"Alright, girl, I heard you've already learned the Mystical Palm Technique. Let's see what you can do."
Tsunade's gaze settled on Aoi with an intensity that made the girl straighten unconsciously. Without waiting for a response, she turned and picked up a white rabbit from a small cage on the table behind her. The animal sat calm in her hands, probably used to being handled.
She pulled a kunai from her pouch and made a clean cut across the rabbit's hind leg. Not deep, but enough that blood started seeping out immediately. Blood welled up immediately, matting the white fur. The rabbit twitched but didn't struggle much as Tsunade set it down on the ground.
"Go ahead," she said, gesturing toward the injured animal, and stepped back.
Looks like she came prepared. Kenji watched the whole setup. Tsunade had brought a live test subject specifically for this evaluation. She was taking Aoi's potential seriously, which was good news.
"Yes, Lady Tsunade!"
Aoi glanced at Kenji first. He gave her an encouraging nod. She took a breath to steady herself, then knelt beside the rabbit and activated her technique.
A green glow gathered in her palms, visible even in the tent's lamplight. She pressed her hands carefully over the wound, and the chakra began seeping into the surrounding tissue. Her movements were controlled, exactly how Kenji had taught her.
The tent went quiet. Everyone was watching.
Jiraiya stood with his arms crossed. Orochimaru's snake-like pupils had narrowed slightly, his gaze fixed on Aoi's hands with that unsettling focus he had. Dan wore a gentle smile, looking pleased. And Tsunade's attention was absolute, tracking every detail of the healing process.
Kenji found his attention drifting to the rabbit itself. The thing really did look pretty tender. It would probably taste decent roasted with some vegetables. He'd had to cook his last pet rabbit before leaving for the front lines. There was nobody around to take care of it, and he couldn't just let it starve. So he added some seasonings and stewed it properly. It hadn't been bad at all.
He quickly shook off the thought and refocused. Aoi's chakra control was solid. She'd been treating wounded soldiers for weeks now, so a minor cut like this was nothing. The wound closed steadily, tissue knitting back together at a visible pace.
Within moments, the rabbit's leg looked completely healed.
"It's done, Lady Tsunade," she said quietly, picking up the animal and holding it out for inspection.
Tsunade took the rabbit and ran her fingers over the healed skin. Her expression shifted, approval clear in her eyes.
"You really do have talent," she said. "For a genin your age to perform Mystical Palm this smoothly is well above average."
She'd actually been impressed the moment Aoi gathered her chakra. The control and stability were exceptional for someone so young with so little formal training.
"Who taught you medical ninjutsu?" she asked, still examining the rabbit's leg.
"Sensei did," Aoi answered honestly.
Tsunade's head snapped toward Kenji, one eyebrow raised. "You taught her? Then where did you learn it? You're from the Yamanaka clan, right?"
She knew the Yamanaka well enough. They were part of the famous Ino-Shika-Chō formation with the Nara and Akimichi clans. Medical ninjutsu wasn't exactly their specialty. She couldn't recall ever hearing about a Yamanaka who practiced medical techniques.
"Yeah, I'm Yamanaka," Kenji confirmed. "As for the medical stuff, I'm self-taught."
"Self-taught?" Tsunade's voice carried clear doubt. Medical ninjutsu wasn't something you just picked up from reading. Without proper instruction from an experienced medic, mastering it was nearly impossible.
"It's true," Kenji said. "My mother left behind a medical scroll. I learned from that. Actually, that scroll was one you gave to her personally, Lady Tsunade."
"I gave it to her?" Tsunade looked even more puzzled and took a half step forward. "Who was your mother?"
"My mother's name was Shizue," Kenji replied. "When I was sorting through her things after she died, I found your signature at the end of the scroll. That's how I knew it came from you."
Tsunade's posture relaxed slightly and something warm entered her gaze as she looked at Kenji.
"Shizue... I see." Her voice softened. "I heard about her death. I'm sorry for your loss. She was one of the few people who supported my medical reform efforts early on. She helped me a lot back then."
Kenji felt a flicker of surprise. She actually knew about his mother's death. He nodded slowly. "Thank you. I appreciate that. And for what it's worth, I agree with you. The medical reform you were pushing for is the right direction. Aoi and I have used medical ninjutsu to save plenty of our comrades on the front lines. Having a medic in every squad makes a huge difference in survival rates. I think what you're advocating will eventually be implemented throughout Konoha."
Something lit up in Tsunade's eyes. A smile crossed her face.
"You think so too? Thank you."
At this point in her life, Tsunade was still dealing with the grief from her younger brother death. She'd been pushing hard for medical reform, and trying to prevent others from dying the same way he had. But the Third Hokage had rejected her proposal. The frustration had been building inside her for a while now.
Hearing someone support her ideas, especially someone connected to a person who'd helped her before, clearly meant something to her.
"I didn't expect you two to have that kind of connection," Jiraiya said, breaking the heavier atmosphere with his usual boisterous tone. He turned to Tsunade. "So? What's the verdict? Does the girl have what it takes?"
"She's definitely got the talent for medical ninjutsu," Tsunade said without hesitation. "I'll teach her myself."
Then her expression darkened. "Though honestly, it's a good thing you found her potential early. What was Hiruzen-sensei thinking, letting a girl with this much medical talent graduate early just to ship her to the front lines? That's wasting a valuable resource."
The tent went silent immediately.
She could get away with openly criticizing Konoha's leadership and even the Hokage himself. She was the First Hokage's granddaughter. Nobody was going to tell her to shut up. But Kenji and Dan were just regular ninjas. They couldn't comment on high-level decisions like that. Better to stay quiet and let the moment pass.
"By the way, Kenji," Tsunade said, her tone lightening again as she turned back to him. "You know medical ninjutsu too, right? From now on, come train with Aoi. You can learn directly from me."
She paused, then added, "And stop calling me 'Lady Tsunade.' I knew your mother. Just call me Tsunade."
Kenji blinked, caught slightly off guard. "Alright."
He hadn't planned on becoming a full-time medic, but learning directly from one of the best medical ninjas in the world? That was incredibly useful for his puppet research. Medical knowledge would help with cell cultivation, bloodline integration, and biological modifications. This was an opportunity he'd be stupid to pass up.
"What happened to your hand?" Tsunade suddenly asked, her eyes narrowing as she stared at his left arm.
"Oh, that." Kenji pulled back his sleeve, revealing the bandaged prosthetic. "I lost my arm in combat. My left arm couldn't be saved, so I replaced it with a puppet prosthetic."
Orochimaru finally spoke up. His tone carried that familiar intrigue he had for anything "innovative."
"I heard from sensei that someone was using puppet techniques to replace missing limbs. So it was you. Bold approach. Merging your own body with a puppet."
"I didn't have much choice," Kenji said with a smile. "I can't exactly live normally missing an arm."
He didn't mention that both his legs were also puppet prosthetics. No need to reveal everything.
"Using puppets as prosthetics... that's actually brilliant," Tsunade said, examining his arm more closely. "This could help a lot of disabled ninjas return to normal life. Maybe even get them back into active duty."
"And it clearly hasn't weakened your combat ability," Jiraiya added, grinning. "I've seen you fight on the front lines. Nobody would guess you're missing a limb."
Kenji smiled and accepted the compliments politely, but internally his thoughts were running in a different direction.
If they knew I wasn't just making prosthetic limbs but also building puppets that can use bloodline abilities, wonder what kind of reactions I'd get.
Still, what mattered right now was building a good relationship with Tsunade. Getting on her good side opened up possibilities he couldn't access otherwise.
Once he'd earned enough trust, maybe he could ask her about sealing techniques related to natural energy conversion. Solving the chakra supply problem for his puppets would probably require advanced sealing knowledge. And Tsunade's grandmother was Uzumaki Mito, from a clan famous for their sealing mastery. There might be records or techniques left behind that could help him.
Worth pursuing.