Apprenticeship with Biwako, Meeting Tsunade

Chapter 39: Apprenticeship with Biwako · Meeting Tsunade

Asuma was fuming inside, but with Mother right there, he couldn't let it out at all.

This breakfast was utterly dull, and on top of that, Hyuga Ningyuan had eaten quite a bit, leaving Asuma still a little hungry.

But the private tutor had already arrived, and Sarutobi Biwako had to head to the hospital for work. No matter how annoyed Asuma felt, he could only swallow it.

At least he knew Hyuga Ningyuan was only coming this once—from now on, he'd go straight to the hospital.

Otherwise, he really felt there was no place for him in this house anymore.

"If you want to learn Medical Ninjutsu, first you need a special kind of Chakra!" In a teaching room at Konoha Hospital, Sarutobi Biwako scooped a fish out of a tank, casually conjured a Chakra scalpel, and sliced across the fish's body.

A small wound, two centimeters long, instantly appeared on the fish.

"Try using your Chakra to heal this fish's wound!"

Taking the injured fish, Hyuga Ningyuan looked bewildered: "How do I try? Just cover it with Chakra?"

"Yes!" Sarutobi Biwako wasn't deceiving him.

Yang Release either existed or it didn't. You couldn't just think I want to heal this fish and have it manifest on its own.

But later on, you could indeed strengthen Yang Release through training.

She was eager to see a miracle, but if it didn't happen—well, that would be a shame.

Still, the fact that Hyuga Ningyuan had come to Konoha Hospital and attempted to learn Medical Ninjutsu was enough in itself.

"Then I'll give it a try!" Hyuga Ningyuan let out a long breath. He had a trait that boosted treatment intensity by 40%, but he didn't know what his baseline was.

If the baseline was zero, even a 400% boost would be useless.

"Hope it works!" He condensed a mass of Qi, pressed the wound edges together, and then covered them with the Qi.

Then Hyuga Ningyuan watched as the fine wound line on the fish vanished in an instant, as if special effects had been turned on!

"Huh?" Hyuga Ningyuan blinked and looked up at Biwako.

Sarutobi Biwako's eyes went wide: "Wait, wait..."

Am I seeing things? What just happened? Did I even cut that fish at all?

Let me try again!

She put the fish back in the tank to let it breathe, then scooped it out once more.

This time, Sarutobi Biwako increased the force of her blade, carving a wound one centimeter deep and three centimeters long.

Bloody and raw, it stretched across half the fish's body!

There was no mistaking it this time!

"Here you go!"

Hyuga Ningyuan took the injured fish, pressed the wound together, and covered it with Qi.

In a moment—maybe just two seconds—the wound had vanished without a trace!

Only the red bloodstains on the scales proved the fish had ever been hurt!

"Hyuga Ningyuan!" Watching this unfold with her own eyes, Sarutobi Biwako's gaze went rigid: "You're a genius!"

"What?"

"You're a genius at Medical Ninjutsu!" Sarutobi Biwako said seriously. "Your Chakra has a healing ability I've never seen before. I've taught students at Konoha Hospital for so long, and this is the first time I've encountered someone like you!"

"Uh..."

"And you've never even trained in Medical Ninjutsu!" That was what shocked Sarutobi Biwako the most.

What did this mean?

An ordinary medical ninja's initial Chakra healing ability might be 1 or 2. After learning Medical Ninjutsu and developing Yang Release, it could rise to 5 or 10. Some geniuses, like Tsunade, could reach 20!

But Hyuga Ningyuan? He was born at 20!

Just by covering something with his Chakra, he matched the full-power Mystical Palm Technique of a Jonin-level medical ninja!

No—it was even stronger than a Jonin-level Mystical Palm Technique!

Because even the Mystical Palm Technique took five minutes to heal a wound!

How long had he taken? Less than five seconds!

If he learned the Healing Technique and the Mystical Palm Technique, how absurd would his healing speed become?

Bringing the dead back to life? Flesh and bone from nothing?

In an instant, everything about the Hyuga Clan's influence or elevating the status of medical ninjas was thrown out of her mind.

At that moment, Sarutobi Biwako had only one thought.

Take him as a disciple. Train him to become an outstanding medical ninja!

He could surpass her—he could even surpass Tsunade!

The future Number One Medical Ninja in the world was standing right before her!

"Hyuga Ningyuan, would you be willing to take me as your master?" Sarutobi Biwako asked directly.

"I would!" Hyuga Ningyuan answered without hesitation.

"Good!" Sarutobi Biwako gave his shoulder a firm pat. "From today on, you're my disciple. I'll report this to Sarutobi and your clan. Also—"

Seeing the white bandage on Hyuga Ningyuan's forehead, she said softly, "Your status in the Branch Family won't become a chain binding you."

Unless the Hyuga Clan wanted to pick a fight with Konoha, the Main Family would have to give Sarutobi Biwako that face.

"Mm-hmm!" Hyuga Ningyuan nodded heavily.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo each had their own dirty dealings, but Sarutobi Biwako was someone worthy of respect.

Not to mention how many lives she'd saved over the years as a medical ninja—on the night of the Nine-Tails' Attack, she personally delivered Kushina's baby and died a brutal death on the spot.

In both great principles and small details, she was utterly blameless toward Konoha—far better than her power-grasping husband.

Still, she was ultimately Hiruzen Sarutobi's wife. Once he learned of Ningyuan's talent, whether she'd keep the same attitude was hard to say.

"Follow me!" Sarutobi Biwako reached out, took Hyuga Ningyuan's hand, and said, "I'll introduce you to the people at Konoha Hospital!"

"Mm!" Hyuga Ningyuan followed behind her, walking curiously down the hospital's corridors.

Konoha Hospital wasn't large—couldn't compare to a Grade A Tertiary Hospital from his past life, not even the size of a County Hospital. At best, it was a township clinic.

And in that township clinic, things weren't even that busy.

First, the hospital was built by ninjas. Though it also served ordinary civilians, most civilians didn't have the guts to come for treatment.

Second, Konoha Hospital specialized in battlefield injuries. Something like Yūhi Nogiko's physical depletion was beyond them, and there were many such cases—so unless someone was seriously hurt, ordinary folks didn't bother coming.

Third, it wasn't wartime now, so there really weren't many wounded.

"Director, who's this kid?" Some doctors and nurses on the way saw them and asked curiously.

"My new disciple!" Sarutobi Biwako said with a smile. "His name is Hyuga Ningyuan—a very talented child!"

"From the Hyuga Clan?" Even though those Byakugan eyes made it obvious, many still found it hard to believe.

After all, those great clans usually looked down on learning non-clan jutsu.

"Yes!" Sarutobi Biwako nodded. She'd discovered Hyuga Ningyuan was a genius, but one person's strength had limits.

So the news that a Hyuga clansman was learning Medical Ninjutsu had to spread.

Third floor.

"No wards here—just a few administrative offices and labs," Sarutobi Biwako explained. "Though Konoha Hospital is the best in the ninja world, and its doctors have the highest medical standards, there are still many diseases we can't cure. Like your Aunt Nogiko's condition. That's why we need labs to study various illnesses. Maybe one day, we can solve all the world's diseases."

Hyuga Ningyuan nodded.

As Sarutobi Biwako led him to a lab door, he sensed the massive Chakra inside and roughly guessed who he was about to meet.

"Knock, knock..." Sarutobi Biwako tapped the door. "May I come in?"

"It's unlocked." The voice was lazy, tinged with the smell of alcohol.

Just from the voice, Hyuga Ningyuan could picture a blonde beauty who'd just downed a bottle of booze, now slumped languidly against a table, dazed and vacant-eyed.

As if mourning friends and family—or maybe a lover.

"This is our Konoha Hospital's vice director, Head of the Research Department, and the world's Number One Medical Ninja—Tsunade!" Sarutobi Biwako pushed the door open and introduced her gently.

Hyuga Ningyuan stared wide-eyed into the lab.

He finally saw her—the one he'd dreamed of, called "Wife" when watching videos, called "Wife" when seeing cosplay, called "Wife" just mentioning her name.

The ultimate dream of every man, the must-marry character in Naruto: Tsunade.