"You really think I'm a fool you can just trick?" Shin laughed angrily. "You think I'd risk using it after signing the contract? If I can't even use what I've learned, what's the point of learning it?"
"Also, if I remember correctly, isn't Shikkotsu Forest's Sage Mode supposed to be the hardest one to learn?" Shin continued. "According to historical records, the only one who ever mastered the its Sage Mode was the First Hokage. Even the Second Hokage couldn't learn it. Do you really think I have that kind of talent?"
"So stop saying things like that! While I'm indeed interested in secretly studying slugs to improve my medical ninjutsu, that alone definitely isn't enough."
"You should know I'm not just the one who created the Creation Rebirth you saw last time. There are several others I haven't shown because of chakra limitations. The terms you're offering are far too poor."
"Several others?" Tsunade's breath quickened.
And that technique, it's called Creation Rebirth? Does that mean it can bring someone back from the brink of death?
Before She could offer more terms, the office door swung open. A nurse stepped in and said, "Shin, a patient is here for treatment. They specifically requested you."
"Got it!" With that, Shin grabbed his medical kit and left in a flash, leaving Tsunade frustrated and annoyed.
And so the days passed by.
At night, he guided Minato in his training while also testing his own theories about ninjutsu.
During the day, he went to work as usual. The only difference was that Tsunade was now a constant presence in the office.
Over time, he gradually stopped pushing her away.
On the surface, it didn't seem like he had accepted her. Rather, it felt more like he had resigned himself to her presence, which only infuriated Tsunade further.
Still, during this period as colleagues, the two had countless in-depth discussions about medicine and medical ninjutsu. Each time, they became completely immersed.
As the pinnacle of medical-nin, Tsunade hadn't truly had anyone to discuss her work with before Shin. No one could keep up with her pace or offer constructive insights. Because she was the best. Now that she finally had someone to exchange ideas with, everything changed.
Sometimes, Tsunshede would offer a new line of thinking that lit up Shin's mind. And Shin's insights and proposals often left her utterly captivated. More than once, she found herself wondering: how could one man be so brilliant... and yet so infuriating?
As the number of patients increased, Tsunade's fame began to spread. More and more people started to recognize the legend of Konoha's two medical geniuses.
When they encountered interesting cases, the two would work together to study and treat them.
Three months passed this way, and Shin received a notice assigning him to the pharmaceutical division to help develop a new antidote.
Shin immediately sensed that his opportunity had arrived.
To accelerate his path to freedom, he decided to take a risky step.
Seven years, it had been seven long years. He was tired of waiting. After all, how many seven-year spans does one get in life?
---
In a secret chamber of the pharmaceutical department, Shin now had his own personal laboratory.
But Koharu assigned people to monitor him.
He had long grown used to this. For him, not having freedom was the norm. He didn't mind most things, but what frustrated him was not even having the chance to test the Flying Thunder God Technique.
As one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, Konoha's strength was nothing to scoff at. If he wanted to escape successfully, mastering the Flying Thunder God Technique was essential.
To most, the technique was a hopeless dream. But it was invented by the Second Hokage, and Shin had inherited all of Tobirama's talents.
So he never once doubted that he could master it.
In these seven years, he had long since understood the theory behind the technique. But he didn't dare to practice it. He feared he'd be eliminated before he even got the chance to learn it.
Yet the Flying Thunder God wasn't a technique you could use just by understanding it, you had to train relentlessly.
Without mastering it, he felt like there was no place in the vast shinobi world where he truly belonged.
Sigh!
Letting out a breath, he began taking out various medicinal ingredients and started the preliminary processing and extraction.
About ten minutes later, Koharu came herself.
"Leave us," she ordered the guards, and once they exited, only Shin and she remained in the lab.
"Evil Uchiha brat!" Koharu glared down at him coldly, full of superiority. "You must complete the antidote and write out the formula before noon today. If you don't, you'll die."
Hearing her words, Shin was instantly filled with rage. This sort of thing had happened many times before.
And this cowardly hag, whenever there was even one third party present, would never say things like "evil Uchiha brat" so bluntly. She was nothing like Tobirama in that regard.
Only when they were alone would she let her mouth run wild, making him seriously consider killing her on more than one occasion.
I may not be able to take down the guy watching me, but you?
Of all Tobirama's students, Koharu had been the only female disciple. In her youth, she had been fairly good-looking. Back then, with Tobirama still alive, she behaved very obediently and quickly became the group's darling.
On top of that, she was a medical-nin, and an outstanding one, achieving elite-level, which was impressive for a medic.
It was widely acknowledged in the shinobi world that medical-nin generally have weak combat strength, Tsunade being a rare exception. So for Koharu to reach elite-level as a medical-nin was already quite remarkable.
However, after Tobirama's death, the last seven years hadn't been kind to her. Aging and lack of training had significantly weakened her.
What no one knew during those seven years was that Shin had already awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan. With his current strength, killing this old witch would be pretty easy.
One genjutsu, done.
But killing her would only offer momentary satisfaction. It wouldn't bring any real benefit, and worse, it would likely cost him his own life.
A life for a life... sure, that could be done. But trading his life for Koharu's? Just thinking about it made him feel cheated.
Still, he knew that her animosity toward him had little to do with Tobirama. They were both medical-nin, but he talent left this old hag in the dust.
Over time, this realization made her feel like a complete failure.
Petty and narrow-minded by nature, and once the pride of her generation, her jealousy twisted her.
If he hadn't been such a moneymaker for her, she would've long since wanted him dead.
But there was another reason she targeted Shin, it had to do with Kagami.
She hadn't always held such strong prejudice against the Uchiha clan. Back when they had teamed up for missions and during the First Great Ninja War, she'd been somewhat enamored with Kagami, a strong, warm, and handsome Uchiha who had saved her multiple times.
But he always kept his distance from her.
Later, without ever giving her a heads-up, he fell in love, got married, and even had kids who were old enough to run errands now.
This drove her nearly insane.
Hiruzen courted me, I rejected him.
Homura pursued me, I rejected him.
Even Danzō, though he never outright chased me, showed some interest once.
And yet you, Kagami, treated me like this?
So the old witch ended up hating the entire Uchiha clan and took it out on the innocent Shin. Even though Kagami had been dead for seven years, that resentment in her heart hadn't faded in the slightest.