"What? They let a child take the lead in surgery? What were they thinking?!"
Outside the operating room, Koharu Utatane was furious.
"Calm down. It's not like we had many better options," the Third Hokage said, pipe in hand. After a brief pause, he added, "We could have healed him outright, yes. But he was injured while trying to obtain intel. If possible, we should at least ensure his daily life won't be affected."
"But still—"
"He's a genius."
The Third's tone left no room for argument.
Then he flicked a scroll toward her.
Koharu caught it, opened it, and froze.
She had once been a medical ninja herself.
She'd just been too busy with "official business" in recent years to take part in hospital work.
That didn't mean she didn't understand what she was looking at.
This technique was clearly an advanced variation of the Chakra Scalpel.
It was suited for even more delicate surgical work—
a tool made for precision.
Unfortunately…
An A+ difficulty was enough to scare off the majority of the Medical Division.
Koharu believed she could learn it, but she also knew something else:
She hadn't stood at an operating table in a long time.
And she was getting old.
For a procedure that delicate, even if she managed to execute it perfectly, her stamina and chakra reserves would be depleted halfway through.
If only Tsunade were here…
She cut the thought off herself.
If Tsunade were in the village, she wouldn't need this jutsu to handle the surgery.
And comparing that boy to Tsunade was unfair from the start.
Forget it. I should at least treat the child kindly afterward. It's not like he volunteered to take the lead—he had no choice.
As she was thinking, the back door of the operating room opened.
Kitayama Oki walked out with Yagyu Souma on her back.
She froze for half a second upon seeing the Hokage and Koharu, then quickly bowed.
"Hokage-sama, Counc—"
"How is he?" the Third interrupted.
He cared much more about the boy's condition than formalities.
"Chakra exhaustion," Oki replied quietly. "He's just drained and tired. A Soldier Pill can't do much for his mental fatigue."
Her gaze dropped.
"This surgery… we were basically assistants. It was his work that allowed us to reassemble all the fractured bone fragments. If we'd known this technique earlier, it wouldn't have been so difficult."
"So you believe the Chakra Needle is worth spreading?" the Third asked.
"Yes. It absolutely is. Not just for surgeries like this one—I believe it'll be useful in other fields as well, especially if combined with the Fine Extraction Technique."
Oki's thoughts flashed back to Souma.
If the Chakra Needle could be paired with an extraction technique to pull out debris…
Then it could also be used to make precise incisions, including inside organs, and work in tandem with purification or extraction of ninjutsu.
Koharu kept thinking, saying nothing.
The Third asked a few more questions, then looked at Souma's exhausted sleeping face and waved Oki away.
"Take him to rest."
When they were alone, he spoke softly:
"Koharu. What do you think?"
"Hiruzen, his talent is incredible. I see shadows of Tsunade… and Orochimaru… in him," Koharu said, brows furrowing. "But that's exactly why I'm worried."
"Maybe," the Third replied. "But I'm old. I don't have many chances left. I want to try one more time."
"Come in. Oh—what brings you here?"
"Souma-kun! I heard you collapsed. Are you okay?"
Tenten came rushing in, panting heavily.
Behind her, Rock Lee peeked around the doorway.
The moment Souma looked his way, Lee flinched and ducked back out of sight.
Souma couldn't help but laugh.
"I'm fine. Just chakra exhaustion. A bit of rest is enough.
How are classes lately?"
"They're okay. Ever since everyone heard they might be allowed early graduation, people have been way more serious," Tenten replied.
"Even the chronic truants in the lower grades don't skip as much anymore."
She snapped her fingers suddenly.
"Oh! Except for that kid named Uzumaki Naruto. He still skips.
Actually, I think he's been skipping more."
At that moment, Lee cautiously poked his head back in.
"Tenten came second in our class," he announced proudly. "Just a little behind Neji. I'm going to train now!"
"Hey! Who told you to say that?!"
Tenten exploded, but Lee was already gone.
Souma sat up from the bed in the rest room, took out his notebook, flipped to a particular page, and handed it to her.
Tenten blinked, puzzled, and lowered her head to read.
"Chakra Threads," Souma said. "A byproduct of my ninjutsu research.
We don't practice puppet techniques, but this works extremely well for controlling weapons—kunai, shuriken, and so on."
"This is too valuable. I can't accept it!"
Tenten understood its worth at a glance.
At least B-rank in difficulty.
Many chūnin might never have the chance to learn something like this.
"Ninjutsu is created so people can grow stronger," Souma said calmly. "If it never gets used, it's meaningless.
Your weapon skills are excellent, but they're still just weapons.
Against certain enemies, that won't be enough."
"As if! Don't underestimate me. My weapons aren't limited to Academy-level tests."
Tenten pouted.
She'd always felt that her results were held back by the school's grading standards.
If the difficulty were higher, she was sure she'd stand alone at the top, not be tied for first place for two straight years.
"What about a strong wind release?" Souma asked.
"Ordinary Wind Release wouldn't—
…Okay, fine, I get what you mean. But still, I can't just accept this kind of thing for free."
She was stubborn.
Souma thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up.
"Your family shop sells blades, right? I've been wanting to practice with a sword. How about you pick a good one for me?"
"In that case… fine. Thanks. And if you don't know how to use a sword, come find me."
Tenten finally relented and began reading the notebook seriously.
She was more determined than Sakura—the kind of person who tried to actually solve problems herself, unlike those who claimed they would and then immediately turned to Naruto for help.
If it had been Haruno Sakura…
Souma wouldn't have bothered.
He'd let her fend for herself.
After reading, Tenten fell into deep thought.
"So according to your notes… you want to condense chakra into weapons—and eventually form multiple at once?"
"It's not exactly 'weapons,'" Souma corrected. "What I want are needles—sharp, efficient, and completely under my control. I want to shape them however I like, to conjure them at the moment of attack, with no hand seals required."
"That's my real goal."
Tenten nodded slowly.
Now she fully understood why he had come to the Medical Division.
When it came to chakra control, medical training was the pinnacle.
She also sensed that this "needle" concept wasn't simple.
Souma clearly had more terrifying ideas for it beyond surgery or basic offense.
But she didn't pry.
She carefully copied everything down, planning to study it at her own pace.
Not everyone could absorb knowledge the way Souma did.
Souma's thinking wasn't as complicated as she imagined.
The reason he chose "needles" was partly for sharpness and low chakra cost, and partly because needles synergized with many other techniques—like disturbance jutsu or neural interference.
Another reason he'd gone to the hospital was to study pressure points.
He didn't have the Byakugan, and couldn't see the chakra network or tenketsu directly.
So his plan was to learn anatomy the old-fashioned way—through observation and experience.
If he could map enough common points, the Chakra Needle's role would go far beyond treatment.
Souma focused on the Bodhi seed in his consciousness.
The change was subtle.
If he had to describe it—
Three new grooves had appeared on its surface, like thin carved patterns.
One was long and deep.
The second, short.
The third, long but very shallow.
If this thing weren't literally tied to his life and mind, he might never have noticed.
"Three marks for the things I've passed on?" he wondered.
"Two jutsu… and the Soldier Pills?"
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