shizune clenched her jaw. “Alright! I’ll do it!”

Yet cold sweat already covered her forehead.

She had studied plenty of medical theory and ninjutsu, but her chakra reserves were limited, and she lacked practical experience. A treatment like this posed a real challenge.

“I’ve been learning basic medical ninjutsu for about half a month,” Kurenai quickly offered. “Can I help?”

“Yes!” Shizune brightened immediately.

Kakashi stood to the side, silent.

He'd never practiced medical ninjutsu and knew he'd be useless here.

Shizune began instructing Kurenai on what to do, clearly outlining her role. She didn’t need Kurenai to perform the full healing; just stimulating the cells with medical chakra would ease her burden considerably.

Time slowly crawled by.

Kagenori’s wounds gradually closed.

Meanwhile—

Shizune’s forehead grew slick with sweat, her face pale from exertion.

After some time—

“Kakashi, lend me a hand,” Kagenori said weakly.

“What?” Kakashi immediately stepped forward.

Kagenori held out his uninjured hand, forming half of the Dragon hand sign.

Kakashi instantly understood. He infused chakra, completing the other half.

Then came Ox, Hare.

“[Water Release: Wild Water Wave]!”

With both of them performing the hand seals, the jutsu wasn't fully stable—only a thin stream of water emerged, too weak for combat.

But—

All Kagenori wanted was to wash away the blood.

His arm was now mostly healed externally.

“Let's move somewhere else.”

“Alright,” Shizune nodded, understanding immediately. She and Kurenai helped Tsunade away from the bloodstained area, taking her where the signs of injury were out of sight.

A long time passed.

Finally, Tsunade recovered enough composure to begin treating the internal damage in Kagenori’s arm herself, her expression grim.

Afterward, a prolonged silence followed.

“As you can see,” she finally spoke softly, her tone heavy, “in my current state, even basic medical ninjutsu is beyond me.”

No one spoke.

Tsunade clearly suffered from severe PTSD after the war—something that couldn’t easily be healed by comforting words alone.

If a few simple phrases could fix her, Jiraiya would have succeeded long ago.

Kagenori stood by, silently sighing to himself.

But Tsunade soon composed herself again—or perhaps she’d already done so, and her earlier silence had simply been a moment of reflection stirred by Kagenori’s injury.

She shook her head, turning serious. “Enough about that. Kagenori, how did you manage to perform that jutsu earlier?”

“Your physical strength alone wouldn’t have that explosive power, so I observed carefully and figured it must be chakra-based,” he explained quietly. “I knew I couldn’t actually force you out of the circle, but I thought if I could at least mimic your power temporarily, I could distract you enough to succeed with an explosive tag.”

Kagenori finished, lowering his head shamefully.

Even Kakashi’s mask couldn’t conceal his shock at that statement.

He observed—

And then he just figured it out?

Well, strictly speaking, he’d taken a gamble—had he failed, the explosive tag was his backup. And indeed, there had been an explosion.

Tsunade shook her head, sighing. “Your idea was clever, but reckless. Techniques involving rapid chakra buildup can cause irreversible harm if mishandled. You shouldn’t just imitate such techniques carelessly. You’re fortunate it worked this time.”

Of course, I only used it because I’d already learned it, Kagenori thought.

Outwardly, he merely nodded respectfully. “I was wrong!”

Tsunade glared briefly but said nothing further. After all—

To grasp the mechanics behind her jutsu merely by watching, and successfully use it—that level of talent was absurdly rare.

This kid had an extraordinary knack for intuitive learning.

In her memory, only one other person had matched that level of talent:

Orochimaru.

Her thoughts drifted briefly into the past.

Kakashi, meanwhile, reflected silently on the battle.

Sometimes he wondered if he were the actual rookie genin here instead of someone who’d been a chūnin for over a year.

The atmosphere grew heavy.

“Kagenori-kun, you’re amazing. I couldn't learn something like that even if I wanted to,” Shizune said admiringly.

Tsunade replied sternly, “Your body’s too weak, and your chakra control isn’t strong enough. If you try something like this, you’ll end up as badly as him—or worse.”

Shizune sheepishly stuck out her tongue.

Tsunade went on to lecture further. Naturally, everyone would love to learn a jutsu like hers, but the prerequisites were incredibly high.

Finally, she turned toward Kurenai.

“Want to give it a try?”

“My abilities are far from adequate,” Kurenai admitted respectfully. “But I would still like your guidance.”

Tsunade nodded lightly. “One more doesn’t hurt.”

She drew another circle on the ground.

Kurenai started with genjutsu, easily broken by Tsunade, then moved on to combining clones, genjutsu, and explosive tags in attempts to distract or overwhelm her.

Yet every time, Tsunade saw through her tactics effortlessly and swiftly countered.

Before long, Kurenai surrendered in defeat.

“Alright, gather around.”

Tsunade sat cross-legged comfortably. After the intense combat and earlier trauma, she’d completely calmed down and returned to her relaxed demeanor.

“Kakashi, your top speed surpasses Kagenori’s, but he controls his better and adapts it flexibly in battle. You need improvement there,” Tsunade said thoughtfully. “If your future style leans toward assassination—swift kills—I suggest you master a high-damage, pinpoint-strike ninjutsu.”

“Yes, thank you, Tsunade-sama,” Kakashi replied earnestly.

Tsunade turned to Kagenori, her tone suddenly grave. “You have exceptional talent and ideas. But developing and experimenting with new techniques comes with serious risks. You must strengthen your foundational knowledge and physical conditioning.”

“Yes, I’ll do my best,” Kagenori promised sincerely.

Knowledge was precious, and many clans safeguarded their techniques like closely guarded secrets. Learning them wasn’t simply a matter of determination.

Satisfied, Tsunade then softened as she turned to Kurenai. “Kurenai, you have the same problem as Shizune—your physical foundation is weak. However, your chakra control is even better than hers. If you're truly interested in becoming a medical-nin, you must strengthen your basics.”

Medical ninjutsu wasn't just about techniques—it required rigorous training and deep understanding.

Kurenai nodded earnestly. “I've already begun studying.”

“Good. Later, I’ll have Shizune share her notes with you. Learn from each other.”

Stretching lazily, Tsunade sighed. “It's been a while since I’ve loosened up. Even fighting you three brats took some effort! I’m heading out—continue your training on your own.”

With that, she vanished in a flash.

Shortly after, at the Hokage Tower, Tsunade stormed unceremoniously into Hiruzen Sarutobi’s office, slamming the door open.

“Tsunade?” Hiruzen appeared briefly surprised before regaining his calm, smiling warmly and gesturing for her to sit.

She slapped the desk bluntly, her attitude like a debt collector’s. “Old man, my Great-Uncle’s notebooks—you haven’t stolen them all away, have you?”

“Well…” Hiruzen’s lips twitched awkwardly. He coughed lightly. “Those documents have been sealed.”

“I understand sealing forbidden jutsu, but what about his other, regular notes? Were they sealed too, or did someone squirrel them away for personal gain?”

Her pointed question clearly targeted Danzo, not Hiruzen himself.

Hiruzen hesitated awkwardly.

“No such thing. Danzo simply felt they were valuable and secured them with the ANBU. If you need them, I’ll have him return them. Which notes exactly?”

“Just bring me the basics. You guys aren't using them anyway,” Tsunade replied without ceremony.

Hiruzen nodded slowly, suddenly understanding her true intentions.

That child!

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T/N: i was thinking of dropping but this is jsut very different from my other tl's so i think ill continue tling it

This is a fan translation of 木叶：纲手，我才是火影！by 卖身葬节操 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!