The First Cry of a Fledgling

The rare calm at Konoha's frontline medical station was shattered by a burst of hurried, subdued commotion. Several ninjas clad in the Hyuga Clan's traditional white robes rushed in, their expressions grave as they escorted several stretchers. The air was instantly thick with the stench of blood and a distinctive lingering chakra carrying a scorched odor—the mark of severe Lightning Style injuries.

At their head was a stern-faced Hyuga main family envoy with a smooth forehead named Hyuga Takao. His sharp gaze carried the restraint and unquestionable authority unique to a great clan. His eyes swept across the somewhat crowded medical station before settling on Lord Tsunade, who had hurried over after receiving word.

"Lord Tsunade!" Hyuga Takao's voice was not loud, yet it clearly overrode the surrounding noise, carrying an imperious tone. "An elite squad from our branch family was ambushed by the Cloud Village's AB Combo and has suffered critical injuries! Arrange your best medical ninjas immediately—especially for Hyuga Ling here. His internal organs have ruptured, and Lightning Style has burned through multiple chakra pathways!" He pointed toward a middle-aged ninja on a stretcher, his face ashen and his breath faint. Hyuga Ling's clothing around his abdomen was charred and torn, revealing unnatural depressions and scorch marks beneath the exposed skin. His chakra fluctuations were weak and chaotic. The injury was plainly fatal.

Tsunade frowned deeply and stepped forward to examine him. After just one glance, her face paled slightly. The horrifying wound, the curled burnt flesh, and the heavy stench of blood in the air coiled around her heart like icy venomous snakes. The shadow of her hemophobia quietly spread again, making her fingertips tremble almost imperceptibly as her stomach churned. She forced down the discomfort, but fine beads of cold sweat had already formed on her forehead.

"Shizune! Prepare the emergency room! Clean the wound!" Tsunade's voice remained steady, though it lacked some of its usual force. Taking a deep breath, she turned toward Duanmu Ci, who had also been alerted and was striding over. His eyes were clear and focused, utterly unaffected by the bloody scene.

"Duanmu," Tsunade said, her voice carrying a trace of barely perceptible fatigue and trust as she pointed at Hyuga Ling, whose condition was the most critical. "He's yours. His chakra pathway damage is extremely complex. Several chakra nodes were forcibly torn apart by Lightning Style. Conventional Medical Chakra... won't be very effective. Use your 'method.'" She deliberately omitted the words "Wood Release Life Force," but the meaning in her eyes was unmistakable.

At those words, Hyuga Takao immediately fixed Duanmu Ci with a sharp, undisguised look of scrutiny and doubt. "Him?" The main family envoy's tone was full of skepticism. "Lord Tsunade, Hyuga Ling's injuries concern an important branch family combatant. How can he be entrusted to a..." He chose his words carefully. "A young assistant? It would be better for you to handle this personally!"

Tsunade was currently fighting against her own fear, and her tone grew several degrees colder. "Elder Takao, I know my disciple Duanmu Ci's abilities better than you do. He is the 'best' person here right now! If you want Hyuga Ling to live, then shut up and stop getting in his way!" Her forceful attitude temporarily silenced Hyuga Takao, though the dissatisfaction and suspicion in his eyes did not fade.

Duanmu Ci seemed not to hear Hyuga Takao's doubts. His attention was already wholly focused on the injured man. He walked to the stretcher and extended a hand, his fingertips not touching the wound directly but hovering an inch above Hyuga Ling's charred abdomen.

Rinnegan—open!

In an instant, the world became incomparably clear in his eyes. Hyuga Ling's complex chakra network appeared like a glowing three-dimensional circuit diagram, every detail visible. In particular, around his abdomen, the blue streams representing chakra pathways had been brutally severed and twisted at several crucial nodes, showing glaring purple-black patches that marked Lightning Style damage. Strands of chaotic chakra escaped like sparks from a short circuit. The damaged internal organs also appeared as a dim gray, their Life Force draining away.

Just as I thought... Lightning Style penetrated his body and destroyed the natural protective layer of the Gentle Fist chakra points, making conventional Medical Chakra unable to penetrate and repair them effectively. It might even be rejected. Duanmu Ci understood at once. The Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist constitution had instead become an obstacle to treatment.

Ignoring Hyuga Takao's tightly furrowed brow and faintly contemptuous look, he slowly formed hand seals. They were not the seals of any known Medical Ninjutsu, but meant to guide the pure life energy within him. A gentle, rich green glow poured from his palms like a tangible spring of life, softly covering Hyuga Ling's wounds.

Hyuga Takao's pupils abruptly contracted! He could clearly sense that the green chakra contained an immense Life Force unlike anything he had ever felt before. It was gentle, yet impossible to resist. It actually ignored the Gentle Fist chakra points' natural rejection of foreign chakra and precisely seeped into the injured man's body!

Guided by the Rinnegan's overwhelming insight, this pure Yang Style chakra, simulating the source of Wood Release's Life Force, moved like the hand of a master craftsman toward the tiny chakra pathway nodes and damaged internal organ tissue that had been torn and burned by Lightning Style. Wherever the green light passed, the purple-black signs of destruction faded rapidly like melting snow. The severed, twisted pathways were gently smoothed and reconnected, while thin membranes of new tissue visibly grew over the damaged internal organs, covering the ruptures and forcibly stopping the loss of Life Force.

"Ugh...!" Hyuga Ling let out a low groan in his unconscious state. A faint flush of color miraculously appeared on his once ashen face, while his chaotic chakra fluctuations calmed at an astonishing speed, becoming stable and orderly.

The entire emergency room fell silent, save for the monotonous ticking of the instruments. Hyuga Takao and the Hyuga clansmen behind him—including several lightly injured branch family ninjas who were barely holding themselves upright—could only stare in stunned disbelief. As Hyuga, they understood better than anyone how difficult Gentle Fist chakra pathway injuries were to treat. They understood even more clearly how troublesome such penetrating, burning compound injuries caused by Lightning Style could be. Even main family elders would need to expend immense chakra and time, along with special medicine, just to barely stabilize the injuries—and even then, lingering complications would be inevitable.

Yet this young medical ninja... had done it in less than a minute! No complex equipment, no elaborate hand seals—he had merely covered the wound with that miraculous green chakra, and the fatal injury that had left them helpless was stabilized? It was simply divine!

The arrogance and doubt on Hyuga Takao's face froze instantly, replaced by undisguised shock and disbelief. The way he looked at Duanmu Ci now was filled with unprecedented reverence.

Under the continued nourishment of Duanmu Ci's pure Yang Style chakra, Hyuga Ling's vital signs rapidly stabilized. He was still far from a complete recovery, but the life-threatening crisis had passed. Duanmu Ci withdrew his chakra at the right moment, fine beads of sweat forming at his temples—precisely controlling such minute life energy to repair complex chakra pathways took an enormous toll even on his mental strength.

"He's stable for now. He'll need rest and medicine to restore the damaged tissue. The main priority is carefully nourishing the injured chakra pathways and undergoing adaptive training to prevent lingering issues with chakra circulation." Duanmu Ci's voice was calm, carrying the steadiness that followed exhaustion. He instructed the Medical Team assistant beside him, "Prepare this prescription. Boil three bowls of water down to one, twice a day, morning and evening." He quickly wrote out a prescription containing several herbs that could gently nourish chakra pathways.

"Yes, Lord Duanmu!" the assistant answered respectfully, taking the prescription with eyes full of admiration.

Only then did Hyuga Takao seem to recover from his shock. He drew a deep breath, stepped forward, and gave Duanmu Ci—a young medical ninja he had looked down upon only moments earlier—a deep bow, lowering himself completely.

"Duanmu... Lord Duanmu!" His voice trembled faintly, filled with sincere gratitude and reverence. "On behalf of the Hyuga Clan, Hyuga Takao thanks you for saving his life! I offended you earlier. Please forgive my rudeness! Your medical skill... is beyond miraculous. We have never heard of anything like it! Had you not intervened for Hyuga Ling, then..." He did not finish, but the meaning was obvious.

Duanmu Ci shifted slightly aside rather than accept the full bow, his tone still mild. "Elder Takao, you overstate it. It is simply a healer's duty to save lives. Senior Hyuga Ling's strong will was also crucial to his survival." He neither claimed credit nor put on a show of humility. His composed, neither servile nor arrogant manner made him appear even more at ease.

At that moment, a small figure timidly peeked out from behind a female Hyuga ninja. It was a little girl of three or four, dressed in a tiny Hyuga Clan outfit with a cute bob haircut. Her immaculate Byakugan, like the finest jade, were fixed on Duanmu Ci with intense curiosity and a trace of barely noticeable admiration.

Her gaze met Duanmu Ci's as he looked over.

The little girl was none other than the young Hyuga Hinata. She had hidden behind the clansmen earlier and watched Duanmu Ci use that warm, miraculous green light to pull her gravely injured clan uncle back from the brink of death. In her young heart, Duanmu Ci's focused, gentle profile and the figure of him bringing forth the radiance of life with a wave of his hand had imprinted themselves deeply, like a god from legend who brought hope.

When she saw Duanmu Ci looking at her, Hinata's little face instantly turned bright red like a ripe apple. Like a startled rabbit, she quickly ducked her head back and hid her face entirely behind the hem of a clansman's clothes. Only her two pale little hands remained visible, clutching tightly at the fabric as her heart pounded furiously.

Duanmu Ci paused slightly, then a gentle smile curled at the corner of his lips. The little girl's pure gaze and shy reaction were like a fresh breeze, sweeping away some of the medical station's tension and bloody stench. He did not pay her excessive attention and continued explaining the details of Hyuga Ling's care to Hyuga Takao.

Following Duanmu Ci's earlier gaze, Hyuga Takao also noticed Hinata. A complicated look flashed through his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by reverence toward Duanmu Ci. He solemnly thanked Duanmu Ci once more and promised that the Hyuga Clan would repay him generously. Only then did he direct the clansmen to move the stabilized injured men to the special care ward.

Tsunade had silently watched from the side the entire time. Enduring the discomfort brought on by her hemophobia, she finally let out a breath of relief. Walking over to Duanmu Ci, she patted his shoulder, her eyes openly full of approval and pride. "Nicely done, kid! You even stunned those old Hyuga fossils. Even I would have had to put in quite a bit of work for injuries like those." Her tone was teasing, but there was even more satisfaction in her disciple's achievement.

Duanmu Ci smiled. "It's thanks to your guidance, Sensei." He keenly noticed that Tsunade's face was still somewhat pale and that the cold sweat on her forehead had not fully faded. "Sensei, are you all right? The smell of blood is too heavy here. Go get some air in the break room. Leave the rest to Shizune and me."

Looking at Duanmu Ci's concerned eyes, Tsunade felt a warmth rise in her heart, and the churning nausea seemed to ease somewhat. She nodded and did not force herself to endure it. "All right. I'll leave this place to you." She turned and left the emergency room, her steps slightly unsteady, though her back remained as straight as ever.