15. On the Edge of Death
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Naruto wobbled for a moment, and the world before his eyes swirled. Any normal person, would have fallen to the ground at that moment, but Naruto firmly placed his foot on it. He did not allow himself to be unconscious, it would make him die.
His mind during this short fight, came up with many ways to win, he was able to analyze everything, and literally. With his sensory sense, he watched every muscle movement, even the slightest vibration in his opponent's body, and thus was able to calculate where he would be hit. He let the first enemy perfectly stab his blade into his abdomen, between all the organs, so that he would not damage anything. He then clenched his muscles to the absolute maximum and, despite the pain, held it so he couldn't pull it out. By doing so, he also blocked unnecessary blood from flowing out of his body, so he didn't bleed out.
This gave him a good surprise effect and took his opponent out of the game at the perfect moment. However, he did not kill him, at that very moment he turned to him and saw him trying to escape. He was unable to; he was blinded by Naruto, losing all field of vision. He only moved by touching a nearby wall, but stumbled even on his own feet.
Naruto shook his head and began to ponder, if he had been in such a situation, would he also have tried so pathetically to save his life...?
Yes... most likely yes...
But he wasn't the one in that situation, and he certainly doesn't intend to let something like that happen in the future. Naruto really wants to live, perhaps even more than others, so if need be, he will take that opportunity away from others without hesitation...!
He slowly made his way toward his life-saving enemy, his footsteps echoing in the quiet alley. The man's breathing sped up, hearing the approaching death, and his heart almost stuck in his throat. He didn't want to die...!
- P-please...! D-don't kill m-me, I'll do whatever you want...! - begged him in despair. In his miserable attempt to escape, he fell forward on his face and barely managed to turn around terrified.
However, Naruto at that moment pressed him to the ground and sat on his body with a tanto applied to his neck.
The man cried out - B-begging...! I have a wife and two children...!
Naruto furrowed his eyebrows at this unexpectedly - Are you trying to take me at my mercy...?
He, however, did not answer, and from his mouth flew out more words - Spare me, and you will never see me again...! I'll pay you back!
Naruto was silent for a short while and continued to listen to his chatter, but suddenly interrupted him - Tell me everything, who sent you and who is he? - he ordered.
- Y-yes...! - the guy regained hope in his heart and immediately began to tell everything - I don't know his i-name, on the black market real names are not used, so that no one guesses our true identity...! - he admitted and felt the tanto thrust into his neck - W-wait..! In o-our circle he is called "Fish", he even wears the same mask! I do not know the details, but the boss sensed an opportunity in you, however, he prefers to z-kill you and cover it up, rather than if he had to risk...!
That is, the good old, kill and cover up all traces...!
- Where can I find him?
The man remained silent, however, when he felt the blood running down his skin, he replied hurriedly - I don't know! He doesn't contact us directly...! He has people for that, who outsource the work to us!
- I see... Hmm, well, it doesn't matter for now anyway, I'll take care of it in a while, I still have a lot of plans I need to complete....
- W-will you let me go now...! - asked the man pleadingly.
- Yes, sure... - replied Naruto getting up from him - Can you manage to return to your family...? - he asked with feigned concern.
- Ahh... Y-yes...! No problem! - he exclaimed exultantly, probably forgetting suddenly about the lack of field of vision.
However, the next moment, completely unexpectedly, the tanto cut off his head. He died without even being aware of it. It was a mercy given to him by Naruto for the information.
- Tch...! - Naruto suddenly snorted.
Although he had squeezed the muscles in his neck, the injury was very serious and he was in danger of dying if not treated quickly. A lot of blood had already flowed out of the wound and he could feel himself getting weaker and weaker - I won't be able to get to the hospital in time for Tsunade to heal me, plus I would have to explain what happened to me.... - he muttered irritatedly with his tongue.
- Looks like Fate is testing me again.... - he giggled to himself. First his first ever clash with powerful enemies, and now the possibility of death if he does nothing about this injury - Unfortunately.... I have no plans to die...!
He sat hastily on the ground in the lotus position and closed his eyes. He had two wounds in him, one in his abdomen, which did not threaten him too much, and another on his neck. A quarter of the width of his neck had been cut by the enemy's blade, and many important veins and arteries had been severed. Immediately squeezing his muscles, thanks to his recent training with Shizune saved him. He squeezed the muscles so tightly that the blood had no way to escape, but even so, it continued to pour out in streams. He could slowly feel his brain stop functioning properly, due to the lack of new blood supply.
The only solution to the problem is in a technique he has been learning for a long time. Chakra stimulation to grow the right cells, but he hasn't completed it yet! He's been very close since, some time ago, Kabuto got him information that helped him manipulate Chakra using his consciousness, inside his body, without using the Chakra Circulation System to do so! As if he had maybe another week or two to learn.... however, it's too late for that, he must now break through the last blockage and understand the workings of this technique! And the best way to do that, will be to practice on the brink of death!
Either he succeeds or he dies!
Having no choice, he poured his Chakra into the cells in his neck. This was not a simple wound, he had to properly stimulate the cells to grow so that they would regenerate, connecting the two severed sides of the neck. He also had to properly connect the veins and arteries so that the blood could return to the brain as quickly as possible, and he was getting weaker and weaker with each passing second!
- No... this is not going to work, I have to do it another way...! - growled Naruto to himself.
He was not able to stimulate the cells with his Chakra, it's too heavy and the task is too difficult. He had to somehow make the task easier and give himself more time. First he had to block the flow of blood out of his body, but despite being able to control the flow of blood, through the bloodstream, he doesn't know how to stop it in individual veins so it doesn't spill out.
Another nearly impossible task to do at the present time....
But the fear of impending death and the stress caused by it made him do everything he could.
Just like the guy a moment ago who was trying to save his life from Naruto, now, Naruto is pathetically saving his own life...! There were not many differences in them, they were even the same, they both feared death and wanted to live.
However, Naruto's desire was greater....
Drifting on the brink of death, Naruto felt himself achieving enlightenment in his efforts. He stopped the leakage of blood in the average veins and clotted the blood at the cut site. Then, he squeezed the muscles again to the absolute maximum and forced them to stimulate with Chakra.
He wasn't sure how long he tried to stimulate them, but with each passing moment he began to slowly lose consciousness. He didn't even realize when he drifted off....
But despite this, his will was so strong to survive that even while unconscious, it did not let go, and the Chakra continued to stimulate the cells in the wound.
In learning this technique, Naruto mostly stimulated the length of his hair or nails. It was intended to stimulate growth, not regeneration, regeneration itself was only a slight side effect of this, and the technique itself did not focus on that. However, by stimulating the cells in the wound, he could, in theory, make them divide and plug the wound.
Now that Naruto's consciousness drifted away and Chakra, with the residual strength of his will, continued to try to heal him, she changed her approach a bit. Naruto wanted to heal his wound and survive, so Chakra adapted to his will and slowly began to patch up his wound. The speed was visible to the naked eye and in just half an hour, Naruto lost all his Chakra, but fortunately, the wound slowly disappeared, only a sizable scar remained as a reminder of the event.
Twelve hours later, sometime in the afternoon, Naruto opened his eyes and immediately began to analyze his condition. This was a reflex instilled in him by Shizune and Tsunade. He did this even when he was still not fully awake and not too aware of his surroundings.
He touched his neck wound with his hand and felt the rough scar. He couldn't contain his laughter when he confirmed that he had managed to heal it! This was probably the craziest thing in his life!
He lost all of his Chakra because of it, but he was able to undergo a breakthrough in learning how to stimulate cells with his Chakra. He felt that he would be able to repeat it now, unfortunately he didn't have the Chakra at the moment to confirm it with his own eyes.
The next moment, he shifted his gaze to his abdomen, pulled down the top of his disguise and saw a small gap, more like something resembling a line or a straight line.
It was still an unhealed wound, he had lost all of his Chakra to a neck injury, and he left it because it was, not so dangerous. The whole time he was unconscious, his muscles squeezed the wound to keep it from bleeding out. But now, after twelve hours, he felt his muscles dying from pain and fatigue.
He was a little proud of himself for having, such a strong will to live, but he couldn't relish it for too long, as he focused on stirring Chakra. He needed to restore it as soon as possible to heal this wound, and in the process confirm whether he had fully understood the last of the three techniques Tsunade had given him.
Some time later, when he mixed some Chakra inside himself, he began to stimulate the cells to heal the wound.
Even though he was unconscious at the time and personally did not remember the experience, he was now able to repeat it naturally. He didn't focus on it and just did it automatically, reflexively, as if he already knew how to do it.
After just a few minutes, the wound was half healed, but again he ran out of Chakra, he mixed too little of it through lack of time, but that was enough for now.
He got up from his seat and looked at the two dead bodies, he wasn't sure what to do with them, but after a moment's thought, he left them here. This was a neighborhood anyway, where a good number of people were dying without much reason, and two more dead bodies wouldn't make any difference. The Hokage and no one else should take an interest in them and waste time investigating.
He put his top clothes back on and slowly disappeared from the place. He was also a bit lucky that no one noticed him during all this time.
Sometimes it happened that Naruto didn't go home for the night, staying at the Research and Science Department, but the next morning he had to explain it to his parents. Now it was the same, but Naruto still hasn't returned, and it was a little after noon, surely his parents are going through quite a headache, and Minato will probably send an Anbu tracking squad after him soon.
Still, he has no intention of returning for now, he needs to restore his Chakra to full and see if he can remove those scars from his body. He dreads to think what his parents would say about them, he would probably never leave home alone again.
During this time, he has confirmed that it is possible, but his current level of technique for stimulating cells with Chakra, continues to be too low, despite achieving a breakthrough recently. It seems that the technique that Tsunade passed on to him still has great potential for development.
Not wasting the time he gained when he was alone, without the eyes of unnecessary onlookers, he used it to continue learning the technique, a bit more in an extreme way. He had two tanto blades with him that he had taken from dead opponents; despite their poor quality and visible dings that indicated they had been used for many years, Naruto could use them, if only for the moment.
He took one blade in his hand and cut the skin on his left hand. Then, using Chakra to stimulate the cells, he healed the wound in a few moments. He tried this many times, making deeper and deeper cuts, and slowly gained more understanding in this technique.