Two years later.
Konoha Year 25.
June, the scorching height of summer.
A small merchant caravan traveling to another country suddenly encountered trouble. A group of masked bandits attacked the caravan, and its guards fought back fiercely. Among them were four ninjas hired from Konoha at a high price.
After a fierce battle, they worked together to drive back the enemy. Everyone was utterly exhausted and needed to recover their strength properly.
During the break, a Konoha Ninja in a Chunin uniform walked over to a boy sleeping soundly beneath a tree. The boy had one leg crossed over the other, with a pillow under his head. He was living quite comfortably.
Yet the more relaxed he looked, the more dissatisfied the Chunin became. This bastard had remained completely unmoved throughout the battle. While they had been fighting with their lives on the line, this guy had just lain flat on the ground—not as some strange figure of speech, but literally lying flat.
"Aokiji, why did you just stand there and watch during that fight?"
Aokiji lifted his eyelids and looked at him as though he were an idiot. "Hah, are you kidding me? I'm a medical ninja too weak to even truss a chicken. You want me to fight? Is there something wrong with your brain? Have you ever seen a medical ninja fight? My job is to treat you when you're seriously injured. That's all."
"You only know the Mystical Palm Technique at most. What kind of medical ninja does that make you?"
The Chunin's resentment toward Aokiji was not merely because of what had happened just now. He had long been dissatisfied with Aokiji's lazy attitude.
Aokiji paid him no mind and said indifferently, "Can you stop yammering at me like you're lecturing someone? You're hurting my