Koharu Mitokado read over Chiba's handwritten notes, then tried forming the seals herself…
And—it worked!
She could hardly believe it.
Was there really such a gifted child in the world?
"Chiba, you… how on earth did you do this?"
Hanpō stared, utterly dumbfounded.
"Oh, nothing special. My sensory perception's pretty good, so I just tried each seal one by one—recorded roughly what effect each had on the technique, and then grouped and matched them accordingly."
"..."
Hanpō's mind went blank.
Sensory perception?
Wait a minute—
You can feel chakra like that?
Koharu's eyes widened. "You have sensory ability as well?"
"Not that strong," Chiba replied casually. "My range is limited, and I can't sense other people's chakra fluctuations very well—but my own chakra flow is quite clear."
What he didn't say was—
Within half a step's range, he could sense the general flow of chakra.
When Koharu had been forming her seals earlier, he'd actually felt the path of her refined chakra moving through her meridians. If he'd wanted to attack her, he could have driven a chakra needle straight into a key meridian.
But even that, in Chiba's eyes, wasn't much of a success.
The efficiency was just too low.
If he was close enough to stab someone, why bother with chakra needles to disrupt or seal their chakra flow?
Wouldn't a simple blade do the job faster?
That'd be like taking off your pants just to fart!
Koharu fell silent.
Not that strong, he said…
Sensory abilities weren't cabbages you could just pick off the street!
What a supreme level of humble bragging!
Koharu silently tested the technique a few more times. Some attempts failed, but more succeeded—and that alone proved it was viable. Her heart was genuinely moved.
"Child, you're a genius. Stay at the hospital—we'd love to have you!"
"No, thank you. I'd still rather become a ninja. I come to the hospital just to study medicine and anatomy—I don't plan on being a professional medical ninja."
Chiba shook his head.
Hanpō sighed with regret.
He and Koharu exchanged a glance and sighed together.
Indeed, the fact that this boy couldn't use medical ninjutsu was a major limitation.
And clearly, Koharu had realized that her earlier impulsive offer had been a little rash.
Besides, trying to keep someone with this kind of talent confined to medical work—when Konoha's entire ninja corps could benefit from him—would be a terrible waste.
"To be fair," Koharu said, "adding seals did make your technique easier to perform, but it's still rated as an A-rank jutsu. Even if the medical class learns it, few can handle chakra with your precision."
Hanpō smiled kindly. "How about this—just take the Special Appointment title. That way, during this period, you can use the position to freely pursue what you want to work on."
"As for payment," Koharu added, "you'll receive half the standard salary of a medical ninja—whether or not you're actively working at the hospital."
"Thank you, Advisor, Lord Hanpō."
Chiba's heart leapt with joy.
Ah, money!
That was something worth staying awake for.
Even with the Bodhi Seed enhancing his gifts, he was still a war orphan without a ninja rank. His income came only from small village stipends.
Enough to live on—but not enough to buy ninja tools or materials for his jutsu experiments.
He wasn't sure how much the pay would be—but anything was better than being paid in "dreams and ideals."
After they wrapped up their discussion, Koharu kept him a bit longer, painting more "grand visions" of the future until her throat went dry. Chiba endured it all—for the sake of the paycheck.
Leaving the office, he went to see Kitayama Xu.
Sure enough, Kitayama Xu was also studying the Chakra Needle Technique. When she saw him, she blushed slightly—perhaps embarrassed to be secretly practicing her own student's ninjutsu.
Chiba noticed, but pretended not to. Instead, he exchanged his improved version for a new scroll—
The Delicate Illness Extraction Technique.
The Third Hokage's words had reminded him:
Even if he couldn't master certain jutsu, he could still learn from their principles. The Delicate Illness Extraction Technique was one such case.
He couldn't yet extract toxins or pathogens, but he could borrow its "absorption" function—perhaps using it to draw blood or even absorb an opponent's chakra.
Of course, that was still a rough concept. He had a long way to go before it work.
For now, without specific assignments, Chiba wandered through the Medical Department, book in hand, reading as he walked. The department had quieted down considerably.
Later that afternoon, a surgery came in, and Chiba followed along.
The medical-nin didn't object.
After all, the "Specially Appointed Ninja" title was mostly honorary. Chiba still didn't even have a ninja forehead protector—he'd likely have to take the official exam later.
But since he didn't plan to stay long, he didn't mind.
Thanks to that title, Chiba was able to assist in several operations and follow-up case studies.
Before long, a new item appeared in his daily routine—
Sword practice.
He had traded some of his chakra-thread insights for a sword from Tenten's family shop. Tenten was true to her word—when she told her father, the man immediately sent the blade to Chiba's home and even offered to teach him basic swordsmanship.
The Tenten family's sword style wasn't particularly powerful—it consisted mostly of fundamental forms.
But without a solid foundation, there could be no mastery later. And right now, foundation was exactly what Chiba needed.
Over the next month or so, the excitement surrounding the "twelve-year-old surgeon" gradually died down. Chiba's frequent presence in the hospital no longer drew crowds of curious admirers.
During this time, he learned a great deal about medical theory and human anatomy, kidning deep insights into muscles and chakra pathways. Recently, he'd begun experimenting with strengthening tonics.
However…
The formulas always fell just a bit short.
After much inquiry, he finally learned from Kitayama Xu that the Nara Clan were Konoha's top experts in pharmacology—most of the village's early medical knowledge originated from them.
Conveniently, Chiba had previously saved Nara Clan Shihui, and he'd met both Shikaku and Shikamaru before. Though things with the latter hadn't been particularly friendly, at least they weren't strangers.
"Shikamaru."
"Mm?"
"You've got about a year left before graduation. Haven't you thought about pushing yourself a little—graduating early to study in another department?"
Shikaku rarely had free time, so it was a rare opportunity for a father-son chat.
Shikamaru leaned his cheek on his hand, his usual half-lidded, lazy look in place. He didn't answer immediately, but after two seconds of silence, he said, "At first, yeah."
"With your intelligence, you could definitely do it."
"Too troublesome."
Shikamaru sighed. "Graduating early sounds great, but after that, it's just more studies, more tests, more reports and assignments. The thought alone makes me not want to."
"..."
Shikaku was speechless.
Other kids saw early graduation as an honor—as a ticket to freedom and more fun.
His son, though, saw it as more work and responsibility.
Being too smart wasn't always a blessing.
He pondered for a moment, then smiled as he suddenly sensed something.
"You were asking about Yagyū Chiba the other day, right?"
"Huh?"
Shikamaru looked up, puzzled.
He'd only asked once—right after being forcibly "puppeteered" back to class that day. Why bring Kankurō up now?
"You'll get a chance to meet him today."
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