Chapter 6: Medicinal Bath

In the evening, after dinner, Yuzhibo Dongshilang sat on the extended corridor outside the house. His lower legs dangled, swinging back and forth.

He held a book recounting the history of the Uchiha clan, reading it intermittently.

"Dong Shilang, I'm ready over here, come quickly."

Yuzhibo Meixiang's voice came from inside the house. Following the sound! Dong Shilang came to the indoor bathroom. At this moment, Yuzhibo Meixiang was busy tying her hair beside a large wooden tub. Clear water droplets flowed down from her forehead along her temples, whether from the steam filling the bathroom or from fatigue!

"There are still several medicinal herbs that need to wait until you, Dong Shilang, successfully refine chakra before they can be added; then the medicinal effect will be better."

Looking at the relatively large bathtub before him, Dong Shilang hesitated for a moment.

One reason was that this bucket of brown "bath water" gave off a strong herbal smell, making him feel uneasy. Another reason was that the temperature of the liquid in the bucket was too hot to touch.

Finally, the reason was that he, a grown man with a mental age of thirty, was undressing in front of a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl. What would that look like? Although he had gradually begun to give up treatment these days? (? ▽?)

It seemed she saw Dong Shilang's hesitation. The girl named Yuzhibo Meixiang narrowed her eyes, a faint smile appearing. With one hand she lifted him up, brushing, brushing, brushing—three strokes, two strokes—removing his outer coat, shirt, trousers, and that last line of defense. She then shoved him into the bathtub.

"Ah! It's scalding to death! Scalding to death! Scalding to death!" Out of instinct, Dong Shilang placed both hands on the tub and leapt up, trying to escape from the scalding bath.

At that moment a snow-white lotus-like arm suddenly extended, pressing down on his head, and shoved the leaping Dong Shilang back into the tub.

"If you can't endure even this little pain, Dong Shilang, you'd better give up the idea of becoming a ninja." Looking at Dong Shilang's scalded, reddened skin in the tub, Yuzhibo Meixiang did not withdraw her hand pressing his head.

As a ninja, learning to endure pain is his first lesson. In a ninja's career, there are physical pains such as bodily training, studying ninjutsu, injury, bleeding, even being killed. There are also mental pains: in missions, teachers, comrades, relatives, even lovers passing away one after another—these are commonplace.

"Okay, Mei Xiang sister. No need to keep pressing my head—I'm slowly getting used to it." Almost standing in the tub, Dong Shilang gasped heavily, his skin reddened from the medicinal water.

"Oh, you're slowly getting used to it? Then I'll start the next step..." While speaking, she withdrew her right hand, bent over, pulled out some pieces of wood from somewhere, waved them in front of Dong Shilang's eyes, then shoved them into a stone hidden door at the bottom of the wooden tub. She formed seals with both hands and spat out a mouthful of scorching flame to ignite the wood.

Then she produced a thermometer from somewhere and shoved it into his hand.

"Watch out—if the temperature exceeds 70 degrees, Dong Shilang will be boiled... Moreover, for a medicinal bath, the higher the temperature, the better the effect!"

Watching Yuzhibo Meixiang's series of actions, Dong Shilang suddenly felt a bit regretful. Should he not become a ninja? Or if he does become one, maybe just being an ordinary ninja would suffice—no need to push himself so hard.

At the same time he couldn't help cursing inwardly: when others transmigrate, they either get a cheat or a grandfatherly figure, or at least a system! But here he has nothing—except a troublesome Uchiha identity.

As he cursed, Dong Shilang felt tears welling up. Thinking about it, it's tragic. Others who transmigrate graduate at five, kill a Chunin at six, become a Jonin at seven, reach Shadow level at eight. Training is just eating, picking up girls, smooth sailing—overwhelming operations abound. Here he's about to become boiled lion's head, and this is still just the first step of a ten-thousand-mile journey. A lifetime of sighs—different fates for different people!

Yuzhibo Dongshilang relied on complaining to distract himself, suffering step by step. Meanwhile, Yuzhibo Meixiang tightly stared at the thermometer, one hand on his back feeling his heartbeat, occasionally adjusting the flame to control the water temperature, also busy enough to work up a sweat.

In pain, time always passes slowly. Yet no matter how long the suffering, there is always an end. When Dong Shilang felt he could not endure and might faint, Yuzhibo Meixiang lifted him out of the tub. At that moment Dong Shilang was red all over, resembling a boiled braised large shrimp. His mind was also dazed.

"Dong Shilang! Dong Shilang! Are you alright?" Dong Shilang, having just been wrapped in a blanket, finally let out a big sigh and regained a bit of clarity.

"Mei Xiang sister, will every medicinal bath be like this from now on?" If each medicinal bath were as painful as today, he felt he wouldn't need to become a ninja—he'd collapse soon enough.

"Of course not. As Dong Shilang successfully refines chakra, enduring the high temperature of the medicinal bath will become easier." Holding Yuzhibo Dongshilang, she walked toward the bedroom, answering as she went.

Seeing the child in her arms let out a big sigh, she chuckled teasingly. "The clan's prescription has undergone many revisions. In it, the higher the temperature of the medicinal bath, the longer one can endure, the greater the years, and the better the effect."

"Most children can't last more than three years. Moreover, the temperature of the medicinal soup hasn't reached the optimal high."

Hearing this, Dong Shilang couldn't help but frown anxiously. Higher temperature, longer time, better effect—it feels like the more you torture yourself, the better the result.

"Who the hell came up with this prescription? Has he even used it himself?"

"Alright, stop complaining—now we start the second step."

"The second step? Isn't it just resting after the medicinal bath to absorb the effects?"

Placing Dong Shilang on the bed, she said, "It's precisely to better absorb the medicinal properties that we have this second step."

"Starting," she announced, then began her movements. With a crisp "crack," Dong Shilang's right hand twisted in the opposite direction of its joint.

"Mnh! Huh!" Ignoring the boy's pained groan on the bed, Yuzhibo Meixiang continued her actions, meanwhile explaining, "After a super-high-temperature medicinal bath is the best time to stretch the tendons and bones." As she spoke, she helped him up. Another crisp "crack" sounded. Next came waist lowering, high leg kicks, the splits, and other high-difficulty moves that in his previous life he wouldn't even dare imagine—she tried them all.