Konoha Hospital

"No, you can't touch there~~"

"If you keep this up, I'm really going to get angry."

Seeing the little sun turn into a little pufferfish, the group of "wolfish" young nurses finally sheepishly withdrew their sinful hands.

Soseki sighed and rubbed his cheeks. He really hadn't been deliberately putting on an angry pout; it was just that his "soft, smooth" cheeks were genuinely about to be pinched swollen.

In a sense, those terrifying women had a lot to do with why he'd become a shut-in in his previous life. So what if he was a little cute? Did they have to pet him like a cat or a dog?

Ah, better not think about it. It may be shallow, but I was a beneficiary of that shallow standard, after all. Perhaps because of quantum entanglement between the two worlds, his appearance now was not all that different from when he had been a child in his previous life.

So, he could already foresee the even greater troubles that would come once cuteness turned into handsomeness. Of course, under certain circumstances, that sort of trouble could also turn into a hidden resource.

For example—living off a woman.

"Little Soseki, aren't you already attending school? How do you still have time to come to the hospital?"

"Hehe, did Little Soseki miss his big sisters?"

"Sigh, without Little Soseki to massage our shoulders, these boring days don't even leave us anything to look forward to."

Though they had stopped pawing at him, the young nurses continued their sharp verbal offensive.

Seeing Soseki's little face "flush red," the oldest head nurse stepped in to defuse the situation. "Alright, alright. Is your workload not heavy enough, or do you not have enough patients to care for? Tell me, and I'll arrange some for you."

She was said to be the oldest, but she was actually only around thirty. Still, compared to these sixteen- and seventeen-year-old young nurses, she truly counted as a senior.

At her words, more than half of the gathered nurses scattered at once. Even outside wartime, the special nature of ninjas meant life would never be too peaceful.

As a result, Konoha Hospital had always been running beyond capacity. Otherwise, it would never have taken in even a child laborer like Soseki—though that was also because Soseki did his job exceptionally well. In terms of internal operations, he alone could free up the manpower of three people for the hospital.

Only then did Head Nurse Miyoshi crouch slightly, placing both hands on her knees as she narrowed her eyes at Soseki. "Soseki, did you run into some kind of trouble at school?"

The few young women who had stayed behind even though it meant working overtime also looked tense. "Could it be that Little Soseki got bullied?"

They had graduated from the Ninja Academy themselves, so they naturally knew the school's unspoken rule: "Great clans > civilians > orphans."

"Damn it, if anyone dares bully you, I absolutely won't let them off."

"That's right. That bastard had better pray he never has a day when he needs to come to the hospital!"

Just thinking that Soseki might have been bullied made them want to return to the academy immediately, wait at the school gates, and beat up anyone who dared lay a hand on him.

"Big Sister Yumiko, Big Sister Misa, Big Sister Kotoko, Aunt Miyoshi, thank you..." Warmth surged through Soseki's heart. Though he was more rational than emotional, there were still bonds in this world that he could acknowledge.

"Actually, I'm doing very well at school. My classmates are united too. Oh, and I've become the Class Leader now. I've made lots of new friends."

"Wow, Little Soseki really is amazing!"

"Whew, that's good."

"Ah, if Senior Kaori knew, she would definitely be so hap... Mm, sorry!"

"Big Sister Misa, you don't need to apologize. And you weren't wrong." Soseki's expression was calm, with a trace of longing in his eyes. "I'm doing very well now. If Mother knew, she would definitely be very comforted."

Seeing that Soseki did not seem to be pretending, the few of them finally relaxed. Of course, they did not care about him merely for such shallow reasons.

Soseki's mother had once been a member of the Konoha Medical Corps. She had also been Miyoshi's close friend, as well as Yumiko and the other two's chunin instructor.

They were the most precious legacy Soseki's parents had left behind, and they had helped him through his hardest days.

Of course, Soseki himself was also a bonus. A well-behaved, sensible child was far more lovable than those little brats.

"By the way, Soseki, did you come today just to share this good news with us?" Miyoshi asked with a smile, clearly delighted.

"Partly. Besides wanting to put you at ease, Aunt Miyoshi, there are two other things I want to say." Soseki spoke with a serious expression.

"Go ahead, we're listening." Misa and the other two's eyes lit up. Soseki's tightly scrunched little face was simply too adorable. Even Miyoshi's hands were starting to itch; she had never had much resistance to that kind of gap moe.

Soseki seemed unaware of the approaching "danger" and spoke earnestly. "The first matter is that I want to explain the situation to Lady Nonō. From now on, I can only come help at the hospital on weekends."

As he spoke, Soseki's expression became somewhat "nervous." "It's fine even if I don't get paid. Just don't make me leave."

"Is that all?" Miyoshi could not help laughing. "Little Soseki, this time you've underestimated just how useful you are. During the days you were gone, the hospital's medicine management and bed turnover nearly ground to a halt. Class Leader and the others have been worrying every day, wondering whether they should drag you back to fill in for a few days."

"Mhm, mhm." Kotoko nodded repeatedly. "Without the procedures you established, there are just too many inconveniences in our work."

Misa followed with a complaint. "The work schedule Kazumi made was terrible. I don't even know how I survived these past few days."

Yumiko smiled teasingly. "Sengoku and the others were so happy to see you for more than just the massages they were looking forward to."

"Really? Then I'll go take a look later." Soseki said calmly. "Actually, setting up procedures is very simple. First, you need to understand everyone's daily habits and minimize interference from time-related factors. Second, you need a rough estimate of everyone's Chakra reserves and Chakra recovery speed, so efficiency can be maximized. Lastly..."

Miyoshi could not help asking, "Soseki, where did you learn all that information?"

Soseki asked in confusion, "Can't you figure those things out just by observing more?"

Looking at Soseki's matter-of-fact expression, Yumiko and the other two let out the wail of poor students... no, the wail of ordinary people.

Was this something an ordinary person could do?

"Cough, cough..." Misa gave an awkward yet polite smile. "I think I know why Kazumi was feeling so aggrieved."

"Is this the realm of geniuses?" Miyoshi sighed softly before smiling. "Still, this is good. At least, Soseki, your importance can't be replaced."

"Alright, Soseki. What was the second thing you wanted to say?"

At that, Soseki's expression turned solemn. "Aunt Miyoshi, I want you to teach me Medical Ninjutsu!"