Natsunishi's footsteps faltered.
A new mission prompt?
He looked at Nobuko's pale, pleading face and gave a brief instruction to the duo. "Wait here for the Kakushi unit to take over. I'm going to check out the situation."
Owl and Orochimaru nodded in unison.
Only then did Natsunishi turn to the girl. "Lead the way."
The two avoided the bridge district, which was gradually growing noisier, and ducked into the depths of Tokyo's darkest alleys. The air began to grow foul. In this era, poverty and disease were the primary themes beyond the reach of the city lights.
In a drafty, dilapidated wooden shack, Natsunishi finally met Nobuko's friend. It was a young girl named Sayo, who looked no older than ten. She was as thin and frail as a kitten, curled up in tattered bedding, drifting in and out of consciousness. Judging by her labored breathing and flushed cheeks, she had clearly been ill for some time.
"Divine Doctor, Sayo has been like this for nearly three days." Nobuko nervously tugged at Natsunishi's sleeve, terrified he might leave at any moment. "I called the local doctors, but the prescriptions they gave were useless! That's why I tried to steal some better medicine from the pharmacy. Please, she's my best friend. If you save her, I'll do anything—"
Seeing Natsunishi's impassive expression, she assumed he was unwilling to treat Sayo and immediately fell to her knees before him. She performed a full dogeza, pressing her forehead to the floor. For a girl like her who scraped by on the streets, kneeling was not a difficult task. But this time was different. To save her friend, she didn't care if she was humiliated or if he made unreasonable demands.
Natsunishi: ?
Friend, I'm just putting together a medical plan in my head. Why did you suddenly drop for a "Duang" knee-slam?
"I never said I wouldn't save her."
The symptoms displayed on the interface were easy enough for even a modern person to understand: a high fever and pneumonia caused by a bacterial infection. This was much simpler than the mysterious illness Ruka suffered from, which didn't even come with a description. He didn't have enough ointments on him, though—
"Go get some water. It must be boiling," Natsunishi said, lifting Nobuko up with one hand like a small chick. "And bring over the medicinal herbs the previous doctors left behind."
"..."
"Her illness isn't that troublesome." Even if he couldn't cure her completely today, bringing more herbs tomorrow or the day after would see her through.
Hearing this, the girl's eyes overflowed with tears. "Yes!" She scrambled to follow his orders.
Natsunishi, maintaining his "expressionless" mask, began a more detailed examination. Auscultation, checking her pulse—then onto decocting medicine, acupuncture, and using wet cloth strips for physical cooling. His series of actions were methodical and calm, far exceeding the skill level of any clinic doctor in the slums. Even a layman like Nobuko could see the vast difference.
As the systematic treatment concluded, Natsunishi slowly came to his senses and looked at the little girl, whose breathing had gradually stabilized.
Well, the system's medical skills have truly inherited my legacy.
[Medical Skills Lv. 4] (NEW)
The moment the treatment was completed, the medical skill quietly leveled up. It became the first of his life skills to break through to Level 4. The experience he had "extracted" from Madam Ruka was truly substantial.
Seeing the flush on her friend's face begin to fade, Nobuko felt the heavy burden in her heart lift. The exhaustion from fleeing, the terror of being hunted by demons, and the anxiety over whether the Divine Doctor would help—all of it came rushing out at once. She slumped to the floor. "Thank... thank you, Divine Doctor!"
"She isn't fully recovered yet. Over the next few days, we still need to—"
Before he could finish, a sudden change occurred!
The window of the dilapidated shack shattered. A petite figure, cloaked in night rain and cold wind, charged in, thrusting a Nichirin Sword directly toward Natsunishi's back!
While the relief on Nobuko's face was still freezing and the broken window frame hadn't even hit the ground, Natsunishi had already moved. He twisted his body, stepped forward, and parried with his armored fist. The movement was as fluid as flowing water.
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing rang out as sparks flew. The attacker's strength was far inferior to his; with a single light deflection, they were sent staggering back.
Oh? A Demon Slayer is here to assassinate me? Is this some old-fashioned power struggle drama where they use a low-level member to make a point? Or has there been a defector?
Natsunishi settled into a Bajiquan starting stance, only to realize the figure looked familiar.
Wait, a yellow name? To be more precise, the tag above the person's head was turning from yellow to green at an extremely rapid pace.
The attacker performed several light backflips and steadied themselves before looking at Natsunishi. Purple hair adorned with a butterfly ornament. It wasn't a defector, but Shinobu Kocho, who not long ago had been preparing medicine at Kyojuro's house.
"Why is it you?" they both asked at the same time.
After a brief pause, Natsunishi spoke first. "So it's you. Don't tell me you're so upset I stole your patient that you came here specifically to assassinate me?"
Shinobu gave him an annoyed roll of her eyes. She pressed on with her questioning: "Weren't you out on a mission with Rengoku and Iguro? Why are you in a place like this—"
She glanced at Nobuko, who was kneeling by Natsunishi's leg, and then at Sayo lying on the bed. The latter was far too young and looked sickly. As for the former—while not as striking as herself or her sister, she was quite pretty. With a bit of dressing up, she would certainly be a little beauty.
"—acting all 'lovey-dovey' with this young lady?"
Natsunishi completely ignored the sting in her words. "The demon is already dead; I'm just here to save someone. But what about you? Why did you come here?"
His tone was so natural and sincere that Shinobu lost her temper. She said helplessly, "Haven't there been rumors lately in the city about a 'Divine Doctor'? I wasn't at ease, so I decided to investigate personally."
After all, not long ago, the last "Divine Doctor" she had heard of was the Lower Moon Four, Mukago. With another "Divine Doctor" popping up in Tokyo, it was hard not to be wary. Perhaps Mukago wasn't entirely dead? Or was it some new demon acting in the shadows of Tokyo?
She had originally wanted to team up with Natsunishi to see if they could find this doctor. But after several joint missions without seeing a single trace, she had gone to investigate the slums tonight. It wasn't long before she heard a girl crying out for a "Divine Doctor," and she had followed the sound. And then, she ran right into him.
"Sorry, but this time, the Divine Doctor happens to be me." Natsunishi looked at Shinobu skeptically. "And if you really did run into some first-rate or second-rate remnant, with your small frame, you'd probably end up staying here permanently."
While Demon Slayer swordsmen never knew exactly how strong a demon was before they opened the box, Natsunishi hoped the swordsmen he was familiar with would be a bit more steady and not die senselessly in some random mission.
"I've gotten a lot stronger! Kuguruma, if you don't believe me, look!" Unwilling to back down, she rolled up her sleeves to show Natsunishi her slender arms, which were now covered in thin lines of muscle. "Besides, if it really were a demon that was too strong, Yan would help me call for backup. Weren't you nearby today? What, if you received a call for help, would you actually refuse to come and save me?"
Yan was the name of her Kasugai Crow. But Natsunishi was more focused on the second half of her sentence.
Does this kid trust me that much?
He felt a slight pang of embarrassment. He looked closely at Shinobu's interface; just as she said, she was a bit stronger than when they first met at the Igarashi residence.
[Shinobu Kocho (Energy Level: 46)] Lower-level Breathing Techniques: Several. It seemed his training of her lately hadn't been in vain.
"Since you're here, give me a hand." Natsunishi didn't press the matter further, turning instead to Sayo, who had yet to wake up. "I recall you usually carry standard medicines with you."
Shinobu blinked, seemingly surprised that he had changed the subject so quickly.
"Well, are you going to save her or not, Doctor Butterfly?"
The girl finally let out a belated smile and stepped forward gracefully. Aside from being a Demon Slayer, Senior Kuguruma was just like her—a doctor who would reach out to help others.
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