“What happened?”
Dressed in the white uniform of a Konoha Hospital medical ninja, Koji walked into the treatment room.
What greeted him wasn’t a patient groaning in pain.
It was a ninja dog groaning in pain.
And the dog looked strangely familiar.
If Koji wasn’t mistaken…
this was Akamaru, the future partner of Kiba Inuzuka from the Konoha Twelve.
“He was stung by venomous bees.”
The medical ninja responsible for examining the injury rubbed his forehead in frustration.
“If we can’t remove the toxins quickly enough, his sense of smell could be permanently affected.”
Normally, Konoha Hospital didn’t treat ninja dogs.
Unfortunately, the specialists who usually handled cases like this had temporarily left the village.
They wouldn’t return for roughly three hours.
And in three hours…
Akamaru might already be looking at early retirement.
After hearing the explanation, Koji examined him more carefully.
Numerous red swellings were scattered across Akamaru’s upper jaw and around his nose.
The marks were unusually evenly distributed.
Apparently, those venomous bees had been professionally trained.
“That’s miserable.”
Koji commented casually.
Then he walked over, picked up a syringe, and inserted the needle directly into one of the swollen areas.
He extracted a small sample of pus for examination.
“Awoo… Woof!”
Akamaru immediately protested.
Normally, a medical ninja should at least take the patient’s feelings into consideration.
But Akamaru wasn’t exactly a patient.
At best…
he was a sick dog.
Koji wasn’t especially concerned about what the dog thought.
Even if Kiba Inuzuka himself were standing beside him right now, it wouldn’t change anything.
After briefly examining the contents of the sample, Koji came to a conclusion.
Under ordinary circumstances, the best treatment would probably be to cut open the swollen areas, clean the wounds, and prepare an antidote.
That was how most medical ninja would handle this situation.
But there was another, much more direct solution.
The Delicate Illness Extraction Technique.
Using that technique, he could extract the toxins, pus, and other harmful substances directly from the affected tissue.
After that, he could simply use the Mystical Palm Jutsu to repair the damage.
Considering the urgency of Akamaru’s condition, this was obviously the safer method.
There was just one drawback.
It placed extremely high demands on the medical ninja performing it.
So this is why she sent me here?
What a boring test.
Once Koji understood the situation, Yuya’s intentions became obvious.
The answer was yes.
Koji hadn’t spent much time specifically studying it, but he’d already accumulated nearly enough proficiency to max it out.
He hadn’t gained any special trait from it yet— but using the technique successfully wouldn’t be a problem.
[Delicate Illness Extraction Technique — 95%]
Koji glanced at the panel beside him.
The corner of his mouth rose slightly.
In that case…
you can be the experimental subject that pushes it through its first Limit Break.
He immediately began preparing the special medicinal solution required by the technique.
“Awoo… Woof!”
Akamaru continued complaining behind him.
Koji found the noise mildly irritating.
If he didn’t need to maintain his image, he would have already used Lightning Release to paralyze the disobedient little test subject.
Outside the treatment room, a still-young Kiba Inuzuka listened anxiously to the sounds coming from inside.
As a member of the Inuzuka clan, he’d spent years together with Akamaru.
By now, he had practically unlocked fluency in dog language.
Which meant he understood very clearly just how much pain Akamaru was in.
Unfortunately…
there was nothing he could do.
All Kiba could do was remain outside and wait nervously.
Inside the treatment room, Koji finished preparing the medicinal solution.
He motioned toward the medical ninja beside him.
“Hold him down.”
The man didn’t immediately understand what Koji meant.
But once he saw Koji’s preparations, realization dawned.
Although he couldn’t personally use the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique, he was familiar with the preparations involved.
He hesitated at first.
Then he remembered that Koji was Director Kudo’s student.
So he obediently stepped forward to help.
Akamaru was already suffering from the venom.
The instant the medical ninja restrained his limbs— the dog panicked.
“Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!”
A rapid stream of dog language exploded from him.
To Koji and the other medical ninja, it was meaningless noise.
Outside the room, however—
Kiba’s expression changed immediately.
If he hadn’t known this was a treatment room, he might have charged inside on the spot.
Akamaru continued struggling in terror.
Then he saw Koji calmly walking toward him with a gentle smile.
Perhaps sensing no obvious hostility from the person in front of him, Akamaru’s barking weakened slightly.
Koji didn’t notice.
Then he submerged his other hand into the prepared medicinal solution.
When he lifted it again— chakra had gathered a trembling sphere of liquid around his palm.
The medical ninja beside him unconsciously held his breath.
What came next was high-level medical work.
One mistake— and this ninja dog could be permanently crippled.
Under the man’s nervous gaze, Koji slowly brought his hand toward Akamaru’s injured muzzle.
“Awoo… woof…”
The moment the technique made contact— an indescribable wave of pain struck Akamaru.
The dog, who had still possessed enough energy to struggle and howl moments earlier, immediately gave up resisting.
From Koji’s position, he could clearly see tears streaming from the corners of Akamaru’s eyes.
Koji ignored them.
He continued the procedure without hesitation.
Several seconds later, his hand slowly pulled away.
The once-transparent medicinal solution was now filled with thick pus.
Mixed within it was a mass of purple venom.
And several black stingers.
Koji released the contaminated liquid back into the wooden container.
He showed no particular reaction.
The medical ninja who had been restraining Akamaru, on the other hand, finally started breathing heavily again.
Koji gave him a mildly surprised glance.
Then he looked back at Akamaru.
The swelling around the dog’s nose and upper jaw had already gone down considerably.
Koji activated the Mystical Palm Jutsu.
The tiny wounds that were still leaking blood rapidly closed.
And with that— the treatment was complete.
Koji didn’t even spare the exhausted Akamaru another glance.
He simply turned around and left the treatment room.
There were two separate entrances.
One was used by patients.
The other was reserved for medical personnel.
Because Koji exited through the staff door, there was no chance of running into Kiba outside.
Koji found that somewhat disappointing.
He had lived in Konoha for nearly three years now, yet he’d encountered surprisingly few familiar characters from the original story.
Still…
if they hadn’t met today, then so be it.
There would be plenty of opportunities in the future.
Not long after Koji left, Akamaru was finally carried out.
Physically— the dog was no longer in pain.
Psychologically…
that might take considerably longer to heal.