Soon, Uchiha Haruki returned to the skies above the base.
"Wind Style: Wings of Wind — Release!"
His feet gently landed on the ground once more.
Seeing this, Uchiha Tekka approached and asked, "Haruki, have all the Mist shinobi retreated?"
"Yeah," Haruki nodded, his gaze sweeping across Tekka.
At that moment, Tekka was covered in blood from head to toe — some his own, some the enemy's. He was limping, clearly suffering from serious injuries.
Haruki then looked around at the others.
Originally, this base housed over two hundred Konoha shinobi. After last night's battle, fewer than seventy were left alive — nearly two-thirds had perished.
And those who had survived were all injured to varying degrees.
The casualty rate was shockingly high.
Of course, the Mist shinobi had also suffered considerable losses.
Although they had the overwhelming numerical advantage, Haruki's presence had caused them to pay dearly.
A rough estimate placed the Mist's death toll at around two hundred and fifty — more than 40% of their deployed force.
That meant the kill ratio stood at approximately 1:1.5.
While not an overwhelming success, one must remember — Konoha was outnumbered three to one. Holding such a ratio was a remarkable result.
It was all thanks to Haruki's aerial mobility. He disrupted many of the enemy's elite forces and frequently attacked their lower- and mid-ranked shinobi.
Without him, the Konoha side might have suffered even worse — perhaps a true massacre.
That was why, when Haruki's gaze swept across the survivors, those who were still conscious couldn't help but reveal a trace of gratitude in their eyes.
Meeting their looks, Haruki let out a soft sigh.
Then he turned to Uchiha Tekka and said, "Organize the survivors. Assess everyone's injuries and categorize them based on severity and urgency. I'll treat them."
Hearing this, Uchiha Tekka's face lit up and he quickly set about preparing.
Watching Tekka leave, Haruki fell into brief silence.
Healing this many people — even just stabilizing their conditions — would consume a massive amount of chakra. It would undoubtedly slow down his personal progress.
But some things simply had to be done.
First, everyone in the base knew he had medical ninjutsu skills. If he stood by and did nothing now, it would be hard to justify.
More importantly, he couldn't stand the thought of watching comrades die just because they didn't receive timely treatment. That would weigh heavily on his conscience.
So he chose to follow his heart and act.
It would slow his cultivation down for a day or two, but that was a price he could accept. Even though his body was on the verge of transformation, he could afford to delay it slightly.
These thoughts flickered through his mind in an instant.
Haruki shook his head to clear them and walked toward a critically wounded Konoha shinobi who had already fallen unconscious.
After a careful examination, he confirmed that the man had simply lost too much blood.
Haruki unwrapped the bandages, cleaned the wound thoroughly, and began channeling Mystic Palm Technique to treat the injuries.
About fifteen minutes later, the wounds were fully healed, and the shinobi's breathing stabilized.
Just then, the man's eyes twitched — and he slowly opened them.
The moment he saw Haruki, he immediately understood what had happened and said weakly, "Captain…"
"Don't talk," Haruki replied with a nod. "Just rest."
He then looked at the two nearby Konoha shinobi who were waiting and instructed, "Alright, carry him down."
"Yes, Captain!" the two replied in unison.
Haruki didn't pay attention as they carefully lifted the wounded man onto a stretcher. As soon as he finished giving orders, he moved toward another injured shinobi.
This one was in even worse shape. His face was blackened, clearly poisoned, and his breathing was dangerously shallow.
Haruki quickly stepped forward and used Microscopic Diagnosis Technique to assess his internal condition.
Thanks to more than a month of focused training, Haruki had already brought this technique to level 5.
It took him only moments to detect the area where the poison had concentrated.
He then activated Chakra Scalpel to make an incision at the site — revealing dark veins and poisoned organs underneath.
Those dark lines were the visible effects of the spreading toxin.
Without hesitation, Haruki used Microscopic Diagnosis Technique again to carefully extract the poison.
It took over half an hour to finish this process.
But with the root cause removed, the remaining treatment was straightforward. His level 8 Mystic Palm Technique was more than capable of handling it.
Another five minutes later, the treatment was complete.
Haruki wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a long breath.
As usual, he instructed for the man to be carried away.
Then, Haruki looked at the others still lying on the ground.
There were nearly ten more in critical condition. At his current pace, by the time he got to the last few, it would be too late to save them.
Thinking this, Haruki sighed.
"Forget it. If I'm already helping, I may as well go all the way."
Having made his decision, he raised both hands and formed the Ram (壬) seal.
Ninjutsu: Shadow Clone Technique!
Poof!
With a burst of chakra smoke, nine shadow clones appeared beside him. Including his original body, there were now ten Harukis.
Haruki stepped forward and looked at the clones.
He didn't waste time on words. "Alright, let's get to work."
With that, the nine clones vanished using Body Flicker Technique.
Since the critically injured hadn't been moved — Uchiha Tekka and the others didn't dare risk it — they had only marked their locations.
Now, Haruki and his clones rushed to those positions and began treatment simultaneously.
Although this method consumed far more chakra…
It didn't matter anymore.
Time flew by.
By noon, after several hours of intense treatment, all injured Konoha shinobi — including the dozen in critical condition — had received effective medical attention.
Altogether, Haruki had used roughly 150,000 chakra points for the day.
Fortunately, his chakra recovery rate was astounding. In just a single morning, he had regenerated nearly 100,000 points.
Otherwise, he might not have been able to sustain the effort.
Still, while chakra could be replenished quickly, mental fatigue was another story.
He had gone to bed late the night before, only to be woken up in the middle of the night.
Then came the fierce battle… and right after, hours of nonstop medical work.
The entire morning had been a grueling test of his endurance.
Even with his Spirit attribute already surpassing 20 points, Haruki was reaching his limit.
So, after wrapping up the treatments, he gave a few casual instructions and headed back to his quarters to rest.
Uchiha Tekka and the others were quick to step up, taking care of all the remaining tasks so that Haruki could rest without concern.