Ch.71 New Classmate

The next day.

After receiving Iruka's message, Shinji headed to the Hidden Leaf Hospital once he finished the morning courses at the ninja school and had lunch.

"Uchiha Shinji reporting in," he said, bowing as he approached the medical shinobi assigned to guide him.

The person in charge was a woman in her twenties, with her long hair tied back, giving her a no-nonsense appearance. She looked Shinji up and down, frowning slightly. "You're Uchiha Shinji? How old are you?"

"Eight."

"Eight!?" She shook her head, her expression a mix of disbelief and amusement. "The village must be out of its mind, sending an eight-year-old to me."

Shinji smiled. "Because I'm a genius."

"A genius?" she echoed, surprised. Her expression quickly shifted back to neutral as she said, "I'm Kusadō Kaoru, your instructor."

With a polite smile, Shinji bowed again. "Kusadō-sensei."

Kusadō Kaoru casually tossed him a book. "Read this entire book, then come see me."

Shinji glanced at the cover, which read Anatomical Atlas. Without hesitation, he accepted the book and left without another word.

Seeing how quickly Shinji left, Kusadō Kaoru, who had been prepared to lecture him, was left speechless. She muttered to herself, "I'll be curious to see just how much of a genius you are."

Instead of returning to his apartment, Shinji went to the archive library. He could tell Kusadō Kaoru was trying to make things difficult for him, but learning the basics like Anatomical Atlas was something he expected when studying medical ninjutsu.

So, in addition to diligently studying the Anatomical Atlas, he borrowed every medical-related book he could find from the archive library.

A week later.

Shinji returned to the Hidden Leaf Hospital with Anatomical Atlas in hand and approached Kusadō Kaoru again. "Kusadō-sensei, I've finished reading this book."

Kusadō Kaoru was taken aback. She hadn't seen Shinji for a week and thought he had given up on learning medical ninjutsu.

She took the Anatomical Atlas from him and asked him several questions from the book. To her surprise, Shinji answered every question with ease.

"How could he have finished this book in just one week? It took me a whole month back then!" she thought, startled.

Unwilling to admit defeat, she pulled out another book from her drawer and tossed it to Shinji. "Read this one next."

Shinji glanced at the cover—Hematology. He smiled. "Kusadō-sensei, I've already read that one too."

Kusadō Kaoru froze for a moment and then retrieved Chakra and Muscle Tissue.

Before she could hand it over, Shinji smiled and said, "I've read that one as well."

In disbelief, Kusadō Kaoru quizzed him on the content of those books, only to find that Shinji once again answered everything correctly.

"When did you read all these books?" she asked, puzzled.

"Over the past few days," Shinji replied, pointing to the last two books. "Aside from the Anatomical Atlas you gave me, I borrowed the others from the archive library. They were very helpful."

Suppressing her surprise, Kusadō Kaoru maintained a stern expression. "You can't master medical ninjutsu just by memorizing books. Follow me."

She led Shinji to the lab. From a nearby tank, she retrieved a live fish, and with a small incision using a scalpel, she cut open the fish's belly. The once lively fish quickly went limp.

Kusadō Kaoru then formed hand seals and used the Mystical Palm Technique. Placing her glowing green chakra-coated hand on the fish, the incision healed, and the fish regained its vitality, flopping around again.

"Did you see? This is the most basic medical ninjutsu, Mystical Palm Technique. Beginners need to use hand seals, but with practice, you won't need them anymore. You remember the hand seal sequence, right? Go practice it. If you haven't mastered it in a month, come back to me…"

Her voice trailed off as she watched Shinji already forming the seals, and a green aura of healing chakra appeared around his hand.

Shinji looked at her. "Kusadō-sensei, is this correct?"

Kusadō Kaoru muttered, "Not bad... not bad…"

Shinji glanced at the fish on the table and asked, "May I try it?"

Kusadō Kaoru, still somewhat in shock, nodded and stepped aside.

Shinji mimicked her earlier action, making a shallow cut on the fish's belly with the scalpel before applying the Mystical Palm Technique.

As the healing chakra interacted with the fish's wound, Shinji felt a strange sensation.

"This feeling…"

He realized that medical ninjutsu wasn't about healing but rather about infusing yang-based chakra into the injured body to stimulate self-recovery.

"No, that's not right!" he thought.

If it were just about infusing yang-based chakra, medical shinobi wouldn't need to study the complexities of human anatomy.

He soon understood that simply infusing chakra was the most basic method. True mastery required precise control over the chakra, guiding and even controlling the healing process.

He paused, looking at the fish, and asked, "Kusadō-sensei, is this correct?"

Still unsure what Shinji was trying to do, but impressed with his quick mastery of the Mystical Palm Technique, Kusadō Kaoru nodded absentmindedly.

Without hesitation, Shinji chopped off the fish's head.

"!?"

Kusadō Kaoru was stunned.

Quickly, Shinji placed the head back on the body and applied the Mystical Palm Technique to the severed neck.

This time, he didn't just infuse chakra but actively guided the healing, trying to reconnect the severed parts.

"Should I focus on the trachea or the blood vessels first? Is this the gill? Why do fish bones heal so much slower than muscle tissue…"

He pondered aloud as he worked.

In no time, the fish's head was reattached to its body.

Of course, the fish was already dead.

Staring at the lifeless fish, Shinji sighed. "If I had been a bit faster, I might've saved it."

Then, spotting more fish in the tank, he eagerly asked, "Kusadō-sensei, can I try again?"

"Uh, go ahead…" she responded, still in shock.

...

At the shinobi academy.

Mizuki led a white-haired boy into Naruto and Sasuke's classroom, addressing the class. "Everyone, quiet down. I'd like to introduce a new classmate. His name is Kimimaro, and starting today, he'll be part of your class."

"Whoa, white hair!"

"He's so tall!"

"He even looks cooler than Sasuke!"

The class erupted into whispers.

Sasuke glanced briefly at Kimimaro before losing interest.

Among his peers, only Shinji and Neji were worth his attention. Everyone else? Not even close.

At that moment, Kimimaro approached Sasuke, his expression cold. "You're Uchiha Sasuke? I challenge you!"