Rumors Begin to Spread

Every morning, he went to Konoha Hospital to study Medical Ninjutsu and treat minor injuries. In the afternoon, he returned to the Ninja Academy for Taijutsu and Ninjutsu classes. After school, he escorted Hyuga Kiyomi home, then went to his secret training grounds to practice Gentle Fist Taijutsu. At night, after dinner, he reviewed what he had learned during the day.

Day after day, without interruption.

Although handling simple surgeries and treating injured patients at Konoha Hospital took up Hyuga Mirai's study time, it also helped Doctor Nakano, who taught him Medical Ninjutsu. Therefore, whenever Hyuga Mirai saw something within his ability, he would take the initiative to handle it himself.

Though this behavior was tiring and time-consuming, it earned Doctor Nakano's favor and built him a good reputation. For Hyuga Mirai, who at this stage could only sell his labor, the benefits outweighed the drawbacks.

Sometimes, Hyuga Kiyomi would make requests that wasted Hyuga Mirai's time. However, after nearly two years together, Hyuga Mirai had already figured out the limits of this Young Miss from the Main Family.

He understood Hyuga Kiyomi's personality and temper very well. Before Hyuga Mirai, this Young Miss from the Main Family was like a spring in his hand—he could easily compress her until she was taut, then slowly let her loosen again.

Some unreasonable requests were all skillfully rebuffed by Hyuga Mirai's rhetoric. Hyuga Kiyomi herself did not realize it and even thought that what Hyuga Mirai said made sense.

He learned the Healing Technique in three days, and five days later, he was already using Medical Ninjutsu on patients at Konoha Hospital, speeding up their recovery.

Hyuga Mirai's reputation gradually spread beyond Konoha Hospital and the Ninja Academy.

"Ah, that boy—the Hyuga Clan's genius. I heard his talent in Medical Ninjutsu can rival Tsunade-sama of the Sannin!"

"Hey, Tsunade-sama is the Medical Saint! But that Hyuga boy really is impressive. Last time, he used the Healing Technique on me and cut two days off my recovery. The medical fees were much cheaper too!"

"I've met him too. A good friend of mine who works at Konoha Hospital said that Hyuga boy's talent in Medical Ninjutsu is absolutely genius-level!"

Words like these gradually spread throughout Konoha.

Gentle in manner, diligent in his work, humble and eager to learn.

When he saw injured people suffering, he never begrudged his Chakra, helping them recover as quickly as possible. He could be called a student who had inherited the Will of Fire.

The various images Hyuga Mirai had built for himself publicly were difficult for anyone to criticize. Every student who came to Konoha Hospital for practical training would receive an evaluation from the supervising physician.

Doctor Nakano's evaluation of Hyuga Mirai was nothing but praise. He praised Hyuga Mirai as though he were Konoha's hope, a Ninja who had perfectly inherited the Will of Fire.

In terms of difficulty, the Healing Technique was C-rank Ninjutsu, yet Hyuga Mirai mastered it in a short time. A month and a half later, he learned an A-rank Medical Ninjutsu from Nakano: the Mystical Palm Technique.

It was an advanced form of the Healing Technique and considerably more difficult. Even Hyuga Mirai spent quite some time learning it at first. Once he got the hang of it, he poured a great deal of effort into the Medical Ninjutsu before finally gaining control of the Mystical Palm Technique.

It gathered Yang Release Chakra and activated the cells around a wound, healing injuries in an extremely short time.

When Nakano first taught Hyuga Mirai, he estimated that it would take him at least a month to master this Ninjutsu.

Who would have thought that in less than ten days, Hyuga Mirai could already barely use the Mystical Palm Technique?

The first time Nakano saw Hyuga Mirai use the Mystical Palm Technique, his jaw nearly dropped.

He knew Hyuga Mirai was a genius, but he had not expected his talent in Medical Ninjutsu to be so absurdly exceptional.

Over the following months, Nakano taught Hyuga Mirai two more Medical Ninjutsu. Before long, Hyuga Mirai had learned them all.

Nakano was finally convinced. At the same time, he firmly believed that Hyuga Mirai would one day become a Ninja no less capable than Tsunade-sama, the Medical Saint. Nakano believed this without the slightest doubt and would even stake his life on it.

Aside from Chakra reserves and surgical experience, Hyuga Mirai was already a Medical-nin in no way inferior to him.

Though Nakano was only a medical Chunin, he was still a valuable physician at Konoha Hospital. Medical-nin at the Jonin level were qualified to serve as department heads, and even medical Chunin were precious resources to Konoha.

Moreover, Hyuga Mirai's talent in Medical Ninjutsu was so outstanding that, at just over seven years old, he could serve as the lead physician for some surgeries. He was no less impressive than Kakashi Hatake, whose name was widely spoken of throughout the village.

"Mirai-kun, let's stop here for today. You've worked hard!"

After Hyuga Mirai completed another simple trauma surgery, Doctor Nakano came over, patted his shoulder, and said this.

In one morning, Hyuga Mirai had diagnosed three injured patients. Though they were all minor wounds sustained during missions, Nakano had been able to relax considerably with Hyuga Mirai there.

C-rank and B-rank Missions both carried the possibility of combat. Even Konoha's Ninja could not guarantee that they would emerge from every mission entirely uninjured.

"In that case, I'll take my leave first, Doctor Nakano."

After finishing what he was doing and confirming that there was nothing else requiring his help, Hyuga Mirai bid Nakano farewell.

As for the afternoon Ninjutsu class, he did not plan to attend it either.

The Ninja Academy's management of students was fairly relaxed, especially for outstanding students.

According to what Hyuga Mirai had learned from Hyuga Kiyomi about the Ninja Academy, after news of Kakashi's promotion to Chunin reached the school, quite a few people had begun considering applying for graduation.

Hyuga Kiyomi was among them.

As Kakashi's classmate, she could not accept that he had already become a Chunin while they were still studying at the Ninja Academy. Such a stark disparity was unbearable for many geniuses in Class A, and Hyuga Kiyomi was one of them.

Since childhood, she had been praised by the clan as a genius of the Main Family. Yet after arriving at the Ninja Academy, Kakashi had left her far behind. In addition, Hyuga Kiyomi had developed a strong-willed nature under the Main Family's upbringing, so she could not accept the rumors spreading around.

Hyuga Mirai would not concern himself with such matters. He only wanted to steadily increase his strength before the Third Shinobi World War, and remaining in the village as a Medical-nin was the best choice.

Though that would mean lacking combat experience, Hyuga Mirai believed it was his best option.

After leaving Konoha Hospital, Hyuga Mirai headed to the market to buy some rice and meat.

He could now earn some money from Konoha Hospital. After all, since he could use the Mystical Palm Technique, Konoha Hospital could no longer treat him merely as a trainee student.

"Shop Owner, I'll take these. Please deliver them to my home."

Hyuga Mirai bought quite a bit of rice and meat, and the shop offered delivery services. After paying, Hyuga Mirai left his address and headed outside.

However, just as he turned around, he heard the Shop Owner discussing something with someone else.

"Hey, have you heard? That Konoha White Fang!"

"Oh, that bastard? Because of his own selfish desires, our country suffered enormous losses. He's truly despicable!"

The Shop Owner sneered. "Heh, I used to admire him. Who would have thought that he would give up a mission so frivolously just to save one person? Really..."

"Excuse me, sorry to interrupt, but what were you just talking about?"

Hyuga Mirai turned back and walked over to the Shop Owner and the other man. His pale eyes seemed to radiate an invisible pressure.

"I-It's that Konoha White Fang. I heard he chose to abandon a mission to save his companion, and as a result, the Land of Fire suffered enormous losses."

Stared at by Hyuga Mirai's white eyes, the Shop Owner felt deeply stifled as he explained everything he knew.

The Shop Owner's Friend chimed in, "That's right, that's right. The Land of Fire suffered such huge losses because of that guy. I heard he was even a hero of Konoha. Tch, looking at it now, he doesn't deserve it at all!"

"Losses? May I ask what kind of losses?"

Hyuga Mirai stepped half a pace closer and asked. Though he was shorter than the two men, the invisible pressure around him made these two ordinary people feel as if breathing had become difficult.

"It's... it's that, you know. Those enormous losses."

"Exactly. Everyone says so, so it must have been Konoha White Fang's fault, right?"

Hyuga Mirai gently shook his head. "So what exactly were the losses? How enormous were they? Were they casualties, financial losses, or intelligence significant enough to affect the war?"

"Besides, for a mission of that level, only a handful of people in all of Konoha would know about it. Shop Owner, where did you hear this?"

Why am I arguing with people like this?

"Remember to deliver what I ordered."

Hyuga Mirai suddenly realized there was nothing to say to two Villagers, so he turned and left.

The Shop Owner and his friend watched Hyuga Mirai's departing figure with baffled expressions.

"W-Who was that guy?"

"No idea. Hey, but what exactly were those losses?"

"Who knows? I only heard it from someone else."

Tch, a few fewer bookmarks.