It had been over half a month since Tachibana had expressed his wish to become a medical ninja.
Though he'd frequently met with Saigyouji Keiko during that time to learn about medical ninjutsu, Keiko herself never brought up the subject of the medical ninja selection, and Tachibana chose not to press her. Instead, he focused even more intently on his training and studies.
These days, Tachibana's life was a routine of classes, daily missions, ninjutsu practice, and studying medical knowledge.
Perhaps it was because he had already triggered most of the easier achievements, but the frequency of new achievements being unlocked had significantly decreased lately.
Still, the daily missions remained stable. By his estimation, he should be able to accumulate the 1600 gold needed for a ten-pull by the end of the month.
The only issue was that he hadn't yet decided whether to pull from the Water Elemental Pool or the General Pool.
Both had drool-worthy golden-tier rewards, but Tachibana knew his luck probably wouldn't be so absurd as to pull a gold after just ten or twenty tries.
So for now, he was focusing on which purple-tier items could give him the most practical benefit.
The Water Pool, with its Water Release techniques, would synergize well with the "Trait" he already possessed, offering a more consistent path to power growth.
On the other hand, the General Pool was a mixed bag of bizarre and eclectic skills and items, some ridiculously overpowered, others like "Cutesy Cry" or "Turn Round and Fluffy" just felt like a waste of precious pulls.
As he stared at the system panel, considering the trajectory of his future, a nearby conversation caught his attention.
Two ninja-clad passersby had just stepped out of a dango shop.
"Did you hear? The Third Kazekage of Sunagakure has gone missing."
"Yeah, I heard. But it's got nothing to do with us, right? Typical Suna, only they could lose their own Kage."
"Seriously. Suna's getting weaker by the day. Total disgrace to the Five Great Shinobi Nations."
"Ain't that the truth."
Tachibana, just finished with school and on his way to the Kirigakure Hospital for his next round of medical training, had only caught fragments as the voices faded into the distance.
But his thoughts were already in turmoil.
Because he knew the truth, the Third Kazekage's disappearance wasn't entirely unrelated to Kirigakure.
If his memory served him right, it was this incident that would give Sunagakure the excuse to attack Konohagakure.
This... was the spark that would ignite the Third Great Ninja War.
Kirigakure had stayed out of the Second War, remaining isolated from the conflict centered around the Land of Rain and its bordering powers of Fire, Earth, and Wind.
But the Third War would be an all-out free-for-all. All Five Great Nations would be drawn into the chaos. No village would escape unscathed.
Tachibana's chest tightened as he recalled the figures who rose and fell during that brutal war, and the unimaginable toll it had taken.
He had once thought that by becoming a medical ninja, he could skip the graduation exam and sidestep the frontlines.
Now, he felt a renewed urgency to grow stronger.
He didn't know how long the Kazekage had been missing.
But if even random Kirigakure shinobi were discussing it, then the day Sunagakure declared war on Konoha couldn't be far off.
Tachibana sighed, headache brewing.
If war really broke out, even ordinary medical personnel would be deployed. He wouldn't be exempt just because he chose the path of a healer.
Worse, if the war started too soon, this batch of students might be forced to graduate early, throwing all of his careful plans into disarray.
But there was nothing he could do to change that. All he could hope for now was that war came later rather than sooner, at least for Kirigakure.
Feeling a bit frustrated, Tachibana instinctively reached for his shoulder to complain to his little frog companion.
Then he remembered, Aotama wasn't with him today. A few days ago, the frog had made a breakthrough in training and mastered the signature skill [Lightning Dash] all on his own.
Ever since, Aotama had been obsessively immersed in cultivation, too focused to accompany him out.
Fortunately, with the Summoning Technique, Aotama could be called instantly if something urgent happened, so his absence didn't weaken Tachibana's overall combat capability.
Speaking of [Lightning Dash], it was a technique similar to the Body Flicker, but with enhanced second-phase directional control, allowing the user to redirect mid-dash. It also added the kinetic force of high-speed movement to physical strikes, an excellent offensive maneuver.
Unfortunately, even though Tachibana's overall strength surpassed Aotama's, he lacked the frog's specialized leg structure and explosive leap strength, making it impossible to replicate the move himself.
Which meant that of Aotama's four known skills, [Slap], which was too weak to be useful; [Cutesy Cry] and [Water Gun], which required no hand signs and resembled innate abilities; and [Lightning Dash], which he couldn't physically perform, none were skills Tachibana could copy to improve his own combat power.
With thoughts like these swirling through his head, he arrived at Keiko's office.
She wasn't there, not unusual. As head of the Kirigakure Hospital, her schedule was relentlessly busy.
Tachibana sat down at her desk, unrolled a medical scroll, and picked up from where he'd left off the day before, diving into his studies.
So far, he had learned only two medical ninjutsu techniques: [Healing Jutsu] and [Flowing Waters Circle]. These were already enough for his current level.
Most of his time was now spent refining his chakra control and deepening his understanding of human anatomy. During downtime, he would ask Keiko questions about pharmacology.
It had gotten to the point where his brain was overloaded with information. His evening ninjutsu practice had slowed to a crawl.
His [Water Clone] technique couldn't even maintain a humanoid shape. Even the simpler [Hidden Mist Technique] was still inconsistent.
Time slipped by unnoticed as Tachibana studied.
The sun dipped low on the horizon.
Cre-eak,
The office door opened. Keiko stepped in, looking visibly worn out.
But when she saw the scroll laid out on her desk, a faint, warm smile touched her lips.
"Keiko-auntie, you haven't eaten yet, have you? I bought some dango on the way here," Tachibana offered, concerned by her weary appearance.
"No need. I've got another surgery soon. I just came to tell you something," she replied.
Tachibana's eyes sharpened. He had a hunch what this was about.
Sure enough, Keiko continued, "The decision has been made. The village will be selecting candidates from the ninja academy for medical ninja training. The academy should receive formal notice in a few days. The selection will be among students set to graduate this year. You'll be fine, Tachibana, you're more than qualified."
"Those who pass the selection will enter a two-month training program. Anyone who completes it successfully will be granted genin status directly."
That meant… he might become a genin even earlier than Zabuza?
Tachibana didn't doubt for a second that he'd pass the selection.
Among the entire academy, teachers included, his medical knowledge was already in a league of its own.
"Well then, Tachibana, I've got to run. You should head home too," Keiko said, sweeping out of the room as quickly as she had entered. The whole conversation hadn't even lasted two minutes.
Tachibana sighed and tidied up the office before heading home.
Over the next few days, he found himself distracted.
Even though he kept repeating the mantra, "A shinobi is one who endures," it only calmed his outward expression. Inside, he was still anxious.
'No wonder Zabuza and Kakashi wear masks. Hiding your emotions is damn near impossible!'
Luckily, he didn't have to wait long. Three days later, in the morning,
As the students sat waiting for class as usual, their homeroom teacher walked in and delivered an unexpected announcement.
"Medical ninja training? Pfft, who'd want to do that?"
"Right? Is that even real ninja work? Don't underestimate us, Ueda-sensei!"
"We're Blood Mist shinobi! Only cowards want to be doctors! I'm not hiding in the back of the battlefield!"
Most of the students scoffed at the news.
Even those with a realistic grasp of their own limited abilities didn't want to be mocked for volunteering.
Regardless of strength, everyone was trying to prove how brave they were.
That was just the culture of Kirigakure, even the homeroom teacher didn't bother correcting their misconception that medical ninja were helpless medics hiding behind the front lines.
But then,
Tachibana stood up.
"Ueda-sensei, I'd like to participate in the medical ninja selection."