Chapter 20: 18: Descending into the Bloody Mist

"Dammit!" Naruto-kun cursed as he tried again to create an illusionary clone only for it to come out looking rather weak and feeble. "Why can't I get this right?"

I smiled encouragingly at him. "Well, I guess that means you're just not that good with fine chakra control," I told him comfortingly. "I'll try asking Sarutobi-sama if he knows any other clone techniques you can learn."

Naruto-kun pouted a bit in response. "But… I don't want to disappoint you with not being able to learn your techniques…" he admitted reluctantly, not meeting my eyes.

"Naruto-kun, you would never disappoint me, I saw you putting in your every effort to learn everything I tried to teach you," I assured him. "Even if you can't learn my techniques, that just means you must create your own."

Naruto-kun blushed a bit before nodding. "Then I'll make the best damn jutsu you will ever see!" he declared proudly making me smile cheerfully at him.

"I know you will," I assured him with a chuckle. "How about you work on splitting the leaf for now while I help the others with their training?"

Naruto-kun nodded eagerly before running over to one of the trees in the Uchiha training ground and running up it to grab a leaf to do his Wind Nature Manipulation training.

Looking away, I grinned at Sasuke who was working on igniting a leaf with his fire chakra, managing to get some wisps of smoke emanating for it, my eyes came to a rest on the pink hair of Sakura as she walked into the training field. "Ah, good morning, Sakura-chan," I greeted her cheerfully, getting a somewhat nervous smile from her. "Ready to continue your training?"

"Yes, Yuriko-sensei," Sakura-chan confirmed, her face becoming determined. "What are we working on today?"

I smirked at her a bit before tossing her a wooden kodachi. "Self-defense," I told her firmly. "Being able to heal your allies is all well and good, but, it is of no use if they are getting killed by nearby enemies while you are trying to avoid getting hurt."

Sakura-chan stared at the wooden blade in her hand for several moments before meeting my firm gaze with a small gulp, letting out a firm breath she settled herself and tried to mimic my stance. Humming, I looked her over carefully, making adjustments to her stance, changing her grasp minutely. "Alright, step and swing, maintaining the stance," I instructed, watching her carefully. "Once you have swung, step back into the proper stance."

I made a slow slash of my own, giving her an example as to what it should look like. "Don't worry about doing it quickly at first, take your time, and you will gradually speed up a bit," I told her gently. "Don't worry about messing up, I'm not expecting perfection."

Sakura-chan nodded before following my orders. "Um… what about Tsunade-sama's rules for Iryo-nin to avoid fighting?" she questioned nervously, slowly going through the motions of the slash.

"Do you know how many actually listen to that?" I questioned dryly. "Iryo-nin developed their own fighting style for a reason. While I will always defer to Tsunade with medical matters, many of us refuse to allow our skills as shinobi to falter simply because we wish to heal our comrades. Sometimes, however, the only way we can save lives, is to take them."

Sakura-chan swallowed tightly at my admission. "So… you don't follow the rules? But… aren't they the… well… rules?" she asked nervously.

I snorted in response. "They are not the ironclad rules of the Iryo-nin," I told her firmly. "While I admit many do join the medical corps because they dislike fighting, but still wish to aid their comrades, but, like with two different taijutsu masters of differing styles, every Iryo-nin is different. The best example would be myself and Tsunade; I am fully dedicated to being a combat medic, I will fight beside my comrades to ensure their health. Tsunade is a support medic, she fights at the rear lines, dealing with the serious injuries that us front liners can't deal with without distracting us from dangerous enemies."

"W-what are you training me to be?" Sakura-chan asked me with nervous eyes.

"Whatever you want to be," I told her firmly. "You could follow Tsunade's support role, my own front line role, or even create your own role. All I am doing, is giving you the skills you will need to succeed while being able to defend yourself."

Sakura-chan relaxed slightly as she continued to swing the wooden kodachi. "I see," she vocalized. "If… if you don't mind me asking… why does it sound like you don't like Tsunade-sama?"

I blinked in surprise as I realized she had picked up on my own feelings from talking about Tsunade's 'rules'. "That is a personal reason," I told her reassuringly. "I disagree with her on a professional level because of how she tries to heavy hand her own method as what all Iryo-nin should be," I shook my head at the thought. "In my opinion, that would lead to stagnation in the medical field in general."

"Because we would all be following the exact same method and those who have difficulty with it would be left behind?" Sakura theorized, getting a grin from me.

"Exactly," I confirmed with a proud nod. "Myself, I could never just stand back when everyone is fighting on the front lines, so if we were all to be following only Tsunade's method, I would never succeed as an Iryo-nin."

"So you don't follow the rules so that you can flourish with your own skills," Sakura said, speaking more to herself than to me.

I smiled a bit as she continued to work on the form with the wooden kodachi I gave her, idly wondering if this is how my brother had felt when he was teaching me. Shaking my head, I turned to Sasuke-kun who looked like he was struggling a bit with the fire manipulation training.

"Sasuke-kun, you won't be able to ignite the leaf like that," I told him gently as he tossed a dried out leaf away. "You have to convert the chakra before you push it into the leaf."

Sasuke-kun gave a grunt of frustration to tell me he heard me as he began trying to do as I said, making me smile a bit. It always surprised me, despite their initial appearances it was Sasuke-kun who was the impatient one while Naruto-kun, who could barely sit still when doing nothing, who could intently focus on his training without pause.

My cousin was impatient when it came to learning new techniques and quickly became frustrated when he wasn't able to get it right away. I suppose that would come when you spent much of your younger life idolizing your genius older brother, especially so when that brother turns traitor and some idiots looked at him as if he would repeat Itachi's actions.

Fucking idiots.

Still, I made sure to get his head cleared when his frustration got to be too much or when his anger spiked too much.

I will never allow Itachi to sink his stupid thoughts into Sasuke-kun's head, that twisted idea to make him stronger by making him suffer, I will crush it underfoot while providing my little brother stability and family so that he will always have something to return home to.

And fuck anyone who tries to take my family from me.

Because they will find themselves facing me, and I will not go easy on any of them, no matter what their reason is, even if it was to save the world.

Danzo had found that out the hard way.

I looked away from Sasuke and out to Konohagakure proper, my eyes narrowing a bit. It was like Sarutobi-sama said, Konoha… is the family for all Konoha Shinobi, so for Konoha I would become a monster that others fear, so that my family is safe.

Turning away I smiled down at Sasuke-kun who was looking up at me with a frustrated pout and put those thoughts out of my mind for the time being. Right now, the monster that is Konoha's Bloody Scalpel wasn't needed, all that is needed is Yuriko Uchiha.

Times of peace like this, I can be myself.

"You have a mission for me, Sarutobi-sama?" I asked the elderly Hokage of the Hidden Leaf as I stood before him, it was pretty obvious he wanted me to deploy on a mission since he told me to leave Madoka-chan with Roshi.

"I do," Sarutobi-sama nodded in confirmation, giving me a severe look. "How aware are you of the situation in Kiri right now?"

"Just that they are undergoing a civil war based on the bloodline purges," I admitted with a shrug. While Kirigakure was trying to keep that knowledge hidden, the fact that they refused to host the chunin exams, only sent out a single team to any exam, a team that didn't have any kekkei genkai users on it, and that they hadn't taken on any missions for a long period of time, spelt it out pretty clearly. "And that by this point they are pretty much bankrupt from the lack of missions they're doing."

"Indeed, and I have just received word from the teams scouring ROOT's records, that the rebel faction has been trying to get a hold of me for some time now," Sarutobi-sama revealed, getting a raised eyebrow from myself. "Danzo thought that Kiri was better off in the mess of the Civil War they are in the midst of right now, refusing to look at the long term on what should happen should the Mizukage actually succeed in his purge of kekkei genkai users. He would see himself as correct, and look outside of Kirigakure to continue his purge, and with us having the large collection of kekkei genkai users in the elemental nations, we would doubtless be targeted next."

"What do you plan on doing, Sarutobi-sama?" I asked him curiously.

"Well… I will be meeting with the leader of the rebels in Nami no Kuni along with Onoki who has expressed interest in seeing the war in Kiri end before it spreads further," Sarutobi-sama explained calmly. "You will be my escort for this meeting."

"Of course, Sarutobi-sama," I replied, bowing a bit in response to his order. "When do we leave?"

"In an hour," Sarutobi-sama announced, garnering a blink from me. "This is being kept top secret," ah that explained it. "So tell no one where we are going and why. Meet me at the eastern sub gate when you have your gear."

I gave him a quick salute in response. "Yes, Hokage-sama!" I confirmed before vanishing out of his opened window with a quick [Inaba Flicker] as a popup window appeared before me.

MANDATORY QUEST!

Give aid to the Kirigakure Bloodline Rebellion

OBJECTIVE

Ensure the Rebels emerge victorious against the Loyalists

REWARD

+50,000 EXP, +15,000 Reputation with the Reformed Kirigakure, 1,000,000 Ryo

BONUS OBJECTIVE

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REWARD

?

?

Huh, been awhile since I've seen a mandatory quest like this. Then again, I had been rather busy with my family.

Closing the notification window I rushed across the rooftops with only the rushing of displaced air indicating my passage as I made my way to my home.

Landing on my porch I entered into the living room to find Roshi watching the TV with Madoka-chan snoozing on his chest. "Mission?" he asked, seeing the serious look on my face.

"Yeah, might be a long one too," I replied, giving him an apologetic smile before kissing him fondly and brushing my lips across Madoka-chan's deep red hair. "Give my love to Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun when they get back?"

"Of course, and I will let Suzuha know that you're going to be away for an undetermined amount of time," Roshi assured with a chuckle, standing up very carefully so that Madoka-chan wouldn't wake up. "She can take care of most of the paperwork, if I remember correctly there shouldn't be anything major coming up, correct?"

I paused in thought for a moment. "Aishi-kun is graduating from the academy next week," I said as I moved through the small armory we had set up in the house - with several seals on the door to keep Madoka-chan from getting in - collecting my assorted gear and strapping my kodachi to my leg. "Well… if he actually studies for the written test he will anyways."

Roshi chuckled in amusement. "I think his mother will be on his case for that," he assured me as I began checking my fuinjutsu supplies. "Your mother and Suzuha can keep the clan going while you're away."

I smiled softly at him as I placed my supplies into a scroll and slid it into my equipment pouch. "Thank you," I said gratefully kissing him again, the arm that wasn't holding Madoka-chan wrapped around my shoulder and held me in a gentle embrace as we kissed. "I love you," I whispered quietly to him after our lips parted.

His bearded face split into a grin in response. "I love you too," he replied kissing me again briefly before stepping away to allow me to continue to get ready. "Come home safe," he told me as I pulled on my now signature jacket.

"Always," I assured, smiling brightly at him before leaping off towards the sub-gate that I was to meet Sarutobi-sama at.

Our arrival at Nami no Kuni was rather… quiet to be honest, which really wasn't a surprise, since we were both high level shinobi who didn't want to be seen in the country, and quite simply no one did see our arrival until we met up with the Tsuchikage and, surprisingly, Han-san.

"Getting slow in your old age, Sarutobi?" Onoki questioned teasingly as he floated beside Sarutobi-sama.

"Hardly, I just enjoy viewing the scenery," my leader replied easily as Han-san and I clasped hands in greeting.

"Hello, Han-san, how have you been?" I greeted politely as our leaders began to converse with one another.

"Good, actually," Han-san informed, sounding rather… content. "Things have been… improving in Iwagakure since the alliance, and your marriage, how are Roshi and Madoka doing?"

I smiled at my daughter's godfather warmly. "They've been great," I assured him. "Madoka-chan loves the stuffed doll of Kokuo you sent, can't go to sleep without it."

Despite his face being covered it was obvious the jinchuriki was happily relieved that his gift had been well received. "Good, the woman who made it was rather surprised at my request, actually," he admitted with a small cough as he looked away, drawing a giggle out of me at his bashfulness. "And Naruto? How has his training been? I know he was still trying to get Kurama to open up when I returned to Iwa."

"Well, he's gotten Kurama to speak with him a bit," I said, rolling my shoulders a bit as I frowned. "Apparently their conversations are lasting longer every time they speak, so, I don't know how long until he can safely access Kurama's chakra, or if he will let Naruto-kun safely access his chakra."

Han-san nodded his understanding. "From what Kokuo was saying, Kurama is rather… obstinate," he commented with a sigh. "But, I suppose if anyone could, it would be Naruto, kid could make friends with a shark."

Laughter bubbled up from within at the jinchuriki's statement as my shoulders shook. "Fair enough," I replied mirthfully, grinning at him cheerfully before my active sharingan caught some nearby movement. "Company," I murmured to him, my hand twitching, the stiffening of Sarutobi-sama's shoulders and the narrowing of Onoki's eyes told me they caught my signal.

All of our heads turned to the tree line as a pair made their way out of the trees and made their way towards us, Mei Terumi taking the lead in her signature blue dress and her long russet red hair pulled into a ponytail, next to her was Ao with his blue and black outfit and eyepatch covering his implanted Byakugan and the talismans he uses to protect the eye hanging from his ears.

"Hokage-sama and … Tsuchikage-sama, I must admit I am surprised by your presence here," Mei announced, blinking in surprise at the sight of the Tsuchikage and Han-san. "I had heard of your alliance, but I didn't think you would be here as well."

"Considering how the brat that's wearing the kage hat in your country is acting, I would rather nip this in the bud before it becomes too dangerous," Onoki commented wryly in response, looking the two rebels over carefully. "I recognize the both of you, Mei Terumi, one of the very few to ever possess two kekkei genkai, and Ao, a man who managed to implant a working Byakugan."

I glanced over to Sarutobi-sama who was remaining stoic, not even twitching at Onoki's announcement, before turning my gaze back to the pair.

"So, what exactly is it you are hoping for with this meeting, Terumi-san?" Sarutobi-sama questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Assistance," Terumi-san announced firmly. "As we are right now, the rebels cannot attain victory against Yagura's loyalist faction."

"And what exactly would we get out of assisting you?" Onoki questioned, an irritated frown on his face. "Even if we don't agree with his actions, he still has yet to have done anything to our nation's, and our Daimyo will question our decision."

Terumi-san swallowed tightly as she took in a careful breath. "If we succeed in killing Yagura and take control of Kirigakure, we will be willing to sign a full alliance treaty with your nations and several high level jutsu scrolls," she informed, her lips a thin line as Sarutobi-sama and Onoki looked at her impassively. "We are also authorized by the Daimyo to offer trade treaties as well as favored nation status with Mizu no Kuni."

The two kage's shared a long look with one another, communicating through extremely subtle gestures that I only caught thanks to my long association with Sarutobi-sama. All in all… this could be highly valuable to our nations, namely Hi no Kuni and Tsuchi no Kuni. The question was, would it be worth the manpower?

"That is agreeable," Sarutobi-sama announced, Terumi-san sagging lightly in relief as Ao closed his visible eye briefly. "For the time being we will be sending Yuriko-chan and Han-san to give us a more accurate summation of what will be needed."

I didn't even twitch at his announcement, simply turned my eyes to Han-san for a brief moment before turning back to my leader for my orders.

"Just the two of them?" Ao voiced, bringing my attention to him. "Sure, she might be a halfway decent Iryo-nin and he might be a decent taijutsu specialist, but we need strong shinobi, not your cast off-"

"I would advise you shut your mouth before you say something to ruin any chance of getting any assistance, Ao-san," I spoke up, cutting him off, turning to him I gave him an obviously false smile. "Or did the fact that I nearly killed more than half of the first iteration of your vaunted Seven Swordsmen go over your head? Watch your tongue."

Ao looked ready to speak again before I decided to nip it in the bud and flared my sharingan to life and let out a surge of my Intent to Kill.

In simple words, basically, I took all of those dark, furious emotions that I've experienced in my life, and focused them all onto Ao-san. And I've had a lot of experiences that have made me angry in the past. There was also the fact the users chakra level had an effect on the pressure it created, and my [Gamer] power quantifies my chakra points as 37,900, which is the most I have seen outside of Roshi and Han-san, who both had around 40,000 CP each thanks to their Jinchuuriki status.

When the pressure was presented to someone, it struggles against their chakra to affect them, and considering my most definitely dwarfed Ao-san's, it really wasn't surprising that he collapsed to his knees from the pressure my Intent pressed onto him. "I didn't earn an S-ranking in the bingo book for my ability to heal my allies," I hissed at him dangerously, my base sharingan eyes spinning furiously. "I wasn't made the leader of my clan simply because I am able to heal them, the Daimyo doesn't have me on his short list because I am a decent Iryo-nin, Ao-san. I am the Sword-Scalpel of Konohagakure, and during the Third War, I have killed many people, ask them if I am just a decent Iryo-nin."

"I think he gets the point, Yuriko-chan," Sarutobi-sama announced, cutting my pressure short as he placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Of course, Sarutobi-sama," I replied, dismissing my sharingan as I stepped back in line with Han-san.

"My apologies for my subordinate's careless words," Terumi-san said with a small bow to the two of us. "He has a tendency to speak without thinking."

"I'm sorry for my overreaction," I replied, bowing politely to the rebel leader. "My temper has a tendency to get the better of me from time to time."

Sarutobi-sama let out an odd sound that sounded like he was trying to cover a laugh with some coughing as he looked away, covering his mouth with his hand as his shoulders shook a bit.

"Temper… getting the better of you? Never," Han-san quipped sarcastically getting an elbow from me as he chuckled.

Sarutobi-sama coughed, as he recovered his composure and looked at me carefully. "Please send word when you arrive as to the rebel base and you have assessed what they need," he instructed me sternly, getting a nod in return as Onoki addressed Han-san.

"You have one job, ensure Yuriko survives," the Tsuchikage announced, getting a raised eyebrow from me, I could protect myself thank you very much! "If that brat Yagura learns of her presence, he may decide to go after her in person while in full Bijuu mode," well… I guess I would need some help with that.

"Sarutobi-sama, could you send word to Jiraiya-sama?" I questioned him lowly. "I may need his help if we need to reseal the Sanbi after Yagura is killed."

"I'll send word to him as soon as I return," he promised me with a small smile, patting my arm. "Take care of yourself while you are in Mizu no Kuni, I expect you to return in one piece."

I smiled at my leader confidently. "Of course I will, Sarutobi-sama," I assured him. "I'll be back before you know it and annoying you with my daily visits."

The elderly leader chuckled in amusement as he nodded and stepped back. "Right then, your updated mission begins now, you are to travel to Mizu no Kuni and assist the rebels with taking control of Kirigakure from the current Mizukage Yagura," he instructed professionally. "Upon your arrival and assessment of the rebel base and forces we will send reinforcements depending on your report."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," I replied in a professional manner, saluting with Han-san.

The two Kage nodded to us, allowing us to follow Terumi-san and Ao-san towards Mizu no Kuni.

The journey was a rather quiet one, our two guides were tense as we travelled, their eyes constantly darting around nervously at every little sound. They were apparently very nervous about getting ambushed by a group of loyalist faction hunter-nin, which to be fair, would be a valid reason to be nervous.

Especially since they did ambush us.

My kodachi blocked an incoming ninjato before my chakra scalpel enveloped hand slashed along his chest, severing several blood vessels from his heart, and left him to collapse to the ground, gasping for breath as he clutched at his chest.

My sharingan swept the area, Han-san was currently occupied with a pair of hunter-nin, blasts of steam boiling their exposed skin every time he connected a fist on their body. Meanwhile Terumi-san was doing her best to dodge a number of water based whips alongside Ao-san as a group of hunters tried to capture the two of them.

Frowning a bit, I was tempted to break out my [Susano'o] and end the battle then and there, but I shook it off for the time being, it wouldn't do to be over reliant on my Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, after all, it was only one aspect of my strength.

Not to mention the god complex my eyes seem to be trying to give me.

Three of the eight hunter-nin trying capture the pair were forced to break away from their quarry as I launched a [Great Fireball] at them and forcing them onto the ground as I completed a new set of seals.

Fun fact: Having 'ownership' of Amenonuhoko granted me a Natural Earth Affinity, one just as strong as my fire affinity, meaning, once I had it trained up, I was able to break out some very impressive earth ninjutsu. "[Earth Release: Earth Flow Wave]!" I announced as the earth before me began to rise up in a wave towards the three hunter-nin who had just landed.

The wave hadn't even completely impacted against them before my next set of seals was completed. "[Earth Release: Violent Heavenly Earth Needle]!" the already muffled screams of the buried hunter-nin were cut short as they were each stabbed by several large needles of dirt in their vital organs.

You have killed four Kiri Hunter-Nin(Loyalist Faction)!

+4,000 EXP and 12,000 Ryo gained, 3 [Standard Issue Ninjato], 25 [High Quality Kunai], 15 [Chakra Conductive Metal Shuriken], [Water Release: Explosive Water Wave] jutsu scroll looted and stored in inventory.

I ignored the popup, only sparing it the briefest of glances before moving on to my next target as the hunters seemed to be completely focused on Terumi-san and Ao-san who were now able to begin to counter attack with almost half of their attackers dealt with.

I had to admit, when compared to my husband's, Terumi-san's lava release fell… rather short of impressing me.

Don't get me wrong, she was impressive with her skill in using it, especially in combination with her Boil Release, but… then again, it isn't that surprising considering that my husband is capable of creating literal volcanoes with his stronger jutsus, the few missions we had been sent on together often resulted in a massive change in the region when it came to how the maps were drawn, thankfully we haven't permanently made an active volcano… yet.

The remaining hunter-nin quickly fell under our combined attacks, soon leaving us as the only living people in the immediate area as I began to manipulate the earth to bury the bodies.

"Well, I suppose that was our official welcoming party," Han-san commented with a small chuckle.

I smirked back at him as the bodies began to sink into the earth. "Indeed, we should be sure to repay them for their kind welcome," I replied with a beatific smile.

"Is it just me, or are Konoha Iryo-nin scarier than Kiri's?" Ao-san questioned aloud, sounding like he was speaking more to himself than any of us.

"Ao-san, if you don't think any Iryo-nin is scary, then I pity you," Han-san pointed out. "They know the limits of the human body better than anyone else, and how to make it tick in any way they want."

I turned and smiled at the Kiri Shinobi at Han-san's words, making the man even more disturbed as Terumi-san giggled and Han-san chuckled in amusement.

"Thankfully, an entrance to our hidden base isn't too far from here," Terumi-san announced as she began to lead the way.

I kept a watch with Ao-san, who was using his implanted byakugan while I was using my sharingan to scan for anyone watching us, thankfully there were none, that we couldn't see anyways.

The base itself was hidden under several high level genjutsu and land altering seals to keep them hidden along with a perpetual mist. Really, it made good use of the natural land and environment to keep it hidden from the loyalist forces with only a handful of entrances under heavy guard.

Han-san and I definitely had the attention of nearly everyone in the camp, not just being foreign shinobi, but also the promise of help from two of the other four Great Shinobi Nations.

"Han-san, can you go with Ao-san and assess their available troops?" I questioned the Gobi Jinchuuriki who nodded in confirmation.

"I need to assess your hospital and Iryo-nin," I informed Terumi-san as I turned to her. "While we are doing that I would like to know more about the situation in Mizu no Kuni."

"Of course, this way please," Terumi-san confirmed as she turned to guide me to their improvised hospital, a very basic building that looks like it was erected using Earth ninjutsu. "Unfortunately, because of the fact we have to be ready to move our location if needed, our facilities are not the greatest."

"Understandable," I assured as we entered, my eyes scanning everything as Iryo-nin didn't even look up as we entered as they bustled around, tending to the wounded and injured. "Adequate for a forward operating base, going to request more medics," I noted, more to myself as I moved, my eyes darting left and right rapidly.

Our inspection was cut short as more injured were brought in in a severe hurry. "Hachi's losing blood fast!" one of the men shouted desperately. "He's going to die soon."

Several of the medics looked at one another, I knew what they were thinking, even just from looking, he has lost a lot of blood and from the looks of the wound, his heart had been damaged, for most in the medical profession… it was impossible to heal.

But, I was not most.

"Bring him to an open operating room," I announced calmly, stepping forward, my hand snatching up a pair of surgical gloves as I moved. "You," I pointed to a man who was marking things on a clipboard. "Keep him alive while I'm prepping, I will be in shortly."

They all turned to Terumi-san uncertainty. "What are you waiting for, move!" I barked out impatiently, my - as Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun called it - 'Clan Head' voice coming to the forefront, my sharingan flashing to life. "A man's dying here!"

"Y-yes!" they stammered out as they quickly followed my orders, Terumi-san blinking in surprise at how quickly I took control of the situation.

"Impressive," she murmured, following as I moved to a sink to begin washing my arms free of any dirt, grime and some blood from our earlier battle.

"Wouldn't be the first time I had to deal with belligerent Iryo-nin," I announced as I placed my kodachi on a nearby counter and pulled on one of the smocks most Iryo-nin used for the operation. "Sorry to cut this short, but I have an operation."

"Of course," Terumi-san allowed with a smile and nod as I entered an operating room.

"Sitrep," I commanded as I entered.

"He is on death door," the medic I assigned to keeping him alive informed me as he tried to clean up the injury enough for operating on. "His heart is heavily damaged and bleeding a large amount, he can't be-"

"He can," I announced in a calm tone as I stepped up to the table and placed a glowing hand on the patient's forehead. "Do you know the [Blood Circulation] technique?" I questioned, the man nodding quickly. "Keep the blood circulating as best as you can, focus on his brain to keep it active and to prevent as much brain damage as possible."

"R-right," the medic stammered before he formed some hand seals and placed them on the man's head in place of my own, allowing me to focus solely on his primary injury.

"Get me a pig's heart!" I shouted out of the room. "I need to make some skin grafts!"

"Right away!" a shinobi shouted before scampering off.

"I need… AB- blood for this man!" I shouted, quickly pulling his blood type from a medical scan as I began pulling away some damaged skin from the chest to so that I could operate on the heart. "Wind Chakra was used to create the wound," I murmured, noting the damage that has been inflicted. "Going to have to remove some parts for transplanting."

"I have the heart!" the shinobi from earlier shouted, bringing what looked like a fresh pig's heart.

"You! Make yourself useful and clean it!" I shouted to a nearby assistant who was staring wide eyed as I operated.

"Yes! Ma'am!" the young woman shouted rapidly before accepting the heart and set about cleaning it.

I redirected the flow of blood from the damaged areas as I waited, the man had lost nearly 4 litres of blood, so that made it easier to redirect his blood at least as his labored breathing oxygenated his blood. "Where is the blood!" I shouted angrily.

"Here!" Terumi-san announced calmly as she walked into the room clad in a healer's smock and her hair pulled into a severe ponytail, not a single hair in her face or threatening to fall out, several sacs of blood in her hand.

"The heart is ready!" the assistant called out.

"Help Terumi-san with prepping the blood for transfer," I instructed as a cart with the heart on it was rolled next to me. I pulled one of my hands away from the opening in the man's chest as I used a sealless chakra scalpel to begin surgically cutting the pig's heart for the parts I needed, splitting my attention with circulating the blood away from the damaged sections. "Do not start transferring most of the blood until I have repaired his heart."

"Understood," the medics chorused obediently.

I blinked when a dry towel wiped away the sweat from my brow, sparing a brief glance to a new medic that joined the group before focusing once more on the man before me. "Parts are ready for transplant, removing damaged sections now," I announced as I quickly cut out the damaged valve and skin, my new assistant taking the damaged parts for disposal from me before I began to graft the new parts onto his heart.

It was close, very close, but once the new parts where in place I was able to start having the blood circulate normally again as the replacement blood was added, the man's pale complexion slowly returning to a more healthy shade. "He is out of danger now," I announced, several cheers being heard from outside of the operating room as I began closing up his chest and healing the rest of his wounds.

"Yuriko-sama, I can finish this," the medic I had initially commandeered informed. "If you can… there are more who need your help."

"Very well," I allowed, stepping back to allow the man to take over the healing and turned to the woman who had ended up being my assistant. "Show me the most critically wounded."

"Right this way, Yuriko-sama," the woman informed, leading the way back into the main area.

It may be a different country, there may be strangers, but… I was in my element, and I think I just took over the hospital of the Kirigakure Rebels.

Oh well, probably won't be the last time I do such a thing.

For now, I had people to save.

"Long day, Yuriko-sama," Han-san questioned teasingly as I entered our assigned quarters, basically a larger than normal tent with actual beds rather than cots.

Ever since my first surgery, which apparently spread through the camp like wildfire, the medics had begun to insistently call me '-sama' at all times, and it's been nearly 10 hours since that first surgery, with several more following it as I worked through the critically injured men and woman of the rebellion.

"Don't you start with that too," I told him sternly before letting out a sigh. "We definitely need medical supplies and a couple of medic squads. How do their troops look?"

"Not terribly, a lot of versatility with their assorted Kekkei Genkai users," Han-san informed with a shrug. "But… it's a lot of specialists and not enough regular troops, and they don't coordinate very well either, I heard a debrief where they ended up attacking each other rather than the enemy they were targeting."

I let out a small groan of frustration as I began writing out my report to the kage's. "Right, so we need the whole shebang," I commented with a heavy sigh. "But, they got a decent infrastructure here, just needs some polishing."

Han-san raised an eyebrow in response before shrugging it off. "Quite a bit of polish, but hey," he commented carelessly. "How we getting the report back?"

"One of my summons," I announced with a playful grin, getting a raised eyebrow from him.

"Oh? Managed to secure one for yourself?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah, found it one of the training grounds we use to help Naruto-kun train with Kurama's chakra," I explained as I finished the report for our leaders, it was a rather short and to the point, but I wasn't really in the mood to flourish it up, they they really needed to flourish it up for the Daimyo they knew how I wrote and could mimic my handwriting.

I bit into my thumb and drew out a bit of blood before forming a set of seals. "[Summoning Technique]," I announced as I pressed a hand to the ground, causing a plume of smoke to erupt from under my hand that quickly cleared away to reveal a falcon the size of a small child. "Hello, Soyokaze," I greeted the messenger falcon with a smile.

"Yuriko-sama," the falcon returned formally, bowing his head in deference. "You have a message for me to deliver?"

"I do," I confirmed, holding out the scroll I wrote it out on. "Take this to Sarutobi-sama and wait for his reply, please."

"Of course, Yuriko-sama," Soyokaze assured, bowing again before taking the message in one of his talons. "I shall return post haste."

"Be careful, we are in hostile territory and the enemy may try and bring you down to prevent messages from getting out," I warned the falcon with concerned look.

"I thank you for your concern, Yuriko-sama, but I shall be fine," the falcon assured as he bowed a final time before walking out of the room. "I shall return tomorrow evening at the latest."

"Very well, fly safe," I told the falcon before it took to the air with a mighty flap of his wings and angled himself towards Konohagakure and headed home.

"Well, now that that's done, I'm crashing for the night," I announced to Han-san who chuckled in amusement. "Night."

"See you in the morning," Han-san replied in amusement as he began to pull off his armor. I just simply flopped onto my assigned bed and quickly fell asleep, exhausted from the long hours of surgeries and directing Iryo-nin.

END CHAPTER!

Yuriko's Stats

Name: Yuriko

Level: 75

EXP: 7,547/37,500

Age: 20

Gender: Female

Title: Uchiha Clan head (+50% to all reputation gains, command of the Uchiha Clan)

Secondary Title: Equal to the Clan Killer (+50% to all stats, +200 HP & CP per level, Reputation with Konohagakure and Uchiha Clan is set to [Exalted])

STATS - Current - Former

HP - 9,125 -

CP - 37,900 -

STR - 95 (166)

INT - 140 (210)

DEX - 160 (280)

VIT - 90 (135)

WIS -135 (202)

LUK - 41 (61) - 41 (61)

Ryo - 36,590,254 - 25,542,153