Not long after the war began, the pressure on Konoha increased dramatically.
Before long, even the students at the Ninja Academy were conscripted and sent to the battlefield.
By this point, even as a Medical Ninja at Konoha Hospital, Namikawa Yū could no longer remain uninvolved.
He answered the summons and headed to the front lines.
He was not particularly surprised by this situation. He had anticipated it long ago.
The risks were still largely manageable.
After all, even on the front lines, medical personnel would generally remain inside the camp rather than go out to fight and kill the enemy.
There were still sufficient guarantees of safety.
Though it was not completely safe, it was far better than what ordinary ninja faced.
The day before he left, Namikawa Yū made a special trip to the Orphanage to say goodbye to Nonō.
Unfortunately, Nonō was nowhere to be seen in the spacious Orphanage. There was no telling where she had gone.
Namikawa Yū was disappointed at first, but then accepted it.
The fighting between the nations was growing increasingly fierce. Under these circumstances, Nonō, an elite member of the Anbu, would naturally not be idle. Her mission load was probably quite heavy.
Moreover, within the Anbu, Elder Danzo, known as Konoha's Darkness, was most likely keeping an eye on her as well.
With Nonō nowhere to be found, Namikawa Yū let the matter go and chose to leave.
The next day, he headed to the front lines between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth, becoming a battlefield doctor.
"You're Namikawa Yū?"
Inside the field medical department, a middle-aged man in a white robe regarded Namikawa Yū with a serious expression, highly doubtful of his abilities.
This was not discrimination, merely a matter of age.
Even accounting for the time that had passed, Namikawa Yū was still only eight years old and hardly looked dependable.
Although the Ninja World had plenty of young prodigies, this sort of problem was still inevitable.
"Yes, I'm Namikawa Yū."
Faced with the man's doubts, Namikawa Yū merely smiled, remaining polite and mild throughout. "Is there anything you need me to do?"
"Come with me first."
The man before him sighed. "Our workload here is very heavy."
At this point, whatever Namikawa Yū's actual abilities were, they had no choice but to put him to work.
As they entered the medical department, groans filled every corner.
The wounded were everywhere, including quite a few missing arms or legs, all people who had suffered severe injuries on the battlefield.
Namikawa Yū entered with his expression unchanged and immediately got to work.
Having already worked at Konoha Hospital for some time, Namikawa Yū found this environment nothing unusual. He had long since grown accustomed to it.
While treating patients in the medical department, he also made some little moves of his own.
"Try to relax."
A wounded man lay still before him, his eyes wide open, seemingly enduring intense pain.
Namikawa Yū remained calm. He placed a hand on the wounded man and gently stroked him for a while, easily quieting him down.
"What did you do?"
Someone beside him asked, very curious about this ability.
"A little trick I developed myself. It helps people fall asleep more easily."
Namikawa Yū spoke softly. "For a short while, he can forget his pain and drift off to sleep."
"As long as the movements aren't too vigorous, he won't wake up."
Hearing Namikawa Yū's words, the eyes of those around him lit up.
A ninjutsu that could easily put people to sleep had considerable uses.
Not only could it relieve the wounded of their pain and put them into a deep sleep, but it could also spare the medical staff a great deal of trouble, making the wounded more cooperative with their work.
Taking advantage of a moment when no one else was paying attention, Namikawa Yū reached out and pressed a hand against the wounded man's chest.
As he did so, the chakra inside the wounded man slowly drained away, absorbed by Namikawa Yū and stored within his body.
Chakra Absorption Technique.
In Medical Ninjutsu alone, the Land of Ancestors might not have developed as far as later generations, but in certain other areas, its development had far surpassed them.
This was especially true when it came to storing and absorbing chakra.
To nourish the God Tree and meet various other needs, the Land of Ancestors had developed quite rapidly in these two areas.
As the emperor of the Land of Ancestors, Namikawa Yū naturally had a deep understanding of these matters.
The Chakra Absorption Technique was a technique he had developed by harnessing the resources of the entire Land of Ancestors.
This technique could extract other people's chakra without affecting their health and store it as a chakra reserve.
This chakra could be used to cast ninjutsu or meet various other needs.
Back at Konoha Hospital, Namikawa Yū had rarely acted because there were few ninja there, and most of them had very little chakra in their bodies.
But now, things were different.
The wounded were everywhere here, and most of them were ninja.
As long as he used his methods to put them to sleep, he could openly absorb the chakra in their bodies without anyone discovering it.
For Namikawa Yū, this was a nearly perfect environment.
The days repeated themselves like this.
Until one day, a wounded man was brought back from the front lines, drawing Namikawa Yū's attention.
The wounded man's name was Kakashi Hatake.
Inside the quiet tent, Kakashi Hatake jolted awake from a dream.
He stared at his hand in horror, as though seeing the blood staining it, fear and unease showing in his eyes.
"You're awake."
A voice sounded beside him.
Kakashi looked up. A young boy walked in from outside the room and looked at him. "I wasn't quite sure when I saw your name earlier, but now I'm certain."
"We meet again, Senior Kakashi."
"You're..."
Kakashi stared at Namikawa Yū for a long while before recalling who he was. "You're the one who sparred with Obito that day..."
He spoke instinctively, but at the thought of Obito Uchiha, he suddenly fell silent again.
What had happened before echoed in his mind, leaving him unable to calm down for a long time.
"I've heard about Senior Obito and Senior Rin."
Namikawa Yū sighed. "That's how the battlefield is. Someone who was alive just a little while ago might become a cold corpse before long."
"Perhaps that's simply a ninja's fate."
He spoke softly. "But I think, if Senior Obito and the others were still alive, they probably wouldn't want you to be so grief-stricken over their deaths."
Namikawa Yū's voice was very gentle, passing like a breeze and bringing an involuntary hint of warmth.
At the head of the bed, Kakashi said nothing, still sitting there in silence.
A scarlet Sharingan rested quietly in his left eye, a peculiar chakra spreading from it.