When Hinata Haruki spoke, his words struck like a sudden clap of thunder.Tsunade froze for a moment, snapping back to her senses. She lifted her head, staring blankly at Haruki with eyes filled with doubt—and a faint, inexplicable glimmer of hope.
"You… what did you say?" Tsunade asked.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
In one breath, Haruki created five shadow clones. Six Harukis instantly split up, each pulling out scrolls and medical tools, setting up a temporary tent and an emergency operating table. Within moments, the battlefield surgery station was ready.
"Kato-sensei can still be saved! How long has his heart been stopped? One minute? Two?" Haruki's eyes were firm and sharp, brooking no argument. Judging from the state of Kato's cells, he asked quickly.
"One minute and thirty seconds…" Tsunade replied in a low, disheartened voice, shaking her head.
"Then listen—normally, brain death occurs about eight minutes after the heart stops. But Kato-sensei is a Jōnin. His body has been tempered through years of training, and he's mastered the Spirit Transformation Technique. That means he has far greater physical and spiritual energy than an ordinary person. Conservatively speaking, the time before his brain cells begin to die could be extended to twenty minutes." Haruki explained rapidly, his hands already moving without pause.
"Right now, his heart has stopped and his blood pressure is gone, so bleeding has slowed drastically. That means the speed at which we can repair ruptured organs and blood vessels is actually at its fastest!"
"You mean…" Tsunade's eyes widened. Normally, medics would fight desperately to stop the bleeding and prevent cardiac arrest—but Haruki's plan was the opposite: use the heart's stoppage as a window to seal wounds. It sounded reckless… yet possible. But could they really pull it off in time?
"Then let's gamble on these eighteen minutes! In that time, we'll suture the wounds, repair the organs, and then restart his heart! Everyone—get over here! I'm performing an emergency operation! I need your full cooperation if we're going to succeed!" Haruki's tone was severe, his hands moving at an almost inhuman speed.
The three other shinobi stared for a moment at Haruki and his shadow clones, who moved with practiced precision and lightning accuracy, then snapped out of it and rushed in to help.
Haruki used Gentle Fist to seal several of Kato's tenketsu, slowing his blood flow. The team carefully transferred Kato onto the operating table, cutting away his blood-soaked clothes to reveal a body covered in horrific wounds.
The clones intubated Kato and began oxygen delivery. Haruki splashed disinfectant across Kato's torso, while another clone began blood transfusion and fluid replacement. Inside the tent, sterilization was complete. Six Harukis donned gloves and masks, raising their hands into position at Kato's side.
Sixteen minutes left!
"Tsunade, you've already repaired several arteries—now focus on the kidneys and other major vessels, especially the arteries! I'll handle the heart. My clones will work on the liver and spleen. Forget the other wounds for now—move!"
As Haruki spoke, he performed a pericardiocentesis to buy time before cracking open the chest to repair the heart. A surgical blade slid through Kato's skin, even as a clone made an incision into the abdomen.
While Haruki's main body cut through chest muscle with an electroscalpel and split the sternum with a bone saw, his clones opened the abdominal fascia, muscle, and peritoneum, revealing an abdominal cavity flooded with blood. One clone used a large syringe to suction the pooled blood while another began suturing the liver.
Tsunade placed one glowing green palm over the kidney, her chakra surging as she repaired it. Guided by Haruki's Byakugan, her other hand worked to mend critical arteries. When there was no time to heal fully, she sealed bleeds with a hemostasis technique, while another Haruki clone used chakra needles to cauterize damaged vessels.
Ten minutes left!
A nearby Jōnin watched in astonishment as Haruki's clone stitched the liver with rapid, precise movements, the needle holder and suture thread dancing in his hands like a high-speed performance. The instrument-handling clone passed tools with perfect timing, wasting not a single heartbeat.
At the chest, Haruki and his assisting clone worked even faster, their teamwork rivaling that of seasoned surgical teams.
Tsunade, using her Chakra Scalpel in both hands, treated two sites at once. Sweat streamed down her face, but she gritted her teeth. "At this rate, the kidneys and ruptured arteries will be fixed in seven minutes. Hold on, damn it!"
Haruki retracted the rib spreader and cut open the pericardium. The heart was a mangled mess—blood covered half of it, and there were six ruptures in the muscle.
Six minutes left!
"Call out the time for me—six minutes countdown, every fifteen seconds! Starting heart repair now!" Haruki ordered, suctioning the blood from the heart.
"O-okay!" The Jōnin was awestruck by Haruki's blinding speed.
5:45! Haruki began suturing the first rupture. His knot-tying was lightning fast—his fingers a blur, looping and cinching with brutal efficiency.
4:30! The first rupture was sealed. At the same time, the liver was fully repaired, and a clone moved on to the spleen.
3:30! Second rupture sealed. Tsunade completed kidney and artery repairs.
"Tsunade—help me with the spleen!" She joined Haruki's clone, focusing fully on the task.
2:00! The third major rupture was closed. Haruki's hands moved even faster, racing death itself.
0:30! Fourth rupture complete, spleen repaired.
"Hurry! Faster!" one of the Jōnin silently prayed, fists clenched.
0:15! The fifth rupture was impossible to finish in time.
"We're out of time!!" a Jōnin shouted, panic on his face.
"Damn it—just a little more!" another swore, gripping his hands so hard the skin reddened.
"It's no use… The damage is too severe. Even with my Strength of a Hundred Healings, it would take twenty minutes to fully repair… Without the heart, nothing else matters… Damn it!" Tsunade's voice trembled. Was all their work going to be for nothing?
Her chest tightened painfully. But Haruki glanced at her, his gaze calm and confident.
0:00! The Jōnin called the final time.
At that moment, Haruki's hands clamped around the heart."Begin manual cardiac massage!"
His palms were small, so he used both to compress and release the heart rhythmically. Thanks to the tenketsu sealing earlier, blood loss was minimal, and oxygenated blood now flowed back toward the brain.
Tsunade blinked in surprise—he was simulating a heartbeat by directly massaging the heart. More than that, his hands pressed over the still-open rupture, sealing it while stimulating the organ.
He planned this from the start… chose suture points so his fingers could cover the remaining wound? Tsunade was stunned. This was dangerous, borderline insane—but it might be the only way to save Kato.
"This will work! Kato-sensei, come back! Live!!" Haruki thought fiercely, pressing with steady, rhythmic motions—like coaxing a newborn to take its first breath.
"Come on! You can do it!" a shinobi whispered, trembling.
"More! Just a little more!" another urged.
"We can do this!" Tsunade muttered, pouring chakra into her healing.
"Now—beat again!!" Haruki urged silently.
Suddenly, he felt a faint tremor in the heart muscle—like a baby's first kick. He stopped massaging.
"Kato?" Tsunade held her breath.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on the heart. Time seemed to stop.
Slowly… it gave a small beat.
"Heartbeat restored! Yes…" Haruki exhaled in relief. The heart continued beating, and he began repairing the remaining rupture.
"…He's alive… Kato… Thank goodness…" Tsunade froze, then broke into a radiant smile. Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she turned away, retreating to the edge of the tent to sob quietly.
"This… this is a miracle…" the two Jōnin whispered before embracing in relief.
The five Haruki clones turned in unison to glare at them, silencing their cheers instantly.
After a moment, Tsunade wiped her tears, steeled herself, and returned to the table.
Haruki let her work through her emotions, continuing his sutures. The heart was repaired, but countless wounds and fractures remained.
Hours passed before Kato was finally stabilized—deeply unconscious but out of immediate danger, sustained by transfusions and medication.
Only then did Haruki and Tsunade sit to rest, both utterly drained.
The Jōnin said nothing, but their hearts pounded. They had watched a dead man, with his heart destroyed, be pulled back from the Shinigami's grasp. Haruki's medical skill and Byakugan guidance, combined with Tsunade's healing power, had defied all reason.
By now night had fallen, and the rain had stopped. Deciding it was unsafe to linger, the team carried Kato on a stretcher, with Tsunade and Haruki guarding his sides, and slipped quietly back toward camp.
No one spoke. Partly because they were exhausted, partly because they were deep in enemy territory, and partly because each was lost in their own thoughts.
They didn't return to camp until deep into the night, delivering Kato into the medical station for careful monitoring.