"Rather than serving as a regular ninja, you want to be a Medical Ninja? That is a good choice too."
Hiruzen Sarutobi considered it for a moment, then nodded. "That may be for the best. At least for a child your age, a hospital is more suitable than a battlefield."
He looked at Namikawa Yū's young face as he spoke.
"Yes. Thank you, Lord Hokage."
With a respectful expression, Namikawa Yū nodded, then slowly withdrew.
After returning home, he rested for a few days. Once his appointment letter from Konoha Hospital arrived, he went straight to the hospital to report for duty.
The surroundings at Konoha Hospital were ordinary, with nothing unusual anywhere.
After arriving, Namikawa Yū discovered that even at Konoha Hospital, not all the staff were Medical Ninjas.
Apart from a small number of Medical Ninjas, most were still ordinary people.
From the look of things, even in Konoha, Medical Ninjas were few in number, making up only a small minority.
Even Konoha Hospital could not afford the luxury of staffing itself with too many Medical Ninjas.
Namikawa Yū soon received a warm welcome from those around him after joining the hospital.
One reason for this was his young age.
At just seven years old, Namikawa Yū was the youngest member of the medical staff at Konoha Hospital.
Moreover, most of the people here were women, so a boy like him was naturally quite popular.
The other reason was his Medical Ninjutsu.
As mentioned before, Namikawa Yū was quite skilled in Medical Ninjutsu.
Although he was not among the very best, he still ranked near the top at Konoha Hospital.
In a place like a hospital, a person's level of skill naturally influenced what others thought of them.
In just over a month, Namikawa Yū had settled into his surroundings.
"Oh, you're Senior Rin, aren't you?"
That day, Namikawa Yū came to work at the hospital as usual.
A familiar figure appeared before him.
It was Nohara Rin, who had just arrived.
Namikawa Yū looked at her and took the initiative to greet her.
"You're..."
Nohara Rin looked at Namikawa Yū in front of her, a little surprised at first. It took her a while to recognize him. "Oh, it's you..."
"Are you feeling unwell, Senior Nohara Rin?"
Namikawa Yū asked, "I can get your medicine for you."
"It's not for me."
Nohara Rin was a little embarrassed at the mention of it.
She hesitated at first, but eventually spoke and explained why she had come to the hospital.
The injured person was not her, but Obito.
A little while ago, Obito had gotten into a dispute with some people and fought them without permission.
In the end, both sides had been hurt. The others had suffered, but Obito himself had been injured too.
The reason Obito had clashed with them was Kakashi.
Something major had happened in Konoha a short while ago.
Kakashi's father, the renowned Konoha's White Fang, had suddenly taken his own life at home and died there.
For a ninja, such a death was undoubtedly shameful.
Once the news spread, rumors sprang up throughout Konoha.
Although he seemed somewhat inconspicuous in later years, in this era, Konoha's White Fang stood at the height of his fame, fully on par with the Sannin.
The impact of someone like him taking his own life at home was easy to imagine.
Some people had slandered him in private. Obito could not stand those people maligning his friend, so he had argued with them and ended up injured.
"So that's what happened..."
After listening to Nohara Rin, Namikawa Yū could not help smiling. "Senior Obito is quite warmhearted too..."
Whatever might happen later, at this point, before he turned to darkness, Obito was undoubtedly still a hot-blooded young man.
Someone like that could not stand to see his friend slandered, so it was hardly surprising that he would do such a thing.
"But as for Senior Kakashi, it really is..."
Thinking of Kakashi, Namikawa Yū sighed softly, unsure what to say. "He must be very upset right now..."
"Yes." Nohara Rin nodded. "After I deliver Obito's medicine, I'm planning to go see Kakashi..."
"I hope you can all get through this soon."
Namikawa Yū spoke softly. "I've already prepared the medicine. You can take it with you, Senior Rin."
"If you need anything else later, just come to me."
"Sorry for the trouble, then."
Nohara Rin nodded, said goodbye to Namikawa Yū, and left.
After she left, Namikawa Yū watched her retreating figure and let out a long sigh.
War was about to begin.
The longer Namikawa Yū spent at Konoha Hospital, the more he could feel the changes.
As time passed, the atmosphere throughout Konoha began to grow tense.
Many things seemed to be starting to change.
Finally, at a certain point, war broke out in full.
The war first erupted between the Land of Wind and the Land of Lightning.
Because of the grievances from the previous Shinobi World War, friction had persisted between the two sides.
This time, too, clashes continued, and both sides dispatched large numbers of personnel to mass along their borders.
But at the critical moment, just as a major war was about to break out, a major incident changed the situation.
The Third Kazekage, hailed as the strongest Kazekage, suddenly went missing, disappearing from the battlefield.
As a result, the situation across the battlefield rapidly changed.
After learning the news, the Land of Lightning immediately sent troops against the Sand Village, setting off a series of subsequent developments.
Thus began the Third Shinobi World War.
"Try to relax."
Inside Konoha Hospital, Namikawa Yū stood before a boy, one hand resting on his chest.
A faint flow of chakra entered the boy's body. Under Namikawa Yū's control, it rapidly healed his internal injuries and maintained his vital signs.
With Namikawa Yū's abilities, instantly healing an injured person and restoring them to normal was naturally impossible.
Even if he could do it, he could not sustain the chakra consumption.
So, as a Medical Ninja, he mostly only needed to keep the injured alive and ensure that they did not die from their wounds.
Anyone who could accomplish that was already a very good Medical Ninja.
Once he finished treating the newly arrived patient, a woman beside him came over. Looking at Namikawa Yū, she urged, "Yū, go take a break."
"You've been working for a long time. Keeping this up will be bad for your health."
"Yes. I'll leave things here to you, then."
Namikawa Yū nodded, then slowly withdrew.
After leaving Konoha Hospital, the exhaustion vanished from his face, and he looked ahead.
The fighting is getting fiercer.
The thought crossed his mind as he watched the people hurrying around him.
Judging from his recent experience, the number of injured people brought to the hospital from various places had clearly increased considerably.
This indicated that the fighting on the front lines was already fierce, and was only growing more intense.