After running all afternoon, Kai felt invigorated, as if a surge of energy had been awakened within him—likely due to the influence of the Bodhi Seed rather than simply recovering from chakra exhaustion.
"Bodhi Seed, you're really something," he thought, pleased.
As he walked down the street, something unusual caught his eye. He glanced up and froze for a moment—three heads poked out from the wall of the Ninja Academy.
It was Naruto, Shikamaru, and Chōji.
Shikamaru quickly raised a finger to his lips, signaling Kai to stay quiet.
Kai nodded in agreement.
The trio sighed in relief and cautiously climbed over the wall.
"Skipping class, huh?"
"Hmph, isn't it obvious? Aren't you skipping class too?" Naruto shot back, giving Kai a once-over.
"I thought the academy was all about diligent learning now? Isn't everyone studying hard these days?" Kai asked, puzzled.
"Well, it was like that for a while," Shikamaru replied lazily, a piece of grass dangling from his mouth. "But it was too much effort. Graduating early is a pain anyway, so I figured I'd stick around a little longer."
Chōji remained silent, munching on some snacks as usual.
"Hehe, come on, let me show you guys a good time," Naruto grinned.
Kai smiled warmly, "At your age, shouldn't you be focused on studying? How can you just go out and play?"
"Huh? Who the heck are you?" Naruto looked at him, baffled.
We're all skipping class here, why is this guy acting like some model student?
"Me? I'm just someone who doesn't want to see you guys go down the wrong path," Kai said with a smirk, and suddenly, thin chakra threads shot out from his fingers.
Kai controlled the three of them with the chakra threads, making them climb back up the wall. Naruto turned to glare at him angrily, but—
Snap!
With a flick of his finger, Kai released the threads, and the three of them tumbled off the wall, landing on the other side.
Naruto tried to climb back over to confront Kai, but Shikamaru held him back. Chōji, seeing that Shikamaru wasn't moving, decided to stay put as well. He had learned over the years that following Shikamaru's lead usually meant avoiding trouble.
"We can't beat him. Let's just head back before the patrol teachers catch us," Shikamaru suggested, his voice calm but firm.
"Argh! Don't let me catch him in the academy!" Naruto fumed.
"Even if you do, you won't stand a chance against him," Shikamaru said dryly as he hunched over and led them back to class. "Those chakra threads were solid. I bet that guy is Yagyu Kai—the one who graduated early."
"Oh, him," Chōji muttered as he continued to eat.
They definitely wouldn't stand a chance.
"Yagyu Kai or not, I'm going to teach him a lesson!" Naruto declared as he leapt over the wall again.
Shikamaru sighed and covered his face in exasperation.
Chōji looked over at Shikamaru, silently asking what to do.
"Forget about him. Let's hurry back," Shikamaru said, quickening his pace.
Not long after, Shikamaru saw Naruto down the street, heading straight into a trap set by the teachers at the academy entrance.
Oh boy, what a mess! I told him not to go, but he just wouldn't listen.
Kai was sitting at the academy gate, chatting amicably with some of the teachers.
"Good kid! I heard you even performed surgery at the hospital?" one of the teachers said.
"That's just an exaggeration. I was only assisting—I couldn't handle a full surgery myself," Kai replied modestly.
"Don't sell yourself short. Your chakra threads are better than those used by the ninjas from Sunagakure. Keep it up, and maybe you'll develop puppet techniques that rival theirs!" the teacher joked.
Puppet techniques? Kai mused. The real challenge of puppetry wasn't in controlling the puppets, but in crafting them—something that required years of experimentation and refinement. Unless Konoha could somehow get its hands on Sunagakure's puppet-making secrets, trying to develop the technique from scratch would be a waste of effort.
Of course, the teachers were mostly speaking in admiration of his talents and didn't mean anything serious by their comments. They hadn't had many chances to talk with him, so they were just making conversation.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Kai left the academy, leaving Naruto standing awkwardly in the wind after being caught red-handed by the teachers.
---
"Kai, Lord Hanfang would like to see you when you have time."
"Understood," Kai nodded and made his way toward Hanfang's office.
He knocked gently on the door.
"Come in," Hanfang's voice called from inside.
When Kai entered, he was momentarily taken aback. Besides Hanfang, there was also a kind-looking elderly woman in the room. However, her appearance…
Wait, is that…? Kai's mind raced.
Koharu Utatane, the old war hawk!
Kai's heart skipped a beat, but he maintained his composure, respectfully bowing to both of them.
"Kai, please have a seat. This is Koharu Utatane, one of the village's elders and a highly skilled medical ninja," Hanfang introduced her.
Koharu smiled modestly. "Oh, I've long since stopped practicing medical ninjutsu. Much of what I knew has faded away—I'm more of an advisor these days."
Kai mentally noted her humility when it came to medical techniques. She seems more reasonable when it comes to medical matters than in her political dealings, he thought.
"You're too modest," Kai said politely.
"Let's get to the point," Koharu said, smiling at Kai. "We called you here to ask if you'd be interested in becoming a special consultant ninja at the hospital."
Kai blinked in surprise. "A special consultant ninja?"
"Yes," Hanfang explained. "You don't use medical ninjutsu, but I've observed your exceptional chakra control. With further training, your skill with surgical tools would be invaluable. There are many surgeries that require an expert in precise chakra manipulation."
Hanfang had originally seen Kai as just another talented student, but after yesterday's events, he realized he had severely underestimated the boy's potential.
Given Kai's talent and ability, it wouldn't be long before he mastered techniques involving chakra scalpels and needles. In fact, he might even surpass some of the veteran medical ninjas in the field.
Kai hesitated. "But I'm still a student. I've also got plenty of books from Kitayama-sensei that I haven't finished yet."
"It won't interfere with your studies," Hanfang assured him. "And as for Kitayama… well, she's busy with her own studies right now, so she might not have much time to guide you. This position would allow you to fully participate in hospital operations."
Hanfang was hinting that Kitayama had been shaken by recent events and was now focused on improving her own skills.
Kai wasn't naive. The use of chakra needles had already proven to be effective, so it was only a matter of time before other medical ninjas needed to learn the technique. It wouldn't make sense for him to be the only one performing surgeries.
After all, I'm still just a kid!
Even if Kai was willing, it would be awkward for the veteran medical ninjas to rely on someone so young.
After some thought, Kai said, "If this is about the chakra needle technique… I've been experimenting with it during my rest, and I think I can make it more stable and easier to use by adding fifteen more hand seals. This would make it more suitable for medical applications."
"Really?" Hanfang's voice was filled with excitement.
Even Koharu, who usually kept her calm, seemed intrigued. Most people took years to develop new jutsu—yet here was a child improving a complex technique in just a few days!
"Yes, let me show you…" Kai said, slowly performing the hand seals.
Originally, the chakra needle technique had required only five seals, but after some experimenting, Kai had simplified the process to twenty seals. He had drawn inspiration from the Water Dragon Jutsu, which could be performed with fewer seals by skilled ninjas like Tobirama, while others needed many more.
By adding seals, Kai had managed to make the technique easier to execute for less experienced ninjas.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you want to support me and read chapters ahead, join my patreon : patreon.com/Adwitiyah_Daivik