Chance Encounter or Deliberate?

Konoha Hospital was large and incredibly busy. Kenichi Amamiya figured it was probably because the war had only recently ended, so there were still many wounded.

The moment he entered the hospital, the smell of disinfectant washed over him. Kenichi's nose twitched. He did not particularly like the scent, but he could not say he hated it either.

The real problem was where to find information on the patients he needed. After all, Kenichi could not be sure whether cancer even existed in the Naruto World.

He had not watched much of the anime and could only remember the rough outline of certain plots. He was not familiar with much else.

And who to ask was another problem.

Kenichi had originally had an acquaintance at the hospital—Tsunade and her disciples. Unfortunately, Tsunade had left the Hidden Leaf Village after the Second Great Ninja War, leaving Kenichi without anyone he knew.

Fortunately, after spending a little money, Kenichi learned what he wanted from a Medical Ninja.

"No cancer? How is that possible?" Kenichi was somewhat shocked. After paying up, he had asked one of the Medical Ninjas working there, but the other party had never even heard of the strange illness Kenichi described.

In the ninja world, most illnesses and injuries were either external or internal wounds, or damage caused by ninjutsu. The occasional blade wound could also be seen. But they had never encountered the sort of disease Kenichi described.

Naturally, the hospital had no patients with anything similar.

However, the Medical Ninja also said that he had only recently arrived and might not know much about such matters. He suggested that Kenichi ask someone else.

After consulting an elderly Doctor, Kenichi confirmed that Konoha truly had no knowledge of such cases at present. (1)

"Could it be because of Chakra? Or do people in the ninja world simply not live long enough to discover cancer?" Kenichi could not help muttering as he walked out of the hospital.

His feelings were complicated. In his previous life, cancer had been an incurable disease with no solution. Once diagnosed, one could practically wait to die. Those with money might struggle on for a while, while those without it could at least consider whether to donate their bodies.

But there was no cancer in the Naruto World—or rather, Kenichi had not found any cancer yet.

Still, Kenichi believed cancer absolutely existed. The reason was simple: though the people of this world had some peculiar traits, they were humans at the end of the day, not aliens.

There was no reason people in the ninja world would not get cancer. Either the existence of Chakra suppressed Cancer Cells, or Konoha had no such cases, or those Medical Ninjas had failed to recognize the disease.

"If only Older Sister Tsunade were here." Kenichi sighed. As Konoha's greatest Medical Ninja, Tsunade had seen countless strange illnesses. Perhaps she truly knew about cancer.

"Oh? You know Tsunade too, little one?" A somewhat hoarse voice spoke. Kenichi looked up, then froze for a moment.

Standing before Kenichi was the Third Hokage—Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Third?" Kenichi looked at the Ninja Hero before him in surprise.

Kenichi had truly never imagined that one day he would meet the Third Hokage, especially at a time like this.

"Hehe, no need to get so excited, young man. Come to think of it, I am your teacher's teacher." Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled. Though he was already old, he had not yet become as decrepit as he would be later.

"I know, Third. Teacher said you are an incredibly powerful ninja!" Kenichi promptly put on an excited expression. After years beneath Orochimaru's pressure, Kenichi had learned to control his expressions somewhat.

Yet inwardly, Kenichi was full of vigilance. He did not understand why the Third Hokage had appeared before him.

He could only take things one step at a time.

"Haha, you little rascal. Your teacher definitely did not describe me that way. He would absolutely call me a doddering old man." Hiruzen Sarutobi laughed heartily and patted Kenichi on the shoulder.

Kenichi smiled awkwardly. Teacher Orochimaru had indeed described Hiruzen Sarutobi that way, but while Orochimaru could say it, Kenichi could not.

"Did you come to the hospital because you were feeling unwell? I see." Hiruzen Sarutobi asked why Kenichi had come, then simply left, leaving Kenichi rather bewildered.

Kenichi turned and left as well, though he still wore the excited expression of someone who had met an important figure. Only after returning home did he drop the disguise.

"Something's wrong." Kenichi frowned. He had never met the Third Hokage before, and such an important person should have had no interest in a nobody like him.

Moreover, this was a time when Konoha's political power was about to change hands, yet the Third seemed completely unconcerned about it.

But Kenichi checked his clothes and found nothing unusual. He even burned the clothes Hiruzen Sarutobi had touched, yet he still could not put his mind at ease.

If Kenichi were a Honey Badger, then Hiruzen Sarutobi was a lion king nearing the twilight of his life. But even if the lion king was nearing old age, it was still a lion king.

So there was no reason for him to target Kenichi—unless his target was the teacher behind him.

"Maybe there was also an intent to flush the snake out of the grass?" Kenichi was not certain, but he felt there was a possibility.

When Orochimaru came to find Kenichi, Kenichi excitedly told him about his chance encounter with Hiruzen Sarutobi that day. His expression and tone made him look exactly like a fanatical Third Hokage fan.

Orochimaru did not say anything. After glancing at Kenichi, he waved a hand and told Kenichi to follow him to accept a mission.

"Teacher, are we taking on a mission this time?" Kenichi was not surprised. His teacher often used missions as an excuse to leave the village for experiments, or to capture experimental subjects and bring them back.

Kenichi figured this time was probably the same.

"Yes. During the war, a squad of ninjas defected. We are going to find them." Orochimaru was calm, but Kenichi froze for a moment. There were missions like that?

A squad generally consisted of three people: one captain and two members. Even the weakest captain would be a Chunin.

This left Kenichi somewhat uncertain. Was his teacher really planning to take him on a mission?

1. This is my own secondary setting. Cancer has not yet been discovered, but it will be discovered and established soon.

(I could never find a definite answer when I looked it up before, but some videos mentioned testing for suspected Cancer Cells, so I think Konoha does have cancer.)