The inpatient ward.
Tonight, "Kitada Aina's" shift ran from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.—the night shift.
Around this hour, the lobby wasn't crowded, but there were still plenty of injured shinobi being rushed in to process admission.
"Good evening, Doctor Aina~"
Kaito waved gently at an injured chūnin and his teammates.
"Good evening, everyone~"
The moment he saw the chūnin's blood-smeared leg, Kaito slipped flawlessly into character—soft voice, concerned expression, gentle posture.
"Sir, you're still bleeding. Let me stop it for you first, okay?"
The chūnin was leaning on metal arm-support crutches, balancing awkwardly on one leg. His thigh was wrapped in bandages already soaking with fresh blood.
"T-that's not appropriate… we haven't finished the admission process yet."
During wartime, bed spaces were limited. Hospitalization for shinobi required assessment; no one got a bed without approval.
Wards for civilians existed on other floors, but night duty doctors there were ordinary physicians—not medical-nin.
"It's fine."
Kaito formed hand seals with practiced ease.
A soft, warm green glow blossomed from "Aina's" hands—the fundamental medical jutsu: Hemostasis Technique.
The warmth eased the chūnin's pain. Under the glow, Kaito's disguise—pure-hearted, gentle-natured Aina—looked almost angelic.
The chūnin felt his heart skip a beat.
Within seconds, blood flow slowed to a safe level and stabilized. Kaito wiped the faint sweat from "her" forehead—maintaining chakra flow through layered bandages was genuinely difficult.
"All done. Once your admission is processed, have your assigned doctor replace the bandages. The medicine in this layer isn't strong enough—you'll need better ones, okay~?"
The young chūnin flushed bright red.
"T-Thank you, Doctor Aina…"
"Um…"
"Doctor Kitada? We need you over here for another assessment."
"Coming~~!"
My experience points package awaits!
The medical skills Kaito had mastered—Hemostasis and Chakra Scalpel—were techniques he'd secretly learned from Nonō's textbooks while visiting her months ago.
=￣ω￣=
Kaito skipped cheerfully toward the nurse calling him, leaving the poor chūnin frozen in place.
His teammate nudged him with an elbow.
"Relax. You'll get another chance later."
Unfortunately, when the real Kitada Aina saw him at discharge—
She would have zero memory of him.
And the chūnin would experience a soul-shattering embarrassment multiplied by ten thousand.
After all, with so many patients every day, who could remember every face?
The Next Morning – Around 9 a.m.
Kaito yawned so big his jaw nearly came off.
Drained of chakra and stamina, he dragged himself toward the pathway leading to Konoha's back mountain.
This road passed the river bridge and the vermilion torii gate leading to the Hero Memorial Stone.
He leaned on the railing, staring at the rushing waters below.
His heart felt heavy.
So it's finally time to go to the battlefield…?
At dawn, Tsunade had dismissed "Aina" early to rest.
Kaito barely slept an hour before a message arrived—sent by Orochimaru's white-snake summon via his Shadow Clone:
Team assembly.
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Kaito sighed. So much for sleep.
"Yo~ good morning~!"
He didn't need to turn around to know a certain green spandex youth had climbed onto a high rock and was striking a "youthful" pose at him and Nawaki.
Nawaki scowled.
"Get down before you break your neck. I'm not saving you if you fall."
Might Guy raised one heroic arm.
"Today is the day we march to the battlefield! My Youth burns brighter than ever!!"
"YOSHAAAA!"
Kaito stared at him with cold, dead fish eyes.
Honestly, why not let HIM go instead? War's so dangerous…
He's not an Edo Tensei; once he runs out of chakra, he'll become the next Tobirama.
"You're all punctual."
"Orochimaru-sensei!" x3
Even though Orochimaru never taught Guy anything beyond a few words about forbidden taijutsu, Guy still viewed him as a mentor.
As for Kaito—one sweet "sensei" from him was more than enough.
Shinku eagerly ran over to Orochimaru.
"Sensei! Are we going to the battlefield today?!"
Orochimaru smiled gently—something he did only for this boy.
"Shinku."
"You've grown strong. But you still lack real combat experience."
"And I must return to the front lines soon. I cannot bring you."
"What?! But I'm strong enough! If Uncle Hokage hadn't banned me, I would've crushed those exam genin!!"
Shinku raised a little fist in frustration.
Kaito & Guy: "…"
Sorry, we almost beat you senseless just now.
Orochimaru understood.
He barely had time to develop new jutsu, mentor Nawaki, attend the chūnin exams through a clone, and gather intel.
Then he accepted the S-rank mission—where his three-jōnin, three-chūnin squad nearly died.
Only Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and two chūnin returned.
He spent weeks bedridden, healed by Tsunade.
Now, barely recovered, he was returning to the warfront.
And that was not a place for genin.
Amegakure shinobi excelled in traps:
Exploding corpses
Poison mist corpses
Multi-layered explosive tags
Hidden trigger arrays invisible to the naked eye
Even someone like Nagato had once been caught.
One wrong step—chakra touching a seal, landing with too much weight—and you were blown apart.
Orochimaru would never allow Nawaki to take that risk.
Compared to Mikoto, 's talent was only mid-to-high level within his class.
But Orochimaru valued something else:
The boy's smile held something Orochimaru once lost.
Innocence.
Kindness.
"Be good, Nawaki. Your sister wouldn't want you on the battlefield either."
"Also—"
Orochimaru looked from Nawaki to Kaito and Guy.
"Your teammates… lack the strength required."
"If you went, they would only drag you down."
Shinku flicked his hair dramatically.
"Heh~ Such is the burden of being exceptional. I understand."
Kaito & Guy: "…"
We swear… we almost exposed our full power / opened the Eight Gates to beat you senseless.
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