Reinforcements

"We thank Lord Hoshino for his treatment, and we deeply apologize for our rudeness just now!"

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the ward door opened. The ninjas who had been ferocious moments before walked out, turned around, and bowed deeply to Hoshino Maki with respectful expressions.

This scene stunned everyone present.

Some people had stayed specifically to watch a fight, but there was no angry shouting, no combat—nothing happened. If they hadn't witnessed the earlier conflict, they might have applauded this harmonious doctor-patient relationship.

"It's nothing. As a member of the village, helping ninjas who fight for the village is my duty."

Hoshino Maki's expression was the same as with every patient before. He smiled and waved, telling them to take it slow on the road.

"Ebisu, how did things go?"

Several ninjas left the hospital, chatting and laughing as they turned a corner. A tall ninja wearing a headband stepped out from the shadows.

"Lord Bokyu."

The ninjas instinctively snapped their feet together, bowing their heads.

The Flower-faced Ninja at the front looked up, a hint of pride on his face. "It's settled. We gave that brat a good beating. He knelt and begged us to save him some face in front of outsiders, haha!"

Bokyu stared at Ebisu's face, his brow furrowing as if remembering something. His expression shifted abruptly, and in an instant, he was in front of Ebisu. His palm pressed against the top of the other's head, Chakra Threads entering his brain to investigate.

"Ah—!"

Bokyu's hand snapped back as if shocked. His broad, powerful arm trembled uncontrollably, and his face turned extremely ugly.

His hand... was numb.

Time went back half an hour.

"The ward is a bit shabby, make yourselves at home."

Hoshino Maki's ward was a single room. Usually, when patients came, they sat on the chairs while he sat on the bed to treat them. So the room only had two chairs. Hoshino Maki himself sat on the hospital bed, clearly not inviting them to sit with him.

"Kid, what's your game?"

A burly ninja behind the Flower-faced Ninja stepped forward, full of anger, and looked down at this seemingly frail figure.

"I don't like people standing above me when they talk."

"What did you say?"

The man found it hard to believe the sudden shift in Hoshino Maki's attitude. Staring at that disgusting smiling face, rage rushed straight to his head.

"I said... kneel!"

As the last word left Hoshino Maki's lips, the five men's knees buckled, as if pressed down by an invisible giant hand, slamming hard against the solid floor.

"You little bastard!"

The man struggled to lift his head, looking up at Hoshino Maki with bloodshot eyes, forcing words through clenched teeth.

"Kimura, that's enough."

The Flower-faced Ninja, the only Jonin among them, could still speak smoothly. "Are these Chakra Threads?"

He circulated his chakra and felt his meridians 'cut' into pieces. His limbs and neck were fixed in place by invisible threads, unable to move.

When had he laid down those Chakra Threads?

After all, setting up traps took a lot of time, especially Chakra Threads, which required extremely high control from the user.

"My deepest apologies, Lord Hoshino Maki. Blame our eagerness for treatment and our rude words. We beg your forgiveness for our insolence!"

If he weren't already kneeling, he would have prostrated himself fully.

"Ebisu!"

The Flower-faced Ninja's complete 180-degree shift in attitude caught his companions off guard, and one couldn't help shouting.

Hoshino Maki raised an eyebrow, twitching his little finger. The Flower-faced Ninja 'slid' in front of him.

"Ebisu, is it? Tell me, who sent you?"

"No one—" Ebisu met the boy's gentle gaze, unable to get the denial out.

"There's no one—ah!"

Kimura beside him craned his neck, but as soon as he opened his mouth, an arm rolled right in front of him, making him scream in terror.

But seeing Hoshino Maki frown, the scream that had just squeezed out of his throat was forced back, turning into a strange, sharp, short sound.

What kind of noise was that?

This big, rough-looking guy had surprisingly poor mental fortitude. The guy whose arm had been cut off hadn't even screamed yet, and he was already feeling it for him.

A stand-in screamer?

"Oops, my hand slipped."

Hoshino Maki apologized without a shred of guilt, then smiled as he reattached the arm of the man behind Kimura—the one gritting his teeth, his eyes full of fear.

"See, good as new. Oops, it's on backward."

Hoshino Maki cheerfully tore off the arm he'd just attached and reattached it properly for the now-unconscious ninja.

The others, watching, all swallowed hard in unison, a single thought surfacing in their minds:

It's a real waste that this guy isn't in the Interrogation Department.

"By the way, your answer just now."

Hoshino Maki walked back to the hospital bed, crossed his legs, and looked at Ebisu as if nothing had happened.

"I-I never expected you, milord, to see through at once that someone was pulling my strings from behind. Brilliant! Truly brilliant!"

Ebisu's face was plastered with a fawning smile.

Hoshino Maki glanced at him. He hadn't expected this Jonin to have such flexible moral standards.

If not for the fact that the other party's chakra intensity couldn't be faked, Hoshino Maki would have doubted how he even became a Jonin.

Since he was cooperating, things would be easy.

"I have a bit of a bad memory."

Hoshino Maki smiled as he took out a pen and paper from the bedside drawer and placed them in front of the five men. "Everyone write it down. Remember to sign your names at the end, or I'm afraid I'll mix you up. A thumbprint would be even better. Of course, this is all voluntary. If you don't want to write, that's fine too."

The five men looked at each other. Just as they were about to pick up their pens, that demonic voice rang out again: "Oh, right, I forgot to mention. Anyone whose gaze strays from their own paper, I'll help them get a new pair of eyes—eyes that won't squint. Don't worry, it won't hurt."

A devil!

They would rather face the Interrogation Department than deal with this guy again!

The last little schemes in their hearts were snuffed out. Everyone scribbled furiously and finished quickly.

Hoshino Maki collected the papers and gave them a rough scan. None of them had pulled any tricks; the content was largely the same. The one named Ebisu, a ninja, knew a bit more, but it wasn't anything classified.

Seems like they were all peripheral members.

Hoshino Maki pressed the papers down on the bedside table, his fingers tapping up and down in a steady rhythm, his gaze vacant.

The five men, having finished their confessions, felt their hearts rise and fall with the movement of his fingers.

"Alright, since the misunderstanding is cleared up, let's start the treatment."

After a long while, Hoshino Maki withdrew his hand, looking a little embarrassed by his earlier distraction, and offered the five men an apologetic smile.

The five stood frozen in place. Hoshino Maki's words left them at a loss for what to say.

"Don't just stand there. You, the one called Kimura—you're always coughing up phlegm and feeling tight in the chest, right? Come over here."

"Huh?"

The few of them exchanged bewildered glances, then remembered what Hoshino Maki had just said and quickly lowered their heads in fear.

"Don't be afraid. I'm actually quite easy to get along with. Come, let me have a look."

After the five men, one by one, received treatment from Hoshino Maki with uneasy hearts, they stood in a row with complicated expressions. Without Hoshino Maki's order, they didn't dare go anywhere.

It had been so long since they'd breathed this freely.

Living in the desert for a long time made pneumoconiosis easy to contract, especially as Sunagakure mined more and more ore—the chances of getting this disease were very high.

But ordinary Medical Ninja didn't have the ability to clean out the lungs. Even Ebisu, a Jonin, was experiencing this kind of treatment for the first time.

"Milord, please trouble yourself to hypnotize us."

Ebisu suddenly spoke.

"Ebisu!"

The other four stared at him in shock.

Voluntarily asking to be hypnotized wasn't just handing over control of life and death; it was opening up one's entire heart for another to rifle through at will, leaving no secrets behind.

"If we don't, when Lord Bokyu asks, can you lie to his face?"

The four fell silent at his words.

The reputation of Kubo, the deputy chief of the Interrogation Department, thundered among the Sunagakure Shinobi. He was especially skilled at observation, and it was said no one could lie to his face.

From the moment they entered, they'd been bound by Chakra Threads and subjected to all kinds of psychological manipulation, keeping their nerves taut. They hadn't had time to think about any of this. Only now, about to leave, did they recall Kubo's terrifying face.

If they were hypnotized, a lot of things could be resolved.

Hoshino Maki could completely alter their memories, making them believe they had completed their mission. As long as Hoshino Maki cooperated with them, it would be easy to bluff their way through.

And even if Kubo discovered they'd been hypnotized, it would only mean they lacked the strength to resist, not that they had actively betrayed him.

Moreover, as a Jonin, Ebisu instinctively felt that Lord Bokyu might not be able to break the other party's hypnosis.

"If you need it, I can oblige."

Hoshino Maki spread his hands, looking like he was doing them a huge favor.

"Th-thank you."

Having to say thank you while asking someone else to hypnotize them left the four with an indescribable feeling—both humiliating and, somehow, a little justified.

They were asking for a favor, after all. Saying thank you didn't seem wrong.

Hoshino Maki turned and walked back into the hospital room, methodically gathering up the Chakra Threads and barrier he had spread around the room.

These guys weren't as fearless of death as he'd imagined.

Faced with chakra threads tightening around their necks, not a single one chose death over dishonor. They honestly laid out the situation, and even the hypnosis was requested by the Flower-faced Ninja himself.

He was a clever man, after all.

If he had been a reckless hothead, things would have been trickier. Too many people had seen them enter the room with him, and if the commotion grew too loud, Hoshino Maki couldn't guarantee he could clean it up.

Hoshino Maki locked the door, picked up the confessions, and wore a contemplative look.

The Bokyu these men had named was certainly not the mastermind.

What motive could an Interrogation Department deputy chief have for targeting him at the hospital for no reason?

Only the person behind him could have ordered it.

And in Sunagakure, those capable of giving such orders were the three factions of Chiyo, Chōjūrō, and Rasa.

Chiyo had just cooperated with him; they were still in a honeymoon phase, with no reason to cause trouble now.

As for Rasa, though there was conflict, Chiyo would never tell Rasa that it was Hoshino Maki who demanded he not go to the front lines. So Rasa had no motive against him. That left only Chōjūrō.

"That sensitive, huh?"

Hoshino Maki thought it over and guessed that Chiyo had begun meddling in the appointment of the Medical Corps Commander, giving Chōjūrō a sense of crisis.

And the fact that he could pinpoint Hoshino Maki so accurately meant Chiyo had likely already submitted the appointment list to the Elder Council.

It seemed the day he would head to the front lines was not far off.

Just as Hoshino Maki was considering his next move, the door was kicked open.

"Lord Hoshino, we've come to save you!"

Mei's pretty face was flushed red as she gasped for breath.

"Uh—"

Seeing Hoshino Maki staring at her in surprise, Mei let out an awkward laugh, unable to speak.

"Is it already resolved?"

Moyuzi walked in with a calm expression. From the situation outside the room, she had already deduced the crisis was over.

She wasn't worried about Hoshino Maki's safety; she was worried he had been too heavy-handed to clean up.

But judging by the intact walls around them, things were still under control.

"It's fine."

Hoshino Maki nodded with a smile.

He didn't voice his guesses; that might only make things worse.

Moyuzi glanced at him and nodded. "Get ready. The original Medical Corps Commander has stepped down due to illness. Given your performance at the hospital during this time, the Elder Council has decided to appoint you as the new Medical Corps Commander."

Moyuzi's expression was somewhat unreadable.

Never mind that the commander was fine in the rear and suddenly fell ill; even if he did, there were twenty people ahead of Hoshino Maki in line.

It was truly a case of "if the leadership says you're capable, then you're capable, even if you're not!"

Thinking back to the faces of the other elders when she placed the new Medical Corps Commander list on the round table of the Elder Council, Moyuzi couldn't help but sigh—elders were indeed different from one another.

Some elders were besieged by a crowd forcing a vote, while others decided a major village affair without even showing their faces.

"When?"

"Tomorrow morning. You'll depart with the Reinforcement Unit. The ninja picking you up can give you the specifics."

Hoshino Maki nodded. "I want to see Lady Chiyo."

"Lady Chiyo is in seclusion. She asked me to give you this Puppet Technique scroll."

Moyuzi's tone carried a hint of jealousy.

Sunagakure was renowned in the ninja world for its Puppet Technique, Magnet Release, and Wind Release. Now that Chiyo was passing the Puppet Technique to Hoshino Maki, it was clear she saw him as a Core Figure for the village's future.

"Thank Lady Chiyo for me."

Hoshino Maki took the scroll without opening it, instead pondering the meaning behind Chiyo's seclusion now.

Was she not going after Sasori?

If she had deduced from him that Sasori was still in the Land of Wind, then driven by her obsession to find him, sneaking out to search for him wasn't impossible.

If she found Sasori before he did, could their cooperation still hold?

Hoshino Maki wasn't sure.

He squeezed the scroll in his hand. In the end, it all came down to strength. If he was strong enough, even without Sasori as a card, the cooperation could continue—or even be led by him.

The next day, in the early hours, the sky was still dark, the stars and moon still hanging overhead. But at the seam between the dunes and the night, an orange-red dawn light quietly emerged.

It was a unique beauty of the desert, but for the Sunagakure villagers who had long grown tired of it, all they felt was the cold.

The wind rolled sand and gravel, forcing even the mobility-focused ninja to don thick, earth-yellow cotton coats.

The Reinforcement Unit had already assembled in formation.

Hoshino Maki stood with forty Medical Ninja in the center, sizing up the unit.

This reinforcement unit numbered about a thousand people. Hoshino Maki swept his gaze across them—there were upper, middle, and lower ninja alike. It seemed the war wasn't going as smoothly as imagined; otherwise, they wouldn't normally send lower ninja to the battlefield.

Among the thousand ninja, only forty were Medical Ninja. This ratio made Hoshino Maki realize that a significant number of the people before him would likely die in this war, each one representing a family on the verge of shattering.

When he stood from the perspective of the Kazekage, he agreed that a war could win more benefits for Sunagakure.

But when he stood among the reinforcement unit, he was filled with disgust toward war.

What was this—wanting to have his cake and eat it too?

Hoshino Maki let out a self-deprecating laugh.