Red Riot - Chapter 41 - Red Acceleration (Patreon)

Matsu Uzumaki:- person of high interest to other Shinobi Villages. Jonin. Medical/Taijutsu/Ninjutsu/Sensory speciality. Chief Medical Officer of the Kiri Medical Program

Gengetsu Hozuki:- The second Mizukage and trickster Lord of Kirigakure. Master of Illusions and torment. Defeated Mu, the Second Tsuchikage in combat. Lost his left arm and left leg in the fight. Matsu healed him.

Idate Hozuki - student of Matsu. Hozuki clansman. Tokubetsu Jonin. 

Midori Terumi - student of Matsu. Terumi clanswoman. Tokubetsu Jonin. Straightforward thinking lass with good intentions for most people!

Han:- orphan student of Matsu who is raised by his uncle. Civilian-born shinobi. Tokubetsu Jonin working in the academy.

Sayuki:- Second in command of the Civilian Nin when Matsu isn’t around. Takes it seriously. A touch annoyed that she just lost to Minato Namikaze.

Shoto:- ANBU operative, which effectively takes him out of the standard ranking system. Has been absent for several months. A highly skilled Stealth specialist. Friends with Matsu and Rei.

Rei:- former classmate with Matsu, Shoto, and Sayuki. Only the first two know she’s alive. During a brawl at the brothel she was hiding in she was injured with her eyes being damaged. Something of a prodigy at Fuinjutsu but can’t advance her skills until she has a teacher, and her eyes back. She’s also supposed to have died, but Matsu pulled a fast one on all of Kiri to save her life and preserve some good.

Kuroiwa Karatachi - student of Matsu. Karatachi clanswoman. Soon to be Chunin. Medic. Capitalist!

Kana Karatachi:- the Clan Head of the Karatachi Clan. 

Katara Karatachi:- Trainee of the Medical Corps. Genin.

Koga Karatachi:- Trainee of the Medical Corps. Genin.

Ala:- Kunoichi that met Matsu during his deployment to the Land of Wind during the final stages of the Second war. Matsu used her as a foil to trick a reluctant teacher into teaching. Matsu’s first pick for his training program of Medics.

Hanahime Terumi:- Matsu’s ally during his years in the Academy. Led the Terumi contingent. Upon the success of the Red Graduation she was ordered to kill the weakest shinobi in their respective groups. She had to kill her cousin and best friend. Hasn’t spoken with Matsu since then. Is the daughter to Nezda Terumi.

Nezda Terumi:- the Chamberlain of Kirigakure. Ostensibly the man who has the best chance of taking over the seat of Mizukage if Gengetsu were to die anytime soon. Has political strength. Has fingers in many pies. Understands the financials of the Village. Is the brother to the Clan head of the Terumi. Hanahime is his daughter.

Himeko Kaguya:- Classmate of Matsu’s from the academy. Loves to fight him. Was promoted to Chunin following the Hidden in the Steam Chunin exams. Technically the strongest fighter for her year within the Kaguya having surpassed her fellows. 

Lord Kubisaki:- Current Daimyo of the Land of Honey. Playing around and avoiding marriage for some strange reason…

Lord Ryoku:- the Chamberlain of the Land of Honey and the man who sees to the day-to-day running of the nation.

Lord Koza Kubisaki:- a historic figure from roughly thirty or so years ago that summoned Shiromari the Chameleon to defend the Land of Neck from an invading army.

Nono:- a Chameleon that Matsu has gained the attention of thanks to his return of Lord Shiromari, a large chameleon summon. Stalking him.

_______________

Having gotten almost an entire evening’s rest, I set a gruelling pace back to Hive City. My passage was like the north wind, I swept through the trees, causing some of them to lean at my passing. 

When I reached the city, I barely paused to leap over the walls in a long arc before surging up towards the castle.

From there, I skidded to a stop at the Daimyo’s castle with my older henge active. The guards lowered their spears in a show of force, but I just waved a hand towards the entrance.  

“Lord Ryoku is expecting me,” I announced while steadying my breathing and letting the dust wash in behind me. 

That made them pause and scowl. “We weren’t told of anything,” they replied, eying my heaving chest and sharing a glance. A person sprinting towards a castle like this was usually not a good sign. 

I scoffed. “That was because he expected the mission he sent me on to take longer. I have completed it.”

Both men glanced at the other again, and the elder jerked his head back towards the gates, causing the younger guardsman to stalk inside far enough to shout for a messenger. 

Horrible system. I made a mental note to reprimand him for it later. Meanwhile, I cast my senses behind me, amusing myself with how other guards who had witnessed me momentarily were moving about Hive City. Another failure point. They needed bells or signal flares going forward.

Far beyond them, a repressed ball of chakra slunk closer, but with how the ball quivered, I knew I’d forced Nono the chameleon into a headlong sprint she hadn’t been ready for.

I had to give her credit, however, she’d kept up with me, despite me burning through a lot more chakra. She had the raw speed to keep me within sight while staying very well hidden for a good portion of the run.

Not hidden enough, of course, but I still rated her skills very highly. 

A messenger darted out and bowed to me. “Lord Ryoku will see you, Master Shinobi!” 

Once more, I was led into Ryoku’s chambers with the man seated behind his desk. He stared at me openly, like a puzzle.

“You’re either a braggart, a liar, or… something else,” he remarked thoughtfully.

“Kubisaki pass is open to trade once more. There will not be any more issues with travellers going missing on that road due to the castle.” I bowed my head. “I am sorry to say that Kubisaki castle itself is no longer there.”

Ryoku stiffened. “You destroyed Kubisaki castle?”

I shook my head. “No, I must give praise to Lord Kubisaki’s ancestor, his trick with the castle was marvellous. It was not a true castle but a chakra construct that has held up to this day. I am unsure how he achieved it, but within the heart of the castle there was a scroll that, once destroyed, unraveled the entire structure.”

 I leaned forward. “If there are any writings from that time, journals, or jutsu scrolls describing what Lord Kubisaki did, Kirigakure would be… extremely interested in acquiring them,” I said with a slight tilt of my head to convey a different meaning.

Ryoku narrowed his eyes. “Hmmm, I see. I will have some staff review our archives. I doubt there was anything that survived from before the unification period, but…” 

He snorted. “It would be better to offer this up freely than have some ruffians breaking in as it were.”

“I’m not sure what you could be implying,” I replied.

We smiled at each other. Both of us knew they were fake, but we had to do it.

Ryoku now expected shinobi to come snooping around unless he produced something, regarding that time period, which was a dubious prospect. Still, if there was a gem waiting to be overturned, then it would have people poking around.

I wasn’t going to mention anything of the sort with my report to Gengetsu later. I was going to tell him most of the story but leave out how I’d earned Lord Ryoku’s favour.

“So, the training facility?” I asked leadingly, moving the conversation along.

Ryoku continued to eye me for a moment before sighing. He tapped the paperwork in front of him. “This… I’ve been reading it numerous times, and I have to admit. It’s insightful to a degree I have never seen before. I rather appreciate the layout you’ve used along with this reference table at the front, for which pages certain topics are on… ingenious! And the glossary at the back? It has made my life easier.” 

He coughed. “Once I discovered it that was!”

Having an index at the front, along with a glossary, was a standard for reports in my previous life. My clones had merely used that in the creation of the ‘Medic training plan’ with how they’d been ‘let loose’ for this project. 

It seemed I was going to start an administrative revolution without intending to by handing this report out.

“I’m glad you approve,” I stated with a slight bow of my head in thanks. “It was a rather novel idea I had for the index and as for the glossary? I realised there might be a lot of concepts that went over the typical reader’s heads that needed to be explained.” 

He barked out a laugh, “Ha, what a polite way of calling most nobility stupid!” 

I merely rose and smiled blandly.

He laid out a map with more detailed information than I had access to. 

“Let’s talk about the site. I noted that you can clear the area and assemble lumber supplies, but you need surveyors, a team of builders, and a sanitation expert.”

“Also, no labourers due to the need for secrecy, yes?” he asked to which I nodded. 

“The less people the easier it is to contain.” 

“Hmmm. Will shinobi not feel that the work you’ve assigned as labourers be beneath them?” he pointed out.

“It will be assigned a D rank mission as I intend to make this a very safe site in the coming weeks,” I replied blandly. “If you could enlighten me to any bandit activity within twenty kilometres of our intended site, I will either handle it or assign trainees to handle it going forwards.”

“Hmmmm, that would work, I suppose—” he replied as he brought up another point.

The meeting continued on for quite a while, and eventually we even changed locations to ‘inform the Daimyo of the development,’ only for the man to give it a quick look over and wave it off. 

“Continue as you see fit Lord Ryoku. I trust your judgment on this,” he said already ignoring us in favour of a book.

With approval officially granted, Ryoku signed a document assigning my facility funding. “This will be paid to the workers first, and you will be able to access it through these promissory notes,” he stated, offering me notes that were signed off by his and the Daimyo’s hand along with an official stamp.

On each note, there were clear specifications as to what the funding could be used for.

It was a useful system. “I’ll make sure to keep receipts and a log of all expenditures and any income we manage,” I said, standing to bow to the man.

He glanced outside and hummed. “Hmmm it’s late now, stay the night in the castle and set out tomorrow.”

That got me to pause. I had been about to sprint to the site so I could start in the morning, but it wouldn’t make too much difference if I started later.

I accepted so as not to cause any offense. Dinner was a veiled attempt for him to take my measure. He asked about my mission history and what skills I had. 

When he asked about my goals for the future I grinned, deciding it was time to channel some protagonist energy.

“I am going to be Mizukage,” I stated formally. 

That got a reaction out of him. “Oh?” he blinked slowly. “Forgive me if I am wrong but is not the Mizukage considered the strongest in the Village?” he asked.

“Yes,” I replied simply.

“Well, that… I don’t think I’ve ever heard another shinobi talk about it like that.”

“I am honest with my intentions, which makes me more dangerous, as you always know liars will lie, but an honest man?” I smirked as I left the statement hanging.  It was a nice inside joke for me, while Lord Ryoku took it as wisdom. He certainly took a moment to sit back and reassess his evaluation of me.

At Ryoku’s urging, I employed a servant at the castle to be the point of contact for the merchants and builders while I saw to other needs. That the servant in question ended up being one of Ryoku’s cousins spoke well of the man’s conviction that this project would succeed. 

When morning came, I swept through the markets with the man, laying orders for the first goods that were to be set aside or to be taken care of. 

While they handled creating a logistical chain with local suppliers for everything a training facility, soon to be hospital, would need, I swept out to the site we’d select after leaving my contact point a large list of jobs that needed to be seen to.

The site was just far enough from Hive City to be out of sight, while also being close enough to be accessible. Unlike other building sites it didn’t need to be in an open, easily accessible area.

Instead, I’d chosen the middle of a forest close to one of the roads. That there was no road currently leading there wasn’t an issue for me as I ran through the tree tops, and when I reached the centre of the allocated space I formed a cross seal and summoned as many clones as I could.

This time I pushed myself. 

With a quarter of my chakra still in my coils I staggered slightly at the expenditure, but when I looked up, I found myself looking at fifteen copies of myself.

We grinned as axes, saws, and explosive tags were brought out.

A random statistic that I knew from my previous life was that a modern lumberjack could lop anywhere between forty to five hundred in a day if everything was optimal.

With my clone squad and the ability to sharpen my blades with what little wind chakra training I’d performed, I set my benchmark at fifty acres. Which just so happened to be the allocated space for my hospital.

I quickly lost track of how many trees I chopped down, but before long, I had the area thoroughly bare with only stumps sticking out, while dozens of stacks of lumber lay spread out around the area for further processing. 

Wagons for said lumber would be on their way in the next few days, and with that in mind, I turned to my clones and nodded to them.

I sat, got as comfortable as I could, and then three of them puffed away, leaving me the sudden memory of not just myself, but three more of myself cutting trees. All while wielding wind chakra through saw or axe. 

It was still a bit weird to experience, like having a dream that repeated end over end only for you to wake up and find yourself at the end of the day, tired, and with a slight mental strain.

There was a pause of twenty minutes, then I repeated the action, slowly processing and internalising the influx of memory. When I was done, I lifted an axe and swung it at the nearest stump. 

I cut through it like butter. Hmmm, and this was with only the first stage of wind chakra training completed.

I eyed the area and contemplated the map I’d borrowed from Lord Ryoku. While a river through the centre of my site would introduce too many security risks, there was a nearby river I could divert and set up a secondary, secret training site for myself. 

I marked it down as another addition to my plan.

With the trees chopped I turned to the next task, well digging.

I was done in half an hour.

It was rather scary how much I could get done now with my very own labour force of myself.

If Nono the Chameleon hadn’t been hiding nearby, I might have indulged myself in a maniacal cackle. I settled for a smirk as I ate some rations and watched clouds pass overhead, indulging in a moment of rest before seeing to the next task.

Motivation kept me moving constantly for the next few days, and by the time the teams of wagons rolled into the site, I had the stumps pulled out, the ground levelled off, wells dug and shored up with a basic rig to collect water from, and even a rudimentary road made up running to Hive City through the forest.

There were also numerous traps in the woods that would deter any casual enquirers who tried to snoop around. 

During all of this, Nono the Chameleon was an ever-present shadow. I must have impressed her with my work ethic, as whenever she was sure of me remaining in place with a task or to sleep, she would take a stroll through the site, inspecting everything.

I wish I could say I scared her off roaming through the woods but she flitted through the traps I’d assembled contemptuously, which only inspired me to add a few missions for a specialist to create a proper perimeter rather than just what I’d slapped together.

Or I could enlist the Chameleons for that.

While they were a useful support summons clan, I’d decided against signing on with them.

The idea of having a summons clan that didn’t possess knowledge of how to become a Sage was simply too detrimental. They also, while useful, weren’t what I was looking for in a summons clan. 

With the initial work done and the week Gengetsu had initially granted me to acquire the Daimyo’s agreement almost up, I happily checked that the wagon teams knew their business before leading Nono on yet another sprint across the countryside where I boarded a ship bound for Kiri.

Gengetsu was going to choke when he learned just how much I’d gotten done in the time he’d given me!

I allowed myself a few moments of enjoying the way that warmed my heart before deciding to scale back just how successful I’d been in my report.

It was always better to be underestimated. I could be wildly successful with just the agreement, funding, and site procurement but too much success would reveal how mistaken Gengetsu was with his deadline of three years. 

There was no need to mention how building work was set to start in the next few days, nor how I’d already gotten a small boost with the sale of the lumber.

I’d just put it under the miscellaneous acquisitions for my future logbook. 

I made landfall when an ANBU approached me. “Lord Gengetsu wishes to speak to you,” he ordered and I nodded, suspecting that this was going to be something of a trend soon enough.

When I arrived in his office, Gengetsu glared at me.

I looked right back into his dark, beady little eyes and smiled. “You look tired.”

He narrowed his eyes, and I knew once again he was imagining all the ways he’d kill me.

“Should you ever complete your goal of becoming Chief Medical Officer, you will understand but a tiny portion of the work I have to perform Matsu,” he growled. 

He stabbed a finger at me and a senbon fired at me.

A quick sway to the side saw me evade it easily. A follow-up senbon had me tilting my head so that it deflected off my forehead protector.  It seemed someone was feeling a bit crabby today.

The second senbon whirled through the air and slammed into the window where a certain creeping chameleon was attempting to slip into the room.

She backed off at the close encounter, which got a small mental sigh of relief from me.

I wasn’t about to rule out that Gengetsu was able to sense the little stealth expert. She was being pretty gutsy getting this close.

“Careful now, wouldn’t want to stop me being able to heal you,” I taunted, hoping to keep his focus on me.

Gengetsu’s glare intensified. “I had medics check me over, and they found nothing.”

The office became suddenly much more ominous as his chakra began to swirl in preparation for what I was about to say.

Laughter wasn’t what he was expecting but I committed to audacity to make him stay his hand. 

To a tyrant like Gengetsu, laughter must be a foreign concept, except his own of course.

“Did they do that while reading my textbooks regarding the left circumflex and left anterior descending arteries in your heart? Did they review how small things such as the AV node can be messed with to impact your heart’s rhythm?” 

Would I need to mention the brain to hammer home my point I wondered for a moment.

I tilted my head. “You did steal a copy of my works on anatomy, I’m assuming?” 

I crossed my arms as his glower intensified. “What did they think?”

Gengetsu sniffed, and the oppressive feeling vanished like mist in a strong wind. “How did your mission to acquire the Daimyo of Honey’s approval go?” he asked, ignoring my earlier comment.

Seems they’d been appreciative of it, I mentally noted to myself. I chalked that up as another win in my tally. It was a slowly growing tally that I was rather enjoying adding to.

A trio of scrolls detailing a sanitised overview of what had happened in the Land of Honey was laid out before Gengetsu. While he read through them I gave a verbal report I’d rehearsed numerous times of the last day of travel. I made sure to give my performance a mildly excited jitter, as if I was genuinely thrilled by my success. Which I was.

I didn’t want to pretend to be bored, as that wasn’t the right action. Another mission report, perhaps, but for my project? Only controlled excitement would do.

Gengetsu considered the report and then me. “Well, this is good news,” he declared like he wouldn’t have delighted in any setbacks or failures to my project. 

“You say you want D rank missions and some trap specialists reviewing the site and preparing it? Yes, yes. I think we can manage that,” he stated with a smirk.

From that alone, I knew I was going to have ANBU scouring the site and creating shelters to observe my progress while reporting everything back to Gengetsu. But that was alright. I had what I wanted, and I’d long since lost my fear of having ANBU following me without my knowing it.

Still, I was determined to build a secret training facility to hide my personal growth.

“That’s excellent news Lord Mizukage,” I replied honestly. 

Gengetsu nodded. “This progress is so wonderful, “I believe we can accelerate our plans somewhat.” 

He reviewed my proposed plan and nodded. “I’ll give you another… month of work with a few shinobi coming and going. By then, the candidates who were out on a mission should be back, and we can have them all report to you. I will expect you to return to Kirigakure monthly to inform me personally of their progress.” 

He laced his fingers. “Missions will also be assigned depending on your candidate's capabilities.” 

Gengetsu tilted his head. “Oh, and we mustn’t forget the chunin exams either. I still want you running your little jutsu theft mission.”

He gained an air of being particularly pleased at reminding me of that detail, but I only nodded. 

“Of course, here are the recent exams’ haul of jutsu that I was able to acquire,” I declared, offering him another small stack of scrolls.

 “Excellent work Matsu,” he replied while eying the stack. He reached for them and began reading through with a deliberate slowness. “These will help strengthen Kiri,” he said like he wasn’t going to just shove them all in a vault, which he’d dangle in front of shinobi as the carrot to his typical stick.

That was fine. It would merely serve to set me up for being seen in a better light for what was to come.

Instead of dismissing me, Gengetsu remained silent, observing me for a few minutes.

I held his gaze before deciding that I’d give him the ‘win’ of talking first. “Was that all Lord Mizukage?”

He continued to consider me for another long minute before smirking and inclining his head. “No, that will be all. Oh, and do say hello to those women who raised you when you get the chance.”

Ah, good old Gengetsu, reminding me of another string he could tug to control me.

Best to draw a line in the sand.

“I do hope they’ve stayed well,” I replied whimsically, “If any repeats of the Terumi incident were to occur… well, I wouldn’t quite be in the right state of mind and might lash out.”

Gengetsu’s eyes narrowed slightly. He also gave me a tiny, almost imperceptible nod.

I swept from the office, but before I left I made sure to toss something back. “I will check in before I depart in a few days. While others performed your physical, I doubt they caught everything. The battle with Mu was rather spectacular.”

And another line on my side of the tally.

I didn’t envy whoever reported in next to Gengetsu.

If they gave him anything but complete success, I didn’t like their chances of leaving alive.

I dismissed them from my mind. There was only so much I could do right now, despite my expanded capabilities. So instead of worrying about who that would be, I turned my focus on the list of jobs and people I needed to deal with.

Kuroiwa was easy enough to find at the Karatachi compound. It wasn’t just to read her into the situation, however, and I was quickly drawn into a sit-down discussion with the Clan head and her team of advisors.

To Kana Karatachi, I gave a much less sanitised version of my report, but I still didn’t mention anything about the chameleon clan. I did let them know about the chakra construct, however and that I had Lord Ryoku pursuing leads.

They could invest time and manpower into chasing that rabbit hole.

I already had both the objective prize and the bonus.

Plans were once more reviewed and workshopped with plans for myself, Kuroiwa, and several teams of Karatachi heavy genin teams to take on the missions around the site.

When I finally left the Karatachi compound, it was late, and I’d picked up several more observers. A few of whom weren’t ANBU or Nono the Chameleon.

I gave no sign of noticing them and instead entered my apartment.

I only allowed Nono in while giving the others clear indications that I’d noticed them. I wasn’t about to rest with them lurking about.

If I had any luck I’d be able to—

Shoto chose that moment to ‘sneak up’ on me, and I made a show of being startled by his arrival.

His mouth smirked at my reaction, but his eyes narrowed for a moment, and I had to give an old academy signal for ‘observers’ to him that very much wasn’t part of Kiri’s standard signalling methods.

Then again, being able to twitch your earlobe was a skill. 

“So? How’d you go?” he asked and I gave him a complete rundown.

When I mentioned the Chameleon’s offer, something must have clicked as he glanced to where Nono was hiding. “That explains her, then eh? She’s good, took me a while to find her.”

I smirked as Nono stopped matching her skin tone to that of the walls.

“You cheated!” she hissed.

“Sounds like something a loser would say,” I offered diplomatically. “Nono, meet Shoto, Shoto, Nono. Nono, Shoto is who I was thinking about offering up as the summoner for your clan.”

Nono considered him only to smirk. “Very well. He has some appeal,” she stated, only to stalk up to him and put a scaly hand on his arm. 

“Hey wait, you can’t just—” Shoto declared, only for him and Nono to vanish in a puff of smoke.

I tilted my head. Huh, I hadn’t been planning for him to be taken away just like that.

Clicking my tongue in annoyance at the miscommunication, I could only lament the missed chance to give Shoto a proper debrief.

Hopefully, whatever test they had for him wouldn’t take too long, I had things I wanted to share with Shoto.

He didn’t turn up the next day, nor the day after, and by the third day I was forced to create an alibi for him by informing one of the observing ANBU that I’d informed him of the summoning jutsu, only for him to use it and vanish.

I wasn’t sure if the idea of reverse summoning to a clan was well-known so I didn’t offer that to them. Instead, I merely stated that he had vanished in a puff of chakra smoke.

While I waited for his return I made sure to complete other jobs around Kiri.

Like talking with my former Jonin sensei.

And by talking, I mean her beating the hell out of me for as long as she could.

One thing I noticed straight away however was that, I was starting to get some breathing room with her. 

My fighting instincts were better, and I didn’t have to think as hard, merely act and fight. Instead of being a completely one-sided affair, I was able to mount a semblance of a defence against her.

Something she noticed and appeared to be rather proud of.

It didn’t stop her blowing through my jutsu, however or evading my genjutsu to hammer me with a fist.

Unless I was willing to activate the gates, I doubted I had the speed to handle her just yet. But I now had the instincts.

When she was done with my thrashing, I lay on the ground, healing myself as she crouched over me, looking worried. 

“I’m not going to be able to help you as much Matsu. You’ve gotten too big to wade in the pool I can control.”

“That’s alright Akiko. We always knew I’d outgrow it eventually,” I offered as I knit a torn intercostal muscle in my ribs back together. 

“Matsu!” she growled. “That’s not…” she sighed and shook her head. “There’s outgrowing a pool, and then there’s… whatever you did. You’re going a bit fast. I’m worried,” she said, her voice tinged with honest fear for me.

I sat up so I could bow my head. “I’m sorry, I’m a poor student to make you worry so much, but… I’m going to have to keep going.” If anything, I would have to accelerate the pace. People had gotten used to me pulling off feats, and they thought they had my measure.

I had a reputation that was dogging my heels now and lots of eyes on me.

“Sensei?” I asked, still keeping my head down. “Do you think you can look after the other civilian nin while I’m away? They’re getting stronger, but they need someone like you to help guide them and keep them out of trouble.”

“I suppose I can do that,” she mused.

When I kept my head down, she sighed again. “What else?” she asked. 

She knew me too well.

“Think you can take on more students?” I raised my head to look her in the eyes. “You are an amazing shinobi and you have a lot to offer young people. I think I want more shinobi like you when I take over as Mizukage,” I stated.

“You shameless little brat!” she growled, swatting me on the head. “I’m a terrible teacher! I only took on one student and he barely listens to me!”

I offered her a small smile. “Sorry,” I repeated.

She just shook her head and groaned in defeat. “You better find a way to fix grey hairs! Cause even without you as my direct student I know I’m going to be an old hag before my time!”

“You’d pull it off wonderfully,” I offered, earning me another chop.

She shook her head only to hand me a stack of scrolls. “I was able to get these for you to add to your arsenal. Might be a better method of dealing with larger numbers of shinobi without using up too much chakra,” she pointed out. “I also got some shurikenjutsu and bojutsu skills written down for you.”

She shook her head. “If you’re going to keep swinging that pole of yours around, you may as well pick up some proper skills,” she muttered.

I thanked her by giving her a hug. “You’re an amazing sensei and a great person.”

She returned my hug and held me tightly. “I know you’re probably thinking you need to keep pushing yourself, just remember that sometimes staying alive is a victory in itself, and sometimes you need to back off for that.”

My smile grew at her words. “Thank you,” I replied as I broke the hug. “I’ll check in whenever I’m in Kiri.”

Akiko nodded and rose. “Guess I’ll go make myself available as a sensei for the next round of brats then,” she muttered before vanishing into a shunshin.

Instead of sprinting off, I decided to follow her advice, for at least a moment, by remaining where I was. 

In the haste to push myself, I hadn’t truly accounted for how much I’d grown and now that I was leaving Akiko properly… I allowed myself a moment to take it in. 

I’d reached a level I could now hold my own against a veteran Jonin. While she wasn’t an Elite of Kiri, or even an S-rank shinobi, it was still marvellous progress.

Then, before I could get too comfortable, Himeko Kaguya and a few other Kaguya shinobi walked into the training field and smirked at me.

Without saying a word, I stood up, lifted up my pole after tucking away the scrolls Akiko had left for me and made a ‘come’ gesture at them.

When I was done I walked out of the training field with a limp with Himeko at my side with a limp herself but a pleased expression on both our faces.

From there I made sure to discuss my plans with Sayuki, explaining how Shoto had been dragged off in some test the Chameleon’s had for him.

Han was the only other student I saw upon my return with Midori and Idate having departed for their own mission assignments. Han seemed a bit overwhelmed but was otherwise enjoying his new role as a teacher, even if he got most of the annoying jobs due to being the youngest teacher in the academy.

Each night before I allowed myself any sleep, I made sure to write a letter to Rei, explaining how I hadn’t forgotten her. What I’d been up to and what I planned to do. I was close now. With the Shadow clones and a site to practise my medical skills I should be able to heal her.

Although I couldn’t visit the Okiya where the women who raised me now lived, I knew of ways to get messages to them still.

I hadn’t forgotten Rei, and I made sure she knew that.

Then I boarded another ship bound for the Land of Honey with Kuroiwa at my side and a series of tasks that I was determined to see advanced. 

I had a month before my students arrived.

_______________

Hanahime Terumi shifted, making sure to keep the trio of Hozuki on the ship in her line of sight. 

They’d been quick to pick up on her unease, and like sharks circling, they’d taken to innocently moving in and out of her line of sight as often as they could. Two would stand still while one would move about only for the other to make quick movements.

It had her on edge constantly, and while there were two Karatachi to ostensibly watch her back on this mission, there had been murmurs running around the Terumi compound that the Karatachi were looking to break away.

Something that would have ramifications.

Hanahime could only hope she wasn't being used as a test for the Karatachi. 

Would they stand back? Would they be loyal and remember how it was the Terumi that sheltered the Karatachi? Or had the history of their clans become like dust in the wind?

She glanced towards the others. A Yuki, and three civilian shinobi which made ten of them in total. 

In this, Hanahime was certain of Matsu’s impact on the selection process.

She wasn’t sure what Gengetsu was thinking by having this mission run in the Land of Honey, but she supposed it did add a layer of security with forcing other nations to have to look further afield rather than stalking the Land of Water.

She suspected that the Land of Honey was about to become rather heavily patrolled by the shadowy organisations of Kiri. 

“We’re about to make landfall!” called a voice and Terumi glanced towards the port. 

A flicker of movement had her stiffening and snapping to the side, her chakra flooding her lungs as she prepared to exhale a cloud of acid, only to blink in surprise at the squad of blank masked ANBU staring back at her.

“Medic trainees! You are to gather your kit and start moving to the training site!” ordered a tall ANBU. 

One of the Hozuki swaggered over. “That’s not—” the ANBU nearest him backhanded him. “You have your orders! Move!” barked the leader of the group. “We will be departing in one minute!” he announced. 

His hands flashed through the required codes of greeting, meaning that they were legit, or a very deep cover agent… Hanahime wouldn’t rule out the option so she stayed vigilant.

It didn’t stop her from snatching up her bedroll and sealing it up. She was back in front of the ANBU within seconds.

It took the others almost the entire minute with the Hozuki lagging.

The ANBU turned. “Follow, if you can’t keep up, just keep running east. We might pick you up eventually.”

That got a stir among the trainees, but they couldn’t argue as the ANBU vanished in a fast shunshin that carried them halfway across the space between the ship and land.

Hanahime threw herself to follow them while others hesitated. It cost them precious moments that saw the gap between them and the ANBU growing. 

The ANBU kept up a punishing pace that quickly had her sucking in air as her chakra cycled as quickly as she could force it to go to empower her. Whenever they reached an open patch of land the ANBU didn’t hesitate to perform a shunshin on the fly, which turned them into blurs.

Hanahime kept moving but others weren’t as motivated. 

That changed when an explosion went off behind them, and a yelp escaped someone.

Hanahime turned and spotted two of the ANBU who had been ahead of them were now behind them, throwing kunai and explosive tags.

“Now hold on!” shouted one of the Hozuki.

“If you have the breath to speak, then you have it in you to run faster!” barked one of the ANBU.

With the ANBU both leading them and chasing them, Hanahime found herself moving the fastest she had ever in her life. 

When they hit the two-hour mark, the ANBU leading the group paused and signalled a pause. Hanahime had started to think of him as ‘the Captain’ of the squad. 

“Eat, recover your energy, we have five minutes before we move out again!”

“Listen this—” argued the loud Hozuki.

“This is a highly sensitive operation that has the direct approval of the Mizukage,” growled the ANBU captain. “This is how it is to be run. For reasons beyond you!” 

Silenced, the Hozuki ducked his head and began eating quickly but there were several murderous looks sent at the ANBU.

When their time was up they were once more running at an outright sprint.

Hanahime found herself hoping they would reach their destination soon. Her heart thundered, and her chakra coils were starting to ache from constant strain.

“We’ve arrived,” announced the ANBU captain suddenly, and it was all that Hanahime could do not to collapse in surprise as they broke through the treeline to find themselves on the outskirts of a village. 

A newly built village with several structures that were still under construction, but a village nevertheless. 

Hanahime swept her eyes over the village, noting the road that snaked through it. There were several marked-out areas which appeared to be set aside for further construction. The entire village was small, but there was an obvious eye for it to grow into something more.

Several basements were also being dug out, and Hanahime was surprised to note that there were actually dozens more civilian shinobi here working as labourers.

The foreman, an actual civilian, stood watching with a vaguely stunned expression as buildings were being assembled in record pace with rock, stone and metal in various places.

Hanahime dragged in huge lungfuls of air, resisting the urge to bend and support herself on her knees.

“We have arrived,” repeated the ANBU captain, only to nod and explode in a puff of chakra smoke that caused everyone of the trainees to cough and splutter.

When the air cleared, Hanhime was left confused. What had just happened?

With another blur, someone else appeared within their midst. 

“You’ve arrived,” stated a familiar face.

Hanahime stared. She’d avoided seeking Matsu out since Graduation. She’d seen him about, even once spied him within her compound when he’d come to talk with his student.

There shouldn’t have been enough time between then and now for her not to recognise him but it took a moment of staring to reconcile that yes, this was Matsu.

He’d grown.

He was wearing a Jonin vest over the top of a basic set of royal blue clothes. 

His red hair was long now, almost touching his shoulders with the loosely tied ponytail he had it in. He had a palpable aura of being a larger threat, with his movements being smooth and controlled. 

She’d long since associated such control with the ability to dispense sudden, final violence.

He didn’t so much as pause when his eyes flicked over her, causing her to almost stutter in surprise.

“Excellent, here are your kits,” he said handing out a storage scroll to each of them. “You are to wear these at all times. It will be your uniform. You are allowed to wear your chunin vests if you desire, but I wouldn’t advise it.”

“Y-you want to be the only one th—” The loud Hozuki rasped only to take a moment to suck in some more air. “—that shows off their rank.”

“There’s going to be a lot of blood in the coming days,” Matsu said with a serene smile as he ignored the Hozuki. “Some of it will be yours. I’d suggest wearing the scrubs. It’s easier to clean blood off them.”

Everyone gaped at him. That had to be some of the most chilling words Hanahime had ever heard, and he’d delivered them without so much as batting an eye.

Hanahime found herself swallowing.

Matsu just continued to smile. “There has been a lot of planning that has gone into this, I assure you.” For some reason, the smile grew slightly. “Don’t worry, your success is guaranteed.”

Hanahime frowned. Was it going to be that easy? Was this just a facade for some other mission?

Matsu’s next words disabused her of any note of ease. “Failure is not an option.”

Hanahime felt a shiver run through her body as she stared into eyes that she’d once thought she knew so well. They looked so soulless now.

Perhaps the rumours that Matsu had become Gengetsu’s apprentice weren’t just rumours?

_______________

The sprint towards the training camp was merely a prelude of what was to come.

Alongside the clothing and the chilling warning, Matsu also handed them a schedule for the week.

The schedule started early and ended late. In bold red letters, both the first and last periods of the day were filled with sparring sessions. 

Matsu clapped his hands, causing a bang like thunder. “This training camp will see all of you become Medics and healers. This doesn’t overwrite that you will be shinobi first and foremost. You will spar, and continue to develop your skills individually and together as a group with there being set intervals where scenarios will play out.”

Hanahime blinked at yet another ominous statement. 

“As Medic Shinobi, you will be required to handle and react to our companions while they are in vulnerable, and therefore reactive states. Many will attack you. I want you to take this lesson to heart. You are the first point of care and need to look after yourself. Do that, and then you can see to others. Specifics will follow on how to best handle these situations however.”

Matsu glanced around. “For those who wish to classify as Combat Medics, those who will be in the thick of the fighting, keeping our fellow ninja alive, the ability to fight and defend yourselves will count double.” 

Matsu led them to the village. When they passed various buildings, there were subtle markings hidden above doors, or along windows that correlated to the lessons on their schedule. It made sense from a security perspective. An idle observer wouldn’t be able to discern schedule, or the purpose of various buildings through casual observation.

When they approached a series of homely-looking cabins Matsu waved a hand.  

“Two to a building. There’s a bathroom, bedroom, and study area in each. The dining hall is the only other shared space apart from the communal lecture hall, and the training facilities. Eventually, the lecture hall and other buildingss will see us sharing with other trainees, but it will only be us here learning skills for a few months,” Matsu said flatly. 

“Uhmmm you’ve got us scheduled for hospital construction classes and practicals?” Katara Karatachi asked.

Matsu glanced at her. “As the first class, you’re going to be given a lot of duties once you graduate,” he stated. Hanahime didn’t miss that when he said ‘first class’, he said it with a certain weight. 

“Some of that is going to be in a field, potentially during war, or long missions. Or also potentially for disease management. You might need to create a triage camp, or a reinforced structure, or even a small village like this,” he lectured, indicating the surrounding area.

“There’s going to be discussions with builders and security experts for these, as you will also need to consider other aspects such as patient care and storage.”

With that answer, Hanahime began inspecting the surrounding area with a new awareness. “This isn’t going to be a temporary village… is it?” she asked.

Matsu nodded, glancing at her properly for the first time. “Indeed it is not. Many of the lessons that are to be learnt here will be implemented at the Kirigakure facility, but this site is planned for a controlled site that will be used as the teaching area for the Land of Honey.”

The rest of the tour was wrapped up quickly, with there being so few structures. “Dinner is at six each evening, after sparring with any self-study to be conducted after that. If you are assigned missions, it will be up to you to complete them and then catch up to where we are in the curriculum.”

Matsu gave yet another small smile as he said this. “But again, don’t worry. You won’t be left behind,” he said like a man who promised results.

Hanahime shivered, imagining all the ways they could be ‘motivated’ to learn at the required pace.

“You have two hours before the first sparring session. Rest up, decide among yourselves who’ll be in which cabin,” he stated with a vague wave of his hand as he moved towards the central building, which served as both the lecture hall, main office, and Matsu’s rooms.

Hanahime watched him walk away, wondering if she should approach him.

A small cackle from the loud Hozuki caused her to pause. “Hehehe! Sparring time is going to be fun~.” He leered as he looked at Hanahime with a creepy expression.

Hanahime sniffed and turned towards Katara Karatachi. She raised an eyebrow in silent question.

Instead of falling in at Hanahime’s back, Katara bowed her head in apology and indicated her cousin.

Hanahime cursed mentally only to pause as an older kunoichi approached her. 

“Ahaha, would it be a problem if I housed with you? I’m Ala!” announced the older woman.

“Hanahime Terumi,” Hanahime replied with a quick nod. “I have no issues with that.”

In truth she did, but that was more due to Ala being her second choice.

Still, she was far from her last choice.

The Hozuki paired up with the Yuki to form two cabins creating a civilian cabin, a Karatachi cabin, which left Ala and herself with the final cabin. Stepping in Ala was quick to approach one of the beds and flop down.

“Urgh! That run was like the death sprint of Suna all over again!” she whined.

Hanahime paused in laying out her own things. “Suna? Was that a mission you ran recently?” she probed, hoping to get a better idea of her roommate.

“Pfft! I haven’t been back to Suna since the war ended and I’m thankful for that! No, towards the end of the war I was part of the observation squad sent out there. Served with Matsu during the final rotation.”

“You… served with Matsu?” Hanahime asked, her evaluation of Ala seeing a sudden spike in worth.

“Yeah, he and I worked with a few others under a chunin by the name of En at the end there. En was a bastard but we were able to get him to teach me a few things that I later taught to Matsu!” she said with a puffed up chest.

“Seems he’s taken those teachings a lot further,” Hanahime said carefully, seeing if there was any bad blood between Ala and Matsu.

Ala, rather than getting annoyed, chuckled. “Ah, yeah that’s true. Matsu’s a smart kid. He was always tinkering with some chakra exercise. Never seen someone pick up chakra strings as quickly as him, but he inspired me to up my training and it has helped a lot!”

Hanahime nodded, sitting down but staying ready to react if she needed to.

“What about you? Had you graduated by the end of the war or after?” Ala asked.

“I graduated with Matsu,” Hanahime replied tersely.

“Oh?” Ala perked up only to nod. “Oh, right…the Bloody Graduation, well good work changing the way things run.”

Hanahime blinked. She’d never been thanked for the graduation before. Whenever she thought of that day all could remember was the way her cousin had stared into her eyes with such acceptance.

That small final smile that stayed with her even as… 

Hanahime shivered and shook her head. “I suppose,” she replied. “I was assigned a rear guard mission for the last rotation of the war, running messages and such.”

“Hmmm suppose for a Clan genin that makes sense,” replied Ala. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m grabbing a nap while I can.”

“Aren’t you worried about Matsu throwing a test at us? I remember he liked to be tricky during the academy,” Hanahime probed.

“Hmmm, true, but one thing I learned on the front? Sleep when you can, work when you can and don’t sweat the small stuff, or else you’ll go mad,” Ala replied as she shut her eyes without a hint of concern.

Hanahime couldn’t believe her.

She wet her lips and moved to check the door, finding that it only had a simple latch lock that would have been child’s play to unlock for a shinobi. She turned back to reprimand Ala only for a quiet snore to escape the older woman’s lips.

Hanahime stared.

Then she pouted. 

She hadn’t finished talking!

She moved back to her bed only to give the room another look. With a bit of effort, she shifted where her bed was, so she was against a different wall. She didn’t want to give anyone an easy time by having a similar layout to the other cabins.

Only when she was done with that did she lay down and allow herself a nap.

If those Hozuki thought she was going to be a pushover during sparring, she was going to teach them a lesson! 

When it came time to spar, she marched towards the sparring area eagerly.

When she got there, she noticed she wasn’t the first. 

Strewn around the field were several of the other trainees. 

In the middle Matsu was standing with his hands behind his back. 

“Ah, welcome! Good to see you’re early! In camp medic, early is on time! Remember that!” he called with a smile that was entirely wrong for this situation.

Hanahime continued to stare. 

There had been those rumours floating around about Matsu going and fighting with the Kaguya… the way he was acting… sort of reminded her of them.

Battle maniacs the lot of them.

Had Matsu become more like them with their bloodthirsty ways?

“Sparring today will be against me!” he continued. “We’ll evaluate where you stand and check any shortcomings you might have!” 

Matsu adopted a fighting stance, eyes still glinting with joy while his smile… damn, his smile was nice to look at.

“Are you ready for me?” he asked, and instinct more than any conscious effort on Hanahime’s part forced her into her ready stance.

A moment later, Matsu exploded across the field. 

Instead of slamming into Hanahime, he hammered Ala, sending her flying, only to use the impact from the older kunoichi to bounce back into Hanahime’s flank.

She went tumbling through the air and skidded before twisting and getting back into a fighting position.

“You’re fighting all of us at—” she started to ask, only to recieve her answer as the Hozuki struck at Matsu, only for him to twist out of harm’s way. 

He countered with a small bolt of lightning that saw the Hozuki collapsing into writhing masses. 

Then he was in her face.

He kicked out her legs from underneath her, exposing her position as weak.

Then he stomped her into the dirt like a bug so quickly she only knew it was him by the sudden shadow that fell upon her before she was crushed. Air exploded out of her lungs long with the small meal she’d allowed herself after her nap.

Hanahime felt he vision dimming only for relief to arrive a moment later when the Karatachi struck, forcing Matsu back.

“Lady Terumi!” Katara gasped, her hands fluttering uselessly in front of Hanahime’s face “We will—”

“Do nothing,” cut in Matsu.

Hanahime glanced up to find Matsu holding Koga by the neck while he glared down at Katara.

When had he gotten this strong?

“You don’t have the knowledge on how to treat her. I’ll deal with her in a minute,” he stated.

He hopped to the side, avoiding a spray of water bullets. 

He clicked his tongue. “Oi! Don’t fire at your allies!” he said, and before any response could come from the Hozuki, he vanished only to reappear with his hand plunged into them.

“Lighting Fist jutsu!” he called out loud to let the watery nin know just how much they’d messed up.

Where before they’d writhed, now they spasmed and keened in pain as they fell on the ground. Within seconds, he had the rest of the training cohort ‘down and out’ of the fight. He gave them all a long look before nodding.

“Well, that was what I expected of the first session. We’ll work on that!” he declared with an innocent smile.

Then he smirked. “Lesson time! One of the best perks of being a medic, apart from being able to charge for your services? Being able to heal yourself and keep going. This is an amazing power multiplier to get more from training! I’ve been doing it for years now!” he announced, patting his chest.

“In future, I will be expecting you to patch yourselves back up in real time and get back into the fight. To stay down is to die, so get up and live!”

He glanced around and chuckled. “But most of you don’t know the mystic palm jutsu, let alone how to wield it upon yourselves, but desperation is the best form of motivation, as they say!” He then began moving around with that same damn smile on his lips.

“Sorry about breaking your ribs!” he said as he approached Hanahime. “That must make it hurt to breathe. Remember that feeling cause that's what a lot of your patients will feel when they have the same injuries!” he stated as he laid a glowing green hand upon her back.

Relief flooded through her, and taking a breath of air had never felt so sweet and fulfilling.

She sat up and continued to breath. 

Matsu gave her a pat on the shoulder. “Next time, don’t just account for yourself but your allies. If they’re out of position, that will affect you,” he said, only to move on to give healing and advice to the other trainees.

When everyone was patched up, there was a lingering quiet in the training grounds with Matsu standing in the middle. “Well! That was a start! Going forwards, no trying to hit me through your ally unless you know your ally can take the hit!” he stated, giving the Hozuki a pointed look. 

“Account for your allies as much as you can! Take pressure off where you can so you all have better chances!”

He clapped his hands together. “Remember! In a real fight, you’re not going to know what comes next! Old clan rivalries are cute and all that, but they have cost everyone more than they should, as our enemies have been exploiting it for years!”

“Each evening training session will be like this going forward with the morning session being for you to spar with each other and gain confidence in your skills. Jutsu scrolls will be made available to you if you wish to increase certain skills or cover gaps, but that will require you talking with me and pulling you out of the sparring rotation.”

Matsu clapped his hands once again. “Right! Dinner is in the hall! See you there!” he declared before he exploded in a puff of chakra smoke.

“Someone needs to teach him to use shunshin more effectively!” muttered the Hozuki.

Hanahime scoffed. “He’s always had chakra to spare,” she muttered as she rose. 

She gave the two Karatachi thoughtful looks. They’d initially been standoffish, but when she’d been in danger they’d leapt to her defence. Perhaps relations between the clans weren’t as strained as they had feared?

She signalled for the pair to join her and they fell in with a slight grimace. Her group moved a bit away only for Ala talking with the other civilians to catch her attention.

“—wasn’t a shunshin. I have a bit of skill with sensing, and he vanished!” muttered one of them.

“Maybe you’re just not that good!” muttered another of the civilian nin.

Ala, rather than be derisive, shook her head. “Nah… Matsu knows the shunshin and he’s a maniac when it comes to chakra control. That chakra cloud… that was something else. I’m not sure what, though.”

Ala glanced towards Hanahime. She nodded and jerked her head to the dining hall. When they entered, they found a single long table with benches running along the sides.

Behind a counter, a few servants with odd nets in their hair milled about with huge pots of something that smelt… tasty, but also strange in a way that Hanahime couldn’t put her finger on.

When she approached the counter, an older woman with an eye that didn’t track properly blinked at her. “Spaghetti, meatloaf, or rations from the pack?” rasped the woman, indicating the slabs of what looked like meat with vegetables spread throughout or her pot. 

“Spaghetti?” asked Hanahime, only to have a tray of food heaped with noodles, meat sauce, cheese, and a few cuts of bread with butter and something herbal spread across it.

“Eat up dearie! You’ll need your strength!” rasped the woman with a wink. “Next!” she bellowed.

Hanahime walked away, bewildered by that interaction. She glanced around to find others merrily eating the meal, and she gave it a tentative stab with the fork that came with the tray.

“Huh, tomato sauce,” she mused as she claimed a space for herself. She watched the others reacting to the strange food, amused at how the Hozuki attempted to use chopsticks only for it to end poorly.

The pair growled and marched up to threaten the serving staff only for the old woman to sniff. “No special orders. If you’ve got complaints, take them to your leader,” she said giving them a wave. 

When the Hozuki attempted to loom, the woman didn’t even bat an eye.

“Oh give it a rest Taka! You’re making a fool of yourself!” barked one of the civilian nin. “Just use the fork and eat the food they give you! If not, eat the rations!” 

Once again, Taka Hozuki glowered only for the doors to open and Matsu to enter with Kuroiwa Karatachi. The young kunoichi nodded towards her fellow clansmen but otherwise stayed near Matsu.

“—get the roster of lecturers sorted. There are a few that I want to vet first, so we’re going to have them run a test lecture with me and you. We’ll put them through the ringer before letting them appear before our trainees.”

“We still need to have the trainees pick up the jutsu,” Kuroiwa stated.

“I’ve had the study material deposited in their rooms,” he stated as his gaze shifted towards the Hozuki. “I have to give all of you props for the traps you set up in your rooms. They were rather fun to disarm.”

“But we were in them and then you were at the training field… those traps should have taken you a while to get through,” murmured one of the Hozuki.

Matsu merely chuckled. “Oh, there are ways,” he replied casually, only to plop himself down and begin devouring the food.

He and Kuroiwa ran through several more mission-critical details without any concern for how everyone was listening in. Supply drop-offs, amounts, pricing, and even dates that they needed to liaise with the local Daimyo were all tossed back and forth.

Matsu finished quickly and rose, stacking his plate before depositing it upon another counter where he thanked the staff only to march away without a backwards glance.

Kuroiwa stared down at her own half-completed meal before sighing. “He eats way too quickly without spilling any.” She quickly slurped up her meal down and copied him. 

As she left, she tossed over her shoulder. “Make sure you get the first few chapters read up tonight! They will help for tomorrow’s lessons!” she called.

Hanahime stared after them. It would seem everything in this training camp was going to be conducted at a breakneck speed. 

She finished her own meal and matched Matsu’s example. She wasn’t surprised that the Hozuki left their plates, waving for the serving staff to see to their mess.

She shook her head and sighed but focused on other things, like seeing what awaited her back in her room. It was annoying to realise she had been outdone by the Hozuki with trapping her room. 

Within, she found a large stack of books, scrolls and posters laid out for her perusal.

Ala came after her, only to perk up at the stack. She grabbed one off the top and flipped through it quickly. “Oh! Neat! He’s updated this text!” she said causing Hanahime to pause in her reading.

“Updated?” she asked. 

Ala coughed. “Ah, well, I’ve had access to the first book on anatomy, but it only had muscles, skeleton, lymph, chakra coils, and nervous system. This one looks thicker. It also has more diagrams!” 

Ala’s gaze turned to a scroll. “Hmmm I’ve already know the mystic palm jutsu but he’s included some interesting notes on its use. ”

Hanahime rubbed her forehead. That hadn’t been something she’d been made aware of. Matsu was sharing jutsu? The way Ala said it made it sound like he was handing out other jutsu which… how had he gotten hold of such a number?

Questions were starting to mount, but thankfully, it seemed Ala had quite the set of loose lips on her. Hanahime felt like there were going to be a lot of chances to get more insight into whatever Matsu had been doin,g along with what was going on with the civilian ninja of late.

“Did that happen—”

“Hmmm Mystic Palm Jutsu, Diagnosis Jutsu, Scalpel jutsu, and a Spark Jutsu? Huh that’s a new one I’ve not heard of used in a medical setting,” Ala muttered aloud as she haphazardly picked through the scrolls.

Hanahime felt her head snap to her own pile to see that she had identical scrolls.

That was the most jutsu scrolls she’d ever been handed in one instance, and Matsu had done that for all ten trainees?

Hanahime sat down, slowing starting to feel overwhelmed at how much Matsu expected them to learn. 

How was he planning to get them to learn everything he had laid out?

It seemed too much!

The earlier statement of ‘Failure not being an option’ struck her as much more ominous. She foresaw one of the most tiring missions she’d ever been on ahead of her.

As long as she survived, she’d be in at the ground floor of the medic program.

She gave the books another look and felt her brain curl into itself defensively. 

Best to get started. If this was day one, she wasn’t sure what day two was going to bring, but she was going to meet it with her best foot forward.

_______________

A.N. Thanks go to my patreons for your continued support.

If the village seemed a bit lackluster for an entire month’s work on it, well let’s just say that it’s more than meets the eye and leave it at that!