Kumogakure Hospital.
After treating more than a dozen jōnin who were on the verge of death, Kyoichi felt like he'd just done a charity job and walked out of the operating room with a weary sigh. He glanced over at A, who was standing nearby, and couldn't help but let out a helpless breath.
This guy really was devoted to his subordinates. Even though they were technically enemies, Kyoichi couldn't help but respect that.
Especially when A had such a brutal-looking face—even scarier than Danzo's.
The moment Kyoichi stepped out, A rushed over and asked, "How is he?"
"He's going to make it. Your med-nin can handle the rest. Any others? If not, I'm heading out."
"Yes, yes, yes!"
A quickly grabbed the hand of the shadow clone.
Leave?
Now?
No way!
He'd been thinking this whole time about the gap between Kumogakure and Konohagakure.
Before today, never having met Kyoichi, he'd always assumed their med-nin were pretty capable. Maybe they weren't quite at Konoha's level, but they couldn't be that far off.
But now?
After seeing Kyoichi in action, he realized how naïve he'd been—like a frog at the bottom of a well.
"Not far off"?
They were worlds apart!
If Kanda Kyoichi was already this terrifying, then just how monstrous must that Tsunade-hime be?
Just thinking about it made him understand why, despite his father's overwhelming strength, the old man had waited so many years—until Konoha and Sunagakure went to war first, and only then contacted Iwagakure and Kirigakure to make a move.
His father's strategy wasn't wrong.
Too bad he ended up with two useless teammates.
One got crushed early on—A still didn't even know what happened on Kirigakure's end, only that they'd apparently started negotiating with Konoha really early.
And as a result, they were also the first to collapse. By the time Kumogakure and Iwagakure engaged, Kiri had already pulled out.
A was curious.
But he knew even if he asked, Kyoichi wouldn't spill anything—unless it involved a trade or came with some ridiculous conditions.
And for pure curiosity…
He wasn't about to pay that price.
So—
Instead of asking, A pivoted, "Jōnin Kyoichi, would you be willing to give our Kumogakure med-nin a few pointers?"
"Heh…"
Kyoichi smiled, but didn't respond.
A waited a few seconds. When he realized nothing else was coming, he cleared his throat and added, "Of course, we wouldn't ask you to do it for free. Compensation, payment—whatever you want, we can talk."
"Raikage-sama, Kumogakure sure is a beautiful village."
"…Hm?"
A blinked, confused.
What the hell does that have to do with anything?
"You folks in Kumo sure have great imaginations. No wonder you were able to build such a magnificent, striking village. Honestly, I was kinda blown away the first time I saw it."
"I see, then—"
A started to smile, about to brag about the rich history of his village, but halfway through his sentence, his face froze.
He got it now.
This bastard…
Was calling him delusional.
A's face darkened. Still, he understood—medical techniques were village-level secrets. No matter what, there was no way Kyoichi would just teach them so easily.
He took a small breath.
Then finally pointed down a corridor. "Jōnin Kyoichi, one last patient. After that, our deal is done."
"…Fine."
The shadow clone let out a quiet sigh of relief.
He'd been worried that the Raikage might try to shamelessly guilt-trip him into treating every dying patient in the building.
That would've been asking the impossible.
Even Tsunade wasn't a miracle worker—how could he be?
Thankfully, the Raikage seemed to have some self-awareness. For the ones that were truly beyond saving, he'd just asked once at the beginning and then dropped the subject entirely.
Now to see what this last patient's situation was…
That said—
Kyoichi wasn't walking away empty-handed.
Aside from the trading portion, he also examined a good amount of physical data while treating the injured Kumogakure jonin.
Most of it wasn't useful, but with enough samples, he could roughly estimate the correlation between physical strength and the Lightning Release Armor. It was just a pity that A hadn't been seriously wounded—his data would've been far more intuitive.
While mulling that over, he continued forward, following A into a deeper section of the medical ward.
Over here…
The air was thick with the presence of a Tailed Beast.
The Eight-Tails' jinchūriki?
Kyoichi frowned slightly, unsure why A had brought him here.
Killer B didn't seem injured at all earlier. In fact, it looked like he had reached perfect synchronization with the Eight-Tails.
Perplexed, he glanced at A.
"This concerns our village's jinchūriki, so I didn't want to involve an outsider. But B's condition seems to have worsened—his tailed beast chakra is leaking out uncontrollably, and regular medical-nin can't even get close."
A sighed…
If there were any other way, who would be willing to expose the secrets of their jinchūriki to an outsider? But with the current state of their sealing arts and medical techniques…
They couldn't even figure out what was happening to B.
Killer B hadn't explained anything either. He'd returned in a rampage and immediately fell unconscious upon arrival. So A wasn't just worried about injuries—he was afraid B might lose control again.
Kyoichi hesitated for a moment before saying, "His body's in perfect condition, so this probably isn't a physical issue. It might be related to the Tailed Beast itself…"
"That's what we're thinking too. But we have no way of knowing the exact cause. Can you check if he's in danger right now?"
If it were anyone else, A wouldn't have asked.
But B was different.
B was his brother—and on the battlefield, he'd saved the lives of countless Kumogakure shinobi. There was no way A could just stand by and do nothing.
Kyoichi could roughly guess what was going on.
Still…
It was a good chance to observe how Kumogakure handled things when desperate.
Before approaching, he remarked, "If I get blown apart by Tailed Beast power in there, I assume that voids our trade deal?"
"Of course…"
A nodded.
Kyoichi stepped into the room, spreading his chakra to sense the surroundings.
The next moment…
A tentacle resembling an octopus arm suddenly burst out from Killer B's body, pointing warily at Kyoichi.
Looks like…
Killer B was in a critical moment.
Is the Eight-Tails merging with him?
Kyoichi narrowed his eyes slightly and moved forward slowly. The Eight-Tails readied itself to strike—only to see the approaching figure suddenly pop into a spray of mist.
Genjutsu?
No…
It was just too fast!
Two more tentacles sprouted, trying to block him, but in the next second, a hand was already pressing down on one of them. With a tap of his fingers, the tentacles retracted.
Evil Sealing Method.
Of course…
It only interfered with the chakra in the tentacles, and wouldn't affect Killer B's core state.
The Eight-Tails grew agitated.
But without hurting B, it couldn't force Kyoichi out. The tentacles had already exhausted the last of its available strength, and now it couldn't even speak…
Kyoichi had neither the Byakugan nor the Sharingan—he could only rely on chakra sensing and ninjutsu to trace the chakra flow within B's body.
Moments later, Killer B's eyes flew open.
"Bro! Fool! Bastard! This great lord B's still—!"
Killer B sprang to his feet, muttering his usual strange rhymes, but before he could finish, a fist slammed down on his head.
A stood fuming in front of him and shouted, "You're fine? If you're fine, then why the hell were you passed out for nearly a whole day?! And you still dare call me a fool and a bastard?"
Kyoichi chuckled lightly, withdrawing his hand. "Killer B's fine. In fact, this might actually be a good sign. The seal inside him has completely unraveled, yet the Eight-Tails hasn't harmed him."
"Really?"
A finally relaxed.
Killer B turned to Kyoichi and quickly said, "Of course I'm fine, you stu—"
BAM!
Another punch from A. B clutched his head, hissing in pain.
Kyoichi smiled gently, his tone calm. "To be honest, I used to be a teacher at the ninja academy. I've got experience dealing with rowdy kids. When brats act out, it usually means they need a good beating."
"Wha—?!" Killer B glared at Kyoichi.
But…
"For ones like him, I'd suggest solitary confinement. Or maybe have him run a few hundred laps—cures any illness instantly."
Kyoichi didn't mind at all—this was just a shadow clone. Besides, his "treatment" was complete anyway, and he was just about to leave. He didn't mind provoking B a little more.
After all, a glare can't kill you.
"You Konoha guys manage your kids like this too?"
A raised an eyebrow, surprised.
"Yep, exactly!"
That "too," huh?
…Fine.
Kyoichi didn't argue further.
He glanced at Killer B, then looked back at A. "If there's nothing else, I'll be off. You know… overusing shadow clones can cause the real body to drop dead from exhaustion."
"Alright then. Thanks, Jonin Kyoichi. If you get the chance, come visit Kumogakure again."
A seemed a bit reluctant.
Not because he'd grown fond of Kyoichi, but because the hospital still had plenty of injured shinobi. If Kyoichi could treat more of them, recovery would be much faster.
But…
This man had already saved several severely wounded jonin that even Kumogakure's top medics couldn't heal. And all he asked in return was a small price—A didn't feel right asking for more.
Killer B looked confused.
Once Kyoichi's shadow clone dispelled, he finally spoke up. "Bro… wasn't he the one who killed the Third Raikage? Why were you so nice to him? That's weird—and dumb!"
"You're the idiot, fool!"
A grabbed his head and hoisted him up. "His medical ninjutsu is top-tier. He saved a lot of our jonin. And besides… the ones who actually attacked us were Ōnoki and his forces—Konoha just went with the flow."
"Got it! Ow ow ow!"
Killer B cried out in pain.
A knew exactly how things stood. Of course Konoha hoped for Kumogakure to suffer losses, but whether it was the Third Raikage or their main forces taking the hit—it didn't matter much to Konoha either way.
The ones who really wanted the Third Raikage dead weren't from Konoha—it was Iwagakure.
Because the Rock-nin feared the Third Raikage the most.
A set Killer B down and said solemnly, "We fought with Konoha. Whether we win or lose, it's part of the game. Tit for tat is fair. But Ōnoki… I'll have my revenge one day."
Still…
When A thought about Kyoichi's proposed conditions, something didn't feel right.
That kid didn't seem like a good person, so why had he asked for such a simple price?
Something's off.
He'd need to discuss it with the Daimyō and the noble clans of the Land of Lightning.
He didn't understand business—but the nobles were the real experts there.
After that, he turned to Killer B and asked what happened.
Killer B explained his condition—and once A finished listening, he regretted everything.
So B was training with the Eight-Tails?
Damn it…
If he'd known that, he wouldn't have called Kyoichi over.
No—wait!
"B, you bastard! If that was the case, you should've woken up and told me sooner! If I'd known, would I have risked letting him come over?"
"Huh?"
Killer B blinked, completely baffled—then got punched again.
But…
That very moment actually made B feel relieved. He'd been worried A might imprison him because of the tailed beast rampage earlier…
Now he saw he'd been overthinking it.
Big bro was still big bro—not a single thing had changed!
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