Hyūga Akira officially entered a life of working by day and studying by night.
It was brutal.
And effective.
During this period, his medical ninjutsu advanced at an astonishing pace.
More importantly, he successfully condensed his first composite skill.
[Medical Ninjutsu (Lv.1) | EXP (0/500) | Traits: None]
Composite Requirements:
Lv.1 Mystical Palm
Lv.1 Delicate Illness Extraction
Lv.1 Cellular Regeneration
Lv.1 Chakra Scalpel
The moment the skill formed, Akira was formally recognized—at least by the system—as a medical ninja.
In this era where medical ninja were severely scarce, he could honestly be ranked second in Konoha.
Only Tsunade stood above him.
What he lacked wasn't knowledge—it was experience.
His mind held countless medical cases, many of which—by later standards—would already qualify him as an excellent medic.
He wasn't Tsunade yet.
But within Konoha Hospital, there was no one else better than him.
After all—
Knowing the Mystical Palm alone did not make one a medical ninja.
Many people had learned it.
They just stopped there.
That was the problem.
Unfortunately, this intense study period had severely slowed Akira's leveling speed.
So—
"Hey, Nawaki," Akira said seriously, adjusting the rimless glasses on his face,
"Let's become missing-nin."
They were currently inside the house left behind by the First Hokage.
And Akira had just proposed treason—
To the First Hokage's own grandson.
"Huh?"
Nawaki stared at him blankly.
No—
How did things escalate straight to defection?
And him?
A pure-blooded, politically correct, First-Hokage-approved golden boy?
(Sarutobi Hiruzen: Crown Prince, why are you rebelling?)
Seeing Nawaki's empty expression, Akira grew passionate.
"First we escape the village. Then we kill bandits. After that, rogue ninja. After that, we wipe out small ninja villages."
"Once those are gone, we declare war on the other four Great Villages."
"If we can't win, we run. If we can win, we kill."
"When the four villages fall, we return to Konoha, stand on high, and shout—everyone will support us!"
"Brotherhood united!"
"Destroy the Five Nations, unify the shinobi world, bring peace to all lands!"
"And once I hit max level," he added cheerfully,
"I'll go hunt the Ōtsutsuki in space. The ninja world can be yours."
Akira burst into laughter, envisioning the glorious future.
Nawaki swallowed nervously.
"Big bro… I think before we become missing-nin, my sister will kill us first."
Based on his understanding of Tsunade—
That would absolutely count as righteous fratricide.
"Coward," Akira scoffed.
"It's just Tsunade. You're scared of that?"
"As long as we brothers unite, one wave of the hand and she'll kneel in submission!"
He leaned in, voice full of zeal.
"Come. Shout it with me."
"Self-reliance. Self-strength."
"Defeat Tsunade."
"Self-reliance… defeat Tsunade…" Nawaki muttered weakly.
"Louder!"
"SELF-RELIANCE!! DEFEAT TSUNADE!!"
BOOM!!!
The front door exploded inward.
Tsunade stood there, veins bulging faintly on her forehead, eyes locked on Nawaki.
"…What did you say?"
Nawaki froze.
Then immediately pointed at Akira.
"N-not me! It was big bro!"
Akira was already sitting neatly among a pile of scrolls, lifting his head from a medical case with a confused expression.
"Nawaki? What's wrong?"
Nawaki trembled harder.
His finger shook between Akira and Tsunade.
"That's not—just now—it wasn't—"
"Oh?" Tsunade cracked her knuckles, smiling without warmth.
"You want to defeat me?"
"Perfect."
"Let's see how capable my dear little brother really is."
Nawaki inhaled sharply.
"HYŪGA AKIRAAAA—!!"
"NAWAKI, ACCEPT YOUR JUDGMENT!!"
BOOOOM!!!
Later.
"Teacher Tsunade."
Akira stood obediently at her side, face pure and innocent.
He glanced at Nawaki, who lay unconscious with a massive bump on his head, and shivered.
Good thing I'm smart.
One sacrifice is better than two.
May Nawaki's soul forgive me.
Amen.
"…Hm?" Tsunade glanced sideways.
Akira immediately doubled down on his obedient expression.
"Teacher, I've finished reading all the materials. I believe I'm ready for hands-on practice."
Though he had mastered medical ninjutsu, he was still stuck at the theoretical stage.
Tsunade sighed.
"If you want real experience," she said,
"that means the battlefield."
"…The battlefield?" Akira froze.
This was Konoha Year 36.
The Second Shinobi World War shouldn't start until next year.
Had his butterfly wings flapped too hard?
Tsunade explained gravely:
"Relations between the Great Nations are extremely tense. The villages are probing Konoha's response."
"Foreign ninja are entering the Land of Fire openly under the excuse of missions."
"It's not full-scale war—yet."
"But there are already small conflicts."
"To stop further infiltration, Konoha is preparing defensive lines to drive them out."
Akira frowned.
"Defensive lines…"
So not an outright explosion yet.
That meant… there was still room to maneuver.
"Teacher," Akira asked,
"Will the Hyūga clan allow Hyūga Hiashi to go to the front?"
As members of the same squad, if Tsunade deployed, Hiashi and Hizashi would likely follow.
"They will," Tsunade replied.
"The Hyūga want to protect Hiashi—but not that much."
"No ninja lives a lifetime without danger."
Those two protected years were meant for Hiashi to fully master the clan's secret techniques.
From now on—
The leash would loosen.
Probably.
Even Tsunade wasn't completely certain.
"When do we move?" Akira asked.
He really didn't want to be in the same squad as Hiashi.
Especially since Hiashi still hadn't kicked him out.
"Three days," Tsunade said, patting his shoulder.
"I'm giving you three days off."
"But don't worry. Our task is defense—mostly negotiation."
"The fighting won't be too intense."
Konoha had split its efforts:
One group built defensive lines to block foreign ninja from entering Fire Country.
The other actively hunted intruders inside the country—far more dangerous.
Tsunade was assigned to defensive operations and medical support.
Akira nodded.
Then glanced at Nawaki's corpse-like body.
"…Got it."
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