"Agh!"
Neji fell to the floor with a grunt. He gritted his teeth and tried to stand.
"That's enough. We're done for today," Satoru said, standing opposite him.
"I can still fight." Neji stood up and tried to get into a stance.
"Good for you, but I'm not fighting anymore," Satoru shrugged. "It's already been two hours since we started. And I'm kinda bored from thrashing you. It's not fun."
"Coward!" Neji glared. "How could you give up? A Main Branch member like you…"
"Stop," Satoru cut him off before he could continue. "I'm merely sparring with you to fulfill the promise I made to your father, but I'm not obligated to be your training dummy. I decide when we start and when it ends. Got it?"
Neji gritted his teeth and glared at him with unconcealed hatred before limping out of the training hall.
Looking at his receding back, Satoru couldn't help sighing.
It had been a week since Neji's father, Hizashi, sacrificed himself instead of Hiashi. And since then, this kid glared at anyone from the Main Branch with hatred.
As much as Satoru didn't want to be near the kid going through an edgelord phase, he couldn't break the promise he made.
He remembered his conversation with Hizashi a day before his sacrifice.
"Uncle, can I ask you a question?"
"Ah, sure." Hizashi looked at his outlier nephew that he didn't have much contact with.
"I overheard that you decided to take the blame instead of my father," Satoru asked. "Can you tell me why? I mean, you still have Neji. Don't you regret leaving him behind?"
Satoru asked such a question merely out of curiosity. He already knew the answer given in the original story, but he wanted to see if the answer would be the same.
Were the people of this world programmed to speak and do the same things shown in the story, or did they have different emotions from the way the author portrayed them?
"Why do it, huh?" Hizashi looked at him thoughtfully and smiled. "Because he's my brother."
Satoru was surprised to receive a different answer from what he expected. Hizashi didn't mention anything about the Branch Family's duty to protect the Main Branch or his freedom.
His reasons were quite simple. He wanted to protect his brother. That was enough for him to give away his life.
'I knew that they were secretly close, but to give away his life despite having a kid to raise. What courage,' Satoru thought.
Hizashi put a palm on Satoru's head and ruffled his hair. "Your father told me that you managed to kill a Chunin, is that true?" When he nodded, Hizashi continued.
"Then can you take care of Neji for me? I'm sure he'll be sad and probably have a lot of hatred. But I hope you'll be there for him and maybe spar with him in my stead. Okay?"
Satoru remembered Hizashi's last words and decided to keep the promise since it wouldn't affect him negatively.
It's just, the brat's glare and stubbornness irritated him sometimes. Alas, if only he knew how to use the most powerful Jutsu in this world, he could have cured him and convinced him to be a good guy.
"Well, I'll just leave that job to Naruto."
Satoru left the training hall and headed to the clan library, where he met a middle-aged medic-ninja named Hyuga Suki.
After the incident, Satoru had expressed his desire to learn Medical Ninjutsu to Hiashi, who arranged for Suki to teach him today.
With his Six Eyes and good chakra control, Satoru believed he would quickly master the technique.
But when he entered the library, he encountered a different scene from his imagination.
Suki led him to a library corner. She began pulling out many heavy books from various bookshelves and slamming them onto the table in front of him. The table creaked audibly from the weight.
Satoru gulped at the thickness of the books. Suki noticed his expression and smiled.
"What are you thinking? Did you imagine we would directly start looking after patients and healing people? We need to learn to walk before we can run. These books will help you gain a basic understanding of Medical Ninjutsu."
Suki picked up a thick book and slammed it onto the desk.
"You will start with this book, 'History of Medical Ninjutsu'. This will help you understand the history of medical ninjutsu, its origin, necessity, and importance in the shinobi world."
Suki lifted another book and slammed it on the table. The table creaked even more, bending beneath the book's weight.
"This is 'Encyclopedia of Herbs and Medicines'. Memorize the details of every herb and medicine written in this book."
Suki picked yet another thick book and slapped it on the table. The legs of the table spread outward, almost collapsing from the weight.
"This is 'Compendium of Deadly Herbs and Poison'. These are categorized separately from other herbs because poisons are biological weapons that can take lives. Just by utilizing poison, the puppet master Chiyo of Sand became formidable during the 'Second Shinobi War'. This book contains information on some common poisons and their antidotes."
She picked up yet another book and slammed it on the table. The top of the table was almost touching the floor as the table groaned.
"This is 'Essentials of Shinobi Anatomy and Physiology'. It contains detailed information about the anatomy of a shinobi: the various organs, meridians, and pathways of the human body. Hammer all this information into your brain."
Suki picked yet another book. At this moment, Satoru's expression had turned from ugly to pale as he looked in horror at all the books Suki still held.
"This is 'Compendium of Diseases and Deformities'. This book records all the diseases discovered in Shinobi to this date. Make sure to read this thoroughly. You can't treat your patient if you aren't aware of their ailments."
Suki didn't show mercy just because he was five years old and kept piling books.
"You have to finish this batch of books in a week. After that, I will put your knowledge to the test and will grade your abilities accordingly. After this batch is completed, you have to memorize another batch of books to further increase your knowledge."
Suki pointed at another stack of books beside her. Despair rose in Satoru's eyes as he looked at the tall stacks of books in horror.
"Can I give up?!"
He only wanted to learn medical Jutsu, not to go back to his student days.