"Uh… and you are?"
Although he already knew who the man was, at this moment, Chiba could only pretend not to recognize him.
After all, this kid's thoughts were even harder to read than a woman's heart.
Oh—well, there was one thing easy enough to guess.
Shimura kid definitely wanted to be Hokage right now, and he was surely furious that the Third was still so long-lived.
Chiba cursed silently in his heart.
"Shimura kid," the man said flatly.
"My apologies, I didn't realize it was you…"
"kid, what is it?" came the Third Hokage's voice from inside the room.
Chiba gave a small bow. "I still have matters to attend to. I won't disturb you any further."
"Mm."
kid gave him a faint nod, face expressionless, before stepping into the Hokage's office.
Whatever he and the Third were going to discuss, Chiba had no idea—but the fact Kankurō bothered to greet him at all sent a clear message:
It wasn't just the Third Hokage keeping an eye on him—kid had his sights set on him too.
And perhaps not only them. Orochimaru, who had already left the village, still had plenty of informants within Konoha—one of whom happened to work at the village hospital from time to time.
It wouldn't be surprising if his name had appeared on Orochimaru's list as well.
Chiba slowly made his way out of the Hokage Building.
He wasn't especially worried—just a little… lost.
Where exactly lay his future path?
His sense of belonging to Konoha wasn't particularly strong. To him, as long as he could grow stronger, it didn't really matter under whose banner he served.
Thinking it over carefully, he immediately crossed kid off the list.
That old man was far too dangerous.
If he could betray Orochimaru and Shisui, then the day Chiba lost his usefulness, he'd be sold out just as ruthlessly.
Working with kid was like an old man drinking arsenic—certain death.
Next, Orochimaru.
To be honest, Orochimaru treated his subordinates quite well—provided they met his standards and became his valued left or right hand, rather than just disposable tools.
If Chiba joined him, perhaps they could spark great innovations in ninjutsu research. But… thinking of those horrific experiments, Chiba had to admit—deep down, he could never truly agree with Orochimaru's worldview.
When he thought about it , the Third Hokage, troublesome as he was, might actually be the best partner for now.
And later, when the Third passed away and Tsunade took the position, that wouldn't be bad either.
As for kid—too bad he was so hard to kill. If only he'd die early; a dead kid was a good kid. Maybe then people would even mourn him at the Hero Monument.
"Chiba? You're back from your mission?"
"Ah, Kitayama Xu-sensei. Yeah, just got back."
Chiba smiled.
Kitayama Xu was dressed as usual—white lab coat, light makeup—looking more like a doctor than a kunoichi.
She brushed her bangs behind her ear, her bright eyes studying him carefully before smiling with a trace of wonder. "You've grown so quickly. It's only been a week or two, but you already seem… older somehow."
"Just your imagination. Anyway, do you need my help with any surgeries?"
Chiba chuckled awkwardly.
"No, not at the moment. It's peacetime, after all—operations of that level are quite rare."
Kitayama Xu smiled.
As Chiba picked out materials to make Chakra Ration Pills, he replied, "That's good. Though by now, I'm sure you've mastered that technique yourself. You'd be fine even without me."
"Uh—y-yes, well… haha, maybe. But it's always safer when you're around."
Kitayama Xu scratched her head.
At that moment, she felt a strange sensation—standing in front of Chiba, she almost felt like the student.
"You're ration pills ?"
"Yeah. My teammates are training their ninjutsu lately, so I'm planning to make some specialized chakra ration pills. Don't worry, I'll cover the material costs."
"These ingredients don't cost much. Actually, if you don't mind, we've got some imperfect batches lying around—I can just give them to you."
Kitayama Xu pointed at a nearby crate.
Chiba blinked, surprised. "So many rejects?"
"Yeah. Your version of the ration pills is effective, but the dosage control has to be incredibly precise, or the effects vary a lot."
She sighed. "We've been debating whether to dispose of them or just sell them as second-grade ration pills."
Chiba thought for a moment. "If they don't have any harmful side effects, maybe you could talk to the Hokage about selling them cheaply to the various Konoha departments. The village's got plenty of units that could use them."
Kitayama Xu's eyes lit up. In a burst of excitement, she grabbed Chiba and spun him halfway around. "That's it! Why didn't I think of that? Thank you so much, Chiba!"
"Ugh—m-maybe… the best way to thank me… would be to put me down first!"
Chiba gasped for air.
This woman…
You'd never guess under that white coat—she was that well-endowed.
"Ah—sorry, sorry! Anyway, take whatever pills you need. I'll go talk to the Hokage about the rest."
She laughed, apologetic.
Chiba crouched down, rummaging through the crate.
"Oh, right, Kitayama Xu-sensei—I've got an idea. Could you give me some advice on it?"
"Hmm? Go ahead."
She sat off to the side, idly flipping through a book.
Chiba thought for a moment, then said, "I don't know medical ninjutsu, but I do know it requires extreme chakra control—and that you have to precisely locate the damaged area while controlling chakra, right?"
"That's right. That's why becoming a professional medical-nin is so hard. Even I wouldn't dare call myself a fully qualified one yet."
Kitayama Xu sighed.
Chiba nodded. "Exactly. So I was thinking—why not divide the work? I remember you sometimes perform joint treatments, right? In theory, one person could focus on locating the injury, and another on the healing itself."
"But… how would that even work?"
Kitayama Xu frowned slightly.
Of course she understood the benefits, but practically speaking, it was near impossible. Even if someone pinpointed the injury, the human body was like a sealed box—unless you cut it open, the surgeon would still need to locate the site manually.
At best, it might save a little time.
"I just mean it as a cooperative model," Chiba said. "As for implementation, we'd just need to optimize the process to reduce the difficulty of medical ninjutsu."
As he spoke, he pulled out a small notebook and opened it to a page.
It was an idea he'd written down the day before.
Kitayama Xu took it and glanced over it. On the page was a short outline:
"Using a barrier technique to absorb medical chakra, which the surgeon could then draw upon during treatment."
Her eyes widened slightly.
This idea…
"Do you think it's feasible?" Chiba asked.
"Feasible? I… think so. If it works, it could save a huge amount of chakra, and simplify the hand seals and casting process. The surgeon could focus entirely on the operation itself."
Kitayama Xu thought for a long moment before nodding.
"Then I'll leave the testing to you, Sensei."
"Not at all—if your idea works, we medical-nin will be the ones benefiting."
Kitayama Xu smiled, though her heart felt strangely heavy.
This child always came up with such inventive ideas. Compared to him, her own abilities felt painfully ordinary.
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on P@treon if you're interested:
https://www.patreon.com/Mindsmithstudio