"I'm not leaving. I'm staying to help all of you."
Amamiya Rei said firmly.
His figure stepped into the intensive care ward once again.
Honma Mei looked at his back and let out a bitter smile.
Amamiya Rei had worked in the hospital for three days and three nights without rest, and unsurprisingly, he collapsed.
When Amamiya Rei slowly regained consciousness, he was already lying on the large bed at home.
He blinked contentedly—this sleep had been truly wonderful!
His gaze shifted to the side and saw someone seated in the chair next to the bed.
Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Hokage-sama..."
A trace of perfectly measured confusion appeared in Amamiya Rei's expression.
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Rei's current weakened state and said softly, "Lie down and rest a bit longer."
Under Sarutobi Hiruzen's oppressive gaze, Amamiya Rei obediently lowered himself back onto the bed, the confusion on his face increasing rather than fading.
"I... what happened to me?"
Amamiya Rei asked in bewilderment.
He lowered his head and noticed that he was already wearing a set of home clothes.
"..."
Damn it!
Who changed his clothes?
Could it have been Sarutobi Hiruzen?
Murderous intent surged in Amamiya Rei's heart.
"You fainted at the hospital, and your colleagues brought you back to take care of you."
Sarutobi Hiruzen explained.
He truly hadn't expected Amamiya Rei to push herself to this extent.
To save people, she had drained her chakra until almost nothing remained.
If she had continued any further, Amamiya Rei herself might have been in danger of losing her life.
This was far too reckless.
So it must have been Honma Mei who changed his clothes.
That made Amamiya Rei feel a little more at ease.
Faced with Sarutobi Hiruzen's explanation, Rei's first reaction was: "Then what about my patients? How are they? Are they alright? What happened after I fainted? If I passed out, what would they do?..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the anxious Amamiya Rei in front of him, and his resolve only grew firmer.
He soothed the slightly restless Rei, saying, "Don't worry, they're all fine."
Hearing this, Amamiya Rei finally relaxed, letting out a noticeable sigh of relief.
"Rei, even when saving others, you cannot neglect your own body."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze carried the admonition of an elder.
Amamiya Rei lowered his head slightly and murmured in embarrassment, "I forgot... It won't happen again."
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded. "Stay home and rest well for the next few days. After your recovery, resume your work in the Anbu."
Leaving those words behind, Sarutobi Hiruzen departed.
Amamiya Rei leaned against the headboard, seemingly staring at the blue sky outside the window, but in truth calculating the results of his three days and nights.
Both his chakra and Sunlight Points had increased. His chakra had risen to 14,720,000, and his Sunlight Points had increased to 1,467,000.
Not only that—among all the ordinary jutsu he obtained, he had even acquired the Byakugan skill.
He couldn't even remember when he had treated a member of the Hyūga clan, but the result delighted him.
The heavens were watching over him!
Amamiya Rei lay back on the bed and began fusing the ordinary jutsu he had extracted.
Three days and nights without rest had produced extraordinary results.
[Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique ×20]
[Would you like to fuse and upgrade Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique?]
A blue, game-like screen appeared before his eyes, with the options [Yes] and [No] below. He tapped [Yes].
[Fusing Great Fireball Technique...]
[Fusion complete.]
[Upgrading Great Fireball Technique...]
[Upgrade complete.]
[Congratulations, Host has obtained the Final Mutated Version of Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique]
[The Final Mutated Version is the ultimate evolution of the ordinary Great Fireball Technique. Its range and temperature are greatly enhanced, its effect is twenty times that of a normal Great Fireball performed by an average ninja, yet it consumes the same amount of chakra. The flames cannot be easily extinguished, and the fireball contains countless smaller Great Fireballs within, enabling unexpected secondary attacks.]
[Great Fireball Technique has reached its highest version. Any future Great Fireball skills obtained will automatically stack power onto the final version while maintaining the chakra cost of the ordinary technique.]
In simple terms—use the least chakra for the maximum effect.
Amamiya Rei was quite satisfied.
[Shadow Clone Technique ×10]
[Would you like to fuse and upgrade Shadow Clone Technique?]
Amamiya Rei tapped [Yes].
[Fusing Shadow Clone Technique...]
[Fusion complete.]
[Upgrading Shadow Clone Technique...]
[Upgrade complete.]
[Congratulations, Host has obtained Shadow Clone Technique III]
[Shadow Clone Technique III is the third upgraded version of the ordinary Shadow Clone Technique. The shadow clones possess full physical form, and neither Byakugan nor Sharingan can distinguish them from the original body. A clone will not disperse from any non-fatal damage, no matter how severe.]
[Collect 20 more Shadow Clone Technique fragments to advance to the Final Mutated Version.]
Non-fatal injuries?
So his clones wouldn't disappear even if beaten into a pig's head.
Only fatal damage could dispel them.
That was excellent!
The potential uses of shadow clones increased drastically.
The remaining jutsu were all varied with very low overlap, far from sufficient for fusion upgrades.
However, even without upgrades, the jutsu were powerful.
For Amamiya Rei, ordinary jutsu weren't too difficult to learn as long as he had the basics.
He wouldn't master them on the first try like geniuses in Naruto, but he could manage within a few days.
Currently, the only jutsu that would require huge amounts of time and energy were Namikaze Minato's Flying Thunder God and Sage Mode.
Although Uchiha Shisui's Body Flicker Technique, Susanoo, Uzumaki Kushina's Adamantine Sealing Chains, the Four Red Yang Formation, the Eight Trigrams Seal, and the Byakugan skill from that Hyūga ninja were all unlearned, they wouldn't be particularly difficult for Rei.
What truly gave him a headache were Minato's Flying Thunder God and Sage Mode.
Flying Thunder God made one lose hair from overthinking, and Sage Mode made one risk turning into a big green toad.
Amamiya Rei didn't dare attempt them lightly.
And as for Shisui's Susanoo, he absolutely couldn't try it within the village—how would he explain that to the Uchiha?
Rei listed the jutsu in order and decided to learn the simple, useful, and easy-to-explain ones first.
For a medical ninja, possessing Byakugan was like adding wings to a tiger.
For Amamiya Rei—who was both a medical ninja and someone who needed to "eat meat"—having Byakugan made it even more convenient to select the best "points" to bite into.
"You're awake."
A familiar voice came from the doorway.
***