“Have you ever sidered fighting blindfolded?”

  Kyoichi asked.

  “Blindfolded? But I’d still know, wouldn’t I?”

  Tsunade froze for a moment.

  You little devil!

  Her dition sychological—she wasn’t just afraid of seeing blood, she could se.

  “You could use genjutsu to deceive yourself,” Kyoichi tinued.

  Tsunade felt something was off, but at the same time… it kind of made sense.

  Fighting blindfolded, usisu to trick herself—

  This wasn’t overing the fear.

  It was dodging the problem entirely.

  But…

  It could work.

  At the very least, she wouldn’t be pletely paralyzed the moment she saw blood.

  The bigger issue, however, was still medical treatment.

  Fighting was ohing.

  What about healing?

  She shook her head. With Konoha in turmoil, there was no way she could stay in the vilge and not go to the battlefield.

  And if she refused to treat the wounded, what would the other shinobi think?

  If her hemophobia became publiowledge, it would deal a massive blow to morale.

  “For battlefield treatment, just have Katsuyu refrain from sharing her vision with you. Let her rey the injuries as simple reports instead.”

  “…That’s an option?”

  Tsunade was stunned.

  Kyōichi’s solutions were unorthodox, but—

  Katsuyu had worked with her for years.

  Transmitting basic medical reports without showing the injuries was feasible.

  She walked a few steps, lost in thought.

  “You really have a talent for teag. How… how the hell do you even e up with this stuff?”

  Tsunade was vinced.

  Her hemophobia wasn’t cured, but the problem artially solved.

  It was weird.

  Really weird.

  Of course…

  The hardest part would still be self-hypnosis. That was something she’d have to figure out on her own.

  She sighed, feeling a headache ing on.

  “This is exhausting. Let’s go get a drink! The sake you gave me st time wasn’t enough—I’m gonna drink my fill today! And then… I’ll hit the gambling tables! Heh, I’ve been saving up—I’ll finally make back my losses!”

  “Sounds good. We’ll join you.”

  Kyoichi grinned.

  Shizune looked fused.

  Wasn’t Kyoichi-sama against gambling?

  But…

  Sih Kyoichi and Tsunade were going, she had no choice but to follow along.

  After drinking their fill, the group headed to the o.

  Not long after—

  Tsuormed out in frustration.

  “Ugh! This is no fun!”

  Gambling was one of the few pleasures Tsuill indulged in.

  But—

  When you’re stuck losing every bet while the two lucky bastards o you keep raking in winnings, to the point where you have to borrow money just to keep going…

  Well, there’s nothing fun about that.

  Damn it!

  They must’ve beeing!

  ---

  The Day

  Early in the m, Kyoichi and Tsunade arrived at the hospital.

  It wasn’t wartime, so there weren’t many injured shinobi. Most of the operating tables were empty.

  If Tsunade hadn’t been preoccupied with gambling, they could have scheduled the surgery yesterday afternoon.

  “Tsunade, could these kids observe from outside? You know how crucial experience is for mediinjas.”

  If it had been anyone else, Tsunade would have ft-out refused.

  But…

  The one asking was Sarutobi Biwako, the Third Hokage’s wife.

  Standing beside her were several children, all around ten years old—including Nohara Rin and Yūhi Kurenai—the geion of aspiring mediinjas.

  Tsunade shook her head. “I’m not the lead surgeon this time. I’m only assisting Kyoichi.”

  “Sensei is the lead?”

  Kurenai’s eyes lit up.

  Kyoichi had taught her mediinjutsu, and while she had seen him demonstrate teiques before, she had no real grasp of his full medical capabilities.

  Could it be…

  Was he even more skilled than Lady Tsunade?

  None of the childrehe full story. Even Biwako was somewhat fused.

  But—

  She had a feeling there was more to this thahe eye.

  Biwako quickly followed up, “With yuidance, Kyoichi should have no trouble with this surgery. And it would be a valuable learning experience for the childrehem watch.”

  Tsuuro Kyōichi. “It’s up to you.”

  “No problem, let them observe. It’s just a minor procedure.”

  Kyoichi smiled.

  This was his first formal surgery, but at this point, he had to stay calm—

  Otherwise, the patient, Gekkō Hayate, might panic even more.

  “Hayate, don’t worry. It’s a small operation. Trust in your teacher and Lady Tsunade.”

  “Mm!”

  Hayate nodded firmly.

  Sihere were already so many people here, Tsunade didn’t mind adding one more—so Shizune joined as well.

  Ihe operating room, Kyoichi took the lead in the ter, while Tsunade and the medical team stood on the perimeter.

  “Make a small incision first.”

  “Got it…”

  Kyoichi formed a seal, and a chakra scalpel materialized.

  Then—

  A gentle slice.

  A thin, precise incision appeared.

  Tsunade g Kyoichi’s hands.

  Steady. Extremely steady.

  She was relieved.

  For a surgery like this, as long as the lead surgeon had steady hands and knew what they were doing, there wouldn’t be any major issues.

  And as for knowing what to do—

  That’s what I’m here fht?

  She began guiding the procedure.

  Kyoichi followed her instrus, and the surgery proceeded smoothly.

  But then…

  As time passed, Tsuiced something.

  Kyoichi didn’t actually need her help.

  Incision. Identify the diseased area. Extra jutsu.

  Fwless execution.

  She gradually fell silent, no living instrus.

  Even Biwako was stunned.

  Kyoichi’s profi mediinjutsu… was this advanced?

  It was hard to believe.

  A—

  Gekkō Hayate’s ied lung tissue was being gradually treated.

  The accumuted toxins and diseased areas were being precisely removed.

  Even…

  “This part requires extra precision. Keep your hands steady—

  If you cut too much, the patient recover, but it will still leave some long-term effects.”

  “It’s best to ralize the toxins first. Cutting should be the st resort.”

  He still has time to expin while operating?!

  Unbelievable…

  Tsunade realized that she wasn’t really needed here.

  “All done!”

  The st trace of poison was extracted.

  Kyoichi waved a hand, signaling for the medical team to take over the finishing steps.

  At this stage, any mediinja could hahe post-surgery care.

  He withdrew his chakra scalpel and turo Tsunade.

  “Did I miss anything?”

  “No need. You did great. In fact… you even took over my part.”

  Tsunade chuckled.

  She had thought Kyoichi was capable of pleting the surgery.

  But after watg him work, she realized she had uimated him—

  Kyoichi could have hahe entire procedure alone. Effortlessly.

  Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to operate with such precision while simultaneously teag and expining his process.

  This guy…

  He really has a gift for teag.

  She sighed, then turo the young observers.

  “Kyoichi skipped a few steps here because he’s strong enough to find the problem area quickly. When you perform surgery, you won’t be able to do that, uand?”

  “Yes!”

  Everyone present was a medical student.

  They uood—

  Just because they watched Kyoichi do it didn’t mean they could replicate it.

  His teique was textbook perfect.

  But it wasn’t something they could simply copy.

  “Kyoichi, I have quite a colle of medical books and case studies. If you’re ied, feel free to visit the hospital anytime.”

  Biwako smiled brightly.

  As the Third Hokage’s wife, she knew more than most.

  Kyoichi had signed a tract with Katsuyu.

  He also had incredible medical abilities.

  Two medi capable e-scale healing in Konoha!

  Just thinking about it was exg!

  Gcell