Nawaki gravely injured

"Lady Tsunade, quick, get to the emergency room! Your brother-"

Bang!

Before the Medical Ninja could finish, Tsunade stomped a small crater into the floor, then shot past him and raced toward the emergency room.

When Tsunade reached the emergency room, she saw Nawaki clinging to life. Although a Medical Ninja had given him basic first aid on the battlefield, that ninja lacked the skill to do more than maintain his vital signs. He could not save him.

"Lady Tsunade."

The other Medical Ninjas breathed a sigh of relief when Tsunade arrived. They hurriedly made room for her to prepare for surgery herself.

One glance was enough for Tsunade to understand how serious Nawaki's injuries were. The wounds all over his body from the Explosive Tag's blast were not even the worst of it. The main problem was that his abdomen had been blasted open and his internal organs were damaged. His vital signs were rapidly deteriorating.

Tsunade immediately created two shadow clones, then used three Medical Ninjutsu techniques at once to treat him. If only she had perfected the Healing Resuscitation Regeneration Technique a few days earlier, she would have been more confident about saving Nawaki now. Fortunately, a Medical Ninja had given him first aid; otherwise, he never would have survived long enough for her to treat him.

The minutes ticked by. When Tsunade realized partway through that her chakra was running low, she even had an assistant feed her several specially made soldier pills. Only then did she barely manage to finish the operation.

"The... the rest is up to you. Clean the wounds, suture them, and bandage him."

Before she had even finished speaking, Tsunade slumped into a nearby chair. Seven or eight hours of uninterrupted treatment had drained her chakra dry. The only reason she had not passed out yet was sheer willpower.

"Leave it to us, Lady Tsunade."

The other Medical Ninjas quickly took over the remaining work and soon finished everything.

Nawaki was wrapped up like a dumpling, his entire body covered in bandages, and he still had not regained consciousness. Even if he woke up, from now on he might...

"I know. Thank you for your help."

Pale-faced, Tsunade forced herself to stand. She had performed the surgery herself; how could she not know what lay ahead for Nawaki? Although he now had a good chance of surviving, his days as a ninja were essentially over.

For someone who had dreamed of becoming Hokage since childhood, this was a devastating blow. Even if Nawaki woke up, he might not be able to accept the outcome. But Tsunade had done everything she could. If she had treated him immediately, there would have been a good chance of healing him completely, but the Medical Ninjas on the battlefield were not as skilled as she was.

That thought made Tsunade feel an even greater urgency to establish a medical system as quickly as possible. If there were enough Medical Ninjas, Nawaki and the other ninja wounded on the battlefield would not have to face near-fatal injuries and outcomes like this.

When Tsunade left the emergency room, she happened to run into Orochimaru. He asked, "How is he?"

"He's out of danger. We'll talk about the rest later, Orochimaru."

Nawaki had only recently become Orochimaru's student, yet this had already happened. Tsunade was utterly exhausted, and she still had to go back and inform Grandma Mito.

Karn knew nothing about this. In his memory, Nawaki was supposed to die, but unexpectedly, his involvement had allowed Nawaki to survive.

The large supply of medicine had eased the pressure on the Medical Ninjas and shortened the time needed to treat the wounded. With fully stocked medicine and ample medical supplies, Konoha Hospital had soon treated its entire backlog of patients.

Once the medical pressure within the village had eased, Hiruzen Sarutobi had sent a group of Medical Ninjas and medical supplies to reinforce the front lines. This was also why Nawaki had survived.

Without a Medical Ninja on the front lines to keep him alive, Nawaki never would have lasted long enough to return to Konoha for Tsunade's treatment.

But no one was going to tell Karn about it. After resting for a day, he discussed buying two more nearby buildings to use as shops with Kawaki Miwa. Both would serve food: one would be a barbecue restaurant, and the other an izakaya.

There was still no sign of any planning for a commercial street in Konoha. After looking around the village, Karn found that shops were set up haphazardly. Some simply had a storefront in front and living quarters in the back. Really, they had no concept of a commercial street at all, so Karn intended to create one himself.

Besides, the war was drawing to a close, and economic recovery would follow. The surviving ninja were bound to have earned a great deal of money, and they would spend it on food, clothing, housing, and transportation. Once the barbecue restaurant and izakaya were established, Karn planned to open several more shops.

He would only provide the money and handle the initial setup. After that, he would leave everything to the managers.

Karn still had plenty of money from the shinobi world. Since it could only be used in this world, he might as well spend it all, then exchange the profits for other resources.

He left the property purchases to Kawaki Miwa, though. If he went himself, they might fleece him again. In Karn's eyes, those two members of Konoha's F4 were out of their minds. Had they never considered whose resources mattered more? Konoha could overcharge Karn for buildings, but he could earn back more than ten times that amount on medicine.

Within a few days, Kawaki Yuri had sorted out the property purchases, spending far less than he would have himself.

Next came supply channels and recruitment, both of which were fairly easy to arrange. Unlike other restaurants, a barbecue restaurant only needed to prepare meat and let the customers grill it themselves. As for the izakaya, the chef's skill was not particularly important. People came to drink and fill their stomachs along the way.

If possible, Karn also intended to open a casino in Konoha. After a war, gambling was the one form of entertainment that could quickly make people forget the thrills of the battlefield. Karn was doing it to help treat the ninja's grief, too. Still, he would need to ask around first. If it was feasible, he would go to Huqiu, buy some high-end gambling machines, and open the largest casino in the Land of Fire.

Karn suddenly realized that the casino in Konoha could wait, but he could get started on one elsewhere in the Land of Fire as soon as possible.

After giving most of his instructions for the business in Konoha, Karn left Kawaki Miwa one million ryo to fund the new shops, then prepared to visit Kawaki Town. He planned to take Xia Chuan with him to explore other business opportunities. He still had tens of millions of ryo left to spend, and keeping it on hand was no different from holding wastepaper. He was making money every day now, so he had to invest it as quickly as possible to make his business snowball.

Just as Karn was about to leave, Kushina came to the food shop again.

"Oh, boss, you're here."

Karn answered casually, "Yes, but I won't be for much longer. If you need anything, talk to the new manager... though she's pretty busy, too."

Kushina looked around the shop, then came over to Karn and asked, "Boss, what would make a good gift for someone who's sick in bed?"

"Fruit. You know where the fruit shops in Konoha are, don't you?"

Kushina frowned, then shook her head. "He's a few years older than me. He probably wouldn't like fruit, would he?"

What good does comparing him to yourself do? I liked eating chili peppers when I was ten! Karn grumbled inwardly. After a moment's thought, he told Kushina, "If you can't decide, you can give me a hundred thousand ryo, and I'll put together a gift for you."

"A hundred thousand ryo?!"

Kushina's eyes widened. Her first thought was whether this shopkeeper was trying to swindle her out of her money again.

Damn it, not a single vote!