Tsunade finally wiped the blood off her hands and heaved a sigh of relief. She realized she was drenched in a cold sweat, as if she had been pulled out of the water. This was one of the reasons she avoided ninja-related matters. Her severe hemophobia, which triggered her greatest fear, made it impossible for Tsunade to fight like a ninja or personally treat ninja patients. Whenever she treated someone, she could only close her eyes and direct her disciple, Shizune, to perform the surgery.
Today was no exception.
But when she looked ahead, she saw that the ground in front of her was soaked in blood, turning it a ghastly red. Tsunade’s pupils contracted sharply, and her eyes trembled.
Soon, Shizune emerged from the makeshift operating room. Her condition was not much better than Tsunade’s. While Tsunade was scared due to her homophobia, Shizune was exhausted. The four-hour-long surgery had drained Shizune’s chakra completely. She looked even paler than Tsunade and walked unsteadily, almost staggering. But Shizune forced a smile for Naruto and Kakashi and said, “The surgery went well. The wounds have all been stitched up.”
Crash—
The makeshift operating room suddenly collapsed. Whitebeard slowly stood up amidst the smoke and dust. As the dust settled, Whitebeard, covered in blood, looked like a demon emerging from hell, a terrifying sight.
“Gurararara!” Whitebeard’s laughter was as hearty as ever. If not for the blood on him and the large stitched wound on his chest, no one would have believed he had just undergone surgery. With a sudden activation of his Gura Gura no Mi powers, all the blood on his body was shaken off, restoring his usual cleanliness. Whitebeard grabbed his white cloak and draped it over himself again.
He glanced at Tsunade, who was kneeling and trembling. Whitebeard could see that this woman feared blood.
“Dad!” Naruto ran over excitedly, grabbing onto Whitebeard’s pants. “Dad, are you okay? You bled so much!” Naruto looked up at the stitched wound on Whitebeard’s chest, his face filled with horror. “Oh no, Dad, you’re still bleeding!”
Smack!!!
Whitebeard flicked Naruto’s forehead affectionately.
“Stupid son! Have you never been injured or undergone surgery?” Whitebeard said, “It’s normal for freshly stitched wounds to bleed a little. For a man of the sea, this amount of blood is like sweating a little!”
Whitebeard then turned to Tsunade.
“Little gambler,” Whitebeard said, “Step back.”
Even though the sight of blood shook Tsunade’s mind, she instinctively obeyed his command. As she shuffled back on her knees, trembling, Whitebeard’s right fist was enveloped in a vibrating white light. This sight startled Kakashi, who quickly moved to the side.
Whitebeard gently punched the air.
In an instant!
The ground and the air shook!
Rumble!!!
The ground cracked, and large chunks of earth and dust rose. The blood-soaked ground collapsed under the intense vibrations, leaving the earth in ruins. However, the blood had vanished completely.
This sight left Tsunade stunned. She watched as the blood that had terrified her disappeared. The ground looked as if thousands of explosive tags had hit it. She turned to Whitebeard, who was smiling.
“Lady Tsunade, are you alright?” Shizune’s concerned voice broke the silence.
“Much better.” Tsunade steadied herself and slowly stood up. She took a deep breath. The vibrations had also dispersed the smell of blood in the air.
The blood and the scent.
Were gone.
“Lord Whitebeard, your hidden ailments are not completely cured,” Tsunade said, her breathing still a bit uneven, clearly still affected by the earlier sight of blood. “If Shizune’s treatment a few days ago restored you to 30% of your health, then this four-hour surgery has brought you up to 70%.”
“The remaining 30%…” Tsunade hesitated but continued, “Shizune is still my disciple. She has a long way to go before she can match me. Unless I perform the surgery myself, some of the more critical areas are too risky for her to handle.”
“Gurararara! No problem!” Whitebeard felt his health was already in excellent condition, although he was still an old man at 72. But most of his hidden ailments, which had even affected his Haki and Devil Fruit abilities, were gone.
Whitebeard felt great!
Better than ever!
If he had been in this condition during the Battle of Marineford, he would have faced the magma brat without being so severely weakened.
“Little gambler, you’re afraid of blood, aren’t you?” Whitebeard pointed out Tsunade’s weakness.
Tsunade fell silent for a moment, then nodded. “Something happened that made me extremely sensitive to blood.”
The death of her lover.
The death of Nawaki.
These events had pushed her fear of blood to the extreme. Every time she saw blood, she thought of the two people she cared about the most.
Learning medicine could save many people, but it couldn’t save the ones she cared about the most. This was a huge blow to Tsunade.
“Unless my hemophobia is cured, I won’t be able to fully cure your hidden ailments,” Tsunade said with a bitter smile.
…
That night.
Whitebeard and his group returned to the secluded town. His massive, towering figure once again caused a stir, and the faint smell of blood from his freshly stitched wounds added a hint of menace.
In the town’s tavern.
Tsunade, Kakashi, and Shizune watched in awe as Whitebeard effortlessly drank an entire barrel of strong liquor.
It wasn’t a jug.
It was a barrel!
A large barrel of alcohol!
“Gurararara!!!” With the barrel of strong liquor downed Whitebeard felt even better than he did post-surgery. He laughed heartily, “I didn’t expect the ninja world to have such good liquor! Ever since I ended up in that darn Konoha village, I haven’t had a drop of alcohol.”
Normally, drinking heavily right after surgery would cause serious problems. But for someone with Whitebeard’s incredible physique, it was no issue at all. There was no discomfort.
Whitebeard set the barrel down and looked at Tsunade and Shizune.
“Little gambler!” Whitebeard invited, “Gurararara, your medical skills are the best I’ve seen, equal to Marco’s. Are you interested in joining my Whitebeard Pirates?”
“The Whitebeard Pirates?” Tsunade was taken aback.
She hadn’t expected Whitebeard to invite her to be a pirate.
“Yes! The Whitebeard Pirates!”
Whitebeard declared, “I’m going to form a new Whitebeard Pirates in this ninja world!”
“Are you planning to create a new force?” Tsunade frowned.
To be honest, she didn’t like overly ambitious people, especially those with twisted ambitions.
Pirates.
They didn’t sound like good people.
However, Whitebeard’s response left Tsunade stunned.
“No.”
Whitebeard’s smile carried a touch of nostalgia as if his sons from the sea were right beside him.
“The Whitebeard Pirates have never been a force.”
“They’re a family!”
…
…
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