Chapter 22 - Brain damage

"Hey, Arakan..." Ryu greeted his co-worker with a hesitant smile. Arakan shot a nasty look in Ryu's direction but didn't say a word. Ryu, feeling the weight of the silence, decided to address the elephant in the room.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't come to wake you up, but I had things under control, and you needed to rest," Ryu said, trying to explain his actions. Arakan's expression didn't change as he responded, "That's no excuse. I gave you an instruction as your supervisor, and you ignored it!"

Ryu ran his fingers through his hair, sighing. "Well, that's true, but I did honestly have things under control..."

Arakan crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing. "And that leads me to my next problem with you: why did you lie? You hid your skills from me, for no reason that I can comprehend! You told us you had no practical skills, only to show your capabilities after I was completely exhausted! Was it some kind of play?"

"No, I-" Ryu stammered, trying to find the right words. "At the start, I didn't plan on helping those patients more than I needed to." The two were standing in the hospital's dimly lit hallway, surrounded by the painful groans of the patients.

"So why did you?" Arakan inquired, his voice impatient. Ryu hesitated before confessing, "It's... because of you. I heard stories about you holding up the hospital almost single-handedly. When I saw you nearly kill yourself for the patients, I couldn't just continue and do nothing. Don't get me wrong, I don't like you, and your personality's dog shit, but I respect your efforts." Ryu looked Arakan in the eyes, revealing his sincerity.

Arakan seemed taken aback, unsure of how to react to Ryu's words. He tried to hide his confusion, but the surprise was evident on his face. Was he insulted or complimented? Maybe both?

"Anyway, that's what happened. Are you satisfied now?" Ryu asked, breaking the silence. "Yes?" Arakan answered, still in a daze. "Good, then let's keep working. This is getting embarrassing." Ryu said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Actually, before that, answer me this: where do you stand now?" Arakan asked, his tone more serious. "Huh?" Ryu furrowed his brow, confused by the question. "Now that you've revealed your skills, will you use them to their full ability? Will you truly devote yourself to your job?" Arakan clarified.

Ryu pondered for a moment before answering, "Well, I won't use my full capabilities, but I'll still help patients to a degree that it won't matter much." He decided honesty was the best approach. Arakan sighed, "At least you're committed. Now we can continue. Follow me; a new patient arrived. Akina said he suffers from a severe infection near his eyes. Apparently, the idiot didn't treat a Kuni wound. At first, it was a small scratch, but now the area is so swollen that he can't even open his eyes."

"Wait, we're going already?!" Ryu exclaimed, surprised by the sudden change of pace. "We're behind schedule. We'll need to jog between patients to keep up. Let's go." Arakan said as he began to run, leaving Ryu no choice but to follow.

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"*Huff* How do you have the *Huff* stamina?" Ryu asked, panting after several hours of running between patients. Fortunately, due to Ryu's efforts the previous night, all the patients were in good condition, and Arakan didn't need to use his Medical Ninjutsu.

Suddenly, a masked man in robes appeared beside them. "Arakan and Ryu, there's an urgent patient that just arrived. He suffered severe brain damage and can't wait for treatment! Follow me!" The man in the dog mask urged them. Without hesitation, Arakan and Ryu sprang into action and began to run after the man. "How severe are we talking about?" Arakan asked.

"He suffered a serious impact to his cerebellum; the cause of injury is unknown. If he's left untreated, he could lose his motor function. Akina began treatment as soon as she could, but I'm unaware of what progress she made," the man reported.

"I understand. Ryu, I don't know the extent of your technique; is it useful in this situation?" Arakan questioned. "No. My Medical Ninjutsu is mostly useless here. I think the Mystic Palm is the only viable option here, at least I can't think of a better one," Ryu informed. "I agree with you, but the brain is incredibly sensitive, so when using any kind of Jutsu on the brain, it needs to be done with incredible care. I hoped you had something up your sleeve since you're the only one who can observe the brain in great detail with your analysis Jutsu," Arakan said as the two arrived before Akina.

"Great, you two arrived," Akina replied, drenched in sweat. "I managed to take care of the internal bleeding in the brain, and he's somewhat stable. Though the internal bleeding did worsen the situation, the cerebellum is almost ripped apart." Akina informed the duo. "Ryu, examine it," Arakan said. "I can't, I need a direct line of sight, I don't have X-ray vision. If I can't see the brain, then I won't be able to analyze it."

"Damn, then this is going to be difficult! Akina, I'll start healing the cerebellum while you recover. Ryu, you continue to do rounds in the clinic; we can't have all of us in here with no one patrolling," Arakan said.

"That sounds good; I'll get going," Ryu said as he exited the room and began to walk away. An idea suddenly popped into his mind. "Daisuke!" Ryu called out once he was far enough. "Yeah?" The man in question appeared behind him. "Are we alone?" Ryu inquired. "Yes," Daisuke said, his expression hidden behind the mask. "That's good; I need you to survey the patients. I want to get this over with and help Arakan and Akina as soon as possible, so please give me a list of the important ones," Ryu said as he was about to enter a patient's room. "...Sure," Daisuke replied before disappearing in a flash. 'Great. Now that he's gone, let's test out 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 theory' Ryu thought.

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How are you all? I know the clinic chapters are a little lackluster, but things are going to heat up very soon. Also, next chapter you will truly see how broken the Transformation Jutsu is. Like what I'm about to do feels illegal. I'm actually considering to release the chapter today, so if enough people comment that they want it/give me precious stones I'll release it today.