Anesthetic Needle

As soon as school let out, the classroom instantly emptied.

Anyone not eager to leave after school had a problem with their attitude.

Natsuki had just stood up when he spotted Namikaze Minato.

Just like yesterday, Minato invited them to walk home together.

"We're going to the Mission Hall."

After thinking for a moment, Natsuki explained the whole situation to him.

There was no need to hide it.

The ultimate goal of having Yakushi Nonō learn Medical Ninjutsu was for her to become Tsunade's student.

If they really succeeded, everyone would find out eventually.

Besides, since there was no Medical Ninja Training Class right now, it was perfectly reasonable for them to post a mission and hire a medical ninja to teach them.

Namikaze Minato looked startled after hearing this.

He had not expected Natsuki to be so full of ideas, or so capable of putting them into action.

A sudden sense of crisis rose in Namikaze Minato's heart.

He could not keep slacking off like this. He had to start grinding.

He was serious about becoming Hokage.

With that thought, Namikaze Minato headed straight for the school's Training Ground.

Natsuki withdrew his gaze.

Fine, he could grind a little harder.

"Want some Takoyaki?"

Natsuki caught a whiff of the fragrance and immediately felt hungry.

"I'll go buy some."

Yakushi Nonō spoke up at once.

Without waiting for Natsuki's reply, she trotted over to a nearby snack stand.

Before long, she returned with a box of Takoyaki.

Yakushi Nonō speared a Takoyaki ball with a wooden pick and held it out before Natsuki.

Natsuki took the pick, but instead of eating it himself, he brought it to her lips.

Yakushi Nonō froze for a second, then bit into the Takoyaki.

She chewed a few times, savoring the flavor blooming across her mouth. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and a happy smile appeared on her little face.

Although children in the Ninja World matured early and were sensible, they were still children in the end.

"How does it taste?"

Natsuki asked as he watched her adorable expression.

"It's delicious, but it's still not as good as your cooking."

Yakushi Nonō answered.

She was not flattering him.

Yesterday, Natsuki had learned five dishes from Mayu.

Aside from the first one, the Sunny-side up Egg, which had not tasted quite right, every other dish had surpassed Mayu's own cooking.

By the end of the lesson, Mayu had begun questioning her life.

Yakushi Nonō felt a sense of defeat as well.

Because the Ninja World was a Japanese-style feudal society, most women believed in being good wives and wise mothers and were exceptionally skilled at cooking.

By the time they reached the entrance of the Hokage Building, they had neatly finished the box of Takoyaki.

Natsuki and Yakushi Nonō soon arrived at the Mission Hall.

"I'm Chiwa, the one who accepted your commissioned mission."

A female ninja who looked to be in her thirties introduced herself. "I'm currently a Genin working at Konoha Hospital."

"Sorry to trouble you, Chiwa-senpai."

Natsuki nodded and said.

A Genin who could work at Konoha Hospital was no ordinary Genin.

"According to Konoha's rules, I can't teach you Medical Ninjutsu. I can only teach you basic medical knowledge."

Chiwa gave them a reminder.

"I understand."

Natsuki was not surprised.

In Konoha, there were only three ways to obtain ninjutsu.

The first was through rewards from Konoha.

The second was to learn it from one's squad leader after graduation.

The third was to inherit one's parents' ninjutsu.

Any other method was considered improper.

These regulations existed to ensure that Konoha could maintain a monopoly over ninjutsu.

If anyone with money could learn ninjutsu, everything would fall into disorder, and Konoha's status would suffer as well.

"Could you teach us how to prepare some commonly used medicines? For example, anesthetics?"

After some thought, Natsuki asked.

"No problem."

Without any suspicion, Chiwa agreed.

As a ninja, one had to master many different skills, including medicine.

Not medicine for saving people, but medicine for killing them.

Coating ninja tools with poison was an extremely common practice.

Although most ninjas bought their poison, some made it themselves.

Chiwa had mistaken Natsuki for one of those ninjas who made his own poison.

After a brief conversation, she brought them back to her home.

Looking at the thick stack of books before him, Natsuki's mouth twitched.

Sure enough, encouraging someone to study medicine was a sin worthy of being struck by lightning.

Relatable.

Compared to him, Yakushi Nonō was bursting with motivation.

She wanted wholeheartedly to repay his kindness.

Since Natsuki had joined Konoha Orphanage, he had always taken care of her.

Now, he had even spent money to hire a medical ninja as her teacher. No matter what, she could not let him down.

In the blink of an eye, April arrived.

Over the past month, no one had drawn more attention than Namikaze Minato.

No matter the class, he performed exceptionally well and was deeply favored by the teachers.

He had also gained a group of devoted admirers in class, and his reputation had even spread to other classes.

Natsuki felt that within two years, Namikaze Minato would be recognized by Hiruzen Sarutobi and eventually become Jiraiya's student.

But that was a good thing.

Through his relationship with Namikaze Minato, he could catch the attention of Hiruzen Sarutobi or Jiraiya.

During this period, Natsuki only did three things.

Running, practicing Ninja Tool Throwing, and studying medical knowledge.

At Chiwa's home.

Natsuki carefully picked up a test tube.

He was preparing an anesthetic.

Ordinarily, after only one month, he was not qualified to prepare an anesthetic yet.

But in order to unlock the Conan Template ahead of time, he had asked Chiwa to teach him how to prepare anesthetics half a month ago.

He did not need to understand why each step was necessary. He only needed to remember the relevant procedure.

"It worked!"

Excitement appeared on Natsuki's face.

"That's amazing!"

Yakushi Nonō promptly cheered for him.

In truth, she had learned even faster.

[Congratulations, Host. You have unlocked Conan Template Ability Two: Anesthetic Needle.]

Smiling, Natsuki pinched her little cheek.

A month of hard work had not gone to waste after all.

Now, only Ability Three of his Conan Template remained locked.

Of course, he still needed to continue studying medical knowledge. It concerned both his and Yakushi Nonō's future safety.

After finishing their lessons, Natsuki and Yakushi Nonō left Chiwa's home.

But instead of returning to Konoha Orphanage right away, they went to a nearby Training Ground.

Natsuki took out a Kunai.

Over the past month, his Kunai and Shuriken skills had reached the beginner level.

The standard for the beginner level was achieving a bullseye hit rate of over seventy percent against stationary targets.

If one could maintain that bullseye hit rate against moving targets, or while attacking moving ninjas, it could be called the proficient level.

The mastery level required more complex throwing techniques.

For example, the Uchiha Clan's classic Shuriken Manipulation Technique.

Using steel wire to control Shuriken gave them far more variations.

Natsuki coated his Kunai with the anesthetic he had just successfully prepared.

He stopped only after coating ten Kunai.

Natsuki looked toward a stationary target in the distance.

With a fierce flick, he swung his arm and released the Kunai. It shot through the air with a sharp whistle.

Thud.

The Kunai struck the bullseye.

But that was not the end.

Natsuki continued throwing a second Kunai, then kept going until all ten had been thrown.

Yakushi Nonō, watching from the side, subconsciously revealed a surprised expression.

She clearly remembered that during the last Ninja Tool Throwing class, Natsuki had only landed seven hits out of ten.

Now he had landed ten out of ten. The difference was undoubtedly enormous.

But she quickly became happy for Natsuki.

"I'm pretty accurate, huh?"

Natsuki felt as though peak Jordan had possessed him. Every shot he took went in.

Next came next week's monthly test, or rather, the Monthly Exam.

Besides the written exam, the most important part was the Combat Exam, mainly consisting of two events: the Physical Fitness Test and Kunai throwing.

The reason was simple: they had not yet been taught the Three Body Technique or Taijutsu.

The Three Body Technique sounded simple, but in reality, it was difficult for most students.

They needed six years to learn the Three Body Technique.

Even so, more than half of the students still failed to master the Three Body Technique and therefore could not graduate as ninjas.