42

After Haru left, he couldn't help but sigh. While his effects on Nawaki were mostly positive, there were still some negative ones that lingered.

Nawaki had grown in those years, and his rushed and impulsive character had calmed down a little. But another issue had arisen: his dependence on Haru.

'I have been helping him train all these years, and he is used to it by now,' he thought to himself. Whenever Nawaki faced a problem, he would find Haru to help him. Now it has just formed into a habit.

Haru looked at the horizon as if he were looking into the future. 'I want a reliable clan head, not a puppet that I can control.'

The next day, He went to the hospital as usual. But today was considered his lucky day, as his supervisor had a patient with a broken bone who needed help.

"Haru-kun, what do you think of the injury?" asked his supervisor, Mashita.

Haru approached the patient lying on the bed, his eyes scanning the area around the injury with a focused intensity.

He observed the injury with great care, taking note of its location, shape, and severity. Satisfied with his initial observations, he then turned his attention to the rest of the patient's body, searching for any signs of secondary injuries.

After carefully examining the patient and confirming no other injuries, Haru returned to the site of the injury.

He gently palpated the area, feeling for any abnormalities, while assessing the severity of the broken bone. His touch was both gentle and firm, and he paid close attention to the patient's reactions to ensure he was not causing any discomfort or pain.

After a few minutes, he finished and said, "He must have broken his wrist from a fall. It seems he didn't position his hands properly and put all his body weight on his arm."

Mashita's eyes twitched at the description, but she tried not to show her disbelief and nodded calmly to Haru.

Haru wasn't much better, but thanks to his indifferent face, it was easier for him. 'How can you injure yourself from a fall in the ninja world, for God's sake?' he thought, looking at the patient who seemed to be middle-aged.

Mashita cleared her throat and asked, "What do you think the treatment plan should be?"

Haru replied immediately, "We can use a variation of the Chiyute no Jutsu (Healing Hands Technique) to boost the body's healing around the wrist. With a cast, it can heal on its own in 10 to 15 days."

Mashita agreed with the plan and said, "Then you do it, Haru-kun," giving Haru the chance to practice.

Haru nodded and took a seat before starting to use the jutsu.

Mashita stood beside Haru and observed carefully, ready to stop him if he made any mistakes.

Haru's hand was now enveloped in a small ball of healing chakra, and he gently placed it on the patient's wrist. This technique was a variant of the C-ranked jutsu, Healing Hands, which was used to heal broken bones by boosting the calcium level in the body, thus aiding in bone healing.

While the jutsu is powerful enough to heal the bone instantly, using it in a milder form is a better choice for non-ninja patients. Most doctors used it this way when dealing with normal civilians.

The process was quick, and within a few minutes, Haru finished the jutsu and proceeded to apply a cast to the patient's hand. He then gave the patient some instructions on what to be careful about. "Thank you, doctor, it's not hurting as much," the patient said before leaving.

Haru nodded, then continued working through the day, treating simple wounds. So far, he had mostly been treating normal patients.

At the hospital, it is only the older doctors who are qualified to treat ninja injuries because they tend to be severe and require a higher level of skill and chakra control, especially in the event of a ninja chakra flare. Despite his time at the hospital, Haru had not yet treated a ninja.

After he finished his work for the day, Haru went to a medical ninja from the clan he knew and asked him to take his shift for the day after tomorrow and the one after that since tomorrow was his rest day.

'I did some shifts for him before, this could be seen as me using them to take a vacation,' he thought.

It had been a while since he had just gone to work at the hospital and done his research, so he decided to change the atmosphere and do some tasks. He had already asked Kazuki yesterday, and she said they had a task to do today, which was just what he wanted.

Haru decided to leave a clone in the clan to continue his research and act as a stand-in if anyone wanted to know the reason for his absence from the hospital.

After he had prepared all his tools, he created a shadow clone and asked, "You know what to do, right?"

The clone nodded and said, "I will stay in the workplace and work until you are back."

Haru hummed before he went out to their meeting place. Before he even got there, he felt a second type of chakra that he had never felt before.

'So, this task needs three people. This sure is going to be fun,' he thought.

Haru landed beside the two masked men. One nodded at Haru, then said, "Five, this is Three," pointing to the other masked man. Three nodded at Haru and remained silent. Haru also nodded back then observed the man slightly.

Three was taller than One but more slim. This was all He noticed, as everything else was the same, thanks to the unified hairstyle and clothes.

After introducing the two, One continued, "The task this time is more complicated. We need the three of us to finish it."

Then, like last time, he took a scroll and threw it at Haru. But this time, the information inside wasn't complete.

One knew what Haru was going to ask, so he said, "I'm the commander this time. I will give tasks according to the mission."

Right after that, the three left the clan and went behind the village, leaving from a different point than before.

'At this pace, we are going to be there in just an hour or two,' Haru thought halfway through the journey.

He looked at the two people who were in front of him, then at the blurry scenery. 'This task is different from before. From the lack of information to this pace, the customer is in a hurry, huh?'

Unlike Haru's last task, their current destination wasn't a small town. It was a big one, almost a city. Haru could see the big buildings even from here.

One stopped the group when they got close to the big town and ordered, "Gather information about the noble Murano, and gather before 10." After finishing his instructions, he strode into the town.

Both Haru and Three looked at each other for a few seconds, then they went their separate ways.

Haru made his way to the outskirts of the town, where he used Henge no Jutsu to blend in with the crowds entering the city.

The town was bustling with activity, with vendors hawking their wares and people rushing about their business.

Haru entered one of the busiest restaurants and took a seat at the side. The restaurant was dimly lit and crowded, with the clatter of dishes and chatter of diners filling the air.

He ordered some food, and while he was eating, all his senses were in full use, especially his hearing. He listened intently to the snippets of conversation around him, trying to pick out any mention of the noble Murano.

After filtering out the noise, he finally heard the name he wanted. Haru focused his hearing on the table to his left, where three men were talking about his target and listened carefully.

"Did you guys hear the news?" one of the men asked.

"Are you talking about Murano-sama?"

"Yeah, when I passed his mansion, I noticed a lot of servants and maids cleaning the whole place," he said.

The third man smiled and said to his friends, "Your information is outdated. Just now, I bumped into one of my friends who was driving a carriage full of goods. He said he was going to deliver it to Murano-sama's mansion."

The three people continued to gossip for some time, and Haru listened to everything until he gathered all the information he needed. He then paid for his meal before leaving the restaurant.

From their conversation, Haru knew where the target's house was. He looked around cautiously before he entered an empty alley.

As he walked through the alley, a man in his 20s went in but never came out. The person who emerged from the other side was a middle-aged man in his 40s. In this busy place, no one noticed.

Haru continued visiting different restaurants and izakayas, and sure enough, he found that Murano was the talk of the town that day. Everyone was discussing the strange behavior inside his mansion.

After visiting multiple places, Haru finally went to the target's place, but he was stopped even before he could get close.

Three guards stood there, blocking the road to the noble house and forbidding anyone from getting closer.

Haru, not wanting to draw attention to himself, changed his route and turned a corner before dispelling his transformation.

'Someone important is going to visit,' he thought. From the food to the cleaning and the guards he had just seen, everything pointed in that direction.

Now that the sun had set and night had begun, Haru continued gathering information in the darkness.

He looked at the large mansion one last time before heading back to the busy town. 'I can still find some information outside. There is sure to be a ninja guarding the noble, and now the security is tight,' he thought.

While he could easily gather information by infiltrating the mansion, Haru chose not to do so as he believed he could still gather information from outside.

'With the amount of ruckus they caused today and the number of people going in and out, surely someone has spilled who the guest is,'

Haru made a list of the names he had heard about the vendor who delivered the goods, and went looking for each one.

It took almost two hours, but Haru finally found all of them. He used some simple genjutsu to obtain all the information they had.

Checking the time, Haru noticed that it was close to their gathering time. He went to the place where they had disbanded and waited for the other two to arrive.