Chapter 26

At first, the former Anbu merely raised an eyebrow in question, but then she realized what I was talking about, and her quite pleasant, though usually frowning, face lit up with hope. After all, for a chakra user, becoming crippled is far more terrifying than for an ordinary person.

— "Of course, don't expect to use the new limb immediately after the operation, unlike an eye," — I warned her, — "but after a few treatment sessions, it will be like your own."

— "Like new?"

— "Well, you'll have to get used to having a hand again after such a long time and work on rebuilding the atrophied muscles for a while, but that's the only downside," — I shrugged and placed the ticket with the date and time I had obtained from my pocket on the desk. — "I've already scheduled the time for the second half of Wednesday at the registration desk, so don't be late."

— "Thank you," — Suzuka put so much feeling into those simple words that I felt a bit uncomfortable.

The sad truth for nearly every practicing iryō-nin (medical ninja) is the lack of gratitude from most patients — if your job is to treat people, few will thank you for what should be taken for granted. And considering that some individuals are eager to escape as soon as possible from medical care without being fully healed, I sometimes have to threaten patients to keep them in bed until they are completely recovered.

— "You're welcome," — I nodded to her and, glancing at my watch, began to say goodbye. — "Unfortunately, I can't stay and chat, as I've only escaped from the hospital for lunch and need to return now. All the best, and see you in two days."

Descending to the first floor, I went outside and suppressed the urge to let out a resigned groan — the little ones had already eaten and were now playing outside under the supervision of the caretakers.

— "Ryo-nii-sama!"

One of the little rascals spotted me, and soon all thirty or so children aged two to seven, both boys and girls, swarmed around me from all sides, clinging to my clothes. Snorting at the women laughing at my predicament, I sighed and crouched down, towering over the surrounding children by almost two heads, and ruffled the nearest ones on their heads.

— "Hey there, little bandits. I hope you're listening to the caretakers?"

— "Yes!!!"

Shaking my head a bit to clear the ringing in my ears from the loud cheer of the kids, I sighed and opened a small bag of sweets (small for me, but enough for thirty or so of the little ones to snack on).

— "In that case, for your good behavior, I'm leaving this bag of sweets with Nuri-san, which you'll get with your tea at dinner," — I handed the gift to the woman who had immediately appeared beside me, to the collective disappointed groan of the children. — "Unfortunately, I still have plenty of tasks, so goodbye for now."

The children fell silent, looking disappointed.

— "But can we play?" — piped up a tiny blond girl with huge tearful eyes. The determination not to waste chakra this time took a physical hit from such a sight, and when the others joined in, making pleading faces, the parent instinct that had awoken instantly roared into action, leaving me no choice but to give in.

— "Alright, alright, you can play," — I sighed, gathering the minimal amount of chakra necessary to perform the technique.

A shadow clone appeared, ready to entertain the children, and after waving goodbye to everyone, I hurried to leave the playground in front of the orphanage before they could drag me into their games as well. The clone would keep them occupied for a couple of hours, which was more than enough.

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