Determination

A faint but steady heartbeat came through the blood-soaked hands and the slightly softened feel beneath them. Hirohiko swallowed and let out a long breath. Beads of sweat rolled down his face, splashing onto the scattered black stains on the ground and covering one of them.

Great, it had stabilized! Wiping away his sweat, Hirohiko glanced at the used Sealing Jutsu scrolls scattered around him and the Medical Chakra bandages torn and strewn everywhere. He withdrew his hand from the bandages that were no longer seeping blood and took several deep breaths.

He had been too flustered just now, not calm enough. He absolutely could not be like this again.

Looking at the unconscious Chiba, whose expression of pain had faded, whose mouth and nose had been cleaned, and whose chest was wrapped in bandages despite his still-pale face, a thought flashed through Hirohiko's mind, suppressing the joy in his heart.

He had been far too panicked earlier and had wasted four Sealing Jutsu scrolls containing the Mystical Palm Technique. Only after using those four scrolls did he realize that Chiba's entire chest had caved in and who knew how many ribs were broken. The Mystical Palm Technique would not automatically turn ribs embedded in the chest back into properly joined bones. They needed to be set and fixed first before treatment could begin. Medical Chakra could ensure that the set ribs healed quickly, but without setting them first, Medical Chakra was useless and could only close wounds.

Fortunately, he had encountered cases during previous missions where teammates had suffered broken ribs. Setting ribs was not particularly difficult for him, and he had experience with it. Although he found that every rib in Chiba's chest had been broken, setting them had not taken much effort. With a highly effective Medical