Outside the hospital room, quiet conversation drifted down the hallway.
"...This is the one, A-307." A young nurse's voice held a hint of excitement and nervousness. "Be gentle when you change his bandages. Don't disturb his rest."
"That kid? He took down a Cloud Village jonin and two chunin all by himself!? For real? How old is he? He hasn't even graduated from the Ninja Academy, has he?"
"Absolutely true! My cousin's neighbor went to investigate the scene. They said it was horrific! One Lightning Release attack, and they were skewered like kebabs!"
"Shh! Keep your voice down! Don't say things like that!"
"I know," another, slightly steadier voice replied. "Honestly, I still can't quite believe it. The report said he took them all on by himself..."
"Shh—" the young nurse hurriedly cut her off. "Stop talking. It wouldn't be good if he heard us. Anyway, be respectful. Lord Hokage gave strict orders: use the best medicine and make sure he makes a full recovery."
"Of course. He's a hero of Konoha. Who would dare neglect him?"
Creak—
The hospital room door opened gently.
Hiroki leaned against the headboard, pretending to admire the view outside the window. In reality, he'd heard every word of their conversation.
Praise like that still made him feel a little uncomfortable. In his previous life, after graduating from elementary school, he'd rarely heard such open, direct praise from people who didn't care how he reacted.
After he started working, it became even rarer for his coworkers to praise him like that.
Everyone had settled into their routines and only cared about making money and getting promoted. Who had the energy to praise anyone?
It was only when gaming that they'd call out a "That's awesome!" or "Nice!"
"Mr. Sawada, we're here to change your bandages." The young nurse entered with a tray, wearing a professionally warm smile, though undisguised curiosity and a trace of...awe lingered in her eyes.
"Sorry for the trouble," Hiroki said with a nod.
The young nurse skillfully unwrapped the bandage on his arm and tended to the wound. The moment she came close, a familiar pop-up window quietly appeared in Hiroki's consciousness.
[Dong!]
[Detectable computer "Nakajima Aki" found. Temporary connection established via "Chakra Communication Protocol."]
[Would you like to open and view files?]
Here it comes.
So it hadn't been a dream.
His Golden Finger could connect to anyone.
Everyone—ordinary people and ninjas alike—seemed to be treated as a computer by his Golden Finger.
Hiroki's thoughts stirred. This was his first time deliberately testing his Golden Finger's abilities outside of combat. He wanted to know what this "connection" could actually do.
He selected [Yes] with his mind.
In an instant, a window titled [Nakajima Aki's Computer] popped up. Instead of checking her Memory Disk, Hiroki went straight to the [Temp] folder, which represented her immediate thoughts.
In a flash, countless trivial thought files refreshed across his "screen" like a waterfall.
Filename | Oh_my_gosh_he's_really_so_young_he_looks_so_thin.log |
| Is_this_the_genius_who_took_down_three_cloud_ninjas.log |
| He_took_down_three_ninjas_and_doesn't_even_have_any_obvious_wounds_what_a_hero.log |
| He_looked_at_me_did_I_do_something_wrong.log |
| His_face_is_so_handsome_will_he_be_even_more_handsome_when_he_grows_up_does_he_have_a_girlfriend.log |
| Should_I_ask_him_for_an_autograph_later_it_would_set_a_good_example_for_my_little_brother.log |
| No_no_no_that_would_be_too_forward_he'll_think_I'm_a_fangirl.log |
| Waaah_I_am_a_fangirl_I_want_to_lick_his_face.log |
Hiroki: "..."
He felt the corners of his mouth twitch.
Wait, were girls' thoughts always this active?
It felt so strange to have someone's inner monologue displayed in real time, only to discover that she was "gushing" over him this much. It made him feel completely awkward.
Ugh! That's kind of gross...
Hiroki resisted the urge to close the window and searched for something more useful.
He soon found a folder called [Medical Care and Recovery] on her [D Drive (Memory Disk)].
When he opened it, the files inside made his eyes light up.
[Medical Ninjutsu—Mystical Palm Technique (Beginner).dat]
[Precise Chakra Control (Proficient).dat]
[One Hundred Common Phrases for Cursing Someone Out (Master).pdf]
[Rules for Pursuing a Romantic Interest (Master).pdf]
[Encyclopedia of Medical Knowledge (Konoha Version).pdf]
Found them!
He could copy not only Combat Ninjutsu but also medical ninjutsu and support skills!
He could even copy all kinds of strange things!
Hiroki was overjoyed. Without hesitation, he selected all the files and pressed [Ctrl+C].
Then he opened his own [D Drive (Memory Disk)], created a folder called [Skill Backup], and firmly pressed [Ctrl+V]!
A file-transfer progress window immediately popped up.
[Calculating required time and space...]
[Total: 5 files, 21.4 MB]
[Copying files from another computer (Nakajima Aki) to My Computer (Sawada Hiroki)...]
Estimated time remaining: approximately 12 minutes...
Twelve minutes?
Hiroki frowned. He was in Balanced Mode right now! This was much slower than he'd expected.
Just then, the young nurse finished changing his bandages with practiced efficiency and picked up a thermometer.
"All done, Mr. Sawada." She checked the reading and smiled with relief. "36.5 degrees. Completely normal. You're in amazing shape and recovering very quickly. I've already spoken with your attending physician. You can be discharged this afternoon."
As she spoke, she gathered up the tray and turned to leave.
[Connection interrupted.]
[Disconnected from computer (Nakajima Aki).]
[Target lost. File transfer failed.]
As she moved out of range, the progress bar in Hiroki's consciousness instantly turned gray, and an irritating notification appeared.
Hiroki: "..."
He leaned back against the headboard, rather quiet.
There was no doubt that this Golden Finger was powerful—absurdly so. In theory, given enough time and opportunities for contact, he could copy the knowledge and skills of everyone in the Shinobi World.
But...it really wasn't very convenient.
First, a "connection" required physical contact, and it had to be continuous. That meant he couldn't just grab someone on the street and start "downloading."
Grabbing a ninja was obviously out of the question. Who knew what they'd think?
Copying a ninjutsu required a long period of physical contact. At the very least, he'd have to hold someone's hand. But for people who weren't close, holding hands for ten minutes without letting go was already difficult enough.
Second, "downloads" took time. Even a medical ninjutsu like the Mystical Palm Technique took this long while he was in Balanced Mode and not in combat. If he tried to copy a much larger ninjutsu, wouldn't it take days?
It was impossible in a fast-changing battle.
And he couldn't expect to have a long time to stay in contact with another ninja every time, like he had when he was kidnapped.
Unless...
Sawada Hiroki thought it over and opened the "Network and Internet" list.
Six or seven WiFi signals were blinking there.
Unless he tried connecting to those WiFi signals and saw whether he could download some ninjutsu from them.
Before you continue