After parting ways with Fugaku, Yuzuru headed straight home.
The moment he stepped into the backyard, a series of pleasant female voices reached his ears.
"Eighty thousand!"
"Pung! Seven of Circles!"
"Chow! Five of Bamboo."
"Hahahaha… Mahjong!"
Having dealt in and proved three opponents at once, Tsunade angrily shoved the tiles in front of her into a mess. "I lost again! One more round!"
Kushina Uzumaki looked up at the sky and laughed. "Sister Tsunade, it's almost time to eat. Let's continue tomorrow."
Karura and Konan nodded as well. Just as they were about to speak, they noticed Yuzuru walking in.
"Yuzuru!"
"So, did the big spender lose again?"
Yuzuru grinned as he teased Tsunade, who looked ready to explode.
Ever since Tsunade moved in, the women of the household had, under her influence, developed varying degrees of interest in gambling.
At first, everyone played happily enough, but after a while, their enthusiasm started to wane.
With no one left to play with, Tsunade complained to him a few times. In response, Yuzuru had someone make a mahjong set.
Just as he'd expected, once everyone understood the rules, playing mahjong became an indispensable household activity.
Even Yuzuru himself occasionally couldn't resist joining Tsunade and the others for a few rounds.
Seeing that Yuzuru seemed to be in a good mood, Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Yuzuru, you're looking pretty pleased. Something good happen?"
Yuzuru smiled. "Orochimaru has completely mastered the White Zetsu cell transplantation procedure. The risk is practically zero now."
"Once the surgery is done, you should all be able to cultivate the Yin Seal."
White Zetsu was a product created by the Gedo Statue using Hashirama Senju's cells. Its cells naturally contained Hashirama's extreme Yang Release and tremendous vitality.
With White Zetsu cells transplanted, cultivating the Yin Seal would no longer be a problem.
"Really?!"
Tsunade, Kushina Uzumaki, and Mikoto Uchiha all showed expressions of delight.
Yuzuru snorted lightly. "When have I ever lied to you?"
After Tsunade became part of the family, the women couldn't help but ask her about the secret to eternal youth.
Tsunade explained the Yin Seal, and the others listened with burning interest.
However, cultivating the Yin Seal placed extremely high demands on the body. Even after following Tsunade for so many years, Shizune had never managed to learn it.
After a great deal of effort, aside from Kushina Uzumaki, none of the others succeeded.
For a time, Mikoto Uchiha, Pakura, Karura, Konan, and the rest were deeply disappointed.
The more beautiful a woman was, the more she cared about her appearance.
Especially when Kushina Uzumaki and Tsunade beside them were both able to cultivate the Yin Seal.
Just imagining that years later Tsunade and Kushina would still look as radiant as ever, while wrinkles crept into their own eyes and their skin lost its fullness, left them so frustrated they couldn't sleep.
It had even given Yuzuru quite a scare at the time—he thought some kind of "internal conflict" had broken out in his harem.
After learning the full story, Yuzuru had confidently promised that everyone would obtain eternal youth. Only then did smiles return to their faces.
Though they didn't say it out loud, they took the matter very seriously.
Now that they'd heard Orochimaru had mastered the White Zetsu cell transplantation surgery, every one of them was overjoyed.
After the initial excitement, Mikoto asked softly, "Yuzuru, how exactly does the White Zetsu cell transplantation work?"
"If it requires surgery, could Orochimaru teach the method to Sister Tsunade and have her perform it for us?"
Meeting the women's questioning gazes, Yuzuru smiled and patted Mikoto's head. "Don't worry. I already asked about this."
"Orochimaru only needs to draw some of your blood. Based on each person's cellular activity and compatibility with White Zetsu cells, he'll prepare a medicinal solution at the appropriate concentration."
"Once the solution is ready, it just needs to be infused into your bodies, like an IV drip."
In the ninja world, many things couldn't be judged by common sense.
In the original records, Kabuto Yakushi had altered his own body through infusion methods.
It was only because his skills were lacking—or because he was too impatient—that he ended up turning himself into something neither human nor ghost.
At Yuzuru's insistence, Orochimaru had completely eliminated this flaw. None of the many test subjects, nor Fugaku Uchiha himself, showed any abnormalities.
Otherwise, Yuzuru would never have allowed his women to undergo such a procedure.
After hearing Yuzuru's explanation, the women finally breathed a sigh of relief and immediately began discussing it excitedly.
Off to the side, Shizune walked up to Yuzuru somewhat nervously and spoke softly. "Lord Yuzuru, could you ask Lord Orochimaru to prepare a dose for me as well?"
Yuzuru put on a troubled expression. "Well…"
"Shizune, you should know that a single dose like this is extremely valuable…"
Shizune's eyes dimmed.
As expected… it really isn't possible.
Seeing this, Tsunade stepped forward and pulled Shizune into her arms.
"Yuzuru, this child has followed me all this time. Help her out."
Yuzuru frowned. "But White Zetsu cells are too scarce. Every bit we use reduces what we have left."
"And this matter is of great importance. If it leaks out, the consequences would be unimaginable."
Tsunade snorted and leaned close to Yuzuru's ear. "Don't think I don't know what you're really thinking."
"If you help Shizune this once, I'll properly persuade her to become part of our family too."
Yuzuru's eyes lit up. "You're not lying to me?"
Tsunade replied irritably, "What if I am? And what if I'm not?"
"If you lie to me, there's a punishment. If you don't, there's a reward."
Now curious, Tsunade asked, "Oh? Let's hear it."
Yuzuru leaned in and whispered a few words into Tsunade's ear. Her face instantly turned red as she slapped him. "Isn't that the exact same thing?!"
Yuzuru burst out laughing and turned to Shizune. "Shizune, get ready. Tomorrow, you'll go with Mikoto and the others to Orochimaru's research base."
Shizune said happily, "Thank you, Lord Yuzuru!"
Seeing Shizune's joy, Tsunade finally felt relieved.
They say good things shouldn't go to outsiders. After being subtly influenced day after day by Kushina Uzumaki and Mikoto Uchiha, Tsunade had also come to feel that Shizune following Yuzuru wasn't such a bad choice.
"Oh, right…" Tsunade asked curiously. "Where did your White Zetsu cells come from, and how many do you have?"
"White Zetsu cells, of course, come from White Zetsu himself."
"As for how many White Zetsu I have…" Yuzuru sighed. "Only a mere one hundred thousand."