Chapter 51: Treatment
"Watch out!"
The wounded Konoha ninja barely got the warning out before his eyes widened in disbelief.
Taichi, calm and precise, flicked his short blade, deflecting three incoming kunai in a sharp clang, clang, clang!
He then caught sight of the enemy chūnin's ambush trajectory—and intercepted the stabbing kunai with flawless timing.
"Heh, I was waiting for you," Taichi said coldly, twisting his blade aside. "Honestly, I thought your sneak attack would come faster."
The chūnin's teeth ground audibly. He had planned to strike during Taichi's assault—but the boy had dispatched his comrade so quickly it stunned him for a second. That single hesitation had cost him the perfect chance.
"How did you know someone else was hiding?" the chūnin demanded bitterly.
"Isn't a standard ninja squad one captain with three subordinates? You guys were one short—it'd be stupid not to expect an ambush."
Taichi's answer was so matter-of-fact it left the chūnin speechless. Then, in the next instant, Taichi surged forward—his short blade flashing in a continuous assault. He exploited his weapon's reach and speed, forcing the chūnin entirely onto the defensive, giving him no space to breathe.
And that was exactly when several kunai whistled in from oblique angles, slicing through the air.
The chūnin's eyes went wide—he'd been so focused on blocking Taichi that he hadn't noticed the incoming attack. It was too late to dodge.
The kunai pierced through his chest in quick succession, his body jerking before collapsing to the ground. His expression, even in death, was one of stunned disbelief.
From the trees emerged Yōhei and Saori—they'd already taken down their own opponents and arrived just in time to assist Taichi.
With the mid-level enemies dispatched, the trio immediately turned to support Captain Yamaguchi, who was still engaged with a Suna jōnin.
The fight, however, was nearly over. The jōnin, already rattled after the initial ambush and the loss of his subordinates, had lost his composure. Panic was written all over his face—he wanted to flee more than he wanted to fight.
But the more he tried to escape, the tighter the net became. When Taichi's team arrived, the outcome was sealed.
Taichi was the first to rush into the fray, blade gleaming. Though he was still physically weaker than a jōnin, in sheer technique, his swordsmanship easily outclassed his opponent.
He didn't try to overpower him—he simply used his refined movements to harass and disrupt, keeping the jōnin off-balance while Captain Yamaguchi prepared his finishing strike.
Meanwhile, Yōhei and Saori didn't even get close. They stayed at a distance, expertly throwing kunai to cut off any escape routes.
Under their perfect coordination, the Suna jōnin was subdued without a single injury on their side.
Thirty years of glory on the east bank, thirty years of downfall on the west.
Once, he hunted others. Now, he was the prey.
The reversal was brutal.
"Saori, Yōhei," Yamaguchi ordered, tossing a storage scroll their way. "Check the bodies and seal them up. Taichi, you're with me—we'll look at that wounded ninja."
Yōhei and Saori got to work while Yamaguchi and Taichi headed toward the fallen Konoha shinobi.
The injured man stirred weakly as they approached, trying to raise an arm, but Taichi quickly knelt beside him and began checking his wounds.
"D-Don't… waste your effort," the man rasped. "I've lost too much blood. Won't… make it back to the village. There's intel—in the lining of my vest—"
"Save your strength. You'll deliver it yourself," Taichi interrupted firmly.
Green light flared softly in his hands as he pressed them over the wound—the Mystical Palm Technique.
It might only have been a B-rank jutsu, but the skill's difficulty increased exponentially with mastery. As a healer's understanding and chakra control improved, so too did the precision—and effectiveness—of this art.
The injured ninja's eyes widened at the glow. Judging by their ages, this team was freshly graduated genin. And yet—not only were they skilled, they even had a trained medical ninja among them.
The realization filled him with a mix of awe and envy.
"My name's Shinkawa Sanae," he said hoarsely. "Thanks to you, I might actually live. When we get back, I'll buy you a drink—no, dinner!"
He seemed to forget Taichi's age in his excitement.
Taichi didn't reply, too focused on his work. Most of Shinkawa's wounds were superficial—except for the severed arm. That was the real problem.
Taichi picked up the detached limb he'd retrieved earlier and examined it closely.
"Forget it," Shinkawa sighed. "A lost arm's a small price for my life. Maybe I'll just retire early."
He tried to sound cheerful, but the tears in his eyes betrayed him.
"Doesn't look like you'll be retiring just yet," Taichi murmured.
He cleaned the wound, maintaining the green glow to preserve tissue vitality. His movements were calm, precise, and confident.
Yamaguchi, Yōhei, and Saori watched in silent astonishment. None of them had realized how skilled Taichi's medical ninjutsu really was.
"Once I retire, I'll open a snack shop," Shinkawa continued dreamily, lost in his own melancholy. "You guys come visit—I'll give you a discount!"
No one had the heart to interrupt him.
Everyone was staring at Shinkawa as though he'd just said something idiotic. Only then did he realize what Taichi had meant earlier.
"Y–You mean… my arm can be reattached!?" Shinkawa stammered, disbelief giving way to a trembling hope.
"You're lucky," Taichi replied evenly. "It was severed cleanly by a kunai, so the wound's smooth, and it hasn't been too long—the tissue hasn't started dying yet. Reattaching it shouldn't be a problem."
To Shinkawa's ears, those cold, matter-of-fact words were like music from heaven.
"Thank you… thank you so much!" he choked out, tears of relief welling in his eyes.
Taichi carefully aligned the severed arm with the stump, his palms glowing with the bright green light of the Mystical Palm Technique. The brilliance intensified as he poured every ounce of concentration into reconnecting the nerves, muscles, bone, and microstructures one by one.
The light persisted for nearly an hour before finally fading.
By then, Taichi's forehead was dripping with sweat—this level of treatment was clearly a heavy burden, even for him.
"Alright," he said, exhaling. "That's as much as I can do for now. The arm's been preliminarily reattached, but don't use it yet. Once you're back in the village, stay in the hospital for a while—they'll handle the long-term recovery."
He wiped his brow and stood.
"Let's move. The village is still far, and we've got intel to protect. We can't waste time."
Captain Yamaguchi lifted Shinkawa onto his back and led the group forward. Taichi and the others followed closely behind.
---
About an hour after they left, two squads of Suna-nin arrived at the site of the battle. They split up to examine several skirmish zones before regrouping.
"Team Tōzan was ambushed."
"The fight ended fast—looks like they were taken out in one strike."
"Tōzan the jōnin was surrounded and killed. At least three attackers."
"They've been gone over an hour. We won't catch them."
"Then we report back. Let's move."
The sand-nin faded into the trees, leaving behind only the silence of the battlefield.
---
When Konoha's great gates came into view, even though they hadn't been away long, everyone felt a faint sense of homesickness.
After completing the re-entry paperwork, Captain Yamaguchi turned to his young teammates.
"I'll take Shinkawa to submit the mission report. You three head home and rest. Take a full week off. We meet again in the mission hall—seven days from now, at dawn. Dismissed."
Without waiting for a reply, he vanished with a shunshin. Clearly, the intel Shinkawa carried was of high priority.
"Well then," Taichi said, breaking the brief silence, "let's all get some rest. We've earned it."
"Yeah, see you in a week!"
"Same here!"
Both Yōhei and Saori's faces lit up—they were clearly eager to return home after their first long mission away.
---
Back in his own house, Taichi collapsed onto his bed, stretching lazily.
The quiet comfort of home washed over him, and for a brief moment, his mind went blank.
Maybe this… is what I want to protect, he thought. This peace. This calm.
After resting for a bit, he sat up and summoned his status panel to review the spoils of his recent battles.
---
Name: Matsushita Taichi
Class: Genin Lv.4 (12/600)
Talents: Diligence Makes Up For Lack Of Talent, Scholar, Enhanced
Age: 8
Constitution: 21
Strength: 20
Agility: 18
Spirit: 23
Chakra: 16,000 (Max: 16,400)
Attribute Points: 14
Skill Points: 16
Chakra Nature Transformations:
Fire: Lv.7 (581/1200)
Wind: Lv.7 (646/1200)
Water: Lv.7 (362/1200)
Yang: Lv.6 (539/1000)
Yin: Lv.2 (124/200)
Chakra Form Manipulation: Lv.6 (697/1000)
Chakra Control: Lv.5 (696/800)
Skills:
Advanced Taijutsu Lv.1 (120/2000)
Advanced Meditation Lv.1 (234/2000)
Advanced Kenjutsu Lv.0 (320/1000)
Derived Skill: Blade Pressure (Ken no Ichi)
Evaluation:
You may have just graduated, but an average chūnin is no longer a match for you.
Unfortunately… you're still officially a genin.
---
Taichi ignored the panel's snarky tone. What mattered was the progress.
Not only had he leveled up twice—proving that real combat was the best way to grow—but his biggest gain was in chakra nature transformation.
In barely ten days, his improvement rivaled what had once taken him months. It wasn't just battle experience—it was his growing attunement with nature itself, a deeper understanding of elemental change.