Chapter 158: If the Gift is Refused, Don't Expect to Receive it Again

"Sensei, the analysis reports for these poisons are all done, and we've already got production plans for the antidotes. What do we do next?"

Three days later, in the poison mixing room, Tatsuma, with dark circles under his eyes again, arrived with a stack of analysis reports to Tsunade's side. Tsunade seemed to be in much better condition.

After all, Tatsuma, the assistant, had been doing both the laborious work and subsequent analysis, giving Tsunade some time to rest while Tatsuma had none.

After three days of mixing poisons, Tsunade's mood seemed to have improved somewhat. Upon hearing Tatsuma's words, she didn't immediately respond, but instead gestured to another breakfast on the table.

Tatsuma nodded and set the reports aside, starting to eat breakfast. Suddenly, Tsunade said, "The village is going to convene a Jonin meeting, and I must go back as a representative."

Upon hearing this, Tatsuma understood what being a representative meant. Although the Senju Clan had been disbanded, the Jonin meeting still reserved a seat for the Clan, rather than dividing it into several Jonin seats.

Previously, Tsunade was unwilling to take on the position of representing the Senju, because among the descendants of the Senju, there were still Jonin who could fulfill this position, but now there aren't any.

Apart from some elderly, weak, sick, or pregnant individuals, there were those who couldn't easily step into the limelight, or had positions they couldn't leave. Now, the person most capable of representing the Senju is only Tsunade.

Moreover, judging by her current situation, it's evident that she has already decided to accept it, perhaps she has come to terms with it herself, or perhaps someone in the village has persuaded her.

Tatsuma was also somewhat curious about this. He looked at Tsunade and asked, "Sensei, why did you take on this position?"

Upon hearing Tatsuma's question, Tsunade's expression became very complicated, obviously there were too many reasons, but she didn't choose to blurt them all out. In fact, Tsunade didn't like expressing her emotions to others, except for anger.

Excluding anger, Tsunade would keep many other emotions or thoughts to herself. In this process, they might transform into anger and then be directed towards others. But this time, she didn't do that.

After thinking for a moment, Tsunade chose one of her reasons and said, "As the representative of the Clan, I have the authority to directly submit proposals without the initial review of the Hokage and advisors."

"It seems, Sensei, you already know your ideas won't be well-received by others."

"I don't care whether they'll be well-received or not, or whether they'll be approved. Anyway, this is the final statement of the Senju Clan."

Tsunade said indifferently. She wasn't doubtful that Tatsuma knew her thoughts. Firstly, Tatsuma was smart enough, and secondly, during these three days, she wasn't just mixing poisons. In her spare time, she also started drafting proposals, and there was no reason Tatsuma, who worked with her, wouldn't have noticed. 

Although she knew that the village wouldn't be able to allocate a large amount of funds to support her plan given the heavy losses suffered in the recent defeat, she still had to seize this opportunity to propose it. Because this was the last chance for the Senju Clan. If she missed it, the influence of the Senju Clan in the village would decline rapidly in the future.

If, leveraging the guilt brought upon the village elders by the massive sacrifices of the Senju descendants, they still cannot agree, it will be difficult to have another opportunity in the future.

"When are we going back?"

Tatsuma also understood Tsunade's meaning and didn't oppose or explicitly agree because Tsunade didn't need him to. Tsunade stood up, glanced at Tatsuma, who had almost finished his breakfast, and said, "We leave the day after tomorrow, but today, I need to do something. Will you dare to follow me?"

Upon hearing this, Tatsuma glanced at the rows of test tubes on the workbench and the venom inside, roughly guessing what Tsunade wanted to do. He nodded and said, "No problem, but is it enough with just the two of us?"

Tsunade smiled confidently, took off her forehead protector, revealing her forehead. There was a faintly visible rhombus-shaped seal on her forehead. She pointed to the seal and said, "Yin Seal. It can store excess Chakra. Although it's only been a few months since the last depletion and it hasn't reached its optimal storage, it should be enough if it's just for a big fuss."

Tatsuma withdrew his gaze, clenched his fist, and due to the lack of sleep for a long time, his body had slight swelling, obviously not in the best condition. Nevertheless, he still nodded and said, "I'll take care of setting up traps. Sensei, you attract their hatred to make them fall into the traps?"

"Yes, that's settled!"

After Tsunade finished speaking, she took out one sealing scroll after another. Although the quantity of reagents could be stored in one sealing scroll, it was necessary to be generous with sealing scrolls for the sake of convenient distribution during combat.

Tatsuma, on the other hand, began to refine Chakra with his hands clasped together. With the deepening study of Chakra transformation and Nature Transformation, Tatsuma no longer needed specific seals like the Seal of Confrontation or others to refine or manipulate Chakra.

Any hand seal capable of stirring internal Chakra could serve as a key to invoke Chakra. Clasping both hands together was indeed a hand seal, and it was a very significant one with extremely broad applications.

Although it seemed like clapping both hands together, it was actually forming the Buddhist gesture of clasping hands together, symbolizing the unification of all realms in one body. Whether it was internal Chakra or external energy, it could be manipulated by this hand seal.

However, it's difficult for beginners to use this hand seal because the types of forces invoked by the clasped hands gesture are too diverse. For beginners, it's like finding a long-grain rice among a pile of pearls.

Tatsuma didn't learn the technique of using this hand seal from Tobirama's notes; instead, Jiraiya taught him. During this period, Jiraiya had been studying a new power that required the invocation of external energy, so he often practiced it. Naturally, Minato and Tatsuma also benefited from learning it. Learning this hand seal only through written explanations would be difficult, but with Jiraiya as their sensei, Tatsuma and Minato were able to master it.

By forming the hand seal, Tatsuma refined Chakra, simultaneously stimulating his muscles, nerves, and certain specific organs with Chakra. Soon, the extremely subtle swelling on Tatsuma's hands and face faded away, and the dark circles under his eyes also became lighter.

Although it cost a bit of Chakra, for Tatsuma, it was very worthwhile to adjust his physical condition to the best. Seeing this scene, Tsunade said, "Use less of the technique of applying Chakra to cells in the future."

"If you really want to learn, I do have a corresponding Ninjutsu that I could teach you in the future. However, that technique requires a large amount of Chakra. Even for me now, it's just been developed, and the risks are high. It's up to you to decide."

Tatsuma guessed what technique she was referring to. If he wasn't mistaken, it should be the Creation Rebirth Jutsu, a technique that forcibly accelerates cell division, heals bodily injuries, and allows the user to maintain optimal physical condition continuously.

For Tsunade to use this technique, several other jutsu are needed for assistance. Firstly, the Yin Seal Jutsu is used to store a large amount of Chakra. Then, the Yin Seal Release is used to release the stored Chakra in the body, which is necessary to use the Creation Rebirth Jutsu.

Moreover, just by combining these three jutsu, it still wouldn't achieve the effect of No Seal Regeneration in combat like the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama. To achieve this effect, another technique is needed: the Strength of a Hundred Technique.

The combination of multiple techniques allows Tsunade to maintain her optimal physical condition even during high-intensity battles, akin to the No Seal Regeneration effect of Senju Hashirama.

The risk of this technique lies in its lack of control. Generally, ninjas in combat do not use large amounts of Chakra to heal injuries that do not affect their condition or are minor. Instead, they ignore or handle them simply to preserve more Chakra for combat.

However, after using this series of Ninjutsu, even injuries as minor as a mosquito bite will trigger the body to automatically mobilize Chakra to heal the entire body, resulting in a significant consumption of unnecessary Chakra.

At the same time, the number of times human cells can divide is limited. Once the limit is reached, even the strongest body will collapse. This series of Ninjutsu can be considered a low-efficiency Ninjutsu with high expenditure and moderate gain.

However, on the battlefield or in combat, the "present" is more important than the "future". Moreover, this technique was created by Tsunade, who stands at the pinnacle of Medical Ninjutsu, and the user is also her student, which enables them to mitigate many risks.

Upon hearing Tsunade's suggestion, Tatsuma nodded slightly without a clear reply. Because if he had a choice, this technique would not be his first choice. He wanted to know the differences and the respective advantages and disadvantages between Senju Hashirama's No Seal Regeneration and Tsunade's Creation Rebirth.

After comparing the two, then making a decision. Of course, even in Konoha, even as Hashirama's granddaughter, Tsunade actually knows very little about Senju Hashirama's No Seal Regeneration.

In his past life, Tatsuma had also seen some speculations. There are roughly two directions regarding the origin of Senju Hashirama's No Seal Regeneration. One is the effect brought about by Sage Mode and Sage Art, and the other is the uniqueness of Senju Hashirama's body.

If it's the former, Tatsuma still has a chance to pursue it. However, if it's the latter, the only way would be to attempt transplantation of Hashirama's cells. However, those who have had Hashirama's cells transplanted haven't shown the ability of No Seal Regeneration either.

Seeing Tatsuma's lack of enthusiasm, Tsunade became furious. She had been wanting to teach this kid a lesson for a long time. There isn't much that she can impart to Tatsuma, and yet he isn't even interested. This makes her, as his sensei, feel like she hasn't achieved anything!

Previously, Tsunade had discovered Tatsuma's talent for Enhanced Strength and had taught him the techniques for a while. However, Tatsuma learned too quickly. His deep research into Chakra Control and Chakra transformation was remarkable.

Before Tsunade could fully explain, Tatsuma claimed to have mastered it already, even leaving a remark like "as easy to understand as the Eight Trigrams Gentle Fist".

Tatsuma also noticed the veins popping on Tsunade's forehead. Without the cover of her forehead protector, her killing intent became very apparent. Tatsuma trembled and hastily said, "Sensei, um, I'm actually very interested in that technique for storing Chakra."

"Go learn it from your grandmother! We're leaving now!"

"Alright~"

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