Time flowed like water, and in the blink of an eye, a week had passed.
During this time, Taiichi stopped obsessing over Tsunade. He let nature take its course. After all, a big shot like Tsunade wasn't someone you could meet just because you wanted to. The ambush tactic he used before was a one-time trick; doing it too often would only be annoying. It wasn't like they were friends or anything.
Letting go of his worries, Taiichi settled into a disciplined routine:
Every morning at 5:00 AM, he went out for training. Sometimes it was with Might Gai, sometimes with Kakashi, and sometimes all three of them trained together.
Then he would go home, eat, clean up, and head to the Ninja Academy by 8:00 AM.
School ended at 4:00 PM. He would meet up with Gai and Kakashi again at the training grounds to burn off any excess energy. Whenever possible, Shizune would join them. Sometimes, Rin Nohara and Obito would also tag along because of Kakashi.
By 6:30 PM, he was home for dinner and rest, followed by his evening self-training, which mainly focused on the Three Basic Jutsu, Basic Taijutsu, and Basic Meditation.
Taiichi's days were plain but fulfilling. His training was persistent, monotonous, yet dedicated. This dedication reflected directly on his growth; Taiichi's current strength was leagues ahead of where it had been. He was confident he could now absolutely crush the version of himself from a week ago.
Now, he could skillfully use projectile weapons in combat, and even pull off the Three Basic Jutsu when opponents were caught off guard. His rapid progress surprised his friends more than once. Even Teacher Yamada personally stepped in for a light sparring session with Taiichi. Of course, after the spar, another report to the Hokage was inevitable.
Current Status Panel:
> Name: Taiichi Matsushita
> Class: Apprentice Ninja Lv3 (324/400)
> Talents: Diligence, Academic Genius
> Age: 6
> Constitution: 11
> Strength: 12
> Agility: 11
> Spirit: 19
> Chakra: 2000 (4600)
> Attribute Points: 6
> Skill Points: 6
> Skills: Basic Taijutsu Lv7 (537/1200), Basic Meditation Lv7 (684/1200), Chakra Refining Technique Lv6 (345/1000), Ninja Tool Throwing Lv5 (463/800), Transformation Jutsu Lv4 (13/600), Clone Jutsu Lv4 (462/600), Substitution Jutsu Lv4 (534/600)
> Evaluation: You are now slightly larger cannon fodder, but cannon fodder nonetheless.
Taiichi had gotten used to the panel's snarky comments and treated them like air. What he cared about was the increase in his attributes and skills. Every time he looked at the panel, he felt his future was full of light.
...
Konoha Hospital, Office.
Tsunade, who had been AWOL for a few days, finally remembered she had a job at the Konoha Hospital. For once, she didn't slack off and came to her office. As soon as she sat down, she noticed a small vial placed in the center of her desk. Only then did she remember the request she had agreed to.
It seemed heaven was helping Taiichi. When he bottled the Allicin, he had considered storage issues and used a brown, light-blocking glass vial. Plus, it was early spring, and the temperature wasn't high. Otherwise, after so much time in a simple sealed bottle, the Allicin inside would have degraded and lost its potency.
Tsunade picked up the small vial, uncorked it, and carefully took a sniff. After careful examination, she still couldn't distinguish anything specific from the weird smell.
After thinking about it, she decided to head to the laboratory. The hospital lab's conditions were far better than Taiichi's home setup, with all the necessary equipment and samples.
Tsunade first sterilized herself, then took a common bacterial sample from the refrigerator and placed it under a microscope to check its activity.
"Hmm, good. No issues."
Then, Tsunade carefully extracted a bit of the "miracle drug" from the vial and dripped it onto the bacterial sample. After doing this, she leaned into the eyepiece to observe the effect.
Her eyes went wide. What was she seeing? With just one drop, wherever the drug touched, all the bacteria lost activity in moments. Such potent efficacy—Tsunade found it hard to believe.
...
Over the next few hours, Tsunade tested every bacterial strain she could find. Her final conclusion: this miracle drug could kill most common pathogens, and its efficacy was extraordinary. This meant that if a proper medicine based on this substance were successfully developed, let alone daily life, the disability and death rate of ninjas on the battlefield would drop by at least half.
Medical ninjas were a minority. Even in the Leaf, despite her strong push, there was a severe shortage of medical ninjas. In other villages, they were even scarcer.
Moreover, a medical ninja's Chakra was limited. In a tense battlefield situation, limited Chakra had to be reserved for high-value casualties. Most wounded could only receive simple treatment followed by conventional medical care, which relied heavily on drugs.
The most common injuries on the battlefield were cuts and stabs, making antibacterial and anti-inflammatory drugs essential. Currently, Konoha's drugs for this purpose were okay for minor injuries, but for anything slightly serious, they were practically useless. If they had this "miracle drug," countless ninjas could be saved. It would truly be a blessing for Konoha.
Thinking of this, Tsunade immediately cleaned up the lab, erasing all traces of her work. She grabbed the remaining "miracle drug" and rushed toward the Hokage's office.
...
Hokage's Office.
Bang! The door flew open.
Instantly, the three people inside looked toward the door. They saw Tsunade retracting her leg and rushing in, shouting, "Old Man, look what I brought you!"
"Uh, Lord Hokage, we'll take our leave first," one of the Jonin said.
"Alright, Jonin Murata, Jonin Ikeshita. You are dismissed," Hiruzen Sarutobi instructed.
Watching the two Jonin leave, Hiruzen turned to Tsunade. "What is it now? If you kick my door a few more times, I'll have to replace it again."
Tsunade didn't answer but looked around the room.
Seeing this, Hiruzen didn't hesitate. He made a hand signal, and rustling sounds were heard from the hidden corners of the room as the ANBU guards retreated.
"You can speak now."
Tsunade placed the small vial on Hiruzen's desk. First, she explained the situation regarding Nono Yakushi and Taiichi Matsushita. Finally, she explained her various tests on the drug and its potential.
"You're saying this 'miracle drug' was discovered by a child named Taiichi Matsushita?"
"Yes. Why? Do you know him, Old Man?" Tsunade asked, puzzled.
"Indeed. I've been hearing his name a lot lately. The genius freshman of this year's Academy class. He might be another talent like Minato."
"Oh? You rate him that highly?"
Hiruzen looked at Tsunade but didn't respond to that point.
"Is it really as powerful as you say?"
"Even as a semi-finished product, its efficacy is more than five times that of current drugs. Once processed into a finished product, it will only be higher."
"You said earlier that they want to partner with the village in the name of the orphanage and the child," Hiruzen asked.
"Yes. Before coming here, I checked the orphanage's files," Tsunade said seriously, looking at Hiruzen. "The orphanage hasn't received much funding from the village in the last two years. They've been barely scraping by on Director Nono Yakushi's mission earnings."
"Sigh. I have been negligent as Hokage," Hiruzen said with a face full of shame.
Tsunade looked at Hiruzen's self-reproachful expression; she was used to it. If her teacher could have been like her Great Grandfather or Granduncle, Danzo wouldn't have been able to get away with all his dirty schemes.
"So, how do you want to handle the partnership?" Tsunade asked impatiently.
"Let's do this: we'll give them a sum of money plus shares. The money can be substantial—let's set it at 20 million Ryo. The shares shouldn't be too high; if they have too much, they won't be able to hold onto it."
Seeing that her teacher's arrangement was reasonable, Tsunade didn't say much more. She turned around, tossed out a "I'll go notify them," and left.
In the office, Hiruzen picked up the small vial on the desk, lost in thought. He unconsciously recalled the scenes he had observed in the school recently using his Telescope Technique. "Truly a good child."
...
After leaving, Tsunade found Nono Yakushi at the orphanage. When she shared the news, Nono let out a long breath, clearly delighted. After waiting for so long, she had started to worry if it would happen at all.
After arranging matters at the orphanage, the two of them headed to Taiichi's house.
...