When Higashino Makoto came over carrying the captive, the fighting on this side had already ended.
The ninjutsu dissipated, the lake receded, and the battlefield was left a mire of mud.
Normally, the water created by Water Release ninjutsu disappears once the technique ends. However, aside from the Second Hokage, very few Water Release ninja are that extravagant. Most instead use chakra to gather moisture from the air, or directly draw on real, existing water to amplify the power of their techniques.
The lake that had previously covered the battlefield was exactly that kind of case—it had been formed by a Kirigakure ninja diverting water from a nearby small river. If he had relied solely on his own chakra to produce that volume of water, even draining him dry would not have been enough.
Earth Release follows much the same principle.
The Konoha group had already moved to a dry area nearby and were sitting on the ground resting. Five bodies were piled off to one side, and judging by their appearance, they were thoroughly dead.
During wartime—such as in the Battle of Kannabi Bridge—when large numbers of Iwagakure ninja were driven into a dead end and faced the Yellow Flash, they had no choice but to surrender. Prisoners on that scale could not all be killed and were instead useful as bargaining chips to force negotiations.
But in small-scale skirmishes like today's, ninja rarely leave enemies alive.
Seeing Makoto carrying a Kirigakure ninja, Gekkō Kumomi asked curiously, "You didn't catch another live one again, did you?"
"Alive, but already crippled. From the Yuki clan, too—Ice Release has already been awakened.
I think keeping them alive is more useful than killing them."
Hearing this, the others all cast curious glances at the unusually attractive enemy.
An Ice Release kekkei genkai—something rarely seen around here.
Many of them had never encountered it before.
Even in Kirigakure itself, awakening Ice Release was uncommon.
No one knew why someone like that had been sent on a mission to harass the defensive line.
Still, after a brief look, everyone averted their eyes.
They could not look for too long—staring too much would shake the sacred Will of Fire in their hearts.
Uzuki Yūgao glanced at the captive who had been casually tossed aside, then at Makoto, and said with a sly grin, "Makoto, you really went hard. So pretty—don't you feel even a little pity?"
Makoto stared at her as if she were a pervert.
"This is a man!"
"Huh?"
Yūgao froze into stone, then fell into self-isolation, using a kunai to draw circles on the ground.
She was actually not as pretty as a man. This ninja world was truly awful.
Now everyone completely dared not look too much.
"Ahahahaha!" Kumomi used loud laughter to ease the awkwardness, then pointed at a Kirigakure ninja in the pile of corpses whose hairstyle looked like something out of an ancient era. "Actually, there's also a kekkei genkai here. If I'm not mistaken, with the way he's dressed, he should be from Kirigakure's Kaguya clan."
"But when I fought him just now, he didn't use the Shikotsumyaku. I think he's probably a guy who hasn't awakened his clan's kekkei genkai."
"Is that so?" Makoto sized him up and found that the outfit really did look a lot like Kimimaro's—unfortunately, he hadn't awakened Shikotsumyaku.
Even if he had awakened it, Higashino Makoto still wouldn't be interested. Probably only Orochimaru would be satisfied with this harvest.
There are two types of kekkei genkai in the ninja world. One is the organ type, like the Hyūga clan's Byakugan, the Uchiha clan's Sharingan, the Chinoike clan's Ketsuryūgan, Shikotsumyaku, and so on.
This kind of bloodline was not something Makoto could set his sights on—unless he had Snake Uncle transplant cells or eyes into him, but he would have to be insane to do that. There was no need.
The second type is a bloodline produced by the fusion of two or more different chakra natures. That kind can be referenced and reproduced based on existing samples.
He was born with three chakra natures—Wind, Water, and Earth—and because of his "golden finger," he had trained each nature transformation to a very deep level.
Now, he had already come into contact with Ice Release formed from Wind + Water. Through the fight with Kirigakure's "trap," he had basically formed some guesses and understanding; next, he needed time to slowly experiment.
As for Wood Release from Water + Earth? Higashino Makoto knew—this was the signature release of Konohagakure's First Hokage. If he wanted to see a sample, that was easy: later on, he could find a chance to farm Yamato's experience.
After all, Yamato was an honest ninja—Kakashi shouldn't be the only one who got to bully him.
In fact, Makoto setting his sights on kekkei genkai was not because he wanted to change jobs and become a purely ninjutsu "turret"-type ninja. That had never been a fighting style he liked.
The primary reason was that by fusing kekkei genkai, one could gain a deeper understanding of changes in chakra nature.
As for the secondary reason—of course it was curiosity. What, could it be for the sake of looking cool?
Reining in the thoughts about kekkei genkai in his mind, Makoto took a medical kit out of a sealing scroll and began treating the injured. The main patients were Might Guy and his two teammates. The reinforcements who had arrived later were not really injured—just somewhat tired.
Being able to wipe out the Kirigakure ninja without losses, aside from the advantage in numbers, actually had another important reason: after consecutive major battles, Kirigakure's ninja forces had suffered a severe decline in both quantity and quality.
They were in even worse shape than Konoha. Before the war, they had already taken heavy losses from internal strife; after the war, they had then been repeatedly battered by Konoha.
At present, the few top-tier fighters they had were either fighting Sunagakure to the death on the southern islands, or carrying out secret missions on the Land of Fire front. The ones sent to harass the defensive line truly had limited strength.
Shiranui Genma and Ebisu were relatively fine—Makoto handled their injuries with ease.
Guy, on the other hand, had it much worse. He was a pure taijutsu ninja, and while he was entangled in close combat with a Kaguya clan ninja, there were also people beside him constantly cutting him with blades. If not for the enemies' lack of coordination, he might have had no choice but to open the Eight Gates to win.
Who knew how many gates he could open now? In the future, Lee could open up to five gates at the age of thirteen, and Might Guy seemed to be around thirteen this year as well.
But that was someone else's private matter—a ninja's secret. Probing into it rashly would be extremely impolite. Even though Guy was an open-minded person, if a companion asked, he would most likely not hide it.
Makoto carefully cleaned each wound with disinfectant, then performed the Mystical Palm Technique to begin treatment.
"Guy-senpai, you're a pure taijutsu ninja, right? Engaging in close-quarters, bare-handed combat is still too much of a disadvantage for you."
Guy raised his thumb and flashed a bright, white-toothed grin. "This is the way I pour out my youth! Being injured means the sweat of my youth still isn't flowing enough!"
"Have you never thought about choosing a suitable weapon? That way you could better protect your body. Senpai, you wouldn't want your body to burn through its vitality too early because of too many injuries, affecting your ability to keep pouring out your youth in the future, would you?"
"Makes sense," Guy said, rare contemplation crossing his face. His thoughts immediately turned to the nunchaku he kept at home for training hand speed and reaction time.
"I already know what weapon I'll use. Thanks for the reminder—I'll protect my body and let my sweat and youth last longer."
"I believe you can do it. Still, as a medical ninja, I'd recommend paying attention to nutrition and restorative supplements. Otherwise, you won't be able to surpass Duy-senpai."
Guy looked a little surprised. "You know my father?"
"I'd seen him in the village before, but I really got to know him at the hospital. My mother was quite close to Duy-senpai."
"Your mother is…?"
"Higashino Megumi. I'm Higashino Makoto."
Guy was the type who wasn't good at remembering names. He lowered his head and thought hard for quite a while before the memory finally surfaced. "I remember now—Megumi-senpai from Konoha Hospital, right? I heard my father mention her, and I've seen her at the hospital a few times. So she's your mother. No wonder your medical ninjutsu is so impressive."
"That's right—it's her."
Guy tried to stand up, but Makoto pressed him back down, so he simply sat on the ground and performed a formal salute. "Thank you, Megumi-senpai. My father said that without the care of the doctors at the hospital back then, his body wouldn't have held out for so long."
"We're all comrades of Konoha—it's what we should do. I've examined Duy-senpai's body as well. Compared to him, your physical condition is much better. You're young, so there isn't any major accumulation of old injuries yet, but you still need to take good care of yourself—especially after you reach adulthood."
"Makoto, thanks for the reminder. I'll remember it."
As he spoke, Guy flashed that familiar, dazzling grin again.
Might Duy was only a genin and often couldn't get into teams to take on good missions, so his income was limited. Whatever few resources he had all went to his son. Guy, however, was already a chūnin and would rise to jōnin in the future; his income wouldn't be low. As long as he took care of his body during training, he could reduce the damage caused by opening the first seven gates to some extent.
As for the Gate of Death—no matter how good the body was, it was useless. Whoever opened it would die, unless a god descended.
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