Chapter 819 : Hiruzen's Burden (Patreon)

Outside the Hokage's office, Naruto became increasingly agitated. Once again, he lost his cool and shouted, “It's been two hours! How long will they take? Sasuke needs to be treated immediately!”

Shizune muttered internally, ‘Here we go again.’
She tried to soothe Naruto once again, “It'll be over soon, Naru…”

Suddenly, the door opened and Tsunade and Jiraiya walked out, followed by Shikaku who walked like a sleep-deprived zombie. Naruto was about to scold the two Sannins when he noticed Shikaku and asked curiously, “What happened to him?”

Tsunade replied, “He just needs some sleep. Take me to the old man. I'll inspect him first.”

The Anbu ninja nearby immediately said, “Follow me, Lady Tsunade.”

He immediately led the group to the top floor of Konoha's hospital. As many as twelve Anbu squads were deployed to protect Hiruzen at all times. Relief appeared on their faces on seeing Tsunade finally appear. They quickly allowed Tsunade, Jiraiya and Shizune in the room while Naruto and Tonton were left out once again.

As soon as they entered the room, their eyes fell on Hiruzen, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Isamu immediately brightened on seeing Tsunade. Along with the 12 Anbu squads, one senior medical ninja was also stationed at all times.

Isamu joyfully said, “Lady Tsunade, you've finally returned.”

Tsunade nodded without taking her eyes off Hiruzen. She observed, “He has no external injuries… That's good.”
Jiraiya said, “Yes, Fujin healed his external injuries immediately. It's just his soul which we couldn't heal.”
Tsunade asked in surprise, “That boy is also a medical ninja?”
Jiraiya replied, “Ah, yes. I forgot to mention it.”
Isamu added, “He's quite a good one too. He's still rough around the edges due to low experience and short learning time but is excellent at healing physical injuries. In fact, he's already better at it than us old fellows. He's probably second to only you in this aspect.”

Surprise appeared on Tsunade's face. She muttered, “Interesting. I didn't expect a frontline fighter to specialize in this field at such a young age. I'll meet him later. Let me first check sensei.”

She placed her palm on Hiruzen's chest and slowly inserted Yin chakra into his body. Within a few moments, her expression changed from normal to concerned to grave. Isamu and Jiraiya also became worried but didn't disturb her. Tsunade continued examining him for nearly five minutes before withdrawing her hand.

Jiraiya asked, “How is his condition?”
For a moment, Tsunade didn't know how to answer. After a few seconds, she let out a sigh and muttered sorrowfully, “I have never seen a soul mutilated to this extent…”

The eyes of everyone else in the room widened as Tsunade continued, “Even the ones Dan killed never had their souls damaged to this extent. They would die long before they reached such a stage…”

Jiraiya's expression became grim. He had already expected something like this after witnessing the moment Hiruzen did this. However, Tsunade's solemn tone gave him a bad feeling. He asked, “Can you heal his soul?”

Tsunade didn't answer and instead asked, “You said he did it to himself, right?”

Jiraiya nodded. He had already explained what happened to her in Tanzaku town. Tsunade said, “Most people think the soul is a single continuous entity. To an extent, they're correct as the soul doesn't have different parts like the physical body does. However, if you dive deeper, you'll find that the soul has different components as well.”

Jiraiya, Shizune, Isamu and an Anbu Captain listened carefully as Tsunade explained, “However, researching it is quite difficult. Dan used Granduncle's research as the base to improve his understanding of the soul and improve the Spirit Transformation jutsu. Orochimaru used Dan's research as well to somehow be able to plant small fragments of his soul in some of his curse seals. I thought that his knowledge about the soul would be the greatest. However, it looks like sensei's knowledge isn't far behind his and probably even exceeds his in some aspects.”

Jiraiya asked, “What do you mean?”

Tsunade answered, “Even though he severed 80% of his soul, his soul still has all the necessary components required to sustain itself. That is why it didn't collapse and Sensei still hangs onto his life.”

Relief appeared on the faces of Jiraiya and the rest. He asked, “Does it mean he'll be safe and make a full recovery?”

Tsunade sighed sorrowfully, “It's not that simple. A soul is both brittle and tenacious at the same time. As long as it hasn't collapsed, a soul will heal itself slowly over time. However, that is true for minor damages. Sensei's soul has been damaged to such an extent that even with my help, it is highly unlikely for it to completely recover. Had he been younger, there might have still been some hope. Unfortunately, his physique will only weaken.

I should be able to heal his soul enough for him to regain consciousness. However, he'll likely live the rest of his life in unrelenting agony, his very existence weighed down by the damage to his soul. Living in such a manner would be no different from living in hell.”

Tsunade sighed once again. She was no stranger to living in hell. However, it was an emotional hell for her rather than a physical one. Though injuries, even permanent ones, were rather common in the ninja world, she knew that the pain Hiruzen would experience would be greater than anyone else.

Realizing this, everyone's expression became solemn. She continued, “In addition, due to the damage to his soul, his spiritual energy has weakened heavily, resulting in a significant drop in his chakra reserves. His chakra control will decrease drastically too.

If he wants to battle, he'll have to relearn how to manipulate his chakra with a damaged soul. He'll have an easier time than Orochimaru in doing this, but it'll still heavily restrict him.”

The room grew quiet as everyone understood what Hiruzen would have to bear. Jiraiya and Tsunade couldn't bear to see their old sensei suffer so much. Similarly, the Anbu Captain and Isamu didn't want to see the Third Hokage, who carried Konoha for so long, to experience something like this in his latter years.

Isamu couldn't help but think, ‘Wouldn't it be better to die than live like that? However, this isn't a decision we can make. No, even his students or the council can't decide this. Only Lord Third can. However, there is no way he would choose to die instead of helping the village with his remaining days…’

The Anbu Captain had similar thoughts. Finally, Jiraiya sighed and muttered, “Sensei should have known this. Yet, he did it. He must have wanted to deter Orochimaru from pulling a similar stunt, or perhaps even plans on using the Reaper Death Seal once again if Orochimaru attacked the villager with more Edo Tensei summons…”

Tsunade agreed. She had the same thoughts. Without hesitation in his voice, Jiraiya said, “Heal him.”

However, Tsunade replied, “It's not that easy. I haven't treated souls for nearly a couple of decades. And, I have never healed a soul damaged to this extent. If I make a single mistake, I could damage his soul further, effectively killing him.”

She glanced at the Anbu Captain and ordered, “Go to the Torture & Interrogation Department and ask them to round up all prisoners who have been given the death sentence for committing some heinous crimes.”

The Anbu Captain immediately flickered away. Shizune asked, “Lady Tsunade, you mean…?”

Tsunade nodded and answered, “Yes, I'll damage their souls to the same extent that Sensei's is and try to heal them.”

She looked at Jiraiya and said, “This will take some time. For the time being, I'll focus on healing Sensei. The Fifth Hokage's position can wait.”

Jiraiya replied, “That shouldn't be an issue. We can trust Shikaku. He's even more capable than his father was.”

Tsunade sighed, “Those lazy Naras... I tell you, we should be making them the Hokage. Village will be far more efficient.”
Jiraiya chuckled, “If only they accept…”
Tsunade said, “I'll heal Kakashi and the Uchiha kid first since healing Sensei will take a while.”

Isamu immediately asked, “Is it safe to keep him like this?”

Tsunade nodded, “Yes. For a soul to recover, a healthy body is required. Since Sensei was healed immediately, his body is nourishing his soul irrespective of how negligible that is. So, he's not in any danger for the time being.”

Isamu sighed in relief. While Fujin and every other medical ninja in Konoha including Isamu had come to the same conclusion, hearing it from Tsunade was a huge relief.