Inside an underground chamber.
The few medical ninja remaining on Sunagakure's side were treating the wounded brought in from the battlefield outside.
Of the original seven medical ninja, only three remained.
Their medical capabilities had been greatly reduced.
Yubi was the youngest of the three, but he had now become the medical team's captain.
Whenever the other two medical ninja encountered an emergency they could not handle, they instinctively called him for help.
Although the situation was urgent, Yubi tried to stay on top of his work. He sorted the patients by the severity of their injuries, giving those with lighter wounds basic treatment first... Some ninja in the stronghold who could no longer fight but could still move served as assistants to the three of them.
For the time being, under his direction and management, they were barely keeping up with the hectic situation.
The fighting in the canyon had now reached a fever pitch. As commander-in-chief, Takuma had forbidden the medical ninja from going outside. After all, these three were the force's entire remaining medical team. If anything else happened to them, especially Yubi, combat casualties would likely increase exponentially.
The consequences would be unthinkable.
"Hold on a little longer... The reinforcements the village dispatched will be here soon."
In the underground chamber, some of the wounded encouraged one another.
Those with lighter injuries would head straight back out to fight after a brief rest.
What they needed to do now was buy time.
"Yubi... Commander Takuma asked me to tell you not to push yourself if you're feeling unwell. You're very important to us."
A moment later, a Sunagakure Chunin approached Yubi. Watching the boy use the Medical Ninjutsu, the Mystical Palm Technique, to heal a comrade's wounds, he spoke respectfully.
"I'm fine."
Yubi smiled.
It was now the second night, and the battle between Sunagakure and Amegakure had lasted an entire day and night.
Yubi, meanwhile, had gone two full days without rest.
He had already redeemed both the Mystical Palm Technique and the Chakra Scalpel.
However, because his current chakra reserves were limited, Yubi had yet to use the Chakra Scalpel. To conserve chakra, he used only his own scalpel to make incisions... Fortunately, he had already noticed that improving his physical fitness helped his chakra recover faster.
Simply put, the energy known as chakra was a combination of spiritual and physical vitality.
But the Mystical Palm Technique was an A-rank Medical Ninjutsu, after all. It consumed chakra far faster than Yubi had expected.
With his abilities, treating two wounded patients at once was already something of a strain... Their injuries were all severe, requiring a relatively high degree of cellular activation.
This also made him realize just how important the size of a ninja's chakra reserves was.
If he had the chakra reserves of a Tailed Beast, treating this many people would be nothing.
"..."
The Sunagakure ninja delivering the message hesitated.
The boy before him had already earned everyone's respect through his abilities.
At first, they had merely thought Yubi possessed excellent medical skills and knowledge as a medical ninja. They had never expected... that this boy fresh out of the Ninja Academy could actually use the Mystical Palm Technique!
After all, there were very few people in all of Sunagakure who could use this Medical Ninjutsu.
One prominent example was Granny Chiyo.
The main thing was that Yubi was far too young... The Ninja Academy could not possibly teach Medical Ninjutsu like the Mystical Palm Technique, either. Only after confirming someone had the aptitude to become a medical ninja would the village give them specialized training.
Although they were curious about how Yubi had learned it, this was hardly the situation to ask.
It was no exaggeration to say that without Yubi, Sunagakure's battle line might well have collapsed already. Beside him, the other two medical ninja seemed far less useful.
If this boy had not ensured that some of the lightly wounded Sunagakure ninja could keep fighting... Amegakure's forces would probably have broken through their defenses by now.
A genius!
A medical genius!
Everyone shared that thought.
An extraordinarily gifted medical ninja had emerged in Sunagakure. That was certainly a good thing.
This Shinobi World War was not over yet. One young talent after another was making a name for themselves in Konoha, and naturally, Sunagakure was unwilling to fall behind.
To the village, Sasori was an exceptionally rare treasure, while someone like Yubi was a pure windfall... They had stumbled upon a gem!
Intelligence about the fighting on the border had already been sent back to the village. Presumably, the village's higher-ups already knew about Yubi's outstanding performance.
In truth, Yubi was exhausted.
Right now, he wanted nothing more than to find somewhere to bury his head and sleep.
His eyes were bloodshot, his steps unsteady. He knew exactly what state he was in.
He kept going, not because he had such a strong sense of responsibility or was so loyal to the village... but because, in his eyes, these patients were all experience points.
Not collecting them would be such a waste!
To him, this fighting on the border was a rare opportunity to grow stronger and develop.
Once it was all over, who knew how long he would have to wait for another opportunity like this?
"Make way!"
Just then, a Sunagakure ninja entered the stronghold, drenched in sweat, with a familiar figure on his back.
His gaze swept the room and immediately fixed on Yubi.
The sight also caused a stir among many of those nearby.
Because the person on his back was none other than Sasori.
"What happened?"
Someone stepped forward to ask.
"An Amegakure Jonin..."
The man answered gravely.
Although the Amegakure troops who had infiltrated later were not particularly strong, there were a great many of them.
And just like Sunagakure, they were bound to have key fighters or commanders... Like Takuma, these people would at least be at the Jonin level.
Although each village assessed ninja ranks somewhat differently, becoming a Jonin meant that, however weak someone might be compared with those from the major ninja villages... they were still far beyond an ordinary person's ability to challenge. Even though Sasori was a genius puppeteer whose strength was plain for all to see, after fighting continuously for so long and then encountering a Jonin... winning would have been almost impossible.
Surviving alone was good enough.
Yubi knew very well that, compared with the Amegakure opponents he himself had faced, most of those Sasori had killed were elites.
"Lord Takuma, to protect him..."
The man trailed off.
Yubi immediately examined Sasori. Once he confirmed that Sasori was merely injured and his life was not in danger, he could not help breathing a sigh of relief.
He could not be certain whether this clash between Amegakure and Sunagakure had also occurred in the original story, during the Second Shinobi World War... Although he knew that Amegakure, Sunagakure, and Konoha were the main forces in this war, Yubi did not know the details.
By rights, even if Sasori had taken part in the fighting, he should have been fine. But if the butterfly effect of Yubi's own appearance had triggered some changes, that would be bad.
Because in his eyes, Sasori was also a valuable asset to Sunagakure.
He was also the key to changing Sunagakure in the future. Nothing could happen to him.
"Thank goodness..."
Yubi treated and tended to Sasori's injuries.
Ding! The host has successfully treated a canon character. This is the host's first time treating this canon character. Unlock and bonus granted. Experience points gained: +200!
"Huh?"
Hearing the system's notification, Yubi froze.