Hadō

Summer was drawing to a close. The sky above Hokage Rock had changed from a blazing white to a clear, pale blue. The sunlight was no longer scorching, settling over the skin with a warm weight.

The trees lining the streets were beginning to turn pale yellow. When the wind blew, a few leaves spiraled down, only to be trampled into the dirt by passing ninja. Vendors stayed open a little later, taking advantage of the cool evenings to sell whatever else they could and soothe some of their unease.

Children chased and jostled one another on their way home from school. The smell of sweat mingled with the green scent of leaves that had spent all day in the sun, drifting from one end of the alley to the other. At least for now, they knew nothing of the situation in the Shinobi World and did not need to think so much about the future.

The village was still the same village—some trained until their palms were calloused, some lined up outside barbecue restaurants, and others carried watermelons freshly drawn from wells, slicing into them with a crisp sound. The clouds of war still hung in the distance, but at least for this late summer, Konoha was peaceful.

Byakuya stood outside Konoha Hospital, staring for a long time at the freshly approved appointment letter in his hand.

"Special Medical Unit, Gekkō Byakuya."

He sighed.

He folded the appointment letter and tucked it into his pocket.

Tsunade had wrapped things up faster than he had expected. Putting him in the Special Medical Unit gave him a legitimate position and removed him from the regular ninja ranks. If Danzo wanted to make a move against him, he would have to get past the Medical Corps first.

Outside wartime, the Special Medical Unit did not have many other assignments.

In other words, everything would stay the same.

As for the price...

Byakuya looked down at the other paper in his hand.

"Chunin assessment application."

Recommender: Tsunade.

Byakuya mentally ran through everyone his age. Obito and the others had yet to take the Chunin Ninja Exams, and neither had Might Guy, Asuma, or the rest.

Only Kakashi was already a Chunin, so if Byakuya passed this assessment, he would be the second of his peers to become one.

Byakuya thought expressionlessly, I won't be an invincible Konoha Genin anymore. My combat power is going to plummet by eighty percent.

Byakuya put away the application and walked into the hospital.

Tsunade's office was on the second floor.

People were talking inside.

Byakuya knocked on the door.

The conversation stopped.

"Come in."

Byakuya pushed the door open.

Tsunade sat behind her desk, with a woman standing across from her. The woman was in her twenties, with round glasses, a white medical coat, and a gentle face.

She held a document envelope and was saying goodbye to Tsunade.

"I'll be going now, Lady Tsunade."

"Mm."

The woman turned and walked toward the door. When she saw Byakuya, she gave him a slight nod and a smile.

Byakuya stepped aside to let her pass, brushing past her.

The door closed.

Byakuya walked up to Tsunade and placed the Chunin assessment application on her desk.

"Sign it."

Tsunade glanced at him and picked up a pen.

"What, you're not happy about it?"

"No," Byakuya said. "It was just a little sudden."

Tsunade finished signing and pushed the application back.

"Don't worry. With your abilities, the assessment is just a formality."

Byakuya did not answer. He glanced at the door.

"Who was that just now?"

Tsunade leaned back in her chair.

"Yakushi Nonō. An old acquaintance from a long time ago, and an excellent medical-nin."

"An old acquaintance?"

"During the Second Shinobi World War, a lot of people I knew were scattered to different places." Tsunade's tone was calm, but Byakuya could still hear her weariness with war. "I didn't know where she'd been assigned back then. We only met again a few days ago."

"What about now?"

"She's the director of the Konoha Orphanage," Tsunade said. "She came to request some medical supplies."

Byakuya said nothing.

Yakushi Nonō.

Of course he knew that name.

A veteran of Root, the Wandering Miko, Kabuto Yakushi's foster mother.

She eventually died at Kabuto's hands—driven to her death by Root's scheme, becoming the trigger for Kabuto's descent into darkness.

Root again.

Byakuya lowered his eyes and made a mental note of it.

"What's wrong?" Tsunade saw that his expression was off.

"Nothing." Byakuya looked up. "Since I'm here, how about a treatment?"

Tsunade's face went pale, and her fists clenched.

"Don't worry, you won't have to see blood," Byakuya said.

Tsunade glared at him, but did not refuse.

Byakuya walked behind her and held both hands above her head. The green light of Medical Ninjutsu flared up, and beneath it, the light of Kaidō seeped into Tsunade's body.

The fact that she did not need to see blood was not actually a good thing.

It meant that even when her Hemophobia was not acting up, her soul was still constantly unsettled.

It was not a violent fluctuation, but a continuous, low tremor—like a string that had been stretched taut for too long and could snap at any moment.

When her Hemophobia flared up, that tremor turned into a violent tearing. Even when it was not acting up, the tremor was still there.

All Byakuya's Kaidō could do was "soothe" it, letting that string go slack for a while.

Tsunade's breathing gradually steadied. Her eyelids grew heavy, and her head slowly tilted to one side.

Byakuya did not stop. Only when Tsunade's soul had relaxed did he withdraw his Reiatsu, take the blanket from the chair, and cover her with it.

The door was pushed open.

"I'm here, big sister Tsunade...?"

A little girl stood in the doorway, around eight or nine years old, with black hair and large eyes. She carried a schoolbag in her hand.

Seeing that Tsunade was asleep, she hurriedly covered her mouth, then looked at Byakuya.

"Gekkō Byakuya."

The little girl nodded and introduced herself softly. "My name is Shizune."

Byakuya looked at her.

Shizune—Dan Katō's niece and Tsunade's disciple.

For a long time to come, she would be inseparable from Tsunade.

"You call her big sister? Did she tell you to call her that?"

Shizune froze for a moment, then nodded.

Byakuya put on a serious expression and said, "You should call her auntie."

Shizune blinked, looking at Byakuya and then at Tsunade. Her lips moved, but she did not actually say it. She hugged her schoolbag to her chest and edged half a step toward Tsunade's chair.

Byakuya offered no further explanation. He picked up the application from the desk and headed for the door.

"Whoosh!"

Byakuya turned his head to dodge a pen flying at him and walked out of the room, his movements smooth and natural.

As he went out, he heard Shizune ask quietly, "Big sister Tsunade, who is he?"

"A little bastard who acts too grown-up for his age."

"He said I should call you auntie..."

"Shut up."

The training ground.

Byakuya stood in the middle of a clearing, facing an old tree riddled with countless holes.

He extended his right hand and aimed his index finger at the trunk.

"Hadō #4, Byakurai."

A bolt of lightning shot from his fingertip and pierced the trunk. Wood chips flew, and the tree shook.

Byakuya lowered his hand and shook his head as he looked at the hole in the trunk.

Not enough.

Since he had drawn Sode no Shirayuki and his Hadō experience had risen to C-rank, Byakurai's power had indeed increased considerably. But there were still several levels between being able to use it and mastering it.

He began to reflect on what he had learned from his training over the past few days.

With Shunpo and Hakuda, Chakra could fuse with Reiatsu. Reiatsu provided "lightness," while Chakra provided "burst power." Combined, they made him faster and stronger. The two energies each played their own part without interfering with one another.

With Bakudō, Chakra had almost no effect. Bakudō relied on Reiatsu's "binding force," leaving Chakra with no role to play, but it did not interfere either.

Hadō was different, however.

Byakuya extended his right hand and aimed his index finger at the trunk again. This time, he drew on both Reiatsu and Chakra.

Hadō #4, Byakurai.

Lightning shot from his fingertip—but instead of striking the trunk, it veered to the right and blasted a crater in the ground.

Byakuya frowned.

The Chakra was interfering with Byakurai's trajectory. It was not "fusion," but "conflict."

He switched to another Hadō.

"Hadō #1, Shō."

Reiatsu gathered into a mass and shot out from his fingertip. This time he added Chakra—the shock wave was stronger, and it did not veer off course.

Byakuya thought for a moment.

"Shō" condensed Reiatsu into a mass and pushed it out. It was the simplest, most basic Hadō. Chakra could strengthen it because "impact" was itself a physical phenomenon, and Chakra could amplify that physical phenomenon.

But "Byakurai" converted Reiatsu into lightning.

After that, it would encounter conflict and interference from Chakra.

The difference between the two was their nature.

Once Hadō had a nature, it did not match the nature of his Chakra.

Byakuya lowered his hand and leaned against the tree.

His Chakra had two natures: water and wind.

Most of the Hadō he had learned at Shin'ō Academy were lightning or fire—Byakurai, Shakkahō, and Sōkatsui. Lightning and fire had the strongest offensive power and were the most widely used. Hadō below number fifty were mostly of those two types.

But the academy only taught up to number fifty. For Hadō above number fifty, students had to find someone to ask for instruction themselves.

Find someone to ask for instruction...

Remembering Aizen's gentle smile, Byakuya felt a certain amount of pressure.

His Hadō experience was currently C-rank, and he could still raise it through hard practice. But if Chakra kept interfering, things would only get harder from here.

Fortunately—

Chakra nature transformation could be learned through practice.

He could feel that, as he used Hadō Byakurai, his Chakra was gradually adapting to Byakurai's nature through each successive conflict.

Perhaps this was a way for him to quickly master lightning nature transformation.

Byakuya raised his right hand again.

"Hadō #4, Byakurai."

Lightning shot out. It still veered a little.

Again.

"Hadō #4, Byakurai."

Again.

"Hadō #4, Byakurai."

The hole in the trunk grew deeper and deeper, and the lightning's trajectory also seemed to be improving.

Byakuya lowered his hand and caught his breath. He had used up quite a bit of Reiatsu, but at least he was getting results.

Just then, he paused.

His Reiatsu detection had been triggered.

Someone was approaching.

Byakuya did not turn around immediately. The training ground was a public place, so it was normal for someone to pass by occasionally. He continued to hold a training stance and breathe naturally, but this time he stopped using Hadō and began practicing Shuriken throwing instead.

The other person's footsteps paused as well.

Apparently, they were not just passing by... Someone "passing by" would not normally notice Byakuya's hesitation, and even if they did, they would not react to it.

Both of them had given themselves away.

Byakuya turned around.

The trees were too dense for him to see the other person, but his Reiatsu detection had already locked onto their soul's fluctuations.

To his surprise, judging by the shape of the soul, the other person was a child.

But that soul was very condensed, and had a certain... how should he put it, slightly sinister quality.

Not evil, but more like a blade sharpened too quickly, with a keen edge but a thin body.

Byakuya had seen this quality in someone else.

Obito.

But compared with Obito's, the newcomer's soul was more restrained, quieter, like an undercurrent hidden beneath the surface of the water.

Byakuya did not move.

Neither did the other person.

The two faced each other across the training ground for a few seconds.

Then the person turned and left.

Bai Ye stood where he was, watching the direction in which the person had disappeared.

He did not give chase.

The other person was probably an Uchiha.

Aside from Obito, Bai Ye rarely interacted with the Uchiha.

It was not because he was uninterested in Konoha, the greatest ninja village, but because the clan was too sensitive a subject.

Not only were they extreme in temperament, but countless eyes were also watching them.

At present, neither his strength nor the timing was quite right.

Bai Ye turned back to face the tree.

"Hadō #4, Byakurai."

A flash of lightning shot out and pierced the trunk.

He did not know why an Uchiha had come looking for him, only to leave after such a brief "exchange."

But he had memorized the visitor's soul fluctuations.

They would meet again eventually.