A Rare Medical Ninja

After the work was finished, Senju Xiangyang showed Hiugo around the camp's layout to help him get settled in.

"What's with this wooden cabin?"

The other clan members lived in buildings made from clay as thick as the city walls, but this wooden cabin stood apart from them.

"She's different."

Different? Senju Meima? No, that couldn't be right. If the clan found out, they would've charged him with a crime and stripped him of his position as an elder long ago.

"She's a medical ninja..."

A medical ninja?

Medical treatment was underdeveloped during the Warring States period. Medical ninjas did hold a high status, but not enough to outrank the clan elders. If that were the case, they'd replace all three elders with medical ninjas.

"Have you heard of the Three Great Sage Regions?"

Hiugo raised an eyebrow.

"Ancient texts mention Mount Myoboku, Shikkotsu Forest, and Ryūchi Cave as the Three Great Sage Regions. Could this person..."

"That's right. She was chosen by Shikkotsu Forest and can summon Slug to help with treatment. That's why most clan members who make it back are fine."

A glint appeared in Hiugo's eyes as he suddenly understood.

"So he's staying here because medical ninjas are more useful on the battlefield than elders, while back in the clan compound, he'd only be an ordinary medical ninja."

Senju Xiangyang hurriedly covered Hiugo's mouth and used Chakra to carry his voice.

"Don't go saying whatever you like, kid. Women hold grudges..."

Women?

The cabin door opened quietly, and the head of a white Slug poked out. Through the gap in the door, Hiugo could just make out her curves. She spoke in an even tone.

"So it's just a little brat. I'll let it slide, then. But Xiangyang, next time you talk behind my back, do it farther away. I can still hear you from here..."

"Lady Rei, I was wrong."

Senju Xiangyang immediately bowed in apology, tucked Hiugo under his arm, and prepared to make a run for it.

Thanks to his keen senses, Hiugo could tell that this female ninja was about as strong as Xiangyang. But rarity made things valuable, and people were no exception.

There were plenty of elite jonin like Xiangyang in the Senju Clan, but Senju Rei was one of a kind.

That naturally gave her a somewhat different status. And with so many injuries on the battlefield, medical ninjas were even more welcome.

Senju Rei opened the door and looked at the two of them in confusion.

"Wait, why do we have a kid here? Isn't the battlefield pretty stable?"

Xiangyang stopped in his tracks. After a moment's silence, he said:

"He awakened Wood Style. He's one of the candidates to become the clan's next leader."

Rei understood and looked at Hiugo with a hint of pity.

"Butsuma's so petty he won't even spare a kid this young. Poor child. I hope we don't meet again."

With that, she shut the door without another word.

Not seeing the doctor was a good thing; it meant he had no injuries that needed treating.

After taking Hiugo some distance away, Xiangyang said:

"Don't take it to heart. Lady Rei has a bit of an odd personality, but if you get hurt, she'll treat you."

"I understand. Plenty of people with real talent have odd personalities. I know a really strong man who's always saying foxes are dangerous. And his younger brother acts cold all the time, even though he's actually very caring."

Xiangyang didn't understand what Hiugo was getting at, but he still approved of Hiugo having so many friends. After all, it was better to have more friends than more enemies.

When choosing where to live, Hiugo built a wooden cabin on the spot. He couldn't bring peace to the world, but building a three-bedroom, one-living-room house was easy enough.

When Senju Meima heard that Hiugo had built a cabin, he didn't say anything. Instead, he demanded that Hiugo build one for him too. If Hiugo refused, he'd tear down his cabin; if he agreed, Meima would turn a blind eye to it.

When Hiugo heard the news, he cursed out loud. If there'd been even one ally nearby, he wouldn't have let someone threaten him like that. Back at the clan compound, Genma would've taken him out in an instant.

With no other choice, he grumbled as he built Meima a cabin too.

When Senju Meima learned how Hiugo had reacted, he couldn't help laughing. "He really is just a kid."

The cabin stayed warm in winter and cool in summer. And thanks to the jutsu, it could be dismantled anywhere, making it an exceptionally convenient place to live.

Meima was also very interested in the clan's Kekkei Genkai. He already knew how Hiugo had performed in his earlier battle against the Kaguya Clan. Wood Style could kill a Kaguya jonin and hinder an elite jonin.

The Kaguya Clan's bodies were naturally stronger than those of other ninjas at the same level. In other words, against other ninjas, Wood Style could be considered a level stronger.

That was already a formidable power, and Hiugo was still young. He hadn't awakened his Kekkei Genkai long ago.

"As the ancient texts recorded, it's a formidable power. It may be difficult to awaken, but once you do, it's incredible."

Meima spoke calmly. He now understood why awakening Wood Style made someone a candidate to lead the clan.

It wasn't that awakening Wood Style made you clan leader; it was that the clan leader had to possess Wood Style.

This power could change the clan. Meima believed in the potential of the Kekkei Genkai, and he believed in the talents of the two boys, Hiugo and Hashirama.

"Three years. I'll make him one of my people within three years. It shouldn't be too hard to shape a child's personality."

Meima believed that with all his years of experience, changing the mind of a five-year-old boy over three years wouldn't be too difficult.

It was simply a matter of the elders' conflicting interests leading their younger relatives to become enemies. That wasn't a big deal. He could give up some of his interests now and take the opportunity to win over the clan members beneath him.

Although he would help "Hiugo" become clan leader, a clan leader couldn't make every decision for the clan. Otherwise, they wouldn't have established the position of the three elders.

"As long as I succeed, no matter how capable he is, I'll be the one controlling the Senju Clan—unless he has no intention of looking after the clan members at all."

Senju Meima didn't know that Hiugo's soul came from somewhere beyond this world. If Hiugo had the strength, he'd tell the clan members outright what "a Gundam is justice, and a fist is the truth" meant.

At that moment, Hiugo was controlling a thin branch, threading it through the ring on a Kunai. After awakening his power, all he could do was practice and think things through.

Just as with learning ninjutsu, once you'd learned a technique, what mattered was practice and coordination. He'd often used Water Release and Lightning Release before, so switching to Wood Style so suddenly felt a little awkward.

First, he had to establish his limits. With the amount of Chakra he had, he could only use one "Forest Birth" at most. It wasn't a sweeping Deep Forest Emergence, but a weaker version.

"Judging by my current situation, my bloodline is roughly on par with 'house-building' Yamato's. But since I can absorb bloodlines, my attacks should be stronger, and my Sage Body should give me a lot more Chakra too."

Hiugo thought it over. He was basically an enhanced version of "Yamato," though he didn't know if his bloodline would improve on its own.

And since he'd never compared himself to Hashirama, he didn't know what difference there was between his black Wood Style and ordinary Wood Style.

"I kind of miss Tobirama. He'd definitely be interested in comparing the differences."

Hiugo sighed softly. Research like this was best left to the professionals.

They were both new accounts, only five years old, yet their talent points had been assigned differently.