16 Recovery

The next few days were tough for Yujin.

Even though it initially seemed like he was improving, there were days when he would suddenly worsen.

The situation greatly impacted Tsunade. Despite her extensive medical knowledge, she couldn't figure out what was happening to him. It was as if something was draining Yujin's vitality constantly.

On some days, he would be better, able to stay awake for a few hours and talk with Tsunade and Shizune. On other days, he wouldn't even wake up, or if he did, it was only for a few minutes.

Yujin also seemed to be losing muscle mass at the same time.

The nightmare days continued for a while, and after a month, things finally seemed to be improving.

It was the fourth day that Yujin was awake normally, only sleeping at night. Even though he was getting better, he had lost muscle mass, still looked pale, and couldn't get up yet.

Tsunade kept him company every day, talking with him. Shizune visited occasionally, helping to take care of him. She always wished for his quick recovery so they could play together.

Today, after four days of feeling better, Yujin was in a good mood, which reflected in the conversation he was having with Tsunade, mostly about their childhood.

"My father was a carpenter. I remember having some wooden toys he made especially for me. One of them was frustrating; it was a kind of wooden puzzle where I had to put the pieces together, but it was so confusing, and I never managed to solve it."

Tsunade noticed that Yujin was opening up more, talking about the past and his feelings more easily.

Before, it seemed like he was always guarded around her, carefully choosing what to say, but now it was as if he had no filter and spoke whatever came to mind. Curious, she asked, and his response was intriguing, to say the least.

"Well, you're a woman, so obviously, I have to be careful around you."

His answer confused her. She didn't understand what he meant.

"What do you mean? What does me being a woman have to do with it?"

Yujin smiled and shook his head slowly after seeing the confusion on her face. He looked at his hands and explained.

"It's something I noticed in our interactions, but sometimes, we don't understand each other due to cultural differences. I don't know how it is here, but I was raised in a place where I must maintain a safe and respectful distance from women. That's because women have the role of marrying and having children, and therefore, they must always keep their distance from men to remain chaste."

Yujin's explanation didn't make much sense to Tsunade. She still didn't understand what he meant. For starters, the culture of his world didn't make much sense to her. Seeing Tsunade's persistent confusion, he continued.

"Women have to remain chaste until marriage, and that's why minimal contact with men. It's to protect them. Because of this, it's common for women and men from where I come from to keep a distance from each other when they are single."

"When I came to this world, I noticed the cultural differences. These cultural differences aren't so strange to me since I traveled to many different places before. Here, women are not treated differently from men, and because of our friendship, I tried my best not to find the culture here strange."

"Perhaps the distance you felt from me before is because of that. Even though I tried, it was still strange for me to be so close to a woman. But this situation, where even if I wanted to keep my distance, I couldn't, maybe brought us closer to the point where I don't mind anymore, I think."

Tsunade finally understood what Yujin meant. She was pleased with Yujin's words, confirming that they had grown closer.

"I'm glad. You've become an important friend to me, Yujin. I hope you get better soon."

Yujin smiled to reassure her.

***

A few days later, Yujin finally recovered enough to try getting up. Although his movements were slow, and he needed effort, it was a good sign, and Tsunade was finally relieved.

He did some simple exercises and returned to bed.

"Should I check my Qi?"

Tsunade frowned upon hearing this, wondering if it was a good idea.

"I don't know. Last time, you felt pain and fainted suddenly. How about waiting a few more days?"

Yujin accepted Tsunade's suggestion without much thought. He then looked at her deeply and thanked her again.

"Thank you for everything, Tsunade. I'll always be grateful. In the future, if you need me, I'll be willing to risk my life for you without a second thought."

For some reason, Yujin's words made her blush. She felt awkward and didn't know how to respond. It's not like she was helping him expecting something in return, but his promise touched her heart. In the end, she didn't say anything and just walked away from him to try to calm down.

Yujin didn't notice her strange reaction and just lay down to rest.

***

Finally, after two months of rest, Yujin recovered enough to take care of himself. Although he was still far from reaching his peak physical condition, he could finally do things around the house on his own.

With Tsunade by his side watching him all the time, Yujin tried again to move his Qi to understand the condition of his body.

This time, there was no problem. Although it was more challenging than usual, Qi moved through all the meridians of his body with ease, and he finally had an internal view of his body.

Everything seemed normal, except for a strange energy present in his dantian.

When he saw this energy, Yujin remembered that it was also present in his body two months ago right after the purification process, but now it was much larger than before.

On that day, he needed a lot of concentration to even find that energy, but now it was so large and dense that he could almost immediately sense it. When Tsunade heard about this energy, she was surprised and placed her hand on Yujin's body.

"Is it possible for you to open a path so I can observe your dantian?"

Yujin's Qi was present throughout his body, even in the dantian, and it seemed to have a restrictive effect on Tsunade's Chakra. He had to move the Qi away from Tsunade's Chakra, and she finally felt the massive amount of unknown energy. When she felt this energy, Tsunade opened her eyes in surprise and exclaimed.

"It's CHAKRA!!"

Yujin expected this, but he was still surprised. Can he now perform those ninja magics?

"It's an enormous amount of chakra... How is this possible?"

Tsunade tried to sense more or less how much energy, but she couldn't; it was so large and dense that she couldn't compare it with anyone she knew. If she had to compare, she would have to compare it to the accumulated years of her Strength of a Hundred technique.

Currently, she has been accumulating Chakra in her seal for two years, but it's still not enough compared to Yujin. Maybe if she accumulates for another six years, it would be an appropriate comparison, and this left her very surprised. This is an absurd amount of Chakra.

"It doesn't make sense..."

"I felt this energy for the first time two months ago, on the full moon day. After the purification process, there was a bit of this energy in my dantian. So little that I barely noticed. Now, two months later, this energy has grown tremendously. Is this normal?"

Tsunade shook her head and explained.

"No, it's not. Chakra normally increases over time, from childhood to adulthood. Constant use during training also helps it grow, but that's it. The fact that you're already an adult and have managed to produce Chakra is strange. Even stranger is this explosive increase in such a short time. I've never seen anything so absurd before."

The two fell silent, trying to understand what could have happened. It was Tsunade who eventually realized something important that shocked her completely. In a low voice, she began to voice her thoughts.

"What if the reason you were bedridden for these two months was that your body was extracting all its strength to create Chakra?"

It was a somewhat absurd theory, but it would explain why he had been bedridden for two months. Chakra is created from the merging of mental and physical energy. That's why Chakra increases as a person grows from childhood when both mental and physical energies are developing.

"So you're saying that, after my purification on the full moon day, I somehow created Chakra, and my body has been creating Chakra at the cost of my body and mind? But does this normally happen to people here?"

"No. As I said, this is a process that happens in childhood while physical and mental development occurs. For some reason, your body demanded a significant amount of physical and mental energy for the creation of large amounts of Chakra, and that's why you were bedridden for two months. It also explains why you're not fully recovered yet; your body is still creating Chakra."

The more she thought about it, the more it made sense to Tsunade, and the more absurd it all seemed. Yujin pondered on it for a few minutes and used the time to feel the new energy in his body as well. After a few minutes silence, he came to a strange conclusion.

"You know... I feel like the amount of Qi and Chakra in my body is equalizing. Chakra is still lower, but not by much."

"How did you come to that conclusion?"

"When the Chakra is almost catching up to my Qi, I'm starting to get better."

"That... makes sense. So, you're saying that your body is producing Chakra to match it with your Qi?"

"We'll only know when I finally get fully better."

The new discoveries were quickly noted in a notebook that Tsunade kept nearby about Yujin's condition.