Hunter x Hunter: Sun Breathing Technique

Chapter 279 279: I Am the Sun X Tsunade's Shock

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Reeking of alcohol, Tsunade appeared just like that, casually leaning on Shizune for support...

Even though it was working hours, Konoha was still at war, hundreds of ninja were waiting for medical treatment, and the village's upper echelons were severely lacking in combat-ready personnel, Sarutobi Hiruzen still indulged his beloved disciple. He allowed her to gamble, drink, and wallow in despair all day, completely disregarding her image as one of the Sannin, let alone... his face as her teacher.

Just like how he had caught Orochimaru with evidence of live human experiments, even cornering him right in the laboratory, yet ultimately letting him go—a decision that would eventually lead to Orochimaru's sneak attack on Konoha and force his own inevitable death.

Sarutobi Hiruzen glared at Tsunade, frustrated by her failure to meet his expectations. Forcing down the anger welling up in his chest, he asked Shizune to pour Tsunade a cup of tea.

The older woman sprawled carelessly onto the sofa in the corner of the office, grabbing the tea and chugging it down. In this moment, her rough demeanor made her seem less like a woman and more like a boorish man.

Perhaps this was the only way she could numb herself, to forget the agonizing pain of losing her younger brother and her fiancé one after another in battle...

*Glug, glug, glug...* The pot of tea was quickly emptied.

Seeming to have sobered up significantly, Tsunade let out a satisfied groan. Spreading her arms wide, she slumped back against the sofa.

She said impatiently, "If you have something to say, spit it out. I have places to be. I'm definitely going to win big tonight and get back everything I lost over the past two days!"

Beside her, Shizune helplessly caught the teapot Tsunade tossed aside and stole a quiet glance at Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Through the swirling smoke, the Hokage's twitching mouth was faintly visible. Clearly... he was trying his hardest to suppress his fury.

Fortunately, business came first. As the Hokage, he could not let his emotions show. Sarutobi Hiruzen still possessed that much composure and patience. He opened his drawer, took out the [Limb Regeneration Technique] that Fugaku had submitted earlier, and pushed it in front of Tsunade.

"Look at this."

"What is it?"

"A ninjutsu."

"What's so interesting about that?" Tsunade grew even more impatient, glaring at him. "Old man, if there's nothing else, I'm leaving."

Sarutobi Hiruzen: "..."

A few veins faintly popped on his forehead. Just as he was about to explode, fortunately...

Shizune, quick-witted and fast-handed, snatched up the scroll. Coughing lightly, she said, "Lady Tsunade, I'll read it to you. It will be quick, it won't delay your next game."

Saying so, she unrolled the scroll. The large characters for [Limb Regeneration Technique] clearly written on the title page reflected in her gentle eyes. As if possessing some sort of magic, the words completely absorbed Shizune's gaze. Her lips trembled, but for a moment, she couldn't utter a single syllable.

This caused Tsunade, who was already waiting impatiently on the sofa, to furrow her brows. She turned her head and glared at her. "Shizune..."

"I'm here." Feeling Tsunade's impatient stare, Shizune—dressed in her black top and pants, wearing high-heeled sandals—responded. Calling her Tsunade's personal bodyguard was less accurate than calling her a personal butler. Her job was to take care of Tsunade's daily life and prevent her from completely rotting away in depravity where no one could find her.

The woman, acting as both bodyguard and butler, gripped the thin scroll in her hands and stole another quiet glance at Sarutobi Hiruzen. Seeing the old man still sitting upright in the smoke, taking casual puffs from his pipe, she gathered her shocked thoughts, took a deep breath, and slowly read aloud, "[Limb Regeneration Technique]. As the name implies, it primarily governs the regeneration of severed limbs..."

"The chakra flow path is as follows..."

"The hand seals are..."

"Wait!" Suddenly, a fair, slender hand reached out. Before Shizune could continue reading, Tsunade snatched the scroll right out of her grasp. At this moment, Tsunade seemed to have truly sobered up. The intoxicating flush on her cheeks faded, replaced by a look of absolute shock and utter seriousness!

This expression... let alone Sarutobi Hiruzen, even Shizune, who stayed by the woman's side all day, hadn't seen it in a very long time!

When had it disappeared, and when had this all started? Probably on that evening when Lord Kato Dan died... From then on, the words "serious" and "earnest" had vanished from Tsunade's life...

*Swish!* The scroll was fully unrolled. Tsunade sat up straight, her beautiful eyes wide and intensely focused as she stared at the [Limb Regeneration Technique].

From the "initial hypothesis of the ninjutsu's development" to the "analysis of principles," the "repeated verification of the chakra flow path," and finally the "hand seals," she took in every single word without missing a beat. This included the slight modifications Fugaku Uchiha had added to the "path verification" to make the technique appear more authentic, as if it had been researched with "great painstaking effort," primarily to emphasize how hard-won it was.

In short, as she read... and read... Tsunade began to bite her nails...

It was the exact same obsessed look she had during her student days when she was deeply immersed in studying and researching medical ninjutsu.

Seeing this, a faint, imperceptible smile touched Sarutobi Hiruzen's lips. It was a massive dose of reassurance... He had her!

'Incredible. It seems this ninjutsu is truly viable... Jin, you are such an outstanding child. How exactly should I arrange things for you?'

Some people caused headaches because they were too mediocre or even stupid.

Others caused headaches because they were too exceptional, so exceptional that they could not be controlled.

That black-haired boy with those sharp, perceptive eyes was clearly the latter!

*Puff.* Sarutobi Hiruzen opened his mouth and wistfully exhaled a ring of smoke. The smoke ring drifted, gradually expanding and fading, until it reached Tsunade as nothing more than a faint wisp of vapor...

The woman, her blonde hair cascading down her back, finally finished reading everything on the scroll.

She took a deep breath, lifted her head from the parchment, and stared straight at Sarutobi Hiruzen. "Who? Who developed this ninjutsu?"

As her words fell, Shizune followed Tsunade's gaze to look at Sarutobi Hiruzen. It went without saying that if it could pass Lady Tsunade's in-depth scrutiny, this ninjutsu was likely... real. And it was far more than just that.

*Puff.* Silence filled the Hokage's office at this moment.

Sarutobi Hiruzen did not answer immediately. Instead, he deflected the question, asking, "Do you think this ninjutsu has the value to be widely popularized?"

Tsunade frowned in thought. She even tried to verify it by attempting the casting method Roy had summarized. After a long while, she nodded decisively. "Yes."

"The jutsu itself isn't complicated, but the angle is very novel. What's even more surprising is... the author's understanding of [Yang Style] is almost exactly like..."

"Like who?"

"Like my grandfather."

Grandfather... The Hokage's office suddenly fell dead silent once more!

Shizune's eyes widened abruptly, looking at Tsunade in disbelief... Her grandfather, wasn't that... the First Hokage, Lord Hashirama Senju?!

Outside the window, the sun was shining brightly. The massive Hokage Monument was visible at a glance across the commercial district.

The figure positioned first on the far left looked down upon Konoha from high above, just as he looked down upon Shizune and Sarutobi Hiruzen, causing the two of them to fall into a tacit, profound silence...

*Puff.* Another drag from the dry pipe.

Sarutobi Hiruzen felt the smoke travel down his trachea into his lungs, the burning sensation forcing him to rouse his spirits. With another glance, he silently watched Tsunade through the haze. For the first time in his life, and from the mouth of his own disciple no less, he was hearing such high praise as "resembling the First Hokage"...

However, did that brat from Fugaku's family truly deserve such an evaluation?

The old man narrowed his eyes, recalling the [Wood Style] he had just witnessed from the boy a few days ago. He put down his pipe and let out a long sigh. "The jutsu must be popularized regardless. Even if I don't tell you, with your personality, you'd investigate it privately anyway."

Tsunade did not refute this point.

She might be wallowing in despair, and her heart might be completely shattered, but the moment it involved "family"—especially a "family member" who possessed such a deep understanding of [Yang Style], the signature [Nature Transformation] of the Senju Clan—Tsunade would instantly perk up. She would disregard everything else and track it down to the very end. After all...

Who else but her, Tsunade, was currently the last remaining descendant of the "Senju"?

Gripping the scroll tightly, the woman glared fiercely at Sarutobi Hiruzen. "So who is it?"

Her voice was dry, almost trembling as she asked again, "Is it a Senju?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen tapped out the spent ash from his pipe bowl and slowly shook his head. "He is not a Senju. On the contrary, he is the Senju's... mortal enemy."

"The Senju's mortal enemy..." Shizune silently chewed on this phrase beside them. Suddenly, her mouth gaped wide open as she blurted out, "An Uchiha?!"

"That's impossible!" Tsunade categorically denied it without a second thought!

The inherently evil Uchiha was not just an empty rumor. In the current Konoha, even if no one knew that the "Senju" and the "Uchiha" were the respective reincarnations of "Asura" and "Indra," who inherited [Yang Style] and [Yin Style]...

[Yin] and [Yang] were incompatible, just as [Water] and [Fire] opposed each other. This had become an unspoken, fundamental truth deeply ingrained in the heart of every ninja.

The Uchiha, representing [Darkness], were naturally at odds with [Sunlight].

No matter how hard Tsunade racked her brains, she would rather believe that the [Limb Regeneration Technique] was developed by some civilian ninja than believe it came from an Uchiha!

Furthermore, in Tsunade's understanding, anything involving [Yang Style] was highly likely related to the Senju or the bloodlines the Senju had left behind in the world. This was the only logical conclusion, the only correct answer!

"It seems you don't believe it either." Noticing Tsunade's expression, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who knew his disciple's temperament all too well, pushed back his chair and stood up. With his back to the two women and his hands clasped behind him, he gazed out through the massive floor-to-ceiling window toward the Uchiha Clan compound. He spoke faintly, "I know what you're thinking... When I first received this ninjutsu, I didn't believe it either. But the truth is..."

"It was indeed submitted by the Uchiha Clan."

"Furthermore,"

"I have met the developer himself."

Sarutobi Hiruzen narrowed his eyes, turning his head to look deeply at Tsunade. "Believe me, Tsunade. He is far more unbelievable than you could ever imagine!"

"I want to see him," Tsunade suddenly declared. "Unless I see it with my own eyes..."

"Don't even try to fool me!"

*Crack!* A corner of the coffee table in front of the sofa was suddenly snapped off by a burst of monstrous strength.

Tsunade gripped the scroll in one hand and clenched her other into a fist. *Pitter-patter.* Wood splinters cascaded down from her palm... making Sarutobi Hiruzen's brow twitch violently.

'Bastard!'

The old man snapped back to his senses, pointing an angry finger at Tsunade.

The woman stiffened her neck, staring back at him stubbornly.

Amidst this invisible standoff, Shizune was left caught in the middle, secretly anxious... She wrung her hands together, completely at a loss for what to do...

Fortunately, Sarutobi Hiruzen was a man of experience. He was the Hokage, after all; even if he lacked magnanimity in the moment, he had to project it. After a moment, he lowered his hand and shot Tsunade a cold glare. "Walk out that door. I won't say it a second time."

"His name is Jin Uchiha."

"Now get out!"

"Uchiha..." Tsunade silently committed the name to memory. Turning around, her massive twin peaks bouncing with the motion, she walked away without looking back...

"Lord Hokage, Shizune takes her leave." Seeing this, Shizune hastily bowed to Sarutobi Hiruzen before hurrying out to chase after Tsunade, leaving the Hokage's office.

In the massive Hokage's office, only Sarutobi Hiruzen remained in the quiet solitude, along with his pipe resting on the desk. He fell into a long, deep contemplation...

A moment later, the old man raised his eyes again to look at the Hokage Monument standing outside the window, specifically at the giant stone face belonging to Hashirama Senju. He murmured softly, "Jin Uchiha... if it's you, can you reignite Tsunade's fighting spirit?"

*Whoosh.* A gust of wind blew past, sweeping up green leaves into a dancing flurry, their destination unknown. Perhaps they would perish in some inconspicuous pile of old papers... or perhaps they would transcend the limits of time and space, just like the countless green leaves in the Demon Slayer world, fluttering gracefully past a certain young man. In the next blink, they were crushed into dust by the flickering, surging Nen aura erupting from his body...

The Demon Slayer World.

The back mountain of the Kamado family home.

In front of the graves where Uta and Ryota were buried...

A head of fiery red hair swayed in the wind.

Bathed in moonlight, Roy stood alone in the night, carefully savoring the pure [Sun Power] brought to him by the Spider Lily. In this instant, it felt as though he had been thrown right in front of the sun, facing its scorching temperatures point-blank.

He watched as "sunspots," "solar flares," "prominences," and "solar winds" erupted forth...

His entire being became immersed and dissolved within it.

At times, he became a dark spot on the sun's photosphere.

At times, he delved deep into the chromosphere, becoming a surging burst of energy that erupted in an instant.

At times, he followed the particles ejected from the corona, transforming into a single strand of the solar wind formed by countless streams of particles...

Within the dense forest, the flickering Nen aura enveloping Roy grew denser, more vibrant, hotter, and more magnificent... As his immersion deepened, it spontaneously radiated outward into the surroundings...

Gradually,

A sliver of light abruptly pierced through the darkness,

Allowing even more light to manifest,

Directly lifting Roy up toward the high heavens...

In its groggy state, a brown bear hibernating in a burrow mistakenly thought spring had returned to the earth. It sluggishly poked its head out of the cave and took a look... Its massive, lantern-like eyes suddenly widened, and it raised a paw to scratch its head in confusion...

'What's going on?'

'It's clearly still midnight, so why has the sun come out?'

No one answered the brown bear's question.

It simply stood up on its hind legs, staring blankly up at Roy, who was radiating light and heat as he ascended into the high heavens, surpassing the mountain peaks and flying to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the moon...

At the Kamado household, Tanjuro, who had just bid farewell to Roy, sat alone on the wooden porch. He drank cup after cup of tea as if it were wine, trying to soothe his lingering sorrows. At a certain moment, he suddenly noticed his surroundings growing brighter.

Shockingly, a ray of sunlight had broken through the blockade of the night, pushing aside the moonlight to cast its glow into the courtyard in front of the porch.

The man froze for a moment. Suddenly, he threw his coat over his shoulders, took two steps down from the wooden porch, and looked up...

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