Kotetsu Hagane's Ambition, Practicing the Stitching Technique

Obito Uchiha remained indifferent, muttering things like, "What's wrong with a man having a few scars?" and "Only those with soft, fair skin are looked down upon."

Rin Nohara: "What are you muttering about?"

Obito Uchiha quickly denied it: "Nothing, I wasn't muttering anything."

"Rin, don't be angry anymore. Let me walk you home."

Rin Nohara kept a straight face: "No need."

"You should be thinking about how to apologize to Nebula. He gave you a high-quality kunai, and look at you—you gave him a scar in return."

Obito Uchiha retorted defiantly: "I didn't even accept... fine, fine, Rin, I was wrong."

Rin Nohara said: "You had better truly know you were wrong."

"Also, Obito, even though classmate Nebula is a bit... a bit of a flirt, he hasn't harassed me, nor has he ever done anything inappropriate."

"Don't go looking for trouble with him again. The way you're acting makes things very difficult for me."

"Rin, I..." Watching Rin Nohara turn and walk away, Obito reached out his right hand to stop her, but eventually sighed in defeat.

"Was I really wrong?"

"It's all Nebula Kotetsu's fault! Bastard, sooner or later I'll make Rin see your true colors."

"Rin." "Ah!"

After turning a few corners, Rin Nohara, still fuming at Obito, bumped straight into Nebula Kotetsu, who had been waiting for a long time.

Rin Nohara was startled: "Nebula, why are you here?"

Nebula Kotetsu steadied her by the shoulders, pulling his hands away the moment he made contact.

"I was waiting for you."

Rin Nohara: "Why wait here? It's a bit creepy."

Nebula Kotetsu said helplessly: "Rin, if I went any further, Obito would have been following you the whole time. You know how he gets—if he saw me, he wouldn't have stayed quiet. And if I went behind you... your brother is quite fierce, too."

Rin Nohara felt a bit embarrassed: "That makes sense. Nebula, why were you waiting for me?"

"To thank you, of course." Nebula Kotetsu raised his bandaged right hand and waved it before his eyes, saying sincerely: "Rin, if it weren't for your help, the old man in the infirmary definitely wouldn't have been able to treat it this well."

Rin Nohara: "No need to be so polite, you've already thanked me."

"By the way." Rin Nohara suddenly remembered something: "Nebula, the kunai you asked me to pass on—Obito wouldn't take it. I tried to persuade him, but..."

"If he won't take it, then forget it." Nebula Kotetsu wore a disappointed expression.

Seeing this, Rin Nohara could understand his feelings. It was true; he had hoped to mend their relationship with a gift, only to end up with a scar from a kunai. Anyone would be heartbroken after that.

"Rin, I don't want the kunai anymore. You keep it."

Rin Nohara wanted to refuse the moment she heard him, but Nebula Kotetsu continued: "Consider it a token of my gratitude for you bandaging me so promptly."

Rin Nohara: "But this is too valuable, I can't..."

"Besides, Rin, I've run into some difficulties and was hoping you could help me." Nebula Kotetsu said: "If it's convenient for you, that is."

The number of dates today was lower than yesterday, only two, so Nebula Kotetsu arrived home earlier than usual.

Upon returning home, Kotetsu Hagane was in the courtyard, drenched in sweat as he practiced throwing shuriken.

He froze when he saw Nebula Kotetsu carrying a bag.

"How come you're back so early today?"

Nebula Kotetsu: "Things finished up early today."

Kotetsu Hagane looked at Nebula Kotetsu's hand, ignoring the bag and focusing instead on the white gauze: "You're hurt?"

"Yeah, just a small scrape during sparring class. A classmate already helped me treat it."

Nebula Kotetsu spoke lightly, but Kotetsu Hagane easily deduced that it must have been the work of a male classmate who had been harboring a grudge for a long time.

The logic was simple: no female classmate would be able to bring herself to hurt his brother.

"A classmate? A female classmate helped you treat it, right?"

Nebula Kotetsu gave a thumbs up: "As expected of my little brother, you guessed right."

Kotetsu Hagane curled his lip, then looked at the bag in Nebula Kotetsu's hand.

"What are you carrying? Why is it moving?"

Nebula Kotetsu showed him the contents of the bag, which turned out to be two black chickens.

"Two-and-a-half-year-old silky chickens."

Kotetsu Hagane: "Why did you buy so many? Half a chicken would be enough for us to eat. You aren't planning on raising them to lay eggs, are you?"

Nebula Kotetsu: "Neither of us eats eggs, so why would I raise them? I bought these for a specific purpose."

Kotetsu Hagane looked puzzled.

Besides eating, what else is a chicken good for?

Then, Kotetsu Hagane took out some liquor from the house, pried off the lid, and with one hand holding the bottle and the other gripping the chicken by the neck, he poured the alcohol straight down its throat.

In no time at all, the chicken rolled its eyes back.

Afterward, he began to pluck it.

Once it was mostly bare, he pulled a small parcel from his ninja tool pouch.

Gauze, a portable scalpel, needle and thread—everything was there.

Using the blade, he cut an incision into the featherless black-bone chicken, placed it on the table, and Nebula Kotetsu took up the needle and thread to begin suturing.

Nebula Kotetsu, who had been observing from the side, raised an eyebrow.

"Are you practicing your stitching?"

Nebula Kotetsu didn't even look up: "That's right."

Kotetsu Hagane looked left and right with curiosity: "What made you think of this all of a sudden?"

Nebula Kotetsu's hands never stopped moving: "Graduation is coming up soon. Mastering a skill means one more way to save my own life."

Kotetsu Hagane couldn't help but let out a snort.

Graduation?

Brother, you've already been held back for two years; how are you still so confident?

He suppressed the urge to retort, but Nebula Kotetsu, having heard the scoff, looked up anyway: "What are you still doing here? Do you want me to practice on you instead?"

Kotetsu Hagane shut his mouth and walked away, shaking his head as he went.

Oh, big brother, big brother.

How can you expect to make progress by cramming at the last minute?

The hope of the Kotetsu clan rests on my shoulders; you can just rest easy being the dead weight. When I become a Jonin in the future, I'll appoint you as the clan's vice-patriarch!

Nebula Kotetsu, of course, had no idea that his little brother was already thinking about taking over as the heir to the Kotetsu clan.

He remained fully immersed in suturing the wounds of the featherless black-bone chicken.

After seeking guidance from Rin Nohara, the medical technique he found easiest to grasp and most useful was the external wound suturing technique.

To master the suturing technique as quickly as possible, he had borrowed the tools from Rin Nohara, striving to unlock a trait in the shortest time possible.

One stitch, two stitches, three stitches...

As he stitched, Nebula Kotetsu occasionally used his 0.31 units of chakra to nourish the chicken's wound. While it was highly unlikely to have any effect, what if it did? He kept the chicken alive specifically to test just how much of an impact chakra nourishment could actually have.

Following his movements, the wound on the chicken's body was slowly pulled together.

Ten minutes later, Nebula Kotetsu looked at his masterpiece with a solemn expression.

Hmm...

...It was a bit ugly.

No, it was too ugly! It was practically at the level of a child sewing a beanbag!

He casually flipped the chicken over, out of sight and out of mind. Nebula Kotetsu picked up the scalpel and decisively sliced another wound into it.

The chicken twitched, but fortunately, it didn't wake up.

Nebula Kotetsu continued to stitch.

Stitch, stitch, stitch, stitch.

After more than a dozen attempts, as Nebula Kotetsu made yet another incision, the chicken... woke up.