“Where’d you disappear off to? I was going to introduce you to Katsuyu after she finished with the patient but you were nowhere to be found?” Tsunade asked curiously.
“I thought I sensed a chakra beast and wanted to check it out before it vanished.” I lied without any hesitation.
“Hmm, well next time at least give Shizune or me a heads up before you go off on your own.” she said easily believing what I said since it fit me perfectly.
Thankfully she didn’t insist on forcing an introduction between me and the slug sage or things would have gotten very complicated. I was improving by leaps and bounds under my sensei in chakra control, taijutsu, iryonin jutsu and even reputation. That said though I still didn’t feel comfortable revealing that I was a sage at this point. Funnily enough my regular ninjutsu skills were still abysmal since my sensei didn’t have many jutsu outside of the medical field memorized.
Not to say I didn’t learn a few new ones like multishadow clone jutsu, mudslide jutsu, rampart jutsu and Iron skin jutsu. Multishadow clone jutsu allowed me to summon more than one shadow clone at a time rather than needing to summon multiple one at a time. It was basically the exact same as the normal jutsu but with an extra step. Mudslide jutsu was an earth release jutsu that allowed the user the turn their chakra into a huge volume of mud that they could spit out of their mouths like it was a water style jutsu. Rampart jutsu created a thick wall of stone that was purely defensive in nature and quite good at it too. The iron skin jutsu was an earth release that basically just hardened ones skin and made them resistant to elemental damage in exchange for speed.-
To be honest iron skin jutsu was damn near useless for me due to how stupidly durable my body already was and the trade off of speed was the final decider on me mastering the jutsu and then promptly filing it under “never to see the light of day again” in my list of known jutsu. Adding sage chakra to the jutsu only made the effects that much more potent with the trade off being even worse as I was rendered nigh stone still, it simply wasn’t worth keeping.-
The other two jutsu though were wonderful things when supplied sage chakra as one created a huge swamp of deep mud and the other creates a massive stone wall that I was willing to bet could tank an A rank jutsu. My sensei knew a few water release jutsu as well but refused to teach them to me since she was going off of my recorded affinities. There was nothing for it unfortunately as I couldn’t exactly tell her that I actually had all the natures without revealing why that is. This left me with no choice but to wait and learn whatever she taught me.-
Once I finally mastered mystic palm jutsu I began to improve by leaps and bounds with the rest of the iryonin jutsu as that was the foundation for pretty much everything else. The difficulty of what I was allowed to treat also got more and more severe as we moved to a larger city to have access to the hospital there. I moved from bruises and cuts to gouges and broken bones in about two months. I also got really good at treating poison as ninjas came in with various types in their system that gave me a whole lot of practice.
“Thank you young man.” an old woman said with a smile as I treated the wounds a feral cat gave her that had gotten infected.
“It’s fine ma’am I am just doing my job.” I said without looking away from my work as a bright green glow came from my hands.
“There, all done.” I said as I finished up and the woman didn’t even have any scars to show for it.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to meet my granddaughter? She really is a lovely girl.” the old woman asked for what had to be the fifth time this treatment.
“I’m flattered ma’am but I really am not interested in any sort of relationship at this time.” I said calmly.
My sensei had made it abundantly clear that the only time I was allowed to get snappy or angry with a patient was if they crossed a line or would be stopping me from moving on to another patient. I REALLY wanted to get angry though as this wasn’t the first time someone tried to play matchmaker with me, not even fucking close. I lost count somewhere around a hundred and twelve. –
“Ah~ I remember when I used to have patients try that with me. Shizune still has suitors lining up for a chance to marry her. I scared off most of mine long ago.” Tsunade said with a teasing smirk from a chair nearby.
“I would prefer if they would stop trying but clearly that won’t be happening anytime soon.” I said irritated.
“You’ll never get a girlfriend with that attitude.” she teased and I scoffed.
“I don’t need one, you women aren’t worth the trouble.” I said honestly.
“Sounds like someone’s had a bad experience or two.” she mocked and I shook my head.
“Not at all, I merely understand my reality. Romance has no place in my life and thus I don’t want it.” I said honestly and she frowned.
“I know some who once said something very similar, he went on to become one of the worst people to ever live.” she said seriously.
“Unlike that snake I am not delusional. I also have reliable companions and a future that doesn’t require me to give up my humanity.” I sent back not appreciating the comparison to Orochimaru.
The man might have left the village long before my time but that didn’t mean I didn’t know the sort of sick and twisted individual he was. Even with most of what he did redacted i still found hundreds of things that he had done to further his goals without care for who he hurt in the process. Human experimentation, animal experimentation, forbidden jutsu research, kidnaping, drug peddling and many more.
“Why does it sound like you have a personal hatred for the man despite never having met him?” she asked with an interested look.
“He was a child prodigy, he impressed everyone he met and created grand feats of science that pushed the shinobi world forward by decades. And despite all of this he threw away everything for the fear of death. I hate the man because what he is is what I could become with the right push. I know for a fact you can see the resemblance between me and him, don’t try and deny it.” I said bitterly but honestly.