Materials

"All right. You'll be as good as new in three days at most."

It took Shita Genichi ten minutes to treat Uchiha Namiichi's wounds.

"Thanks."

Uchiha Namiichi got out of bed and moved around a little. His side still hurt, but it no longer hindered him.

Shita Genichi reminded him, "No training or fighting for the next few days."

"Don't worry. The enemy took heavy losses this time, so they probably won't come back anytime soon."

Uchiha Namiichi nodded.

The two left the room and saw Hatake Sakumo and the others returning.

After the Shadow Clones dispersed, Yamanaka En and Yamanaka Jing took the prisoners away for interrogation. Hatake Sakumo gathered everyone else in his room.

They all took their seats.

"This mission went exceptionally well," Hatake Sakumo said. "We successfully thwarted the enemy attack and wiped them all out."

"Still, even if we're unlikely to face another attack like this anytime soon, we can't let our guard down."

"I'll speak with the mine manager and request reinforcements from the village."

Everyone nodded.

Hatake Sakumo continued, "Rest for an hour, then split into two groups and reset the traps."

"Understood!"

They answered in unison.

After they were dismissed, Shita Genichi didn't go to rest. Instead, he followed Hatake Sakumo to the room where the prisoners were being interrogated.

Yamanaka En and Yamanaka Jing were currently working together to invade the Mist ninja's mind and extract information.

The Yamanaka Clan had always excelled at this.

After a short while, the two ended the mind invasion.

"Captain Sakumo, we couldn't find any information about who hired him. He may not know."

Hatake Sakumo nodded, unsurprised. "Thanks for your effort."

"Did you find anything else?"

Yamanaka En looked at Shita Genichi and smiled. "The Hand Seals for a few Water Release Ninjutsu, as well as an Ice Release secret technique. But if we want more information, we can't get it from him ourselves. We'd have to send him back to the village."

Shita Genichi's eyes lit up. "Water Release would be useful to me. As for Ice Release, the secret technique is only useful if you have the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai."

Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death had been quite impressive.

He might not be able to learn it from the Hand Seals alone.

But he was confident in his talent for Water Release.

"Let's keep him for now," Hatake Sakumo said. "We'll send him back to the village later."

"Maybe the Mist ninja will come to rescue him," Yamanaka Jing said.

"Or they might come to kill him instead," Shita Genichi said.

"Jing has a point," Hatake Sakumo said. "Whether they come to rescue or kill him, we all need to stay alert."

He turned to Shita Genichi. "Genichi, can you seal his chakra?"

Shita Genichi nodded. "Yes."

The Evil Sealing Method could be used to seal an enemy's chakra.

Hatake Sakumo nodded. "Then seal his chakra, Genichi. After that, the mine's guards can watch over him."

Their numbers were limited. They couldn't spare someone to stand watch over a prisoner.

And they didn't have much anesthetic, either.

After making the arrangements, Hatake Sakumo and the two Yamanaka left.

Shita Genichi first applied the Evil Sealing Method to the prisoner. Then he returned to his room, picked up his backpack, and went back to the room where the prisoner was held.

He opened his backpack and took out a small Sealing Scroll. After unrolling it, he pressed his hand against it, and a host of medical instruments appeared.

There were syringes for drawing blood and bone marrow, containers for storing both, and everything else he needed.

Ever since he'd started thinking about conducting experiments and cell transplants, Shita Genichi had prepared all this equipment. He took the backpack on every mission and kept the supplies sealed inside the Sealing Scroll.

Now, they had finally come in handy.

A ninja with the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai was worth collecting samples from.

First, he drew blood, taking as much as he could without killing the man.

Next came the bone marrow. He extracted it directly from the spinal cord.

Then he sealed everything inside the Sealing Scroll. It was the only place where the samples would keep for a long time.

After finishing up, Shita Genichi slung the backpack over his shoulder and left.

The next two days passed peacefully.

On the third day, two squads arrived from Konoha.

Shita Genichi and the others immediately felt a lot less strained.

That day, Shita Genichi drew more blood from the prisoner.

The more, the better.

Once the man was taken back to Konoha, Shita Genichi wouldn't be able to use him for experiments anymore.

Another three days passed, and yet another squad arrived from Konoha.

They were all wearing masks.

Anbu!

"It's Root," Yamanaka En whispered in Shita Genichi's ear.

Danzo's men...

Shita Genichi narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched them take the prisoner away.

Thank goodness he'd taken samples three times. He had plenty of material. Otherwise, he would have been upset, especially with Danzo's men taking the prisoner.

Mine!

He was mine!

Unfortunately, all Shita Genichi could do was watch Root take the prisoner away.

"Don't worry. Lord Hokage won't forget what you've done."

"You can start thinking about which Ninjutsu you want."

Hatake Sakumo patted Shita Genichi on the shoulder.

Shita Genichi smiled. "I've already decided."

Water Severing Wave was his first choice.

He needed a powerful Water Release attack that could kill in a single strike.

In the blink of an eye, three months had passed.

Before he knew it, half a month had gone by since the mission began.

That day, Shita Genichi and the others packed up and left the mine.

The mission was finally over.

Three days later.

Shita Genichi and the others returned to Konoha.

"We're finally back!"

Yamanaka En stretched and then smiled. "How about we go to the hot springs together?"

Shita Genichi raised his hand. "Count me in."

"Teacher Sakumo, Namiichi, Senior Shinnosuke, why don't we all go together?"

Everyone looked at Hatake Sakumo.

Hatake Sakumo smiled. "Sure. Let's meet on Hot Spring Street in an hour."

They all smiled. "Yes!"

Hatake Sakumo waved. "All right, dismissed!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

One by one, they vanished from the spot.

Hatake Sakumo set off for the Hokage Building as well.

As the team captain, he needed to report the mission's completion and give the Hokage a briefing.

Back home, Shita Genichi took a quick shower, then filled his stomach. Only after that did he leisurely make his way to Hot Spring Street.

When he arrived, however, he found that Uchiha Namiichi had gotten there first.

After greeting him, Uchiha Namiichi asked, "Genichi, the Chunin Exams should be in about two months. Are you planning to take part?"

The Chunin Exams?

Shita Genichi raised an eyebrow and thought it over. "If I can, then of course."

"But how will the Chunin Exams work?"

"Usually, the whole squad participates," Uchiha Namiichi said. "There's a written test, a team battle, and individual matches."

Shita Genichi nodded. "But you and En are already Chunin. Does that mean I'll have to form a temporary team with other people?"

"Of course not."

It wasn't Uchiha Namiichi who answered, but Yamanaka En.

He landed beside Shita Genichi, put an arm around his shoulders, and grinned. "Namiichi and I can take part with you."

Shita Genichi asked, "Wouldn't that be unfair?"

"No," Yamanaka En said with a smile.

"Promotion depends mainly on how you perform, not just on whether you win or lose."

Shita Genichi understood.

No wonder Kakashi had become a Chunin at seven, yet a few years later he was taking the Chunin Exams with Uchiha Obito and the others.

Kakashi should be taking part this year, too.