Anbu Tracking

Konoha was called a village, but in truth, it was a small city.

And there were plenty of small villages surrounding any city.

The villages supplied the city with what it needed and relied on it to survive.

In a small village outside Konoha...

"Lady Tsunade, I'm back."

"Ah, Shizune, you're back. Did you get all the money from the house?"

"Yes, Lady Tsunade. But there's something you might be interested in."

Shizune told Tsunade what had happened to her at Konoha Hospital.

Tsunade was astonished to learn how young Kimura Takuya was.

He was so young, yet he'd developed Medical Ninjutsu of that caliber.

"What a genius!"

"Doesn't that tempt you? A medical ninja like him could achieve immeasurable things with you as his teacher."

Shizune spoke from the heart. The reason she'd told Tsunade that Konoha had a genius was that she wanted Tsunade to return.

Tsunade had been running away for far too long.

As Shizune finished speaking and looked at Tsunade, she saw her drunken expression clear in an instant.

Her bleary eyes sharpened, too.

For a moment, Tsunade seemed tempted, but after a brief pause, she shook her head.

"No, Shizune. If that genius really could heal an injury like that in such a short time, then his Medical Ninjutsu has already surpassed mine.

"I'm not qualified to be his teacher."

Hearing her defeatist words, Shizune was about to argue.

But Tsunade waved her arm, cutting her off.

"Shizune, I know you want me to return to Konoha. If Konoha might have needed me before, well, now that it has that genius, it doesn't need me anymore. I have even less reason to go back."

"But, Lady Tsunade, Konoha is still your home!"

"Enough, Shizune. Don't say any more."

Tsunade waved Shizune out of the room and shut the door.

She picked up her sake and downed several cups, gazing through the window in the direction of Konoha.

"Home? Is it still home when your family is gone?"

At Konoha Hospital.

Kimura Takuya chatted with Uzuki Yugao and the others for a while, then discovered that Yugao didn't have a boyfriend?

No wonder Gekko Hayate hadn't come to the hospital right away.

So the two of them hadn't started dating yet?

Wait, I'm only twelve. Why should I care if they're dating?

"Kimura, I have another favor to ask of you. Please, you have to agree."

Uzuki Yugao bowed.

She asked Kimura Takuya to help treat her teammate, who had lost an arm.

Kimura Takuya immediately agreed.

Reattaching an arm was no problem. The man had lost his own, but they could just attach someone else's.

In a world where eyeballs could be casually plucked out and installed, reattaching a hand was a piece of cake.

"What kind of arm do you want? Do you want it fully restored like Yugao's, or should I give you a Kirin Arm to play with?"

"Huh? What's a Kirin Arm? Just restore mine, please. I'm counting on you, Kimura."

"Oh, that's what you want? Then you'll have to live without an arm for a while."

Kimura Takuya sounded a little disappointed as he explained that he couldn't treat him just yet.

The one-armed ninja was burly and all muscle, without any fat to spare.

An average adult's arm weighed about ten kilograms.

His arm, on the other hand, had been thicker than other people's thighs.

To repair it, he'd need to gain at least twenty or thirty kilograms.

Even fattening up a pig by twenty or thirty kilos would take a month or so.

Let alone a person.

"Oda Lang, just take a month off."

"But I can't take time off, Captain. I've got three kids to feed. I can't go a whole month without missions. Kimura, what was that Kirin Arm you mentioned?"

The one-armed ninja named Oda Lang rubbed his head with his remaining hand.

He asked Kimura Takuya if there was another way. The latter smiled faintly.

"Ha, it's amazing. You wouldn't understand even if I explained it. Just know that if you want a Kirin Arm, I can fix you up tomorrow! And it won't just leave your fighting ability untouched—it'll improve it."

"Really? Thank you, Kimura."

Oda Lang bowed excitedly to Kimura Takuya.

Then the two agreed to meet again the next day.

Uzuki Yugao and Oda Lang were both fine now, and after receiving a little blood, they were cleared to leave the hospital.

So Kimura Takuya left the hospital with them.

But as he passed the pharmacy in the hospital lobby, Kimura Takuya spotted someone—Gekko Hayate.

He seemed to have come to pick up medicine, but just after getting it, Gekko Hayate coughed twice and fainted.

The doctors carried him into a hospital room—the very room Uzuki Yugao had just left.

No way.

Was this how they met?

Did it really have to be this tragic? A bit-part character, and I'd even caused him to lose his girlfriend?

Maybe I should save him.

Transparent Escape seemed pretty fun, too. I'd save his life and borrow his Transparent Escape to play around with. That wouldn't be too much to ask, right?

In the hospital room.

Kimura Takuya stood among a group of medical ninja. No one dared look down on this freshly graduated Genin anymore.

Not that anyone at the hospital had ever looked down on his Medical Ninjutsu.

They'd always been amazed by his talent.

But what had happened that morning made them respect him even more.

After all, the ninja world respected strength above all.

When they saw Kimura Takuya approach the bed, everyone stepped aside for him.

Kimura Takuya was glad they did. Seeing that the other medical ninja had no way to treat Gekko Hayate beyond easing his symptoms, he understood that Hayate had Kekkei Genkai Disease, too.

He placed a hand on Gekko Hayate and carefully sent out his chakra.

Before long, he had a clear picture of Hayate's condition.

His body was failing, and his lungs were severely damaged.

Even without the attack a year or so from now, he wouldn't have had long to live.

You're lucky you ran into me.

"Ninja Art: Flesh Substitution Technique."

Kimura Takuya immediately performed his universal healing technique.

He made no effort to hide it from those present.

The others wanted to learn it, too.

But all they saw was Kimura Takuya call out the technique and finish without making a single Hand Seal.

Was it really appropriate to use a jutsu like that without Hand Seals?

Kimura Takuya thought it was a hassle to make Hand Seals for a technique he'd already used once.

He couldn't understand why everyone was so reluctant to cast jutsu without seals when it was so easy.

Was it because it wasn't cool enough?

Or did they not want to cast jutsu too quickly?

Making Hand Seals was like an elementary school student showing their work in a math problem. Didn't university students just write down the answer?

You could do the calculations in your head, couldn't you?

Wasn't that how everyone did it?

The young genius wondered as he glanced at the ordinary people around him.

He collected some of Gekko Hayate's cells and left.

All he'd done just now was "refresh" Gekko Hayate's body.

The underlying Kekkei Genkai Disease was still there.

If left untreated, Hayate's body would fall apart again within a few years.

He'd need to study it more closely.

It would also give him a sample for his research into treating Kekkei Genkai Disease.

After all, his top priority now was treating his teammate, Yakumo Kurama.

Yakumo was still young and couldn't withstand experimental treatment.

Gekko Hayate was the perfect test subject.

On the way home.

Kimura Takuya pondered how to treat Kekkei Genkai Disease.

As he passed through an alley, he suddenly heard the sound of a fight.

One of them was probably from Root. After saving someone that morning, he'd noticed that someone was watching and following him.

It was probably someone from Root.

Then another person had come to follow him, and this one had not only followed him but planned to make a move in the alley.

The Root operative must have noticed.

The newcomer had lost the fight and run off.

"Heh. So Root is here to protect me. Who was that newcomer? Anbu?"