Guy and the others nodded.
Shiranui Genma took a scroll from his ninja tool pouch and handed it to their teacher, Akimichi Chōza.
Chōza opened the scroll.
Only a moment passed before his expression changed sharply.
The gentle look on his face vanished, replaced by a sudden trace of severity.
He closed the scroll and said to Guy and the others,
“This matter is too serious.
We must return immediately and report it to Lord Hokage!”
“Yes!”
“Let’s go!”
At Akimichi Chōza’s command, the four of them turned into black shadows and rushed toward Konoha like shooting stars.
…
Konoha Medical Department.
“Lord Haruto, Might Duy has already been settled.
His injuries have stabilized for now.
All he needs next is hospitalization and rest.
We’ve also assigned a nurse to watch over him personally.
Everything has been arranged.”
“Mm.”
Nohara Haruto nodded.
“You’ve all worked hard this time.
Take the rest of the day off.
Come back tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
Under normal circumstances, medical-nin stayed inside Konoha’s Medical Department.
Outside of wartime, only on rare occasions would they go out on missions to treat patients in the field.
This time, they had spent several days searching around Konoha’s border before finally arriving in time to save Might Duy.
The past few days had been exhausting for them as well.
“By the way, Lord Haruto, there’s one more thing… Lord Hokage sent someone looking for you a few days ago.
He said that once you returned, you must go to the Hokage’s office…”
Before the medical-nin could finish speaking, Nohara Haruto cut him off.
“I still have something to deal with.
I’ll go after I finish.”
Bang!
With a heavy sound, Nohara Haruto closed the door to his office.
The medical-nin looked like he wanted to cry.
Lord Haruto… that’s the Hokage.
The Hokage himself…
He had openly stood the Hokage up for so long.
Now that he had returned to Konoha, he was still finding excuses to delay.
Wasn’t that a little too much?
At that moment, however, Haruto really did have something of his own to handle.
First…
He poured himself a cup of tea to moisten his throat.
Cough, cough.
That was not the important part.
The important part was that this time, after saving Might Duy, he had gained quite a few system points.
With a thought, a white panel of light suddenly appeared before his eyes.
It was a piece of technology completely foreign to this world, bound directly to his body.
He had discovered it the moment he transmigrated into this world.
A medical system.
As long as he treated patients, he could earn system points.
With those points, he could exchange for all kinds of items in the system shop—medicines, medicinal herbs, testing instruments, and even pills that only existed in fantasy worlds.
At this moment, several large words were clearly displayed on the system panel.
[System Points: 6,984]
He still remembered that when he saved Might Duy, the system had rewarded him with a full 5,000 points.
That was the first time he had ever treated an A-rank patient.
Because his current supply of medicinal herbs and pills was extremely limited, being able to save Might Duy had already been an unexpected joy.
The system had also given him a “Good” overall evaluation.
The only regret was that his treatment had not reached an “Excellent” evaluation because Might Duy could no longer continue as a shinobi.
But Haruto was confident.
If he had higher-grade, higher-quality pills in the future and combined them with his own medical skills, he would definitely be able to treat patients well enough to achieve an Excellent overall evaluation.
Looking at the 5,000 points rewarded by the system, Nohara Haruto felt a trace of pleasant surprise.
The Soul-Returning Life-Sustaining Pill was a third-grade pill.
In the system shop, each one cost 1,200 points.
A reward of 5,000 points was already enough for him to exchange for several of them.
For him, this counted as a small profit.
And now, these points were finally enough for him to exchange for a pill he had been thinking about for a long time.
He opened the system shop and switched to the pill category.
[Host purchased: Fourth-Grade Nine-Turn Heart-Protecting Pill.
Cost: 2,700 points!]
[Host purchased: Third-Grade Soul-Returning Life-Sustaining Pill ×2.
Cost: 2,400 points!]
After finishing his purchases, Nohara Haruto placed the items into his medical kit one by one.
Once everything was done, he opened the door to his office and prepared to leave.
He almost walked straight into the miserable-looking subordinate standing outside.
“I gave you the day off, didn’t I?
Why are you still here?”
Nohara Haruto frowned.
“Lord Haruto… maybe you should still go see Lord Hokage…”
“Fine, fine.
I know.”
Haruto waved impatiently and strode out of the Medical Department.
The medical-nin finally let out a breath of relief.
Lord Haruto had finally come around and understood that he should go meet the Hokage.
In all of Konoha, the only person who could treat Lord Hokage with so little concern was probably Lord Haruto.
A short while later.
Inside the Nara Clan compound, Nara Shikaku sat alone in a rocking chair, slowly sipping tea and enjoying the warm, lazy afternoon sunlight falling over him.
“You really are relaxed…”
A figure flickered beside Nara Shikaku.
Nohara Haruto, dressed in his white trench coat, suddenly appeared.
Without the slightest politeness, he picked up a piece of fruit from Shikaku’s table and tossed it into his mouth.
“I haven’t had any missions recently, so of course I’m relaxed,” Nara Shikaku said with a smile.
“Unlike you.
So many people come looking for you every day.”
As he spoke, Shikaku rose from his chair, seemingly interested.
He reached under the tea table and pulled out a Go board.
“Since you’re already here, play a few rounds with me.
Everyone else is too weak.
Playing with them is boring.”
“You lose every time we play.
I don’t find it interesting either.”
Nohara Haruto waved his hand helplessly.
Nara Shikaku raised an eyebrow, a wicked smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“If you don’t play with me, I’ll send someone to tell Lord Hokage that you’re hiding here…”
“Fine.
We’ll play!”
Nohara Haruto glared at him, flicked his sleeve, and sat down.