My name is Kisame Hoshigaki.
I’m twelve years old, and I’m a newly promoted chūnin of Kirigakure.
A few days ago, I was carrying out a mission with my jōnin leader and two teammates to escort a merchant from the Land of Fire back to his homeland.
We never expected the merchant to have concealed the fact that he was fighting his own younger brother for the position of clan head.
Not long after we entered the Land of Fire, we encountered shinobi hired by the merchant’s younger brother to assassinate him.
I don’t know what kind of promise that man made to secure their services, but the person he hired was none other than Sunagakure’s “Scorch Release” user, Pakura.
It was obvious that there was an enormous gap in strength between our jōnin leader and Pakura, who was also a jōnin and had already established her own reputation.
The Fire Country merchant paid for his own stinginess with his life.
But Pakura seemed to have another mission and clearly didn’t want her whereabouts exposed.
After killing her target, she even attempted to silence our entire squad.
Without wasting many words, countless orange fireballs came hurtling toward us one after another.
My captain’s Water Release techniques were almost completely incapable of stopping them effectively.
Fortunately, Pakura’s sensory abilities seemed to be relatively poor, and she focused primarily on our jōnin leader.
Even so, I only managed to escape by sheer luck after taking a direct hit from one of the fireballs and using the Hidden Mist Technique.
In the end, I relied on the Hoshigaki clan’s special physiology to replenish a massive amount of water before dragging my severely injured body all the way back to the village alone.
After reporting everything I knew about Pakura’s Scorch Release, I was immediately sent to Kirigakure Hospital for treatment.
But seriously, can someone tell me…
Why is my attending physician a nine-year-old brat?!
…
Five Minutes Earlier Tachibana Kenji was observing and studying a surgical procedure in Operating Room No.
3.
A fruit vendor had been resting inside his shop when a shinobi running across the roof accidentally kicked loose a roof tile.
The tile fell and struck him directly on the head.
He was now undergoing surgery to have the wound stitched closed.
Tachibana had been interning at Kirigakure Hospital for some time now.
Having already mastered several medical ninjutsu techniques and possessing a solid foundation in medical knowledge, he had quickly become well regarded throughout the hospital.
Although he was a shinobi, he wasn’t arrogant and treated everyone kindly.
As a result, ordinary doctors who didn’t possess chakra would often ask him to assist them when treating injured patients, especially when they encountered problems that were difficult to handle without medical ninjutsu.
Tachibana could use these opportunities to accumulate practical medical experience.
It was a win-win situation for everyone.
Just as Tachibana was marveling at the unfortunate vendor’s terrible luck, a nurse hurried into the room.
Seeing that Tachibana was merely observing from the side, she immediately spoke.
“Dr.
Kenji, a shinobi has just been brought in.
He appears to be suffering from severe burns and dehydration.
The director is currently performing another operation, so she asked you to stabilize the patient’s condition first.” Tachibana immediately stood up.
Keiko must have thought that his Water Ring Technique would be particularly effective against external burns and dehydration.
Since there were too few people in the hospital who could use the technique proficiently, she had probably sent him over because she couldn’t leave her current operation.
And so, Tachibana hurried into the ward wearing his custom-made miniature white lab coat.
He happened to be spotted by Kisame Hoshigaki, who had just been informed that his attending physician would be arriving shortly.
Naturally, Tachibana had no idea about the complicated thoughts running through Kisame’s mind.
Even if he had known, he wouldn’t have cared.
Some patients had even openly questioned his qualifications before.
But most civilians immediately shut their mouths obediently once they learned that he was a shinobi.
After entering the ward and taking the patient’s medical chart from the nurse, Tachibana was slightly surprised.
Kisame Hoshigaki, injured by Pakura’s Scorch Release.
Well, well.
Another famous character.
Although the Hoshigaki clan was a small shinobi clan with very few members, its members possessed a unique physiology that differed somewhat from that of ordinary humans.
Moreover, the injuries caused by Pakura’s Scorch Release were highly unusual.
For that reason, this information had been recorded in advance so that the medical staff could better understand the patient’s condition.
Tachibana didn’t waste any time.
After briefly examining Kisame’s injuries, he asked a nurse to bring over a bucket of water.
Then he formed hand seals.
“Water Release: Water Ring.” Two streams of water instantly shot out from the bucket and floated above Tachibana’s palms, forming rings of water around his left and right hands.
Pakura’s Scorch Release primarily caused external burns, severe dehydration, and respiratory-system injuries caused by inhaling superheated air.
Since Kisame had survived the initial attack and managed to hold on until now, treating him wasn’t particularly difficult.
The only troublesome part was treating his lungs, which required much more precise and delicate chakra control.
Tachibana placed his left hand above Kisame’s body to treat the external burns.
His right hand hovered above Kisame’s mouth and nose, preparing to guide the water into his respiratory tract.
“Don’t worry.
It’s a healing technique.
Open your mouth.” Kisame lay on the bed, his small eyes fixed on Tachibana.
The doctor looked extremely young, but his execution of the technique was remarkably proficient.
And for some reason, watching him form hand seals and use Water Release gave Kisame an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
So he obediently opened his mouth.
However, the moment Tachibana saw Kisame open his mouth, he hesitated.
After thinking carefully for a moment, he divided the stream of water in his hand into several additional streams.
They flowed toward both sides of Kisame’s face and into the gills on his shoulders.
Treatment for burns to the respiratory tract…
The gills count as part of the respiratory system too, right?
While treating him and letting his imagination run wild, Tachibana nearly made Kisame—this shark-like man who could breathe underwater—choke on the water.
He immediately pushed the distracting thoughts aside and focused on the treatment.
Kisame instantly felt the coolness of water and the distinctive warmth and healing sensation of Yang Release chakra flowing across his burned flesh, rapidly easing the pain caused by the Scorch Release.
When Keiko Saigyouji arrived, she saw that Tachibana had already begun treatment and didn’t interrupt him.
She simply gave him a few reassuring pointers about the treatment, then instructed a nurse to fetch some specialized burn medication.
She told the nurse to apply the medicine and bandage Kisame after Tachibana finished his treatment, then left the ward.
Half an hour later.
“All right.
The initial treatment has stabilized your condition.
From here, you just need to change the dressings on schedule and remain in the hospital under observation.” Tachibana wiped the sweat from his forehead as he spoke to Kisame.
Medical ninjutsu was like this.
The physical and chakra consumption could certainly be significant, but the greater burden was the mental exhaustion caused by the need for extremely precise control.
Tachibana glanced at the topical medicine Keiko had prescribed, added his own medical instructions, and prepared to leave.
“Doctor, may I ask your name?” Kisame forced a smile onto his face.
Unfortunately, when he opened his mouth, his rows of sharp teeth were exposed, frightening the young nurse who was preparing to apply his medicine into taking an involuntary step backward.
Tachibana, however, knew what Kisame was really like.
He also remembered Kisame as one of the more straightforward and honest characters he had liked in the original story.
So he had no trouble ignoring his intimidating appearance.
“My name is Tachibana Kenji.
I’m a Medical Ninja.” Tachibana gave Kisame a thumbs-up and a faint smile.
Over the following days, Tachibana would often visit Kisame’s ward while he was at the hospital, checking on his recovery.
After all, Tachibana was effectively Kisame’s attending physician.
And since Kisame was a character from the original story, Tachibana naturally viewed him with a certain favorable bias.
Later, Kisame learned that the Water Ring Technique was actually a ninjutsu Tachibana had created himself.
With nothing else to do while recovering, Kisame began discussing Water Release hand-seal techniques with Tachibana on a regular basis.
To Tachibana’s surprise, these conversations gave him quite a few insights of his own.
As the two interacted more and more, they gradually became friends who could talk openly with each other.
And so, Tachibana spent his days interning at the hospital and discussing ninjutsu with Kisame Hoshigaki, while spending his evenings sparring with Mei Terumi at the training ground.
His abilities in every area continued to improve rapidly.