Outpatient Discharge

Hospital life was boring. Yashui didn't want to stay, but the doctors insisted he remain there. He was also worried that the training exercise might leave him with some kind of lingering injury, so he had no choice but to listen and stay for the time being.

At least Yashui didn't have to worry about being unable to pay his medical bills. At Konoha Hospital, any ninja injured on a mission, in training, or while performing other official duties could receive free treatment.

Konoha was the first ninja village to establish a specialized medical corps, and its medical care was among the best of all the villages. Broken bones were commonplace minor injuries for ninja, and nothing out of the ordinary to the doctors and nurses. People said that injuries to the muscles and bones took a hundred days to heal, but thanks to the doctors' and nurses' efforts, that "hundred days" was squeezed down to a single week.

Lying in his hospital bed, Yashui had plenty of time to think things through.

A signature move...

A signature move was incredibly important to a ninja. It didn't necessarily have to guarantee a kill, but it had to have the potential to do so. Amaterasu was a good example. It could kill, but in the original story, it never actually burned anyone to death.

When working with Xun's team, Yashui had never been able to get a word in edgewise because he had no signature move capable of dealing massive damage. Xun had one, and that alone let her order him around as she pleased.

A signature move wasn't just about boosting your strength. It could also determine your standing within a squad. A ninja with a signature move would naturally become the team's core, making everything easier. That was why Yashui wanted to learn one.

If he could use the Reverse Summoning Technique to visit the Hundred Bird Nest and ask the Three-Legged Golden Crow about it, Yashui would definitely go get some answers. Unfortunately, he had basically lost contact with the Three-Legged Golden Crow and couldn't get to the Hundred Bird Nest. Every time he used the Reverse Summoning Technique, the Three-Legged Golden Crow turned him away.

"Besides the Three-Legged Golden Crow... who else could I turn to?" Yashui thought it over and eventually settled on Choza.

Yashui hadn't spent much time with Choza yet, but Choza was still his supervising Jonin. If a student came to ask for advice, Choza ought to teach him something, if only out of goodwill. Of course, he wasn't actually obligated to teach Yashui.

With that in mind, Yashui decided to give it a try.

A week later, Yashui was discharged. Because two Genin in Team 12 had been seriously injured on the very first day, the team hadn't taken any missions for the entire week. By the time other teams had already taken on a dozen or more, Team 12's mission record was still zero.

While he was taking care of his discharge paperwork, Yashui ran into Xun. She glanced at him sheepishly, as if apologizing for her poor performance a week earlier and thanking him at the same time.

Xun had recovered well, too. She looked almost completely fine. In reality, though, she still had to follow the doctor's instructions and do a few gentle exercises every day. Anything strenuous, like wielding a sword, was still off-limits.

"At last, Team 12 can be together again," Yashui said, striking up a conversation with Xun.

"Yeah. Your mission record is still zero, isn't it? Looks like you'll have to take one D-rank mission after another for a while." Xun had become a little easier to talk to, but there was still an edge to her words, as if she thought Yashui and Hachiko had held her back.

"D-rank missions? Aren't those boring?" Yashui recalled the D-rank missions Team 7 took in the original story. They were all trivial little chores, and the pay was extremely low. The reward for a single D-rank mission was enough for a bowl of ramen and nothing more. It was pocket change, enough to fool only newly graduated Genin.

Outpatient Discharge

The burned and scarred man strode into Konoha's hospital, making no attempt to hide his badly injured body.

If he was going to be executed anyway, what did it matter if he left the hospital?

"Hello, I'm here to check out."

"Wh-what? But you're severely injured! You need to stay in the hospital!"

"But I'm already discharged."

"Who discharged you?"

"The Third Hokage's secretary."

The nurse was dumbfounded. "The Third Hokage's secretary? When did that happen?"

"I was discharged when I checked in. I'm only here to pick up my discharge summary."

"Wait, you've already been discharged?"

"That's right."

The nurse pressed her lips together and said nothing. She knew this man had been badly burned in a mission, but she hadn't realized he'd already been discharged. The hospital administrators had a strange way of doing things.

Dazed, she handed him his discharge summary. "Take care, then."

"Thanks for your help."

On his way out, he glanced at the list of charges on the summary.

The hospital fees had all been waived, so there was nothing to pay.

Heh, that was an unexpected perk. The hospital's medical care was truly top-notch. With the money he'd saved on hospital fees, he could take another few missions!

With his signature move and trump card, Captain Toad was at least worth A-rank. But most importantly, he had access to those special abilities now, so he could make full use of Yashiro's skills!

At the Konoha Ninja Registration Office, the mission liaison's eyes widened when he saw the man's bandages. "Boss Toad! You're discharged already? I heard you were badly burned!"

"Well, as you can see, I'm completely fine. My team leader's going on a trip soon, so I want to pick up a few missions."

"Captain Yashiro's going on a trip soon? That's quite a coincidence. He came to the office just a moment ago and picked up a mission to deliver a letter to the Land of Lightning. By the way, Captain Yashiro already assigned you a mission. It's to clean the Hokage's office. How about I give it to you now?"

Captain Toad didn't know what to say. He'd only just been discharged, and he was already being sent to clean the Hokage's office?

But beggars couldn't be choosers. Any money he could earn was a bonus.

"Sure, thanks. I'll go clean the Hokage's office first, then I'll pick up a few more missions."

The liaison hesitated, then said, "Actually, Captain Yashiro picked up another mission for you earlier, too. It's an escort mission, and I was just about to send it over to you."

"What? An escort mission? Didn't you say he'd picked up a letter-delivery mission?"

"It's both. The mission is to escort a messenger to the Land of Lightning and deliver a letter."

Captain Toad had no idea what to say. So Yashiro had picked up an escort mission and a letter-delivery mission for him without even asking?

"Fine. I'll take it!"

After picking up the missions Yashiro had left for him, Captain Toad hurried to the Hokage's office. But he didn't see Yashiro there—only a cleaning robot.

"Didn't the mission liaison say Captain Yashiro was here?"

"Captain Yashiro just headed for the village gates, carrying a green hot-water bottle."

Captain Toad glanced at the cleaning robot, then looked up at the Hokage Monument outside. Yashiro couldn't possibly have gone to stare at the monument, could he?

Captain Toad decided to go to the village gates and take a look.

By the time he reached the gates, Yashiro was already leaving the village.

He set off toward the Land of Lightning with his hot-water bottle. From what he'd heard, the Land of Lightning was full of strong people. The Raikage was known for his exceptional strength, but he didn't know whether he could withstand a single punch from him.

With the magical hand seals and Ninjutsu Reversal, Yashiro had gradually come to believe he could take on anyone. The only question was whether his body could handle all that strength.

As Yashiro made his way toward the Land of Lightning, Captain Toad took up his new mission.

He thought about the poor ninja he was supposed to escort and couldn't help feeling sorry for him. He had no idea how many people Captain Toad had burned to death. If that escort mission went wrong, what would his employer think of him?

Still, he was on a mission. Captain Toad figured he might as well head to the Land of Lightning and deliver the letter, since Yashiro had already taken a mission there, too.

He was already thinking about how much money the mission would bring in. D-rank missions didn't pay much, but at least the income from the escort mission would be decent.

"Don't underestimate D-rank income. If B-rank missions and above were what kept Konoha's revenue going, then D-rank missions