With some free time on their hands, Shiki and Sena sat together on the hospital steps watching the sunset.
"Onee-san, what do you think the future will be like?"
"The future? I think it'll just keep getting better, don't you?"
Shiki knew the greatest terror the world had ever seen was about to arrive. Still, he nodded and said, "Yeah, Onee-san. The future will definitely get better."
From then on, Shiki's life settled into a routine: training in taijutsu with Lee and studying medical ninjutsu at the ninja hospital.
Though he had already mastered the few ninjutsu techniques he knew, there wasn't much room left for improvement.
However, at the hospital, Shiki had few chances to practice. Only patients with very minor wounds were assigned to him.
Because with such light injuries, people usually didn't care much either way. Even though Shiki was so young, if he failed to fully heal them, there were always other medics to step in.
Besides, many wanted to observe how an unusually young medical ninja would handle these cases.
Gradually, Sena Hoshino also shared many secrets about medical ninjutsu with him. Medical ninjutsu had become his most effective combat tool for now.
Inside Root headquarters—a peculiar, dimly lit structure where even light seemed unable to penetrate—it was dark and frightening.
An Anbu ninja knelt before Danzo, reporting.
Danzo Shimura listened silently, not saying a word until the report finished. Then he asked, "You're telling me that Shiki Uzumaki has been learning medical ninjutsu at the hospital all this time?"
"Yes, Lord Danzo!"
Danzo thought deeply, seeming to understand Shiki's motives. "It seems he refuses to join Root by choosing to abandon his talent in ninjutsu and focusing instead on becoming a medical ninja."
"Still, while having more skilled medical ninja benefits Konoha, preserving the Uzumaki sealing technique is even more important."
"After all, although others can perform the Uzumaki sealing techniques too, they won't achieve the same effects as actual members of the Uzumaki clan."
"Not to mention the Senju, Uzumaki, and Uchiha bloodlines—those are clans everyone admires."
Saying that, Danzo seemed to look again at the red Sharingan spinning inside one of the eyes on his arm.
"If you cannot serve my purpose… then at least contribute your body to the benefit of Konoha!"
Chapter 29 Bonds of Family
"Shiki, your medical skills have gotten even better. This time, you healed me so quickly," praised a middle-aged man.
He had accidentally dropped his cleaver while cooking and injured his foot.
After only a week under Shiki's treatment, he recovered completely—with no scar left behind.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Shiki smiled while accepting the man's praise.
In reality, if he used full power, he could've healed this man's injury within a single day.
But Shiki understood that medical ninjutsu worked by using [Chakra] (ninja energy) to stimulate body cells, enhancing the patient's natural healing abilities.
So unless it was wartime, medical ninja generally avoided using such methods to excessively stimulate cells, as it could negatively affect the patient's future health.
Although the man felt his injuries were fully healed, Shiki still held onto his foot and observed the chakra pathways inside it.
To be honest, even the man himself felt a bit awkward—after all, he was an adult having his foot held by a mere child.
Normally, children wouldn't even want to touch their parents' feet.
Yet Shiki showed no disgust at all, because right now, his role was to save lives and heal the wounded.
In his mind, the notion that feet are dirty was just nonsense. They're all part of the body; if you can touch someone's hands, you can also touch their feet. The reason for such prejudice lies purely in psychology.
Other professions might tolerate such biases, but medical workers absolutely cannot afford to have them.
Delaying a patient's treatment due to personal preference could lead to irreversible consequences.
Moreover, for Shiki, the fact that these people trusted him—an underage child—to expose their wounds already made him deeply honored.
Therefore, he had to do everything possible to treat them properly, otherwise he would feel terrible guilt.
After confirming the man's foot had fully healed, Shiki finally set it down and said seriously, "Yeah, it's definitely healed. Please be careful next time."
Upon hearing this, the man briefly praised Shiki before leaving satisfied.
Then Shiki took out a book titled *Human Meridians and Chakra Flow* from his desk and began reading.
During much of the daytime, Shiki spent his time like this. Although his treatments were completely free and he frequently volunteered at orphanages, gaining some reputation,
Most people still hesitated to seek treatment from someone so young.
Thus, for Shiki—who had little time to spare—reading books often felt like a luxury he couldn't really afford.
Yet he remained unfazed, continuing to diligently absorb every bit of knowledge from the pages.
In fact, he even bought a medical dummy embedded with human meridian systems. Every time, Shiki conducted new experiments on it, excited to learn more about the meridians.
"Shiki, it's already this late. Let's go eat?" Sena Hoshino saw Shiki sitting by his small table, fully focused on his medical book. She thought to herself with a smile, As expected, he's such a cute and hardworking little brother.
Shiki shifted his gaze from the meridian diagrams and replied, "Sena-nee, don't you need to work the night shift tonight?"
Sena gave a gentle nod and smiled, then said to Shiki, "Since you've been working so hard, how about letting your oneesan treat you to Ichiraku Ramen?"
Considering the lateness of the hour, Shiki agreed. After all, Sena Hoshino was the only person who could offer him family-like warmth now.
Living in such dangerous conditions, Shiki wanted to cherish every bit of warmth family-like bonds could offer.
At the small stand of Ichiraku Ramen, Shiki and Sena joked around while eating their ramen. Even Teuchi watched with a smile.
"You two siblings really get along well," Ayame said admiringly.
Shiki and Sena shared a knowing smile but didn't bother to correct her — after all, they weren't really siblings.
After finishing their meal at Ichiraku Ramen, Shiki walked Sena home as he usually did.
While walking, Sena suddenly asked, "Shiki, where are your parents?"
Shiki was taken aback before answering gloomily, "I can't find them now."
The moment he finished speaking, a warm embrace wrapped around him.
He hadn't even noticed it was Sena hugging him — with the height difference, his head naturally ended up resting on her chest.
However, although Shiki possessed an adult's consciousness, he held no trace of malice. Just like how Sena truly treated him as her younger brother, Shiki regarded Sena as his older sister.
Slightly taken aback at first, Shiki slowly relaxed and wrapped his arms around her waist.
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