Family and Development

"Taiichi!" Nonō exclaimed, immediately attracting the attention of those around her. She apologized to everyone around her and then walked over to Taiichi in a few steps.

"When did you get back?" Nonō held Taiichi's hand, looking him up and Taiichi. "You're darker, taller, and thinner!"

Taiichi didn't struggle, letting Nonō pull him around, looking him over and touching him, just like someone who hadn't seen their parents in a long time.

"I'm not thin, Sister Nonō, I'm just more muscular." Taiichi proudly showed off his physique, and seeing everyone's attention, he followed Nonō to her office.

"I just got back today. I just finished reporting my mission to the Hokage-sama, and now I'm here at the hospital to see my sister."

"How are you? Is it dangerous on the front lines? Are you injured?" This was what Nonō was most concerned about.

"Sister, don't forget, I'm a very skilled Medical Ninja. I'm the one who heals others, not the other way around!"

Taiichi downplayed the important points, only talking about how many people he saved on the front lines, how lucky he was, and what merits he made. He has now become the youngest Special Jonin in Konoha history.

These words left Nonō stunned. Taichi was Taiichi engrossed in his own story that he didn't notice the deep worry in Nonō's eyes.

Merit isn't so easy to achieve; the greater the merit, the greater the risk. How could Nonō not know this? But seeing her silly younger brother deliberately hiding things from her so as not to worry her, why should she expose this well-intentioned lie?

The two caring people concealed their worries and showed their happiest and most joyful side to each other, creating a harmonious atmosphere in the office.

But the good news didn't last long. A knock came at the door, followed by, "Director, a few more patients have arrived and we need you to see them!"

"Taiichi, would you like to rest here, or—" Nonō asked tentatively.

"Of course we'll go together! The sooner we finish, the sooner we can get off work. I bought a lot of groceries today, and I even invited the children from the Orphanage over so we can all have some fun!"

Meanwhile, Taiichi's Shadow Clone had already arrived at the Orphanage.

Before even getting close to the Orphanage, the children's joyful shouts reached Taiichi's ears, and Taiichi recognized the loudest voice as Jiangtai's.

Pushing open the Orphanage gate, sure enough, Jiangtai was leading a large group of boys in a ninja game. They were making hand seals with impressive skill and shouting out the names of Ninjutsu. Although the games were simple, they were having a lot of fun.

Among the girls who were gathered together doing handicrafts, the most clever Yami was the first to spot Taiichi at the door.

"Brother Taiichi!" A joyful scream rang out, and all the children in the yard stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the door. Then, one after another, the cries of "Brother Taiichi" rose and fell.

Everyone gathered around Taiichi, asking him questions and chatting about other things.

Inside, Grandma Keiko noticed the commotion outside and came out of her room. "Oh, Taiichi's back!"

"Grandma Keiko, how are you feeling?"

"Good, very good. It's even better to see you here!" Grandma Keiko smiled kindly, reaching out to pat Taiichi's head, her eyes shining with tenderness.

The two chatted for a while about the funny things Taiichi did during his mission, Taiichi the children pulled Taiichi away again. Just before leaving, Taiichi said to Grandma Keiko, "Grandma, take everyone to my house later. We'll have dinner there tonight!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a loud cheer erupted outside, "Great! We can eat Taiichi- nii's cooking tonight!"

"You bunch of little gluttons, you can eat, but you have to help Taiichi- ichi clean up!" Taiichi coaxed, as if he had transformed into the Big Bad Wolf.

"No problem, we're the most capable. We're the ones who clean the Orphanage the most."

After playing with the children for Taiichi led them in a large group towards his home.

At the same time, Taiichi at home.

The last Shadow Clone, Taiichi, had already bought all the ingredients. He tidied up the kitchen and began preparing dinner.

Preparing enough ingredients for so many people can't be done in a short time, especially since he's only cooking for himself right now.

The sounds of chopping vegetables, "chop, chop, chop," filled the air. The hands that were used to chop people were still as nimble as ever when chopping vegetables. As each ingredient was prepared, a burst of playful laughter came from the yard.

Taiichi, who had gone to the Orphanage, finally brought all the children back.

"Alright, you little devils, now the boys go clean the yard, and the girls go clean the house. Whoever does well will get an extra chicken leg as a reward tonight!"

"Alright!" Led by the two leaders of the group, Jiangtai and Yami, the bunch of kids disappeared from Taiichi flash. One by one, they skillfully picked up tools and began cleaning the house.

Taiichi then helped Grandma Keiko to a bench in the courtyard, where they continued their conversation from before.

When evening came, Taiichi's main body finally finished work with Nonō. To put Nonō at ease, Taiichi specially left a Shadow Clone in Konoha Hospital to take over the shift in Nonō's place.

Back home, the entire house had been thoroughly cleaned. Although these clever little devils were mischievous and naughty when playing, they were quite capable when it came to getting things done. The huge house had been spotless thanks to these kids spending an entire afternoon cleaning it.

The little ones were exhausted, but when they saw the table full of delicious food, all their fatigue vanished.

Everyone sat down properly in their assigned seats, and although they were tempted, they didn't touch their chopsticks because they were all waiting for Nonō to arrive.

This is the scene that Nonō saw when she returned: so many pairs of bright little eyes were staring at her, all waiting for her to take a seat. Nonō smiled brightly, quickly washed her hands, and took her seat amidst everyone's expectant gazes.

"Alright, children, before we eat, let's thank Taiichi for his hospitality."

"Thank you, Taiichi- san!" the children shouted as they stood up.

"Alright, everyone, let's eat!"

Immediately, the tired and hungry little ones buried themselves in their food and began to eat.

The plentiful food relieved everyone's hunger, and the delicious taste made everyone feel happy. Following the rule of not talking while eating or sleeping, only the occasional clinking of bowls and chopsticks could be heard at the table.

Soon, the table full of delicious food was devoured by the little ones. Each of them patted their round bellies, Nonō's guidance, thanked Taiichi for his hospitality again, before dashing off to the courtyard to continue their play.

Taiichi, Nonō, and Grandma Keiko remained in the room. Taiichi created four Shadow Clones to clear the dishes, while his main body chatted with Nonō. Grandma Keiko watched the two silently from the side, a kind smile always on her face.

"How long can we stay at home this time?" Like all parents, Nonō's biggest concern is always her child's safety.

"It's hard to say. The situation is getting increasingly tense. I was only able to return this time Jiraiya Jiraiya-sensei's special permission. Who knows, some village might declare war on Konoha tomorrow, and I'll have to go to the front lines immediately."

Taiichi himself wasn't sure either, so all he could do now was to make the most of this hard-won vacation.

"Indeed, the hospital is facing an increasing shortage of manpower, with a large number of doctors being transferred to the front lines. Many department heads are now forced to temporarily train apprentices in hopes of quickly developing a group of capable Medical Ninja."

To be honest, Konoha's medical system is already quite good. Thanks to Tsunade's insistence, Konoha has increased its training of Medical Ninja since the end of Second Shinobi World War.

However, Konoha faces the most complex situation among the Five Great Ninja Villages, often having to fight against multiple opponents during wartime. In such cases, even a large number of Medical Ninja would be insufficient.

"Although there haven't been many battles on the Southern Front recently, the conflicts in the Iwagakure and Cloud Village areas have intensified. In the last two months alone, the hospital has urgently dispatched three batches of personnel to support these two battlefields. Who knows, we might even meet on the battlefield someday!"

Nonō's words contained worry, but more so, they were calm. As a ninja, going to the battlefield was inevitable, and she had long accepted that. However, she still couldn't help but worry about Taiichi's safety.

Similarly, this is also what Taiichi is worried about. He is not worried about himself either, because with his current means of survival, although there are some in the Ninja World who could kill him, there are indeed not many.

But Nonō is different. She doesn't have Taiichi many ways to protect herself as Taiichi. If she goes to the front lines, anything can happen.

Thinking of this, Taiichi's mind became chaotic. It seemed he needed to study survival techniques again.

The three chatted about everyday things for a while longer, but in the end, Nonō realized it was getting too late and said goodbye.

Naturally, Taiichi was not entirely at ease with such a large group of people walking on the road late at night, even in the village, so he specially created two Shadow Clones to escort everyone back together.

Before leaving, Nonō held Taiichi's hand and said, "Your house is too big. If you're not home for a long time, I'll have the kids come over regularly to help clean it, so it won't get dusty everywhere."

"Okay, thank you Sister Nonō." Taiichi was also very happy, as this would save him the trouble of cleaning every time he came back.

Watching Nonō group disappear at the crossroads, Taiichi returned to his study to ponder his impromptu thoughts. How could he protect the lives of those he cared about in this treacherous war? It was indeed a difficult problem.

Taiichi is working so hard to improve his strength for two reasons: firstly, he is truly immersed in the joy of increasing his power, and secondly, he wants to protect the people he cares about.

If you've gone through so much trouble to raise your strength to this level, only to find that you can't even protect the people you care about, then all that effort has been wasted!

Rubbing his head, Taiichi recalled all the abilities he possessed and finally realized that only Sealing Jutsu and the Flying Thunder God could achieve this goal.

Leaving aside his long-neglected Sealing Jutsu, the Multiple Lamp Array, even the legendary Transcription Seal, which is said to be usable only by those with Mangekyo, is a rather impressive idea.

Of course, developing a Sealing Jutsu from scratch that is comparable to the Transcription Seal is extremely difficult, but for Taiichi 11 in Sealing Jutsu, it is not an impossible task.

Taiichi also had some ideas about improving the Flying Thunder God, but these ideas all involved improvements to the Flying Thunder God Formula, and these were all based on Sealing Jutsu.

After summarizing all his ideas, Taiichi realized that these ideas might actually be feasible, but to realize these functions, they all required superb Sealing Jutsu.

I don't know if the Lv11 Sealing Jutsu can accomplish all these plans. If not, I might have to use Skill Points in the end.

With a goal in mind, Taiichi was full of energy and ready to make a big splash, when he suddenly realized that it was already past midnight.

I didn't expect that just thinking about ways to solve the problem would take so much time.

Taiichi didn't linger any longer. He went into the bathroom, washed up, and then lay down on the bed, falling fast asleep. After all, only with a good rest could he have more energy to work the next day.

The next day, as soon as it was light, Taiichi got up early, did his morning prayers, washed up, and ate breakfast. It was already around 8 o'clock.

He created four Shadow Clones: one went to the hospital to help, one practiced swordsmanship, one researched Sealing Jutsu, and one comprehended the Nature Transformation of Ice Release.

Meanwhile, Taiichi's true form went to the study to continue the great task that had not been completed yesterday.

Because his vacation time was unpredictable, Taiichi could only start by researching the simplest Sealing Jutsu: the Multiple Lamp Array.

Of course, this is different from the Multiple Lamp Array that could only affect Chunin in the past.

The Multiple Lamp Array was developed when Taiichi's Sealing Jutsu was only at level 6. Now his Sealing Jutsu is level 11. If it can only affect a Chunin, then all my effort and Skill Points invested will have been wasted!

So Taiichi picked up a pen and kept writing and calculating on the paper, starting with the simplest Lamp Array Jutsu, simplifying the structure and expanding the functions, from the first system to the second system and the third system, slowly building up layer by layer.

From being able to influence Chunin, to being able to trap Chunin, and then to being able to briefly influence Jonin.

As the day passed, the table was piled high with thick stacks of manuscript paper. Taiichi looked at the final product and smiled happily.

This is Multiple Lamp Array that can trap an ordinary Jonin for one second. However, it is extremely difficult to execute, consuming 20,000 Chakra points each time it is used. Moreover, without Jonin -level Sealing Jutsu, one cannot even learn it.

But none of this can overshadow its one and only redeeming quality: its ability to save lives.

Taiichi arrived at the Training Ground, picked up a talisman pen, and began writing on the prepared floor. It took a full hour to complete a massive Talisman Formation with a diameter of 10 meters.

Standing in the center of the Talisman Formation, Taiichi Hand Seals. As he poured surging Chakra into the Talisman Formation beneath his feet, all the runes seemed to come alive and began to writhe wildly.

As the last seal was completed, all the runes rapidly contracted, binding Taiichi's entire body like chains.

Instantly, Taiichi felt a powerful force of restriction being generated, but this force was rapidly diminishing. Even if Taiichi did not struggle, it was estimated that it would dissipate on its own after 10 seconds.

As Taiichi began to exert his power, the duration of the restraints rapidly decreased. Theoretically, an ordinary Jonin could break free in just one second by struggling with all his might.

But that's enough. The remaining challenge is how to turn this Multiple Lamp Array into Sealing Talisman. After all, making such a powerful Sealing Jutsu into Sealing Talisman is no easy task.

Looking at the sky, it was already evening. He had been so engrossed in his research that he hadn't even had lunch, and now his stomach was starting to rumble in protest, a strong feeling of hunger filling Taiichi's heart.

Forget it, let's solve the problem of food and clothing first. As for making the Sealing Talisman, we can leave that for tomorrow.

After leaving home and turning a few corners, Taiichi arrived at the bustling main street of Konoha. He planned to have dinner here tonight!