Isn't the Exam Easy If You Have Hands?

"I want to sign up."

Aoba went straight to Araki to get an application form.

Araki was surprised as well. He had not expected Aoba to want to study Medical Ninjutsu too.

Because of the Sannin, Tsunade was idolized by many female ninja, so most medical ninja were women.

"This course isn't open to just anyone. You'll need to pass rigorous theory screening and a chakra control test. Only those who pass will have a chance to enter the Experimental Class for specialized training."

"No problem, Sensei. My theory grades have always been excellent, and as for chakra control, I know a thing or two about it."

Aoba spouted nonsense with a straight face. "A ninja must possess not only the power to destroy, but also the compassionate heart to protect. I want to use these hands to save my comrades, not merely to create slaughter."

Seeing Aoba display such lofty awareness, Araki handed him an application form.

"Huh? Aoba, you're applying for the Experimental Class too?"

Kurenai saw Aoba filling out the form and asked in confusion, "Aren't you the one who hates trouble the most? Medical Ninjutsu requires memorizing lots of books, plus dissecting frogs, mice, and all that. It's disgusting."

"Kurenai, that's where you're wrong."

Aoba adjusted his sunglasses, then repeated the same "correct" grand principles he had just told Araki.

Kurenai blinked her ruby-like eyes at first, then her face filled with disdain.

She might barely believe it if someone else said that, but did she not know exactly what Aoba was like? There had to be some other "fun" thing she did not know about.

After thinking for a moment, she too ran to Araki to get an application form.

Getting an application form was much easier for Kurenai than it had been for Aoba. The moment she asked, Araki handed her one.

When Aoba saw that Kurenai had gotten an application form too, he shook his head helplessly.

A poor student like her definitely would not pass.

The battlefield first aid course was scheduled during the afternoon activity period and taught by a medical ninja who had retired from the front lines.

Obito watched Rin leave and immediately felt reluctant to see her go. Had he known, he would have signed up for the Experimental Class too. But when he saw that Aoba was leaving with her, he instantly became unhappy and stormed off to complain to Araki. The result was that he got scolded for another entire afternoon.

For the first lesson, the classroom was packed.

Aoba and the others arrived rather late and could only sit in the last row. Kurenai sat beside him, while Rin and Shizune sat in the front.

After a quick glance around, Aoba saw that most of them were upperclassmen. There were only a handful of second-years, and they were overwhelmingly girls. Boys made up less than a tenth.

With so many girls, the chatter was livelier than a marketplace.

"Quiet."

The instructor entered the classroom. She was a female ninja in her thirties, dressed in a white coat, with short hair that made her look exceptionally capable.

"My name is Yamanaka Hana. Starting today, I will be responsible for your battlefield first aid course."

Yamanaka Hana began her introduction. Her voice was calm, yet carried authority.

"First, I need to tell you a cruel fact—on the battlefield, most ninja do not die from enemy attacks. They die from excessive blood loss and wound infections."

The classroom fell silent.

"Therefore, learning basic hemostasis, bandaging, and wound treatment is more important than learning a flashy ninjutsu."

Yamanaka Hana swept her gaze across the class. Seeing everyone listen attentively, she nodded inwardly.

"Next, I will teach you the most basic battlefield emergency treatment knowledge. Whether you can learn it is not only your own concern; it also concerns the lives and safety of your future comrades."

The course content was more tedious than Aoba had imagined—or rather, simple and brutal.

There was no reciting from textbooks. It was straight-up cramming.

A massive amount of theoretical knowledge: human anatomy, wound types, methods of stopping bleeding...

Many people looked as though they were listening to an incomprehensible scripture. They could only anxiously copy notes, while some began nodding off as they listened.

Aoba understood. This was screening the crowd. There would definitely be an assessment afterward.

There was no way this many people could all enter the Experimental Class.

After all, training a qualified medical ninja required a huge investment of resources. If all these people entered the Experimental Class, it was not merely a matter of the budget being unable to support it—the higher-ups would never approve it either.

Aoba could understand it all with ease and even had time to observe everyone else.

Shizune listened very seriously. It was obvious she had a foundation. Rin struggled more; her pen flew across the page, and she seemed to wish she could write down every word the instructor said.

As for Kurenai...

Her eyelids were starting to fight each other, and circles were practically spinning in her eyes.

Sigh.

He could just let Kurenai be eliminated normally when the time came. He did not dare cheat for her. That would not just make him a quack—it would be practically playing with lives.

Fortunately, after class, they were given a list of medical books and told to read and study more. They had not written everyone off at once.

Otherwise, with this teaching method, the pass rate would definitely be worrying.

Even so, for most students, those obscure meridian diagrams and herbal medicine knowledge were practically incomprehensible scriptures. What mattered now was who was more self-disciplined and more willing to endure hardship.

As for Aoba? Well, he had read all those books long ago.

He had even entered them into the Chip system in advance. He only needed to take the books from the storage space again for appearances' sake.

The assessment was set for one month later.

Compared to Shizune, Nohara Rin was much more nervous.

Aoba knew that Rin not only passed, but later joined Team Minato as a medical ninja.

Rin's medical talent had already been demonstrated in the anime. The fact that she could successfully perform an eyeball transplant on the battlefield already put her above many medical ninja.

Aoba did not interfere too much. He did whatever he was supposed to do every day, with an unbelievably relaxed mindset.

That big fool Kurenai followed his example and lay flat alongside him.

Every afternoon, she went along and treated it like a nap.

As the exam drew closer, Shizune seemed to be affected by Rin and became somewhat nervous as well. The two gradually lost confidence in their discussions and went to seek out Aoba.

Aoba did not refuse. He not only gave them the answers, but also helped them sort out their thought processes.

The more the two listened, the more shocked they became. They had long known that Aoba always ranked first in theory, but they had not expected his knowledge of medical systems to be so extensive too.

After that, whenever they had time, the two came to ask Aoba for guidance. Obito once again turned into a jealous wreck and crazily cursed Aoba behind his back.

Aoba sneered.

Then Kurenai started beating up Obito. To maintain his image in front of Rin, Obito did not dare fight back and could only flee with his head in his hands as Kurenai chased him.

The day of the exam soon arrived.

Unlike regular assessments, this examination consisted of two sections: theory and practical application.

The theory questions covered dozens of categories, including human meridian studies, basic pharmacology, chakra nature analysis, emergency hemostasis and bandaging. Their complexity and obscurity drove most students—who had not even memorized all the basic ninja theory—to despair.

The practical exam questions had already been subtly hinted at by the instructor during class. However, everyone had focused more on the course material and overlooked the instructor's offhand remarks.

Aoba did not know whether anyone else had caught on, but he had heard them clearly. Before the exam, he had even gone over those key points with Shizune and Rin.

After leaving the examination room, everyone gathered in small groups to compare answers.

Only Aoba and Kurenai did not care at all. The former was confident in his own ability, while the latter had already given up.