Starting From Being Adopted by the Second Hokage!

Senju Tobirama's residence.

"Has Hashirama-san's condition improved at all?" Renya asked.

Ever since the Battle of the Valley of the End, the injuries on Senju Hashirama's body had shown no signs of healing.

Logically speaking, with Hashirama's physique, even fatal wounds should have healed rapidly.

But months had passed since the Valley of the End battle, and yet Hashirama's condition remained unchanged.

This naturally made Renya anxious. If Senju Hashirama were to die just like that, wouldn't the Shinobi War break out immediately?

Senju Tobirama wore a grave expression as he explained, "It seems like my brother's cells have entered a dormant state."

During this time, he had conducted a thorough examination of his brother's body and was shocked to find that his cells were dividing at an extremely slow rate, almost like those of an aging man.

Renya frowned upon hearing that. "That's troublesome…"

The reason Senju Hashirama possessed such powerful vitality and healing abilities was precisely due to the extraordinarily active nature of his cell division.

This allowed him to regenerate damaged tissue rapidly, and even in battle, he could recover from grievous injuries quickly.

But now, his cell division had slowed down.

This could only mean that during his fight with Madara, his cells were overused—

Used to repair critical injuries,

Or forced into excessive proliferation to fuel powerful jutsu,

Which led to a temporary decrease in cell division rate.

It was like how the human body, after massive blood loss, accelerates the division of hematopoietic stem cells—but after some time, the division slows and takes a while to return to normal.

That might explain why Senju Hashirama had yet to recover.

Renya speculated that it wouldn't be long before Hashirama's cell division returned to normal.

However, there was a downside to rapid cell division—it consumed vitality.

The more often cells divide, the faster one's life force depletes.

That might be the real cause of Senju Hashirama's death...

What Renya realized, Senju Tobirama naturally understood as well.

Ever since his brother was wounded, he had been tirelessly researching a solution—but to no avail.

Tobirama sighed helplessly.

"I've done all I can."

Renya remained silent.

Knowing how the shinobi world would unfold, he was the last person who wanted Senju Hashirama to die.

A person's name casts a shadow.

The title of [God of Shinobi] wasn't earned in vain.

As long as Senju Hashirama lived, no other nation would dare covet the Land of Fire.

That meant war wouldn't break out, and he would have enough time to become stronger.

But once Hashirama died, the entire balance of power in the shinobi world would shift.

After all, the two strongest people—Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara—would be gone, and other villages would surely wage war on the now leaderless Konoha.

Senju Tobirama's expression was somber. His thoughts aligned with Renya's.

His brother's grave injuries had shown him the fragility of life and how great a loss the death of a powerful shinobi was for the village.

He began to ponder, "How can we make fallen shinobi serve Konoha again?"

If he could develop such a jutsu, he could overcome the boundary of life and death.

That way, even if his brother truly passed, he could still summon him back...

If such a technique could be created, Konoha would no longer need to fear the greed of other nations.

Renya had no idea what Tobirama was thinking—otherwise, he would've been shocked beyond belief.

...

Evening, Senju Hashirama's residence.

"Tobirama, little Renya, you're here," Uzumaki Mito greeted softly.

Hashirama's prolonged injuries had left her deeply worried, to the point she looked utterly exhausted.

"Sister-in-law, how's brother doing lately?" Tobirama's throat tightened.

Senju Tobirama had three brothers. Two of them had died during the Warring States Period, leaving only Hashirama.

He didn't want to lose his eldest brother too...

"Same as before, no sign of improvement." Mito's lashes trembled faintly.

During this time, she had sought help from many medical-nin, but nothing had worked.

Seeing this, Tobirama comforted her,

"Don't worry, sister-in-law. I'll definitely find a solution."

With that, he led Renya into the house.

"Tobirama, little Renya, what brings you two here?"

Senju Hashirama struggled to sit up and looked at them.

"Hashirama-san, are you okay?" Renya looked visibly worried.

In his heart, he prayed, "Please hold on for a few more years, Hashirama-san. I haven't even grown up yet..."

Seeing Renya's concern, Hashirama felt a warmth in his heart.

As expected, he hadn't misjudged this child...

"Haha, little Renya, don't worry. I'll be fine soon."

He could sense that his injuries were beginning to heal.

"Big brother, really?" Tobirama asked quickly.

"It's true, Tobirama," Hashirama said. "I can feel the wounds healing slowly."

As he spoke, he revealed the injury on his arm.

Renya and Tobirama immediately stepped forward to inspect it.

Just as Hashirama said, the wound was indeed healing.

Though it wasn't as fast as before, it was healing.

Seeing this, Renya let out a long breath of relief.

"Hashirama-san, I'm glad you're okay."

"Haha, sorry for making you worry." Hashirama reached out and ruffled Renya's hair.

The more he looked at this child, the more he liked him.

The concern on Renya's face just now hadn't been faked—he could genuinely feel that the boy was worried for his safety.

"Big brother, I'm glad you're okay. If anything happens, have sister-in-law come find me."

Tobirama looked at Hashirama, paused for a moment, then added,

"Big brother... you must get better. The village can't do without you..."

Hearing that, Hashirama put away his smile and grew serious.

"I understand, Tobirama."

After learning about Senju Hashirama's condition, Renya began to accept missions desperately.

He knew he didn't have much time left to grow stronger.

He had to possess the strength to protect himself before Senju Hashirama passed away.

Only then could he avoid becoming cannon fodder in the coming war.

...

In the days that followed, Renya was either on missions or on the road to missions.

This wore out Shimura Danzō and Koharu Utatane.

More than once, the three had just finished a mission and hadn't even recovered from their injuries before Renya was already heading out on the next one.

Still, the results were clear.

Through multiple life-and-death encounters and constant review and reflection, the three significantly improved their abilities.

In just one year, they had nearly reached the level of chunin.

Senju Yūsuke gave the trio high praise.

...

Borders of the Land of Fire.

"Renya-kun, now that this mission's over, can we take a break?" Koharu Utatane's eyes showed a hint of exhaustion.

This was already their fifth mission of the month.

Besides traveling and resting, they were basically always working.

Hearing that, Shimura Danzō paused as he was bandaging his wound and looked toward Renya.

Though he didn't say anything, he clearly wanted to rest too.

Renya lowered his gaze, wiping [Immaculate] as the blade reflected their battered appearances.

Koharu had exhausted her chakra—her face was pale.

Danzō's arm was still bleeding through the bandages.

Seeing their hopeful expressions, Renya nodded.

"Yeah, we should take a break," he said, sliding the blade back into its sheath.

Danzō finally relaxed his tense face a little.

Damn, finally a break.

If they took on another mission, he might've died on the next one...

Koharu cheered and playfully slapped Renya's back before dashing toward the direction of the village.

"Deal! I'm gonna sleep for three whole days!"

The mission was over. Time to head home.

The setting sun stretched their shadows long across the ground.

----------------

Pls Drop some Power Stones

+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo