Medical Ninjutsu

The sunshine of Konoha's forty-second year seemed to bring little warmth to Kyohaku Uchiha's life. At seven years old, he was still like a plant growing in the shadows, maintaining an almost invisible presence at the Ninja Academy.

In cultural theory classes, he effortlessly kept himself in the upper-middle ranks, neither outstanding nor behind. During practical lessons, he remained the "special student" leaning on crutches and engaging in limited activities at the edge of the field. Tetsuzan Uchiha and Daiichi Uchiha's mockery still surfaced from time to time, but when they saw that he always remained silent and numb, utterly unresponsive, they gradually lost interest and turned their attention to more "interesting" targets.

However, the hours after school, unknown to everyone else, were when he truly absorbed nourishment.

That secluded little courtyard became his secret training ground. He repeatedly read and studied the scrolls and notes his father had left behind. Thanks to the immense spiritual power and extraordinary chakra control brought by the fusion of two lifetimes' souls, his progress far surpassed that of ordinary people.

Extracting chakra had long ceased to be a problem. He could even clearly perceive the flow of chakra within his body, as well as the regrettable blockage and atrophy in the meridians of his right foot. He could already complete the hand seals for the basic Three-Body Technique in an instant and, through precise control, perform slightly flawed versions suited to his identity as a "cripple."

The true challenge and pleasure lay in his father's Fire Release and Genjutsu. The sequence of hand seals, the changes in chakra's form and nature within specific meridians... these profound and obscure concepts for ordinary children became traceable under his powerful perception and control. He did not rush to cast ninjutsu. Instead, he spent the overwhelming majority of his time practicing hand seal proficiency and the precision of chakra manipulation. In the courtyard, there were often only the afterimages of his incredibly swift yet soundless hand seals, along with the occasional faint, nearly imperceptible fluctuation of chakra in the air. His shuriken throwing also quietly improved in stability and accuracy by combining his father's insights with his own calculations.

Physical training was his greatest weakness, but he never gave up. He designed a training regimen suited to his current condition, focused mainly on his upper body, core strength, and the support and explosive power of his left leg. Every session came with soreness in his right foot and sweat pouring like rain, but he gritted his teeth and persevered, treating it as a tempering of his will.

The library remained the place he visited most frequently. He was no longer satisfied with a general understanding. Instead, he began systematically building his own body of knowledge, sorting it into categories. Timelines of Shinobi World history, details of each country's geography and resource distribution, intelligence on the organizational structures of the major shinobi villages and famous ninjas, even basic herbalism and human meridian studies... he organized, memorized, and filed away every piece of information with a forensic method of classification, forming an ever-expanding database in his mind. He knew that knowledge itself was power, especially for someone like him whose body was restricted.

A year passed quietly. Not long after the start of his second year, a long-prepared plan was placed on his agenda.

One day after school, he did not head straight home. Instead, leaning on his crutches, he went to the school infirmary. The teacher in charge was a Chunin surnamed Nohara. She had a gentle temperament and great patience, and she usually handled the bumps and bruises students sustained during training.

"Teacher Nohara." Kyohaku stood at the door and called softly.

Teacher Nohara was sorting medicinal herbs. Hearing him, she looked up. When she saw him, she smiled gently. "Kyohaku, what is it? Is your foot hurting?"

"No, Teacher." Kyohaku shook his head and slowly made his way inside on his crutches, wearing an age-appropriate expression that mixed curiosity with timidity. "I... I wanted to ask whether I could learn Medical Ninjutsu from you?"

Teacher Nohara froze for a moment, clearly not expecting such a request. She set down the herbs in her hands, walked over, and crouched before him. "Learn Medical Ninjutsu? Why do you suddenly want to learn that? Medical Ninjutsu requires extremely precise chakra control, and the learning process is quite tedious."

"I... I know my taijutsu and ninjutsu probably aren't very good," Kyohaku lowered his head, his voice becoming softer. He sounded disappointed, yet there was a trace of stubbornness in it. "But... but I saw you use ninjutsu to treat everyone's wounds, Teacher, and I thought it was amazing. My chakra control... seems to be alright, and my cultural theory teacher said I was good at remembering theory... I thought maybe I could try this..." He raised his head at just the right moment, his eyes revealing pleading and unwillingness. "I don't want to... be unable to do anything."

Teacher Nohara looked at the child before her, at his slightly limping right foot and those unusually clear eyes now filled with yearning, and her heart could not help but soften. She had heard about his circumstances: both parents dead, physically disabled, and not particularly sociable at school. That he had thought to find another path by studying Medical Ninjutsu made him truly pitiful.

"Your chakra control is alright?" Teacher Nohara considered for a moment. "Then... shall Teacher test you?"

She took out a fresh sheet of chakra test paper and handed it to Kyohaku. "Here, try to infuse your chakra into it evenly and slowly. Don't be quick. Be steady."

Kyohaku accepted the test paper and took a deep breath, as though very nervous. Then he focused his mind—naturally, only using an insignificant fraction of his control—and slowly infused a thread of chakra into the paper.

The paper's colors began changing with extreme evenness and slowness. Several attributes appeared weakly yet in balance. More importantly, there were no violent fluctuations throughout the process, displaying stability and control precision far beyond that of his peers.

Obvious surprise flashed through Teacher Nohara's eyes. This level of control was truly exceptional, even more stable than that of many Genin!

"Very good! Excellent chakra control, Kyohaku!" Teacher Nohara could not help praising him. As she looked at him, her gaze became gentler and more encouraging. "You were right. You have a gift for chakra control, and that is indeed a very important foundation for learning Medical Ninjutsu."

After thinking for a while, she finally nodded. "All right. After school, if you have time, you can come find me in the infirmary. I'll start teaching you with the most basic Healing Technique. But remember, learning Medical Ninjutsu requires tremendous patience and perseverance, and you absolutely cannot give up halfway through. Can you do that?"

"I can! Thank you, Teacher Nohara! I'll study hard!" Kyohaku's face instantly lit up with brilliance, the most sincere joy of a seven-year-old child receiving something he had long desired—at least, on the surface.

Thus, another secret task was added to Kyohaku Uchiha's schedule. Under Teacher Nohara's guidance, he began to learn the most basic Medical Ninjutsu—the Healing Technique.

Precisely gathering gentle, life-filled Yang-natured chakra in his palm and sensing its subtle power to stimulate cellular activity and accelerate tissue healing... to him, the process felt like opening a door to a new world. His extraordinary chakra control displayed unparalleled advantages in the study of Medical Ninjutsu.

Teacher Nohara was astonished by the speed of his progress and often sighed, "Kyohaku, you were practically born for Medical Ninjutsu!"

Kyohaku merely smiled shyly and continued practicing. Yet inwardly, he calmly assessed it: Medical Ninjutsu was not only an important skill that would allow him to establish himself in the future; perhaps... it was also the first key to unlocking the shackles on his body.

This path, seemingly chosen by chance, was clearly leading toward the goal he had set long ago.