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Chapter 32 — Treatment: Restoring Young Konan
Konan nodded. She had no secrets from Alex—she'd already been open with him long ago.
The quiet room filled with the soft rustle of clothes as she undid the buttons and let the Akatsuki cloak fall to the floor, then a tight vest and trousers... soon she stood naked before him.
'No matter how many times I see her, she's a masterpiece...' Alex thought, enjoying the view.
Her body was perfect where perfection was due, slender where slender was right. But her skin bore blemishes—one of the signs of decompression sickness:
—purple-red, netlike rashes.
Konan noticed and looked up at Alex, half-expecting. [Alex, can you fix this?]
When facing problems, she instinctively asked Alex. In her eyes, there seemed nothing he couldn't do. He knew many hidden truths of the shinobi world, saved her life countless times, could instantly learn new jutsu, and taught her to speed up learning. She trusted and relied on him.
A doubt surfaced in her: Alex—was he really a contingency left by Nagato's Rinnegan? Rinnegan was powerful but not that miraculous—Nagato still died. Konan buried that suspicion and didn't voice it. As long as Alex wouldn't harm her and would always be by her side, that was enough.
Alex hadn't noticed her quiet doubt—his original excuse had been too flimsy to withstand scrutiny anyway.
He stepped back and unfolded two large white sheets.
[Don't worry, leave it to me. This isn't a big problem.] The black characters on the paper dimmed, and countless needle-fine white threads extended from the sheets, inserting themselves densely into Konan's skin.
Under Alex's control, each white filament pulsed with dark-medical chakra; a faint black light gleamed at every tip. Streams of healing chakra flowed into Konan's body, circulating gently through her vessels without causing pain.
Where the chakra passed, the countless bubbles in her blood vanished like snow under the sun. Konan's sallow face regained color; the tightness eased. It was as if a great stone had been removed from her chest—breathing smoothed and her limbs felt lighter by the eye.
She watched Alex work, her orange eyes brightening with a look she couldn't quite name. Alex had gained another function—healed by his own mastery, acting as a Tsunade-level medical shinobi in Konan's pocket.
Alex poured himself into the treatment. The microbubbles had infiltrated every vein and capillary, some even migrating into cerebral vessels—no room for carelessness. While treating the bubbles, he discovered many latent injuries and chronic ailments—old wounds that had never been fully healed from Konan's decades of combat. Those neglected traumas had accumulated into stubborn chronic conditions.
In youth, they mattered little. But age or a severe illness could let them bloom into ruin. Nearly every shinobi suffered similar long-term scars.
Alex removed all the bubbles, then pressed on to treat old injuries. He increased chakra input and applied Nikuka Saisei—meatification regeneration—infusing massive life force into Konan's circulating blood, vessels, meridians, and cells.
Worn, near-dead cells were infused with new vigor; cell turnover slowed and degeneration decreased. Senescent cells became young once more.
Under Alex's application of Nikuka Saisei, Konan's body visibly changed—time reversed.
She felt warmth and comfort like soaking in a gentle onsen; relaxation and ease spread through her.
She had thought Alex was merely treating decompression sickness. She had not expected this sweeping rejuvenation.
After some time, Alex withdrew the filaments. He looked exhausted; his chakra reserves were nearly gone. But he smiled at the result.
"Alex, are you okay?" Konan asked, concerned—she still hadn't redressed, supporting his now-weak frame.
[I'm fine. It just took a lot out of me.]
Konan grew silent, then poured the small amount of chakra she'd just recovered back into Alex. It was the familiar exchange of reliance between them. Alex immediately protested: [That's enough—you have little chakra left. Don't push yourself.]
Konan paid him no heed and kept giving until she'd emptied her stores. Only then did she stop.
"Hmm?" She noticed something odd. In the past, after exhausting chakra she would collapse; now she still had strength. The exhaustion was less severe. More importantly, her chakra recovery rate had improved—about thirty percent faster than before.
"Alex, what's happening to me?" Konan asked in wonder.
Alex didn't answer. He floated above her and formed a clear wall of water—Suiton: Water Mirror.
A pristine sheet of water showed Konan's reflection perfectly.
She stared, stunned. "Is... is that still me...?"
Her skin shone like milk, with a pearly luminosity. The tiny lines that used to mirror age at the corners of her eyes were gone. Her figure had become firmer and more attractive—like a woman in her early twenties.
Her entire being radiated youthful vitality.
"I... I've become young again..." Konan touched her face in disbelief—soft, elastic, porcelain-smooth.
A burst of joy swept through her. No woman ignores her appearance—even a mighty Akatsuki member. Konan was thirty-five; beyond that, age would start to claim her. To return to her twenties brought a joy she couldn't hide.
Shinnō had used Dark Medical Ninjutsu to reverse age—turning from a decrepit old man into a vigorous youth. Alex, having fully learned the technique, could likewise restore Konan to her twenties.