Koharu Utatane listened to Souma's explanation once, then read through his handwritten notes again, and tried the method herself…
And it actually worked.
She found it hard to believe.
Was there really such a brilliant child in the world?
"Souma, you… how did you even figure this out?"
Hanpō stared, utterly stunned.
"It wasn't much," Souma said. "My perception's a bit sharper than normal, so I tested each individual seal, noted what each one did to the chakra flow, then grouped and combined them."
"…"
Hanpō was completely lost.
Perception?
That… helped with chakra?
Koharu's eyes narrowed slightly.
"You have sensory abilities as well?" she asked.
"Not very strong," Souma replied. "The range is limited, and it's hard to sense other people's chakra clearly. But my own is easier to track."
He didn't mention the full extent—
Within half a step of distance, he could feel how chakra condensed and flowed.
When Koharu formed her seals earlier, he'd clearly sensed the trajectory of her chakra refining inside her meridians.
If he'd wanted to attack her, he could've driven a Chakra Needle roughly along that path.
But that still wasn't good enough, by his standards.
The efficiency was too low.
If he could get that close, a kunai to the heart would be faster than poking around with a chakra needle to shut down her meridians.
Why overcomplicate things?
Koharu fell silent.
"Not very strong."
Sensory ability was not some cheap vegetable piled up in the market.
What kind of outrageous humblebrag was that?
She tested the technique a few more times.
Some successes, some failures—but the success rate was high enough to prove the method reliable.
Excitement flickered in her eyes.
"Child, you're a true genius. Stay here at the hospital. Take a formal position."
"No," Souma shook his head. "I still want to be a shinobi. I only came here to study medicine and anatomy. I don't plan to become a full-time medical ninja."
Hanpō sighed in regret.
He and Koharu exchanged a look and sighed together.
Of course.
Souma's inability to use medical ninjutsu was a fatal flaw in that career path.
Koharu clearly realized it as well.
Her earlier urge to "keep him here" had been a moment of emotion, not reason.
Forcing someone with this kind of talent into a hospital position, just because his Chakra Scalpel and Chakra Needle skills were excellent…
From Konoha's perspective, that would be a waste.
"Even with the extra seals, your jutsu is still A-rank," Hanpō said at last.
"And even if people in the Medical Division learn it, very few will have your level of control."
He thought for a moment.
"How about this—we'll keep the special-appointed ninja arrangement," Hanpō said gently.
"That way, over the next while, you can use that status to participate in whatever procedures and research you like."
"As for payment," Koharu added, "we'll give you half the standard salary of a medical ninja. Whether or not you show up on a given day, it'll be paid."
"Thank you, Advisor-sama, Hanpō-sama."
Souma couldn't help the little spark of joy in his chest.
The Bodhi seed gave him greater talent than most.
But he was still a non-shinobi orphan in a war-torn village.
The only income he had was basic stipends as a ward of Konoha.
It wasn't bad for survival—
but for buying tools, ingredients, and materials to support his experiments?
Far from enough.
He didn't know how much "half a salary" equated to—
but it was better than being fed dreams and speeches.
After they finalized the ninjutsu topic, Koharu stayed a while longer, painting verbal blueprints of his bright future until her mouth went dry.
For the sake of that paycheck, Souma endured it.
When he finally left their office, he went straight to see Kitayama Oki.
As expected—
Oki was also practicing the Chakra Needle.
When she saw him, she flushed slightly—
perhaps feeling a bit guilty about secretly drilling her student's jutsu.
Souma pretended not to notice.
He traded his improved version of the technique for access to another scroll:
Fine Extraction Technique.
The Third Hokage's words lingered in his mind.
Even if he couldn't learn some jutsu directly, he could still learn from their principles.
The Fine Extraction Technique was one such jutsu.
He couldn't mimic its ability to draw out toxins or pathogens—
but he could study the "absorption" aspect and adapt it, perhaps to extract blood or chakra instead.
Of course, that was only a concept for now.
There was still a long road between idea and reality.
Without any new assignments for the moment, Souma wasn't sure what else to do.
He wandered around the Medical Division, reading as he walked.
The place had gone strangely quiet around him.
No one was mobbing him with questions anymore.
He followed the med-nin into the operating room when a surgery was scheduled that afternoon.
Naturally, no one objected now.
A "special-appointed ninja" was still just a title—Souma didn't even have a forehead protector yet.
He was pretty sure he'd still need to take a ninja exam at some point.
He hadn't planned on staying in this role long-term anyway, so it didn't bother him.
With his new status, he could take part in many surgeries and even observe follow-up patient care.
But—
It didn't take a full day before another item appeared on his daily schedule:
Sword practice.
Previously, he'd traded his notes and insights on Chakra Threads to Tenten's family in exchange for a sword.
Tenten had kept her word—
After explaining things at home, her father had sent a good-quality blade to Souma's house, along with an offer to teach him basic swordsmanship.
Tenten's family didn't have some legendary sword style.
Just solid fundamentals.
But—
Without small steps, there could be no thousand-mile journey.
What Souma needed now was exactly that: a foundation.
A month or so passed.
The buzz about "the twelve-year-old who led a surgery" gradually died down.
Souma became a familiar figure at the hospital.
People no longer swarmed him with excited questions whenever he appeared.
He took advantage of the lull.
In that time, he deepened his understanding of medical theory and anatomy.
His grasp of muscles and chakra pathways grew more refined.
Lately, he'd begun researching medicinal broths for strengthening the body.
Unfortunately—
The formulas always fell just a little short of his expectations.
After asking around for a long time, he finally got a lead from Kitayama Oki:
The Nara clan were the real masters of pharmacology.
Most of Konoha's earliest medicinal knowledge had come from them.
Conveniently, Souma had recently saved Nara Shihui's arm.
He'd also met Shikaku and Shikamaru—
though his interaction with the latter hadn't exactly been pleasant, at least they weren't strangers.
"Shikamaru."
"…Yeah?"
"You've got about a year before graduation.
You never thought about pushing yourself, graduating early, and going to another division to learn?"
Shikaku Nara finally had some free time—
enough to sit down and talk to his son properly.
Shikamaru propped his cheek on one hand, expression as lifeless as ever.
He didn't answer right away.
He thought for a couple of seconds before replying:
"I did. At first."
"With your brains, you definitely could," Shikaku said.
"Too troublesome."
Shikamaru sighed.
"Early graduation sounds great on the surface. But once I thought about the extra homework, more training, more evaluations, more reports…
I didn't want it anymore."
"…"
Shikaku was speechless.
Other kids saw only glory in graduating early.
They thought getting out of the Academy sooner meant more free time to play.
Only this son of his saw the mountain of work and pressure waiting on the other side.
Being too smart wasn't always a blessing.
He paused, then suddenly sensed something and chuckled.
"You were asking about Yagyu Souma before, weren't you?"
"Huh?"
Shikamaru looked confused.
He'd only asked about Souma once—
after being forcibly marched back to school by those chakra threads.
Why bring that up now?
"You'll have a chance to meet him today," Shikaku said.
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