bookbashuk Chapter 23 Summary: The Injured Nohara Rin
Chapter 23 Summary: The Injured Nohara Rin
Life returned to normal. Although Taiichi longed to fight ninjas again, Konoha didn't currently offer him that opportunity. Taiichi's life returned to the routine he had planned: mornings spent interning at Konoha Hospital, afternoons practicing swordsmanship and ninjutsu, and evenings practicing basic taijutsu and meditation at home.
Almost every day was packed with activities like this. Sometimes they would run into Kai, Rin, or Obito on the street, and they would all arrange to train together. During these training sessions, they would ask about the other classmates' recent situations. From Obito, they learned that the other students were being kept at home by their clans for special training. It was said that they were spurred on by Taichi. Losing to the Uchiha and Hyuga clans was bad enough, but now they couldn't even compare to ordinary ninjas.
Taiyi could only chuckle after hearing this. It's good to be a member of a family; even if your grades aren't good, the family will tutor you.
In just one month, Taiyi has made tremendous progress. If he were to encounter the spy again, Taiyi dares to say that while he might not be able to defeat him on his own, he could certainly hold his own against the spy without getting injured. Just look at his current stats.
Name: Matsushita Taichi
Occupation: Ninja Apprentice Lv8 (123/1200)
Talent: Diligence can compensate for lack of talent; academic star
Age: 6 years old
Physical condition: 14
Power: 16
Agility: 13
Spirit: 20
Chakra: 4000 (5500)
Attribute points: 10
Skill points: 11
Fire attribute transformation Lv2 (156/200)
Wind attribute change level 2 (110/200)
Yang attribute property change Lv3 (53/400)
技能：基础体术Lv9（1114/1600），基础冥想Lv9（1023/1600），查克拉提炼术Lv9（1075/1600），忍具投掷Lv8（123/1400），三身术Lv8（162/1400），火遁·炎弹Lv7（263/1200），火遁·凤仙火Lv8（243/1400），风遁·大突破Lv7（120/1200），治癒术Lv9（463/1600），旗木刀术Lv5（243/800），掌仙术Lv5（258/800），细患抽出之术Lv3（142/400）
Evaluation: You've escaped the fate of being cannon fodder, but be careful, on the battlefield you're still just a tiny insect.
His professional rank has increased by one level, and everything else is progressing steadily. The biggest improvement is in his medical ninjutsu. With Taiyi's current level of medical ninjutsu, people would believe he's a medical chunin if they didn't know his age. This is also why Taiyi is doing so well at Konoha Hospital. Not only is he young and sweet-talking, but he can also be a great help to everyone at work. Anyone would like that.
Just today, Taiyi was stopped by a nurse while replenishing medical supplies. The nurse said that a child had been injured and brought in by a friend. The other doctors were all busy and couldn't spare the time, so Taiyi had to step in.
The smell of disinfectant filled the corridor. As Taichi followed the nurse briskly toward the treatment room, the corner of his white coat was lifted by the draft. The moment he pushed open the door, he saw Kakashi's silver hair shimmer in the sunlight, and Obito's signature goggles were still covered with bits of grass.
"How could it be you guys?" Taiichi's gaze fell on Rin's rolled-up trouser legs, three claw marks winding from her knee to her ankle, beads of blood seeping from the torn flesh. Obito, clutching his hair, squatted in the corner, his goggles hanging askew around his neck: "It's all my fault for chasing that squirrel..."
Kakashi suddenly reached out and pressed down on Obito's head, his voice muffled beneath the mask: "It's my fault, I didn't notice the movement in the bushes." Rin forced a smile on her pale face and reached for the gauze on the table: "It just looks scary, but actually... hiss..." Her gasp made both boys freeze at the same time.
"Don't move." Taichi pulled the rubber gloves off the cart, and the clanging of metal instruments made the three of them instinctively straighten their backs. As he knelt down to examine the wound, Obito noticed that the trainee badge on Taichi's chest was reflecting light.
"You actually work at a hospital?" Obito's exclamation nearly knocked over the alcohol bottle. Kakashi's gaze swept over Taichi's fingers as he skillfully cut open the gauze, and he suddenly spoke: "There's grit in the wound."
Sunlight streamed through the frosted glass, casting dappled patterns on the treatment bed. Taiichi, holding tweezers, picked up a cotton ball: "Rin, it might hurt a little." The moment the alcohol touched the wound, Rin gripped the sheet tightly, and Obito immediately offered his arm: "You can bite me if you want!"
"Idiot, this will hinder the treatment." Kakashi pressed down on Obito's shoulder, but his gaze was fixed on Taichi's hand. The cotton ball soaked in iodine drew concentric circles around the wound, and the young doctor's wrist was as steady as if he were forming hand seals.
"Is it a lynx-like ninja beast?" Taichi wiggled Rin's leg; three claw marks gleamed an unnatural bluish-purple in the sunlight. Kakashi nodded: "Were the claws poisonous?"
"It's just a common inflammation." Taiichi pulled out a pale green ointment from the bottom of the cart. "Nonou-nee taught me to identify two hundred kinds of animal venoms." The coolness of the ointment on her skin relaxed Rin, and Obito's nose almost touched Taiichi's hand as he worked it: "Your technique is more professional than the medical team's!"
The trolley wheels suddenly made a screeching sound, and Director Fujita appeared at the door with a patient's medical record in her hand: "Taichi, bed number three needs..." Her voice trailed off as her gaze swept over the three children in ninja academy uniforms, "Come and get the new sutures when you're done."
The moment the door closed, Obito jumped up: "Was that the head of the trauma department? My uncle said she made a Chunin cry!" Kakashi's pupils dilated slightly—the medical team leader's approval carried far more weight than exam scores.
"The treatment has begun." Taiichi's hands glowed with a bright green chakra, and the blood beads seeping from Rin's wound suddenly floated in the air. Obito stared wide-eyed as the torn flesh seemed to be smoothed out by an invisible hand, and Kakashi subconsciously clenched his fists.
As the chakra glow faded, Rin tentatively bent her knee: "It doesn't hurt at all!" The moment she jumped off the bed, Obito's red-rimmed eyes finally couldn't hold back his tears: "That's great..."
"Change the dressing twice a day." Taichi tore open the individually packaged dressing. "Avoid strenuous exercise for three days." As he bent down to write the medical orders, Kakashi suddenly spoke up: "When did you learn Healing Palm Technique?"
"It hasn't been long since the holiday started." Taichi took out some fruit candies from his white coat pocket and handed them out to everyone. "An ANBU uncle was burned by an explosive tag, and Chief Fujita asked me to try to reconnect the nerves." Obito's hand holding the candy wrapper was trembling, and Rin noticed the burn scar on Taichi's right index finger.
The lunch break bell rang outside the window, carrying the smell of disinfectant mixed with the aroma of rice balls. As Tai tidied up the equipment, he asked, "Want to try the hospital cafeteria's miso soup?" Just as Obito was about to nod, his stomach growled loudly.
As the four of them huddled on a bench in the staff break room, sunlight shone directly on Taiichi's internship badge. Kakashi stared at the pickled plums in his lunchbox: "Medical students are allowed to do internships?"
"It was recommended by Lady Tsunade." Taichi broke open a disposable chopstick. "It was specially approved by the Hokage." Obito choked on his rice ball, and Rin quickly handed him barley tea. Through the steam rising from the glass, Taichi recounted his experience of going out with the emergency team at four in the morning.
"Last week, an old lady had an asthma attack, and I ran across seven blocks carrying an oxygen tank." Taiyi pointed to his bruised knees. "It was more tiring than physical training." Lin suddenly reached out and poked his arm: "There's still iodine left to wipe off."
Kakashi silently placed a fried shrimp from his bento box on Taichi's plate, a way of expressing gratitude he'd learned from his father's bento. Obito rummaged through all his pockets, finally pulling out his treasured ninja card: "This is for you! It's a rare card from the First Hokage!"
As the afternoon cicadas chirped through the screen window, Principal Fujita's footsteps echoed down the corridor. The three children frantically packed their lunchboxes, and Rin stuffed the last piece of pickled radish into Taichi's mouth. Obito, clinging to the doorframe, turned back and shouted, "You absolutely have to come to the special training in the back mountains next week!"
Sunlight slanted into the empty treatment room as Taichi bent down to pick up the goggles that Obito had dropped. The indicator light on the sterilizer turned from red to green, and the instruments in the metal tray gleamed coldly. He suddenly remembered his clumsy attempt to bandage Nonou the first time he helped her.
The shadows of clouds drifted across the hospital's exterior wall as Taiichi adjusted his crooked intern badge against the glass. The wind ruffled the hem of his white coat, revealing a short knife tucked into his waistband.
Since discovering his weakness in swordsmanship during the last spy incident, Taiichi has been practicing his swordsmanship whenever he has free time, even while in the hospital.