Chapter 298: Using Izanami to Cure an Illness

Jiraiya and Tsunade looked at each other, both falling silent.

In the past, they had never paid much attention to Hiruzen Sarutobi's methods.

But after Uchiha Ren's reminders, they gradually realized that their teacher truly was extremely skilled at winning people's hearts.

Even they themselves had been influenced by Hiruzen's various methods without ever realizing it.

Take Tsunade, for example.

When she was younger and full of ambition, she had fought passionately for Konoha's future.

Back then, Tsunade once proposed a major reform during a Jōnin Council meeting.

She suggested reforming Konoha's existing medical ninja system.

Her proposal was simple yet revolutionary:

Every shinobi squad should include one medical ninja, drastically reducing battlefield casualties.

It was an undeniably correct idea.

However, implementing it would have been extremely difficult.

It required enormous manpower, financial resources, and time.

For Konoha—already fighting in wartime—it seemed unrealistic.

Still, Tsunade wasn't someone who made empty proposals.

She understood that building such a system would take years.

Medical ninja required extensive training and long-term education.

Her proposal wasn't to implement everything immediately, but to officially begin the reform process so that the system could gradually develop over time.

If Konoha had started back then—

The system might already have produced results by now.

But her proposal failed.

It was rejected by the three elders:

Homura MitokadoKoharu UtataneShimura Danzō

Their reasoning was simple.

Although medical ninja could reduce casualties, the cost of training one medical ninja was enormous.

The resources needed to train one medical ninja could produce ten ordinary shinobi.

To the so-called Konoha leadership—the "Konoha's Four Elders"—the reduced casualty rate simply wasn't worth the cost.

After all—

To them, shinobi were merely tools.

Instead of investing resources into saving shinobi lives, it was easier to simply produce more shinobi.

Of course, they couldn't say something like that openly during the council meeting.

If they did, they'd lose all credibility in Konoha.

So what happened instead?

Danzō, Homura, and Koharu played the villains, rejecting the proposal using excuses like insufficient funds, lack of resources, and poor timing.Hiruzen played the mediator, smoothing things over and allowing the issue to quietly fade away.

At the time, Tsunade hated those three elders deeply.

But now she suddenly realized something.

Her teacher had always been on their side.

Those excuses had never been strong enough to defeat her proposal.

If Hiruzen truly supported her idea, he could have approved it with a single decision.

This pattern had happened many times before.

Hiruzen always played the benevolent figure.

Danzō played the villain.

Homura and Koharu shifted between both roles.

Their coordination had been flawless.

Because of this, the people of Konoha gradually developed a fixed impression of the Konoha leadership:

Hiruzen Sarutobi — benevolent, compassionate, loving toward the peopleHomura Mitokado & Koharu Utatane — experienced, cautious administratorsShimura Danzō — ruthless extremist

With Danzō acting as the villain, the villagers spent decades praising Hiruzen as a kind and wise Hokage.

Only in recent years—after endless wars drained Konoha's resources—did the illusion start cracking.

Danzō alone could no longer bear all the blame.

Eventually Hiruzen himself had to take responsibility for several political failures.

And that's when people began to realize—

Their Third Hokage wasn't nearly as perfect as they had believed.

Looking back, the truth slowly became clear.

Hiruzen's kindness was merely a façade.

Deep down—

He wasn't much different from Danzō.

Ren continued coldly:

"So don't rush to defend Hiruzen Sarutobi."

"Yes, Danzō is ruthless toward his own people."

"But at least he's just as ruthless toward enemies."

"Hiruzen, on the other hand…"

"Only knows how to be ruthless toward his own side."

"In his heart, the goal was never a strong and thriving Konoha."

"What he truly wanted was simply a stable Konoha under his control."

"In my opinion—"

"Danzō is guilty of terrible crimes."

"But Hiruzen Sarutobi deserves death even more."

Tsunade remained silent.

Her relationship with Hiruzen had always filtered her perception of him.

But now that filter was being torn apart piece by piece.

The deaths of Minato and Kushina.

The miserable life of their son.

She could no longer find the will to defend her teacher.

By Ren's reasoning—

Hiruzen truly had reasons to die.

After a long silence, Tsunade sighed.

"If Jiraiya and Orochimaru were both present when the old man died…"

"Then where was I?"

"Didn't I participate in that event?"

Even though her illusion about Hiruzen had shattered, she still wanted to know what her own actions had been.

"Where were you?" Ren glanced at her with mild disdain.

"What else would an unemployed wanderer be doing?"

"You were gambling in a casino."

Tsunade: "..."

Jiraiya: "..."

Orochimaru's eyes flickered as he glanced at Tsunade thoughtfully.

Tsunade clenched her teeth.

"Didn't I know Konoha was under attack?"

Despite wandering outside the village, she still cared deeply about Konoha.

It was:

The village her grandfather foundedThe place where she grew upThe dream of her brother Nawaki and lover Dan

How could she truly abandon it?

Before Ren could answer, Orochimaru spoke calmly.

"I suspect it was because your hemophobia still hadn't been cured."

"So you never returned to the village."

Indeed, Tsunade hadn't left Konoha solely due to disappointment.

The primary reason was her hemophobia—fear of blood.

If she had only been disappointed in the village leadership, Tsunade would have tried to change things, not run away.

That was why she continued serving the village even after her reform proposal failed.

But once she developed hemophobia—

Both her careers became impossible.

As a ninjaAs a medical ninja

Without the ability to face blood, she was effectively useless.

At that point, staying in Konoha and watching its decline while powerless to change anything would only deepen her despair.

Leaving the village was the only escape.

Tsunade looked at Orochimaru.

"You're certain?"

"Highly likely," Orochimaru replied.

"After Minato's death, the village should have selected a Fifth Hokage."

"Instead, Hiruzen returned to power."

"The most suitable candidates at the time were probably the three of us."

"My situation is obvious."

"Jiraiya would never accept the position."

"But you, Tsunade—"

"You had both the ability and the determination to become Hokage."

"The only reason you didn't become the Fifth Hokage…"

"Was probably your hemophobia."

Despite seeing only fragments of the future, Orochimaru had already reconstructed the likely situation.

Tsunade frowned and looked toward Ren.

Ren nodded.

"Yes. Your hemophobia hadn't recovered."

Tsunade frowned even deeper.

She knew her condition better than anyone.

Hemophobia wasn't a physical illness.

It was a psychological trauma.

Even the greatest medical ninja couldn't cure such wounds.

That was why she had wandered the world—hoping time and distance would heal her heart.

Yet decades had passed.

And nothing had changed.

Seeing her expression, Ren seemed to understand her thoughts.

"You're right that emotional wounds require emotional healing."

"And yes, traveling the world to change your mindset isn't wrong."

"But you're too stubborn."

"You never truly let go."

"All your wandering did was avoid reality."

"So for someone like you…"

"The best cure for hemophobia is to face it directly."

"To confront reality."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes.

"From the way you speak, it sounds like you've studied my condition."

"Not exactly," Ren replied.

"But I have a few insights."

"In a way, I've died once myself."

"And from my perspective—"

"A true warrior dares to face a bleak life…"

"And confront bloody reality."

"So if you want to cure your hemophobia—"

Before finishing his sentence, Ren suddenly cut his own palm open.

Blood flowed freely as he held his hand in front of Tsunade.

Tsunade froze—

Then her body trembled instinctively.

"Uchiha Ren! What are you doing?!"

Jiraiya rushed forward to knock Ren's hand away.

"Wait!"

Tsunade suddenly stopped him.

Jiraiya blinked in shock.

Tsunade's face was pale, but her trembling gradually stopped.

Unlike earlier that day—

She didn't collapse.

Ren smiled faintly and waved his bloody hand slightly.

"See?"

"You get used to things… if you keep looking at them."

Earlier, during the genjutsu visions, Ren had noticed something strange.

Tsunade supposedly had hemophobia.

Yet the illusions he showed included:

The Uchiha Clan MassacreThe battle between Orochimaru and HiruzenThe death of Minato and Kushina

All of those scenes were soaked in blood.

Especially the Uchiha massacre—corpses everywhere.

Yet Tsunade had not collapsed.

After thinking it through, Ren realized the truth.

Her trauma wasn't blood itself.

The true source was the deaths of:

Senju Nawaki (her brother)Dan Katō (her lover)

Blood was merely the trigger for those memories.

The trauma itself was deeper.

While the emotional wound might be difficult to heal—

The symptoms could still be managed.

After seeing blood multiple times that day—from Danzō and Ren—the shock had gradually lessened.

Combined with the subconscious understanding that the genjutsu visions were not real, Tsunade had begun developing resistance.

Her hemophobia wasn't cured yet.

But its effects had already weakened.

If she continued confronting it this way, the condition could eventually be controlled.

Tsunade took a deep breath.

Looking at Ren's bleeding hand triggered memories of Nawaki and Dan's deaths.

Yet those memories no longer struck with the same overwhelming force.

"…That's enough."

She gritted her teeth.

"Put it away."

Ren withdrew his hand and wiped away the blood.

"Actually," he said casually,

"Compared to this crude method…"

"I have another perfect solution."

"One that can eliminate the problem at its root."

Tsunade frowned and deliberately avoided looking at his hand.

"What method?"

Ren didn't answer immediately.

Instead, he asked:

"The technique I used on Danzō earlier today—"

"You've heard of it, right?"

"Izanami."

"Izanami?" Tsunade said.

"The technique you described as deciding fate?"

Ren nodded.

"Yes."

"Izanami was originally developed to correct those who had lost their way."

"In a sense…"

"Your trauma and hemophobia are also a kind of mental deviation."

"So using Izanami to treat it…"

"Would be perfectly appropriate."

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