A Little Red Dot

Having reported to the supreme commander, the squad had officially completed its reconnaissance mission. After such a demanding assignment, Yuzuru's team wasn't fit for another deployment. They needed to rest.

The squad was therefore temporarily disbanded. Yuzuru left Konoha's front-line camp with a group of wounded soldiers and withdrew from the Land of Rain, heading to a Frontline Hospital farther behind the lines.

His injuries needed treatment, and in a situation like this, he had no choice but to rely on the Medical Ninja.

Yuzuru's condition wasn't considered severe, so once he arrived at the hospital, all he had to do was wait in line for treatment.

Torifu Akimichi needed treatment more urgently, but the other three clearly had something else to discuss... Yuzuru could guess what they wanted to talk about. It was nothing more than the word "spy."

Konoha had an Iwagakure spy among its ranks? Even if it did, Yuzuru wouldn't find that strange. There were plenty of ways to control a ninja in the Shinobi World, not just by training them as spies from childhood.

For that matter, Shimura Danzō might even moonlight as an Iwagakure spy from time to time. His idea of "the greater good" was so twisted that he liked to take actions he alone believed would benefit Konoha... Well, anything Danzō betrayed was a blight on Konoha, and anything he stood by was for the greater good of Konoha.

All right, the Shimura Danzō of this era didn't seem quite so extreme. From Yuzuru's first impression, Danzō was a calm ninja with a good sense of the bigger picture... Simply put, he was the sort of person suited to being an adviser.

As for serving as commander-in-chief, he didn't seem quite right for the role.

By comparison, it was more reassuring to hope that the Third Hokage would arrive at the front and take command, or that the Sannin would grow into their roles soon.

At the Frontline Hospital, while Yuzuru waited patiently for treatment, an argument suddenly broke out among the people in line ahead of him.

War and death went hand in hand, and the atmosphere on or near the battlefield was always oppressive. The higher-ups wanted their ninja villages to become perfect killing machines, but ninja were human, after all. Anyone who took part in a war and endured its slaughter was prone to tension, anxiety, and even losing control.

So arguments and even scuffles were common enough. Ninja needed to vent their emotions, too.

"You Genin, stop crowding around here. You're useless. Chunin and Jonin should get priority for treatment!"

"Priority? If we're all waiting in line, then our injuries can't be life-threatening. We should follow the rules, and the first to arrive should be treated first! This is a hospital, not a place for you to throw your weight around as high-ranking ninja!"

"What? You pathetic Genin..."

"So Genin should give up their spots to Jonin. Does that mean civilian ninja should give up their spots to clan ninja, and ninja from small clans should give theirs to ninja from powerful clans?"

"You..."

A Genin with such a silver tongue? Yuzuru almost wanted to go over and back him up.

Before long, the argument turned into a scuffle. No one used any jutsu, but the people arguing started grabbing and shoving each other.

Off duty, not every Genin would meekly put up with a Chunin or Jonin. Besides, once tempers flared, no one cared who the other person was.

Yuzuru thought that fighting was a bad idea. When facing a Chunin or Jonin, a Genin should stick to arguing instead of throwing punches. They might win with words, but if they fought, they'd only get beaten... The difference in strength was undeniable.

The argument, insults, and shoving never quite turned into a full brawl. Then a loud crash rang out from the front, and the commotion died down. Order was quickly restored at the Frontline Hospital...

Just like always, this sort of thing happened all the time and soon blew over.

They were all injured. They should just get treated and be done with it.

The line began moving much faster. Soon it was Yuzuru's turn, and then he saw the young Medical Ninja inside the tent... A blonde with twin tails.

Huh? What was going on? Lately, Yuzuru had seen Orochimaru in a dungeon, then Hiruko in the team sent to provide support, and now Tsunade at the Frontline Hospital... All he was missing was Jiraiya. The Shinobi World really was small.

Come to think of it, the strong really were something. The Sannin and Hiruko, who had once been on a team with them, all had long hair... Weren't they afraid an enemy would grab it during a fight?

Tsunade had probably settled the earlier argument with one punch. Her way of resolving disputes was as straightforward as it got.

Even on the grim, oppressive front lines, Tsunade's beauty still shone through. Add in her special status, and she probably had countless admirers...

Tsunade was only twenty-three or twenty-four at the time. No matter how well she maintained her looks later, she could never recreate the youthful air she had now.

Yuzuru only looked at her a couple of times, comparing her to the image in his memory. After satisfying his curiosity, he had no other thoughts. A ninja trying to survive on the battlefield was worlds apart from the First's granddaughter and the Third Hokage's student. The Frontline Hospital was probably the only place where their paths might cross.

Their relationship was the standard doctor-patient kind.

When it was Yuzuru's turn, he entered the tent and sat down in front of Tsunade. She washed her hands again, then began examining him.

"External injuries? Poisoning?"

"External injuries. I was hit by an Earth Release attack from an Iwagakure Ninja earlier."

"Let me take a look... You've been in the Land of Rain for quite a while? It's been too long. The wounds were treated well, but there are still some signs of infection."

Yuzuru had spent the whole time after being injured in an underground hollow. He'd felt like he was starting to grow moldy even then, so when he heard that his wounds might be infected, he immediately tensed up and asked worriedly:

"Lady Tsunade, an infection... Will I be all right?"

It would be ridiculous to survive the battlefield only to die of an infected wound afterward.

"Don't worry. You're in my hands. It's a minor problem. It's just... Injured ninja on the battlefield really should receive treatment as soon as possible."

After arriving at the front and seeing so many ninja die because they hadn't received timely treatment, Tsunade had begun thinking about assigning Medical Ninja to combat squads... Things would get worse later. The event that truly drove her to put this policy into practice was the accidental death of her younger brother, Nawaki.

But there was no point telling an ordinary patient about all that. Tsunade had only made an offhand remark.

"Don't move."

As she spoke, Tsunade held her palm a finger's breadth above the wound on Yuzuru's body. Then chakra brimming with life force flowed into him, rapidly healing his internal and external injuries.

"You're impressive. You survived a direct hit from a large-scale Earth Release attack at close range..."

Seeing that Yuzuru's body was pocked with wounds like a lump of coal, Tsunade could roughly tell what kind of attack he'd taken.

She was a top-tier Medical Ninja, and carefully treated each of Yuzuru's injuries.

"I made it thanks to my teammates' help."

Yuzuru's response was "politically correct," so there was no way it could cause problems.

Tsunade nodded. "Then don't let your teammates' efforts go to waste. The war is escalating. Don't die on the battlefield so easily."

Uh, just look at her attitude. If Yuzuru had been a Konoha native, he'd probably have become one of Tsunade's admirers after being treated by her.

The battlefield was so cruel that the slightest kindness stood out like the blazing sun... Or perhaps that was just self-satisfaction.

Tsunade soon finished treating him. Yuzuru stood up and moved around a little, realizing that he had truly recovered completely.

"Thank you, Lady Tsunade."

Yuzuru thanked her. Tsunade only nodded slightly. By then, her attention was already on the next patient.

With no mission for the moment, Yuzuru didn't hurry back to the front-line camp. He found an isolated spot near the hospital camp and began practicing the Wind Release Ninjutsu he'd learned.

First, Yuzuru drew a short sword from behind his back. He'd taken it from an enemy.

He gripped the short sword between his palms, then methodically formed hand seals. Once he finished, a dense mass of wind-nature chakra had gathered in his chest.

Yuzuru held the sword in one hand. Then he took a deep breath, and as he slowly exhaled, the concentrated wind-nature chakra flowed onto the short sword with each breath.

The "mass" of wind-nature chakra clung tightly to the blade, then gradually extended, turning the short sword into an even sharper long blade.

Wind Release: Vacuum Blade... Clearly, this was a technique Shimura Danzō had used.

As long as he didn't try to do something ridiculous with it, like slice through Susanoo with a sword, there was no doubt about its power and practicality.