"Has that guy woken up yet?"
On the outskirts of Konoha.
Inside a vast underground facility.
An old man stood there leaning on a cane. His right eye was wrapped in bandages, his entire right arm concealed under clothing, and an X-shaped scar marked his chin. His expression was gloomy and cold.
Before him—
A masked figure knelt on one knee.
"Lord Danzo, he has already regained consciousness…"
The Root ninja reported respectfully.
"His mental state is still a bit unstable, but we've roughly understood the situation."
"He was first caught in Akira Ren's Genjutsu. The moment he broke free, he was immediately trapped by another Genjutsu cast by Ren—a double-layered illusion."
"So he's proficient in Genjutsu as well?"
The old man raised an eyebrow and said indifferently,
"And he could casually use layered Genjutsu to cleanly take down a chūnin, manipulating him like a puppet…"
"As expected of Senju Taohua's descendant. What a frightening little brat."
This old man was none other than one of Konoha's high-ranking officials—
The Hokage's advisor and leader of the Root organization:
Shimura Danzo.
Known for his ruthless methods and willingness to achieve his goals by any means necessary, he was feared throughout the ninja world as "The Darkness of the Shinobi."
"Lord Danzo, should we continue testing him?" the Root ninja asked.
"No need."
Danzo slowly stroked the right arm hidden beneath his sleeve.
"Tsunade and her teacher, the Third Hokage, are practically estranged. She won't stay in the village long. There's no need to provoke her unnecessarily."
A cold killing intent flashed in his eyes.
"Besides, we don't have time to worry about a child who hasn't even grown up yet."
"We have more important matters to handle."
"Go bring Uchiha Itachi."
"It's time for him to make his decision."
"Yes, sir."
…
Meanwhile—
Inside Konoha Hospital.
"Lady Tsunade!"
"Lady Tsunade, you've returned!"
"This is wonderful!"
Whether it was patients,
doctors,
or nurses—
everyone surrounded Tsunade excitedly.
Even the female nurses were staring at her with heart-filled eyes.
The scene was so chaotic that Shizune and Ren were squeezed to the side.
They truly experienced the prestige and charisma of the legendary medical ninja.
"Sister Tsunade is really popular…"
Ren sighed as he followed her for practical training at the hospital.
"Of course she is."
Shizune held Tonton proudly.
"Lady Tsunade isn't just the granddaughter of the First Hokage, Lord Hashirama. She also made enormous contributions in several major wars."
"She has extremely high prestige in the village."
"And the medical ninja system she personally created has saved countless lives over the years."
After finally breaking free from the crowd,
Tsunade signaled the hospital staff.
Soon, a wounded patient was assigned to Ren for treatment.
Tsunade showed no intention of personally participating.
"Shizune, you guide him."
She had hemophobia and couldn't see blood.
Naturally, she couldn't enter the operating room herself.
Besides—
this was only a relatively simple surgery.
After years of training under Tsunade, Shizune's medical ability was more than sufficient to handle it.
"Ah! My leg! My leg!"
Inside the operating room,
a wounded ninja wearing a Konoha chūnin vest lay on the operating table, crying out in pain.
His right leg was badly injured—
bloodied and mangled.
It looked terrifying.
"His leg was injured by an explosive tag."
Shizune examined the wound while wearing gloves and said to Ren beside her,
"Fortunately, the leg can still be saved."
"If we want to avoid amputation, we need to quickly remove the necrotic tissue and disinfect the wound to prevent infection."
"I see."
Ren nodded.
Looking at the bloody, mangled leg,
he finally felt the brutality of the ninja world.
And this—
was only the tip of the iceberg.
There were even more brutal and bloody scenes beyond this.
Still,
his mental fortitude was quite strong.
Even when staring at the blood-soaked, partially rotting leg, he remained calm.
Shizune observed his reaction from the side.
She nodded quietly.
"Do you want to try it, Junior Brother Ren?" she asked.
With Ren's medical ability—
and her guidance beside him—
this type of surgery shouldn't be a problem.
"I'm actually a professional veterinarian."
Ren took a deep breath and nodded.
"Leave it to me."
He wasn't unfamiliar with surgeries like this.
The only difference was—
he had previously operated on animals.
Rats.
Stray cats.
Wild rabbits.
He had three or four years of experience as a veterinarian.
"Vet… veterinarian?"
Standing nearby, the medical squad jōnin Yamashiro Kawaki couldn't help twitching.
He spoke up loudly.
"Miss Shizune, you're Lady Tsunade's disciple and have studied under her for years. Your experience is naturally reliable…"
"But even if he's also Lady Tsunade's student, he's still too young!"
"Hey, isn't this a bit too reckless?!"
On the operating table,
the pale-faced chūnin—already numbed by anesthesia—suddenly became agitated.
"This is my leg we're talking about!"
What could an eight-year-old possibly do?
He didn't want to lose his leg because of this.
"Please trust Lady Tsunade's judgment."
Shizune looked at the patient seriously.
"And trust my junior brother."
"…Alright."
The chūnin gritted his teeth.
"Since it's Lady Tsunade's decision, I'll accept it."
"Let's do it."
"Please rest assured."
Ren didn't hesitate.
He grabbed the scalpel beside him.
With focused eyes, he carefully began removing the necrotic tissue.
Under Shizune's guidance,
and with his experience as a "veterinarian,"
Ren's movements became smoother and more confident.
Before long,
the rotten tissue had been cleanly removed.
Even Shizune, who watched the entire process, secretly admired his skill.
"Next part is simple."
After cleaning the wound and disinfecting it,
Ren formed a one-handed seal.
Soft green light appeared in his palm.
He pressed it against the wound.
The bloody injury began slowly healing.
"That's… the Mystical Palm Technique?"
The medical jōnin watching from the side froze in shock.
An A-rank medical ninjutsu—
and this eight-year-old had already mastered it?
No wonder Lady Tsunade accepted him as her disciple.
"Alright, the wound treatment is done."
Ren said calmly.
"Just apply some medicine and bandage it up, and he should recover soon."
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