Late at night.
After checking the enemy corpses, Higashino Jirō finished his inspection, and Higashino Makoto followed along to take another look. Although his strength was the highest among everyone present, some experience beyond raw strength could not be obtained through training alone. What needed to be learned still had to be learned.
The nine dead enemies were indeed mostly rogue ninja or ninja from small villages.
That brought up the matter of how to distinguish them.
Medical ninja were, in the shinobi world, an extremely scarce resource. Outside the Five Great Ninja Villages—especially among rogue ninja groups—it was possible for one or two jōnin or even Kage-level experts to emerge by chance, but it was absolutely impossible for them to train any proper medical ninja.
So when they were injured, they generally could only rely on traditional treatment methods, leaving their bodies covered in all sorts of strange scars.
Ninja from the great villages were different. After injuries were healed through medical ninjutsu, scars generally would not remain. That was the distinction between the two sides, and it could also serve as a basis for identifying them.
After dealing with the corpses, Gekkō Kumomi and the Konohagakure ninja responsible for Defense Area A09 carefully verified the coded signals and confirmed identities.
Once the danger was lifted, the oldest of the three remaining ninja asked, "Kumomi-jōnin, does your team have a medical ninja?"
Kumomi nodded. Makoto stepped forward. "I am a medical ninja. I will treat you immediately."
After confirming identities, even if no one had asked him, he would have begun saving them at once.
The older ninja was extremely anxious. "Don't worry about us first. They're all external injuries—we won't die. Quickly check whether my three companions can still be saved."
"No problem!"
Makoto stepped forward to examine the three Konohagakure ninja lying on the ground. Yūgao did not need him to say anything; she took out a scroll and unsealed a medical kit herself.
At times like this, she would automatically become the nurse, coordinating with Makoto's work.
After a rapid examination, Makoto discovered that the three fallen Konohagakure ninja did not have any fatal wounds, but all of them had been poisoned with a special mixed toxin.
One young male ninja of about seventeen or eighteen had already died. Another female ninja of roughly the same age was close to death. Only the third—a robust young male ninja—was in slightly better condition. From the look of it, he could still hold on for a while.
This was a common method used by many ninja outside the Five Great Ninja Villages' system. They generally could not learn high-powered ninjutsu, so they especially liked to concoct all sorts of bizarre poisons to assist in battle and enhance lethality.
Sunagakure: "???"
Aren't I one of the Five Great Ninja Villages? Am I or am I not one of the Five Great Ninja Villages?
After quickly using some simple methods to roughly understand the toxin's mechanism of action, Makoto instructed, "Yūgao, immediately prepare four units of sterile detoxification solution."
After saying that, he personally selected three corresponding antidotes from the general detoxification medicines and had the two survivors take them first, stabilizing their condition.
"Alright, just a moment." Yūgao also began her work.
Once everything was ready, Makoto cast the Mystical Palm Technique's advanced application, Delicate Illness Extraction Technique, slowly separating the poison from their bodies bit by bit.
It was a slow process that required extraordinary concentration. Ordinary medical ninja simply could not endure it.
The rescue effort lasted an entire hour before it finally concluded.
Seeing that the treatment was complete, the older ninja stepped forward and asked, "Kazuto… he is…?"
Kazuto was the young ninja who had already died. Makoto sighed faintly. "I'm sorry. He had already fallen in the line of duty before we arrived. There was nothing I could do."
"I see… Perhaps this was his fate. If, when he was younger, he had listened to me and strengthened his body like Hōtō did, he might not have failed to hold on until reinforcements arrived."
From the older ninja's tone, it seemed he was either a brother or an elder to Kazuto and Hōtō.
Makoto was not good at comforting others. He simply continued treating the injuries of the three survivors in silence. Fortunately, the poison in their systems was not deep, making it relatively easy to handle.
It seemed rogue ninja did not possess much poison either. After all, on the black market, highly toxic substances were not cheap.
Kumomi asked, "Makoto, how are those two companions?"
"They'll live. But they'll need about a month of rest. With proper medication, the residual toxins in their bodies can be slowly metabolized. That way, it won't affect their future physical condition or strength."
"I see." Kumomi quickly made a decision. "Chūnin Uton, take them and the intelligence back to headquarters. We'll handle the defense here."
"Yes, Kumomi-jōnin."
After receiving treatment, the older ninja named Uton stored away the intelligence scroll and also took a sheet of paper that Makoto handed to him.
Makoto said, "This contains my analysis of the poison's components and mechanism, along with follow-up medication recommendations. Give it to the medical department as a reference—it should help speed up their recovery."
"Thank you, 'Shield of Konoha.'"
The three of them bowed deeply, then each carried one companion on their back and departed.
Makoto's face stiffened. Had that ridiculous nickname really spread so quickly?
As jōnin, Kumomi and the other two were permitted to make minor adjustments to the defensive line according to actual circumstances. So he transferred the personnel from Defense Area A08 to the vacant A07 sector, while temporarily taking over the defense of Areas 08 and 09 themselves.
Because Makoto's perception could cover both of those areas, there was no need for everyone to station separately.
...
Night. Inside the cave between the two defense sectors, everyone rested around a campfire.
After taking a bite of food, Yūya said, "The battles are becoming more frequent. Looks like it's almost time for things to end."
Kumomi replied, "Mm, probably. According to the intelligence, Iwagakure and Kumogakure have each transferred additional forces from their villages. It seems they also want to settle this as soon as possible. If the stalemate drags on any longer, no one will be able to endure it."
Jirō said, "Then Konohagakure will increase its forces as well, right? Do we know who will be leading the reinforcements this time? It should still be Minato-jōnin, shouldn't it?"
Kumomi answered, "Not sure for now. But it doesn't matter. We'll know tomorrow."
...
Sure enough, the next morning, after handing their defense sector over to the Konohagakure ninja who came to relieve them, Makoto's group returned to headquarters to rest and reorganize—just in time to encounter the arriving reinforcements.
The one leading them was Uchiha Fugaku. Among the support unit were quite a number of Uchiha clan members.
Makoto swept his gaze across the group. He did not see Uchiha Shisui. Instead, beside Fugaku stood a small radish-like child with half-long hair.
He looked only four or five years old, yet wore an overly serious expression, burying his childish aura deep and disguising himself as an adult.
If not Uchiha Itachi, then who else could it be?
No one knew what that man was thinking. This was a battlefield. With Iwagakure and Kumogakure on the verge of launching a full-scale clash, Konohagakure would certainly not be able to stay out of it.
A three-sided melee was about to unfold.
And at a time like this, what did it mean to bring your son here? You risk your life in battle and still bring your son along? To let him witness the cruelty of war? Was he not afraid of twisting the child's mind?
That evening, not long after Kumomi and the other two jōnin returned from a meeting at the command center, Fugaku came to pay a visit—bringing his son with him.
The small alliance formed by the Higashino, Uzuki, and Gekkō families occupied a middle ground between civilian ninja and clan ninja. Within Konohagakure, there were many such small groups that banded together for mutual support.
For example, the Shiranui, Kamizuki, and Yamashiro families—clans with inherited surnames, yet lacking sufficient strength and numbers.
They were highly unstable; a single war or one major mission could cause them to collapse and disperse.
But these three families were different. Because of Higashino Makoto's existence, their development potential was enormous. They were an emerging force and had already drawn the attention of the higher-ups and the major clans.
Namikaze Minato knew to build closer ties. Naturally, Uchiha Fugaku knew as well.
From this perspective, the clan head did have some foresight and ideas. It was just that, personality-wise, he was somewhat lacking in decisiveness. In peacetime that might be acceptable, but once relations with Konohagakure became tense, that kind of temperament could be fatal.
The three families exchanged only simple greetings with Fugaku and did not engage in any deeper conversation. Everyone knew their limits.
At parting, Clan Head Fugaku smiled and said, "Jōnin Jirō, I would like to invite Makoto to visit us. As one of Konohagakure's well-known prodigies, he is precisely the kind of example my son Itachi should learn from. I had this thought back when we were on the eastern front. Now that we have met here, it would be a good opportunity for them to exchange ideas. What do you think?"
Jirō did not object. "That—Makoto can decide for himself."
Makoto did not object.
After the three of them left, Jirō asked in confusion, "Why is Clan Head Fugaku looking for Makoto? Are they that familiar? Could this cause misunderstandings?"
He personally held no particular prejudice against the Uchiha clan. However, as a jōnin, he was aware of certain points of tension within the village. As someone naturally aligned with the Hokage's side, he was not very willing to see his son grow too close to the Uchiha clan.
Uchiha Shisui was different—that was a schoolmate. But becoming overly close with the clan head was another matter entirely.
Kumomi said, "They interacted on the eastern front. This clan head does value Makoto's talent. He's probably trying to strengthen ties between the two sides."
Yūya said calmly, "Isn't his intention quite obvious? We adults have clear positions and cannot speak too openly, so let the next generation interact more. There's nothing unusual about that."
Kumomi agreed. "Exactly. No need to overthink it. Makoto will handle it himself."
Jirō said nothing more. Thinking of his son—the boy who had been worry-free since childhood—he let his concerns ease.
He knew that Makoto had his own judgment. When it came to certain matters within Konohagakure, his way of understanding them was different from theirs.
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