Shimizu had no idea how great a butterfly effect his existence might cause. If Kaguya Otsutsuki succeeded, he would be stuck daydreaming for the rest of his life.
All his memories would be wiped away, and he would become a disposable White Zetsu.
Shimizu wouldn't sit back and wait for his fate. He had to seize every opportunity and every moment to climb higher, take complete control of his destiny, and then live life as he pleased.
"Learn Medical Ninjutsu?"
Yakushi Nonō looked slightly surprised. Faced with his sudden request, she fell silent for a moment.
She stroked Shimizu's smooth black hair and said, "Of course you can, but becoming a medical ninja takes a lot of talent. You haven't graduated from the Ninja Academy yet, have you?"
Yakushi Nonō could tell Shimizu was only a little over six, almost seven.
That was still the age when children attended the Ninja Academy.
All medical ninjas started out as Genin.
Who had ever heard of someone learning Medical Ninjutsu before they'd even become a Genin?
Ninja students couldn't control their chakra well enough. It was far too early for them to learn Medical Ninjutsu.
"So... I still can't?"
Shimizu scratched his head, pretending it didn't bother him.
But the corners of his mouth drooped just enough, and his eyes grew a little moist, making him look exactly like a wronged but stubborn child.
The Uchiha Clan had produced handsome men and beautiful women for generations. Not every member was good-looking, of course, but the proportion was still around seventy or eighty percent.
Shimizu was one of the best-looking among them.
His sharply defined face had an almost unreal beauty to it, and his profile was practically bewitching.
Yakushi Nonō, whose maternal instincts were overflowing, felt a pang in her heart.
She loved taking care of children. She had even thought about opening an Orphanage.
It was no exaggeration to say Shimizu was the child she'd met who best matched her preferences.
Shimizu had inevitably acquired the Uchiha's aloof bearing, but another, gentler quality softened it.
He was gentle yet melancholy, and with his tender, dewy face, he radiated the fresh, sunny air of a young boy.
He seemed able to switch on a girl's heart in an instant, making older women feel fond of him without even realizing it.
"How about this? Once you graduate from the Ninja Academy, I'll introduce you to a few teachers who can teach you Medical Ninjutsu. How does that sound?"
Yakushi Nonō lowered herself from a half-crouch to a full crouch and pinched Shimizu's cheeks.
"My grades are actually very good, and I've been studying Medical Ninjutsu at home by myself."
"Lying isn't a good habit."
Yakushi Nonō shook her head.
The White Dove's wound was shallow, and she'd used only a very basic Medical Ninjutsu technique.
It was a D-rank Medical Ninjutsu technique.
If Shimizu had been practicing another D-rank jutsu, Yakushi Nonō would have believed him.
Under the same conditions, D-rank Medical Ninjutsu was much harder than D-rank elemental ninjutsu.
Medical Ninjutsu required precise control, which took a great deal of practice. How old was Shimizu?
Ninja Academy students only learned E-rank techniques: the Transformation Jutsu, the Substitution Technique, and the Clone Technique.
As for throwing shuriken and learning some Taijutsu, those were the most basic skills, much simpler than ninjutsu.
As long as a student passed the Three Basic Techniques, they could be considered qualified to become a Genin.
If they wanted to learn additional jutsu, they could only rely on techniques passed down within their own clan or find a teacher.
Graduating from the Ninja Academy meant becoming an officially recognized ninja, with considerably better benefits than ordinary civilians.
That also meant that even E-rank jutsu weren't easy to learn.
There were students who repeated grades at the Ninja Academy.
They weren't even qualified to become ninjas unless they passed the graduation exam.
"No, I'm not lying."
A flash of crimson passed through Shimizu's pupils.
While Yakushi Nonō had been concentrating on treating the White Dove, he had secretly used his visual prowess to observe the flow of chakra in her Medical Ninjutsu.
Shimizu was afraid Yakushi Nonō would notice something, so he'd used only a tiny amount of ocular power. He hadn't fully activated his Sharingan; he'd merely let his eyes take on a faint reddish hue.
That had been just enough to make out some of the chakra's flow, though it was as blurry as a mosaic.
But it was enough.
For Shimizu, it was just right.
This was something no other ninja could possibly do.
Even Kakashi Hatake, the future Copy Ninja, had to fully activate his Three-Tomoe Sharingan to copy ninjutsu.
Shimizu was no exception when it came to copying other jutsu; he needed to fully activate his Sharingan.
But his talent for Medical Ninjutsu came into play at that moment.
By grasping the general idea from small clues, Shimizu could just barely reproduce a similar jutsu from a vague outline of its chakra pathways.
When Yakushi Nonō heard Shimizu claim he already knew how, she wanted to say it was impossible.
But then she saw him lift his head and meet her gaze with those confident black eyes.
For some reason, Nonō couldn't bring herself to say it.
"I'll show you right now, big sister."
Shimizu pulled a Kunai from the tool pouch strapped to his thigh and slashed his right palm. Blood gushed out at once.
To keep up appearances, Shimizu couldn't injure the White Dove right under Yakushi Nonō's nose. He'd just have to suffer himself.
"You..."
Yakushi Nonō snapped out of her daze. She was still wondering why Shimizu had suddenly pulled out a Kunai.
Shimizu showed no murderous intent toward her, so she hadn't stopped him.
But the moment he drew it, he slashed his own palm.
The Kunai had been sharpened, and its keen edge cut a deep wound in one stroke.
"I'll treat you now."
Yakushi Nonō hurriedly reacted, her hands glowing a pale green.
Just as she stepped toward Shimizu,
she noticed that his left hand had begun to glow with a faint, pale green light as well.
The light flickered unsteadily, like a candle wavering in the wind.
Whoosh...
The blood gushing out stopped. The long gash began to close, as though the wound had been given a day to heal.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
The pale green light didn't fade until a full six seconds had passed.
The wound had healed only about twenty percent.
Shimizu's palm had a wound one centimeter deep. For a D-rank jutsu, it had taken far too long; it should have taken at least half a minute.
"See? I did it, didn't I?"
Shimizu smiled.
"Don't ever do something so dangerous again."
Yakushi Nonō was surprised by the child's talent for Medical Ninjutsu, and by how fearlessly he'd cut himself without so much as flinching.
She was also moved by his kindness.
He'd taught himself a little Medical Ninjutsu, but he hadn't learned it systematically, and it was less than a tenth as effective. He'd probably come to ask for her help because he was afraid he couldn't treat the Ninja Beast properly and wanted to be prepared.
"What's your name, and why do you want to learn Medical Ninjutsu?"
Among all the medical students Yakushi Nonō had encountered in her career, Shimizu's talent ranked among the very best.
The jutsu he'd just performed was still rough compared with the one she'd used, and he'd wasted a great deal of chakra while molding it.
Even so, it was enough to prove his talent.
Every medical ninja was a rare talent.
Around the time of the Second Shinobi World War, Tsunade had proposed adding medical ninjas to squads and developing Medical Ninjutsu, but the others had opposed her.
Wouldn't it be better for every squad to have one more person who could heal?
Of course it would, but it would put too great a burden on the Hidden Leaf Village.
Combat jutsu were easier to learn than Medical Ninjutsu.
Take Earth Release techniques, for example. As long as you had an affinity for earth and a certain degree of chakra control, you could use them.
Once a ninja learned one, they could be sent straight to the battlefield to fight.
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