A Great Success?

The basic principle of the Filth-Licking Technique was to use Accio as its core, "transporting" foreign objects inside the patient, such as stones, polyps, tumors, and other objects, and safely expelling them from the body.

During this process, the Chakra Scalpel broke down the foreign objects and cut through tissue adhesions, creating favorable conditions for Accio;

the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique amplified Accio's effects while avoiding unnecessary organic damage;

and the Mystical Palm Technique repaired wounds caused by the objects' movement and sped up the patient's recovery.

For a routine gallstone operation, this combination would usually have the patient fully recovered in no time, with no lasting effects in theory.

However, the Accio Soji had mastered was not without its limits...

Not only was its ability to transport foreign objects limited in strength, but the underlying principles of Accio also meant that it often couldn't work at its best on objects that were not independent components.

Unfortunately, the Uchiha patient before him was in precisely that predicament.

—The attacker was highly skilled in Magnet Release, and the metal fragments lodged in the patient's body were all less than 0.2 millimeters in diameter!

On top of that, the jostling during transport and the healing effects of the Mystical Palm Technique during the initial rescue meant that these dozens of nearly invisible foreign objects had not only become impossible to remove by conventional methods, but had also begun to adhere to the patient's liver, almost as if they had become one with it...

In this situation, Accio couldn't precisely target the objects. Instead, the force it exerted to pull them out further damaged the patient's organs and worsened the bleeding!

At this rate, it would take only minutes for the Uchiha on the operating table to die...

And Soji himself would face criticism and doubt for causing a medical accident with his own hands!

Because of their difference in status, Director Chosokabe, who was operating alongside him, would inevitably shoulder a considerable share of the blame. It wouldn't get so bad that Soji was vilified into taking his own life to appease the public, like White Fang, but being saddled with a horde of envious, litigious malcontents was hardly something the young man wanted.

At this critical moment, his calm and rational nature suppressed the panic of biological instinct, buying Soji a few seconds to think and decide.

He knew there was no chance his medical skills would suddenly improve on the spot, or that he would come up with some miracle solution on the operating table. So he simply looked beyond the success or failure of the operation and considered the situation from a broader perspective.

...Eliminating every unlikely possibility, Soji had only two options.

First, stop the operation, use the Mystical Palm Technique to stabilize the patient, then close the abdomen at once and assist the anesthesiologist in maintaining the patient's vital signs.

If he chose this path, the Uchiha would most likely survive for the time being, but the much-anticipated Filth-Licking Technique treatment plan would be an utter failure.

If the hospital came up with another way to save the patient later, Soji might escape blame without earning any credit.

But if the Uchiha's condition rapidly deteriorated and he ultimately died, Soji would be branded a criminal for delaying treatment and would face enormous public pressure.

Second, continue the operation and try once more to "pull" the foreign objects out of the liver with the Filth-Licking Technique.

If he chose this path, there was a very high chance the patient would die right there on the operating table! Soji would still face public condemnation and punishment from the hospital.

But in return, if the operation succeeded, he would have a chance to turn the tide, resolve the crisis, and gain the resources to keep rising.

And considering that the Second Shinobi World War would officially break out within the next few years, if he were punished or came under suspicion, the young man might be assigned straight to the front lines and lose his life at the hands of the enemy...

Taking all the above into account, the projected returns for the operation quickly became clear after weighing all the factors.

In summary.

Giving up on the operation seemed less risky, but its long-term cost was hardly any better than killing the patient outright.

Continuing the attempt might lead to an extreme outcome, but it was the only way to turn things around!

With that, Soji no longer hesitated.

While the other medical staff scrambled about, he slipped both hands through the incision and into the patient's abdominal cavity, activating the medical technique he had developed once again!

—The Filth-Licking Technique took effect at once.

This time, Accio would act through both hands, targeting the foreign objects and the liver itself from opposite sides!

Soji aimed to increase Accio's force this way, using the dual pull to free the metal fragments from the organ!

...Clearly, this was not a standard treatment method.

Would the metal foreign objects come free of the liver in time? Or would the patient's liver itself fail to withstand the squeezing and tugging, suffering even worse damage?

Before he tried it, the outcome was anyone's guess.

Fortunately, Soji wasn't too unlucky.

Or perhaps the Uchiha on the operating table was simply tough as nails.

As the Filth-Licking Technique, cast from both hands, repeatedly tugged at them, the tightly embedded metal objects finally came loose and returned to their independent state!

With that, Accio could finally work as intended, and the treatment was back on track!

The young man was overjoyed!

He quickly focused on guiding the objects back along the route they had come, eventually drawing them out onto the surface of the liver with the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique. At the same time, he activated the Mystical Palm Technique with his other hand to heal the damaged organ.

About fifteen minutes later, the patient's liver had been almost completely repaired, and numerous tiny crystals now covered the palm of the young man's left hand.

He withdrew his hands from the patient's abdominal cavity one by one, then placed the successfully extracted metal fragments in a tray set aside for foreign objects. They clinked against it.

The Uchiha's vital signs had also stabilized now that the source of the injury was gone. Once the old director finished his final checks and closed the patient's abdomen, the perilous operation could be declared a complete success!

The medical staff who had taken part in the procedure all breathed a sigh of relief, their faces lighting up.

The tension that had been on the verge of boiling over in the preparation area eased at last.

"He really did it..." Director Kobayakawa, who had almost been dragged into the operating room, murmured to himself. His colleagues chimed in one after another, sharing his amazement.

"At least we've avoided a war."

"The young are truly formidable..."

"Now's not the time to say that. We should contact the doctors in the rehabilitation department right away and draw up a postoperative recovery plan for the patient."

"Exactly!"

The doctors standing behind the curtain were all experienced professionals. Whatever their opinions, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief after watching the operation unfold.

First, they randomly picked three lucky spectators from the crowd gathered in the hallway and put them to work. Then they returned to the old director's side to fuss over him.

The only one who stayed out of it was the old fox, Inoue Hisahide. Instead, he called over the two male nurses, explained the situation in detail, then let one of them hurry off to inform the bigwigs on other floors.

Soji hadn't given much thought to who the two men were before, but now it seemed likely that one or both of them were Anbu, or even Root informants.

...Of course, now that the operation had gone smoothly, it no longer mattered whom the two male nurses worked for.

No matter which channel the report went through, as long as everything that had happened in the operating room was truthfully reported to the Third Hokage and the Konoha High Command, the risks Soji had taken today wouldn't have been in vain.

In fact, there was no need to wait for the news to spread any further. As soon as the young man left the operating room and returned to the preparation area, quite a few of the seniors who had been so hostile they seemed like monsters changed their tune.

Although they still harbored hostility and wariness toward the rising newcomers, most of them now recognized Yamada Soji's professional ability in the medical field, where life and death hung in the balance.

These old men and women might still use all sorts of tricks to trip the young man up, but after he graduated, nobody would likely challenge his application to transfer into the hospital.

For Yamada-kun, whose combat abilities left much to be desired, this change in status was undoubtedly a crucial step.

Joining Konoha Hospital would not only let him stay away from the dangerous front lines for the time being, but would also give Soji a platform on which to further realize his potential.

With the organizational skills and people skills he had developed in his previous life, along with the credit he had earned through this rescue, the young man felt that his carefully laid plans might now take only half as long!

Still, this gamble of a treatment had come at a price...

After the operation, Director Chosokabe's attitude toward Soji worsened once more.

He summoned Soji to the director's office alone, and the two doctors, one old and one young, began their first frank conversation.