37 Bogus Cheakup

Itsuki and Kuhara reached the Konoha General, the headquarters of Medic corps and the only hospital in Konoha, after being dismissed from Hokage's office. Entering the hallowed halls, both were directed for after mission checkup.

Itsuki looked thoughtful, something Kuhara noted too.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Kuhara questioned.

Itsuki asked, "Don't you think our meeting with Hokage was odd?"

"Huh, what was odd about it?" Kuhara questioned back, looking puzzled. Itsuki just shook his head, sometimes he forgot Kuhara was just a thirteen-year-old.

Thinking back to the meeting, there were many things that did not make any sense to him. Being called by Hokage was expected and he had appropriate measures in place so that Hokage could not overextend his stay in T&I. But Shikaku coming out of nowhere and saving him was totally unexpected. Going against Hokage and elders to do so was even odder.

'Just what did he stand to gain by helping me?' Itsuki was not able to make sense of Shikaku's actions. 'Did he want to use me in some convoluted scheme or as some diversion?' The idea that Shikaku may have helped him out of goodness of his heart never entered Itsuki's mind, he is a little too enlightened in ways of ninjas to hold beliefs like that. And Shikaku's actions during the last war did nothing to ease Itsuki's worries. His reputation as a ruthless strategist was legendary among survivors of the last war.

"Hey, Good seeing you here Itsuki!" An excited voice brought him out of his thoughts. Raising his head, he saw Hana Inuzuka, standing wearing a standard medic's garbs.

Itsuki smiled, "It's good to see you again, Medic Hana,"

"Hana, I am here too," Kuhara grumbled at the side, which was promptly ignored by both of them.

"So I take you are going to do out post-mission medical," Itsuki asked, to which Hana nodded, before continuing, "I have just got my medic badge, so I am mostly kept out of serious business."

A knock interrupted their happy musings, turning around Itsuki saw Kito standing at the door.

"Good to see you Itsuki," Kito spoke with a smile.

"Good to see you too Captain Kito," Itsuki replied, the smile on his face becoming more pronounced. Kito came into the room, prompting both Hana and Kuhara to stand in attention in front of the senior officer.

"At ease." Kito then continued, looking a little embarrassed, "There have been some last-minute adjustments to the schedule so Itsuki will not be taking medical here."

Hana looked a little off-put but accepted never the less.

'Kito is too honest for his own good, he could not even come up with a reliable lie,' Itsuki mused, 'Whoever was conducting my medical must have some business with me.'

"Then who will conduct my medical?"

"Asa Suzuki" Kito replied.

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~Knock~Knock~

"Enter" A elderly voice called Itsuki inside.

"Good to see you again Itsuki." Asa Shizuki, an elderly woman looking in her eighties greeted Itsuki before deftly making hand seals with her hand. Seals covering the room appeared momentarily before vanishing.

Itsuki returned the greeting with a low bow, "It's good to see you again Tsunade-sama."

The elderly face of Asa Shizuki shifted to the young face of Tsunade Senju. Rising from her seat, she moved towards Itsuki, shaking her head in amusement, "Don't sama me here."

With hand's glowing in soft light diagnostic technique, "Hmmm, minor chakra burns, micro-tears in muscle fibers..." Suddenly her eyes narrowed, "These are from overuse of Superhuman strength technique."

Itsuki sighed, "Situation during the last mission was...dangerous."

Tsunade kept on scanning his body, "Whatever you did, went beyond your body's limit." Tsunade pointed at the bed, making Itsuki lay on it before continuing to scan.

"Your legs are suffering more damage," Her eyes narrowed further, "That's certainly not the way to use my technique." Her gaze bore down on Itsuki, "What did you do?"

Itsuki winced a little at her gaze. In a slightly nervous tone, he answered back, "Amm... your technique was a little too recognizable, so I ammm... changed it a little." His last words were barely audible but Tsunade heard them loud and clear.

"You what?" Tsunade shouted in outrage, "Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to modify a technique, much less a high-level one like Superhuman strength?"

Tsunade looked like she was ready to punch him through the wall, and she most probably would have, if he was not her patient at the movement. Itsuki raised his hands, trying to palliate the angry Sannin, "It's not much of a modification, just including the inclusion of white muscle fibers long with pink ones to raise mobility."

He should not have said that because now her anger and worry started to register on his senses even when not actively trying to sense them. Outwardly, Tsunade went quiet and extended her hand, "Show me your technique"

If it was anyone else, Itsuki would have taken offense. Jutsu are guarded very jealously by ninjas, demanding seeing other's jutsu was a very very rude thing to ask, even if you were Hokage. But Itsuki trusted Tsunade. She was the only person other than his mother whom he respected in this life. He knew her good enough that she would not betray his trust and neither will she place village above him if push comes to shove.

From his sleeve, Itsuki unsealed a pack of loose papers held together by a paperclip. Tsunade raised an eyebrow and started shuffling through the pages. She read through each page slowly, sometimes shuffling between pages as if confirming something. Itsuki sat on the bed, doing his best to not disturb her.

Finally putting down the pages after some time, Tsunade massaged her forehead.

"Damn, it's impressive. I did not even think that principle super strength could be used like this, repurposing internal strengthening to speed." Tsunade finally spoke, looking amazed.

Itsuki shook his head, it was not that complicated, or at least it was not for him. Superhuman strength technique used two ways of strengthening which are aptly named internal and external strengthening. Internal strengthening is the use of chakra to precisely superimpose muscle fibers. This is what allowed him to hurl trees.

External Strengthnig, on other hand, is more complicated. It is a precise release of chakra through tenketsu and reabsorbing back some of the released chakra to dampen the backlash. This is what allowed Tsunade to shatter boulders with a flick of her finger.

"The only modification I did was to change the muscle fibers strengthened during internal strengthening to white fibers responsible for speed instead of those responsible for strength. It's not that impressive." Itsuki replied, looking a little embarrassed.

Tsunade raised her head from the sheet to look at Itsuki, before speaking, "It is good, but a little too good. The speed and agility it would grant will be beyond what your mind could keep up with."

Itsuki looked at Tsunade, puzzled, "What do you mean? I faced no such problem."

Tsunade looked incuriously at Itsuki, making him feel uncomfortable.

"Hahahaha" Tsunade suddenly burst out in loud laughs, much to the bewilderment of Itsuki. Tsunade's mood swings were well known, despite being the leading expert in all disciplines of medicine including psychology, Tsunade herself was not the most stable of individuals.

"Hahaha, you did not even notice." Tsunade finally got her laughter under control.

"Well kid, looks like I was worried over nothing," Tsunade said with a smile. Itsuki fought to keep the smile off his face. There is nothing more uplifting than being acknowledged by your personal hero.

"Now shoo kid, leave me alone." Tsunade waved her hand carelessly. Itsuki did not leave but took out a scroll, "I need a favor."

He rolled out the scroll and unsealed its contents. With a flourish of smoke, a severed hand appeared in the sealing circle.

"Can you analyze it thoroughly?" Itsuki asked.

Tsunade picked up the hand, not at all disgusted by the severed limb. Despite her hemophobia, she had seen much worse in her days as an active medic.

Analyzing it carefully, she noticed that instead of flesh, the hand was made of some type of very strong fibrous substance and resembled vine wood more than anything. She had questions about what it was but held her questions. She would analyze the hand first before confirming her doubts from Itsuki.

"Sure thing kid. Anything else?" Tsunade asked, not taking her eyes off the severed limb.

Itsuki replied, a little bashful, "Yeaah, can I have Shadow clone Jutsu?"

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Author Notes-

This chapter turned out a little different from what I planned, but the interactions here will set the stage for this arc. And Byakughan princess will be introduced in the next chapter so stay tuned. And if some people felt that Itsuki is showing more emotions in this chapter than usual, they will be right. This arc plans to build Itsuki's character in more detail. And Itsuki, despite being mostly driven by cold hard logic, is somewhat of a Tsunade fanboy, just a little bit.