Shuichi Takemoto stood up, looking at the sky with a listless expression.
He said to his son and granddaughter, "We old folks don't have many years left to live. By the time we're all dead, Konoha will probably go to war with the outside world. At that time, the family will depend on you."
"Father, what should I do then?" Masamasa Takemoto asked anxiously. "Should we go and pledge allegiance to the Hokage?"
Shuichi started laughing, his face filled with a grim smile.
"My foolish son, the interest group around the Hokage is already large enough. Each spot is already taken. If you go to them for support, you'll only be used as cannon fodder."
Anna Takemoto spoke up. "So we need to support our own Hokage?"
"That's right." Shuichi looked at Anna with satisfaction, while glaring at his foolish son.
"Yukihito explained the situation to us years ago and even presented an effective solution. For this, he sacrificed more than half of the clan, even his own son's life."
"He did very well. Not only did he gain the trust of the ninja clans, but he also gave the Butterfly-users a decent reputation among the commoner ninjas. These are the foundations for the little one."
"And his performance in the underground training ground has further boosted our confidence."
"As soon as he comes of age, whether I'm still alive or not, you must push him to the top with all your might. The other clans will do the same."
Masamasa looked defeated and said, "I understand. But what if he really becomes Hokage and then kicks us aside?"
Hearing this, Shuichi's eyelids began to twitch, and he stared at Masamasa with a look that could eat people.
After a long while, he said to Anna, "Your father is what he is. From now on, the family is in your hands, Anna."
"I understand."
...
Another year passed.
Gisei Shiraishi was ten years old.
He had a hurried year, spinning like a top every day without a break.
During the day, he worked at the hospital and studied medical knowledge on the side. At night, he had to continue his experiments and the development of his ninjutsu.
He only slept for a few hours each day, becoming very thin. He often had a strange smell about him and had no time to groom himself, looking slovenly.
The results, however, were not ideal.
Eating did indeed weaken the effects of medical ninjutsu and replenished life force, but the effect was very slow.
Gisei calculated that the increase in cellular energy from a normal person's daily food intake was almost negligible.
It was definitely not feasible to use ordinary diet therapy to increase Eisawa's life force.
Moreover, Eisawa had a drinking problem, and his gastrointestinal function was already very weak, unable to support a large amount of food intake.
He had asked Eisawa to quit drinking more than once, but unfortunately, he couldn't control his uncle.
When Eisawa was pushed to his limit, he would even hang him up and beat him.
Gisei was very melancholic. He had found a way, but his uncle wouldn't cooperate with him at all.
He had already explained it clearly to Eisawa, and had even shown him his research results.
But Eisawa turned a deaf ear.
When a person wants to die, no one can stop them.
It was likely that Eisawa was still yearning for the life of becoming a ninja butterfly.
Gisei had now taught Eisawa how to use medical ninjutsu and told him not to use it in front of outsiders.
Eisawa learned it quickly; after all, their clan had always been good at chakra control.
As for why he taught Eisawa medical ninjutsu, it was because if he didn't know medical ninjutsu, he couldn't control the cell division in his own body.
The ninjutsu he was currently developing, which involved eating a large amount and digesting it quickly, had to be controlled by the person himself.
In the end, it still came down to Eisawa himself having to work hard on developing medical ninjutsu.
He had now basically completely understood the principles of medical ninjutsu.
The most fundamental aspect of medical ninjutsu is chakra control ability, and this control ability determines the upper limit of a medical ninja.
Some people need twenty minutes to heal a wound, while others only need ten minutes. The difference lies in chakra control ability.
Eisawa did not lack chakra control ability; what he lacked was the will to live.
If Gisei's ninjutsu development was successful, but Eisawa's medical ninjutsu did not reach the minimum required level, it would still be all for naught.
But not only was his ninjutsu development slow, Eisawa's will to live also remained low.
Gisei just couldn't understand it. Even a dog knew to chew on a bone. If you stuffed the bone into Eisawa's mouth, he would probably spit it out.
What a headache.
Gisei thought to himself as he desperately stuffed food into his mouth.
He was using his own body for experiments, using chakra to digest the food. But because the jutsu was incomplete, the more he ate, the more he had to go to the toilet.
He even felt that there was something wrong with his stomach.
Recently, he had been having diarrhea almost every day.
By the way, he was still a hospital orderly. Anna had become a doctor half a year ago and now had her own office.
Gisei didn't take the exam. He had his own goals and didn't care what job he was doing.
His stomach rumbled again, and after a while, Gisei came out of the toilet looking like he had collapsed.
He felt that he should go find the Akimichi clan. Their ninjutsu of eating large amounts of food to store chakra should be helpful to him.
But this kind of thing was probably the most fundamental secret technique of the Akimichi clan.
It was impossible for them to show it to him. If he really went, the most likely outcome was that he would be carried out.
Actually, by now he had also realized why his ninjutsu development was so slow. The most fundamental reason was still insufficient chakra control.
Gisei didn't know what level his chakra control ability was at. But this rapid digestion ability required mobilizing all the cells in his body to draw energy from food, and the required chakra control had reached a terrifying level.
Perhaps only Tsunade, after becoming Hokage, would have this kind of control ability.
The more he developed the ninjutsu, the less confident he became. The feeling of being powerless had appeared more than once.
If only the butterfly seed had fully matured. Thinking of this, he began to communicate with the butterfly seed.
"Jo, is there a way to accelerate the formation of your soul?"
"There is, but there will be side effects."
"Tell me."
"Originally, I absorb your life force very slowly. If I suddenly accelerate, it will further shorten your lifespan."
"How much will it be shortened by?"
"Five years. Actually, you don't have to be in a hurry. I will form my own consciousness in at most three more years, and your current chakra control ability is actually improving."
"At most by next year, your ninjutsu will definitely be successfully developed."
Next year. A bitter smile appeared on Gisei's face.
This year was already the fourth year. Next year, Eisawa would die.
What's the use of his ninjutsu even if it is successfully developed?
"I understand. Don't worry about me, you can accelerate."
"Okay, it will be a little painful. Bear with it."
After exiting the consciousness space, he sat cross-legged on the ground.
Suddenly, a sharp pain spread from his heart throughout his entire body in an instant.
Cold sweat trickled down his cheeks, and Gisei clenched his jaw tightly.
In less than a minute, Gisei began to roll on the ground.
"This is... a little... painful... I'm going to kill you!"
This pain was like a worm eating away at your heart bit by bit. Gisei had a delusion that his internal organs had already been hollowed out, leaving only an empty shell.
Ten minutes later, Gisei got up from the ground, trembling.
He took two weak steps and then suddenly collapsed to the ground.
His eyes were shut tight, and he had passed out.
When he woke up, it was already the next afternoon.
Eisawa was sitting by the bed, staring at him intently.
"You're finally awake. What on earth happened?"
Gisei felt uncomfortable all over, like there was a fire burning in his throat.
"Water... Uncle, water."
Eisawa quickly brought him water, and Gisei gulped it down.
Feeling a little better, he then looked at Eisawa.
"There was a problem with the ninjutsu development, it's nothing major."
He couldn't possibly tell the truth about letting the butterfly seed accelerate its consumption of his life force.
Eisawa narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "I believe I told you not to develop that kind of ninjutsu anymore."
Gisei was silent for a moment before saying, "You're the only family I have left, how could I give up? You're dying."
Eisawa's expression softened slightly, and he sighed, not knowing what to say.
The two of them fell silent.
"Actually, you know it yourself. Even if that ninjutsu is successfully developed, I might not be able to use it."
"And at most, this will only extend my life a little. The result won't change. I will still die."
Eisawa reached out and patted his head. "I don't see you as a child anymore. You can't always rely on me; sooner or later, you'll have to face the storms of life alone."
Gisei remained silent, not saying a word.
He knew that what his uncle said was not wrong.
He had long known that Eisawa's chakra control ability was not as good as his own.
It was unrealistic to expect Eisawa to learn a ninjutsu that he himself found difficult to use.
Even if he did learn it, he wouldn't have the time.
A body on the verge of death couldn't possibly replenish its life force in a short period of time. In the end, it would just be a case of the body being too weak to be nourished.
The little hope he had exchanged for five years of his life had just been scattered by the wind.
It was just like a petulant child.
Not like himself at all.