Shimizu's Acting

Shimizu had no idea how massive a butterfly effect his existence would trigger; if Kaguya Otsutsuki were to succeed, he would be trapped in a daydream for the rest of his life.

His memories would be wiped clean, and he would become nothing more than a consumable White Zetsu.

Shimizu would not sit idly by and let things take their course. He had to seize every opportunity and every spare moment to climb higher, to take complete control of his own destiny, and only then could he live life on his own terms.

"Learn medical ninjutsu?"

Nonou Yakushi was slightly surprised. Faced with this sudden request, she fell silent for a moment.

She stroked Shimizu's soft, black hair and said, "Of course you can, but becoming a medical ninja requires a great deal of talent. You haven't even graduated from the Ninja Academy yet, have you?"

Nonou Yakushi could tell that Shimizu was only a little over six years old, nearing seven.

At this age, he should still be attending the Ninja Academy.

Every medical ninja started out as a genin.

There was no such thing as someone who wasn't even a genin yet starting to learn medical ninjutsu.

Academy students simply lacked the chakra control required; it was far too early for him to study medical arts.

"Is it... still not possible?"

Shimizu scratched his head, pretending to be fine.

However, the corners of his mouth drooped just enough, and his eyes grew slightly moist, looking exactly like a wronged yet stubborn child.

The Uchiha clan was known for producing handsome men and beautiful women; while not everyone fit the bill, seven or eight out of ten did.

Shimizu's looks were among the best of them.

His sharp, well-defined face possessed an unreal, handsome quality, and his profile was almost bewitching.

Nonou Yakushi, whose maternal instincts were easily triggered, felt her heart skip a beat.

She loved taking care of children and had even considered opening an orphanage.

It was no exaggeration to say that Shimizu was the child who best fit her preferences that she had ever met.

Shimizu inevitably carried the Uchiha clan's aloof temperament, but there was a softness that diluted it.

It was a melancholy mixed with gentleness, and combined with his tender, youthful face, a clean and bright aura radiated from him.

It was as if he could flip a switch in a young girl's heart, causing older women to develop a fondness for 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 instruct you in medical ninjutsu, how does that sound?"

Nonou Yakushi shifted from a half-crouch to a full squat, rubbing Shimizu's cheeks.

"I actually have very good grades, and I've been studying medical ninjutsu on my own at home."

"Lying isn't a good habit, you know."

Nonou Yakushi shook her head.

The wound on the White Dove was very shallow, and she had only used a very low-level medical technique.

It was a D-rank medical ninjutsu.

If he had been practicing other D-rank ninjutsu, Nonou Yakushi might have believed him.

Under the same conditions, D-rank medical ninjutsu were far more difficult than D-rank elemental ninjutsu.

Medical ninjutsu required precise control that took a massive amount of time to practice; how old was Shimizu, exactly?

Current Ninja Academy students only learned E-rank techniques: the Transformation, Substitution, and Clone techniques.

As for shuriken throwing and basic taijutsu, those were the absolute fundamentals, far simpler than ninjutsu.

As long as one could pass the Three Basic Techniques, they were considered qualified to be a genin.

If one wanted to learn additional ninjutsu, they had to rely on their clan's internal heritage or find a master.

Graduating from the Ninja Academy meant becoming an officially recognized ninja, with benefits and treatment far superior to those of civilians.

This also meant that even E-rank ninjutsu were not easy to learn.

In the Ninja Academy, there were even students who had been held back.

They didn't even have the qualifications to be ninjas unless they passed the graduation exam.

"No, I'm not lying."

A flash of scarlet flickered in Shimizu's pupils.

While Nonou Yakushi was focused on healing the White Dove, he had secretly used his ocular power to observe the flow of chakra in the medical ninjutsu.

Afraid that Nonou Yakushi might notice something, Shimizu used only a tiny sliver of power; he hadn't even officially activated his Sharingan, merely letting his pupils turn slightly red.

This was barely enough to see the flow of chakra, though it was as blurry as a mosaic.

But it was enough.

For Shimizu, it was just right.

This was something completely impossible for any other ninja.

Even Kakashi Hatake, who would later be known as the Copy Ninja, had to fully activate his three-tomoe Sharingan just to copy a technique.

Shimizu was no exception when it came to copying other ninjutsu; it required the Sharingan to be fully activated.

However, his talent as a medical ninja came into play at this very moment.

By observing the subtle to understand the manifest, Shimizu could barely replicate a similar ninjutsu just by grasping the vague flow of chakra.

When Nonou Yakushi heard Shimizu claim he had already learned it, she wanted to say it was impossible.

But when she saw Shimizu look up and met those confident black eyes, she somehow couldn't bring herself to say the words.

"I'll demonstrate for you now, Sister."

Shimizu drew a kunai from the ninja tool pouch strapped to his leg and sliced across his right palm, blood instantly gushing out.

Right before Nonou Yakushi's eyes, Shimizu had to suffer for his own sake, as he couldn't bring himself to cut White Dove just to maintain his persona.

"You..."

Nonou Yakushi snapped out of her daze; she had been wondering why Shimizu had pulled out a kunai for no reason.

Since she felt no killing intent from Shimizu, she hadn't stopped his actions.

Who would have thought that the moment he drew the kunai, he would slash his own palm with it.

The sharpened edge of the kunai had cut a deep wound in an instant.

"Sister will heal you now."

Nonou Yakushi said urgently once she reacted, a pale green light emanating from her hands.

Just as she approached Shimizu, she was surprised to find that a faint, pale green light was also flickering on his left hand.

The light was unstable, flickering like a candle flame in the wind.

Whoosh...

The gushing blood ceased, and the long, narrow gash pulled slightly together, looking as if it had been healing for a full day.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

It lasted for a full six seconds before the pale green light faded away.

The wound had only recovered by about twenty percent.

Shimizu's palm wound was a centimeter deep; for a D-rank ninjutsu, the time taken was far too long—at least half a minute would be needed.

"See? Didn't I do it?" Shimizu said with a smile.

"Don't ever do such dangerous things again."

Nonou Yakushi was astonished by the child's talent in the medical arts, and also by how he had sliced himself without hesitation.

And by this child's kindness.

Although he had self-taught a bit of medical ninjutsu, it was not yet systematic, and its effectiveness was less than ten percent of what it should be. She guessed he was afraid he wouldn't be able to treat the ninja beast properly, so he had come to her for help just in case.

"What is your name, and why do you want to learn medical ninjutsu?"

Shimizu's talent was among the best Nonou Yakushi had ever seen in all the medical students she had encountered throughout her career.

Although the ninjutsu he had just released was still too crude compared to the ones she used, and he had wasted a lot of chakra while refining it, 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 that medical ninjas be added to squads to develop medical ninjutsu, but she had been met with opposition from others.

Wouldn't it be better to have one more person capable of healing in every squad?

Of course it would be, but it was too great a burden for Konohagakure.

Learning combat ninjutsu was much simpler than learning medical ninjutsu.

For example, with Earth Release, as long as you had the Earth affinity and a certain level of chakra control, you could release it.

Once a ninja learned it, they could be thrown onto the battlefield to fight immediately.