Saionji Keiko was the current director of Kirigakure Hospital.
Neither her appearance nor her neatly maintained white coat was particularly eye-catching.
However, the gentle warmth she carried, combined with the capable and composed manner in which she handled things, had a way of making those around her feel comfortable.
Her kind smile only added to that reassuring presence.
Seeing that Tachibana Kenji’s clothes were slightly disheveled from running all the way here, Saionji Keiko stepped forward and rubbed his head, preparing to crouch down and straighten his clothes for him.
Tachibana Kenji smiled helplessly.
“Yes, Aunt Keiko.
But I usually eat after training, so I’m not hungry yet.” He didn’t avoid her hand as she ruffled his hair.
Although he wasn’t particularly short for his age and was, mentally speaking, a transmigrator, his body was still only that of a nine-year-old child.
He could only learn to get used to being treated this way by his elders.
Tachibana Kenji merely brushed the dirt from his clothes, indicating that he had already tidied himself up.
But in Kirigakure’s damp climate, such a gesture was clearly little more than a token effort.
Saionji Keiko withdrew her hand and watched Tachibana Kenji’s futile efforts with an indulgent smile.
However, she was more concerned about the first thing he had said.
“If you haven’t eaten, then perfect.
I don’t have any more patients at the moment, so don’t go into the hospital.
Wait here for me.
I’ll go change, and then I’ll take you to get something to eat.” Before Tachibana Kenji could respond, Saionji Keiko had already turned around and gone back into the hospital.
He could only obediently wait where he was.
In truth, Tachibana Kenji had only met Aunt Keiko twice since his transmigration.
From the original owner’s memories, he knew that she had been his mother’s teacher and might also have been some kind of distant relative.
She had taken considerable care of him after his parents died.
Although the shinobi world didn’t really have a formal concept of legal guardianship, everything Saionji Keiko had done was essentially the same as acting as his guardian.
Because of this, Tachibana Kenji was always especially careful around her.
He didn’t want this kind and caring elder to notice anything different about him.
According to his memories, although Saionji Keiko was the director of Kirigakure Hospital, she wasn’t technically a shinobi.
Or rather, she held no official shinobi rank.
Although she possessed chakra and had mastered several medical ninjutsu, she had no combat ability and wasn’t registered within the village’s shinobi ranks.
Therefore, she could only be considered a doctor.
Given Kirigakure’s current culture, her status as a doctor meant that even as the hospital’s director, with a certain degree of social standing, she still couldn’t enter the upper ranks of the village’s political structure.
“Tachibana, have you been waiting long?” Now dressed in casual clothes, Saionji Keiko strode briskly out of Kirigakure Hospital.
“Not at all, Aunt Keiko.
Shall we get some seafood ramen?
I haven’t had it in a while.” Since Aunt Keiko was obviously going to be paying as the elder, Tachibana Kenji didn’t want her to spend too much.
So, taking advantage of his status as a child, he directly suggested something inexpensive that he wanted to eat.
“Let’s go, then.” Perhaps it was a habit developed from being a doctor.
Saionji Keiko was always calm and meticulous in both speech and manner, yet she walked with surprising energy and purpose.
They reached the ramen shop after only a few exchanged words.
“Boss, one bowl of tonkotsu ramen.
Tachibana, you’re having seafood ramen, right?” Saionji Keiko was apparently a regular customer and called out her order to the owner without giving it much thought.
“Yes, Aunt Keiko.
A large bowl for me, please.” While waiting for their food, Tachibana Kenji didn’t immediately bring up the reason for his visit.
Instead, he chatted with Saionji Keiko about his recent life and his experiences at the Academy.
Before long, the owner brought their ramen to the table.
Saionji Keiko hesitated as she watched Tachibana Kenji place the little blue frog from his shoulder onto the table and pick several shrimp out of his own bowl to feed it.
Still eating her ramen, she eventually spoke up.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you, Tachibana.
That’s your summoned beast, isn’t it?
I don’t remember seeing it before.” “Yes.
I happened to form a summoning contract with Lan recently.” “Froakie!
Froakie!” Hearing himself being mentioned, Lan turned his head and croaked twice in perfect cooperation.
“Summoning contracts carry a certain amount of risk.
Some groups of summoned beasts may even turn on their summoners, so you should be careful.” Saionji Keiko looked at Tachibana Kenji with a serious expression.
“Don’t worry, Aunt Keiko.
I found Lan while training near the edge of the village.
He doesn’t seem to belong to any group.
He’s probably a mutant.
I noticed that he had chakra and could use some simple techniques, so I formed a summoning contract with him.” Tachibana Kenji picked up another shrimp while calmly spinning his lie, then hurriedly soothed Lan, who seemed somewhat offended at the suggestion that he might betray his partner.
Seeing that Saionji Keiko was about to continue lecturing him, Tachibana Kenji decisively changed the subject.
“Aunt Keiko, the main reason I came today is that I heard the village has recently begun selecting candidates for medical ninja training.
I wanted to ask if you know anything about the specific process.” Saionji Keiko didn’t know whether she had seen through his attempt to change the subject, but she followed along nonetheless.
“I was actually the one who submitted the proposal to Elder Genji.
Konoha has already begun assigning medical ninja to some of its newly formed teams, and it’s been proven that doing so can reduce shinobi casualties.
Kirigakure can’t afford to fall too far behind.” Previously, doctors and shinobi in the shinobi world had largely remained separate professions.
Some shinobi might know a medical technique or two, while some doctors possessed a certain degree of combat ability.
But on the battlefield, all frontline doctors worked in medical teams stationed at the camps.
Wounded shinobi had to return to camp before receiving treatment.
Doctors also weren’t assigned to shinobi teams during ordinary missions.
Whether an injured shinobi survived long enough to receive treatment was entirely a matter of luck.
Then a woman named Tsunade appeared.
She was extraordinarily skilled in both combat and medicine, and as the granddaughter of the First Hokage, she also possessed considerable prestige throughout the shinobi world.
So when she began vigorously promoting the concept of medical ninja in Konoha and proposed having medical ninja accompany shinobi teams on missions, the other Great Shinobi Villages began rushing to imitate the idea even while Konoha itself was still debating the proposal internally.
What Tachibana Kenji hadn’t expected was that the person promoting this initiative in Kirigakure was actually Aunt Keiko.
“What, are you interested in becoming a medical ninja?” Saionji Keiko tilted her head slightly and looked at Tachibana Kenji in confusion.
“Yes, Aunt Keiko.
After this midterm practical examination, I realized that my talent for combat isn’t sufficient, so I’d like to make a change.” “But didn’t you win your match in this examination?
And I heard your overall evaluation was quite good.” Saionji Keiko’s expression became even more puzzled.
“Uh…
Aunt Keiko, you already know about my evaluation from yesterday’s examination?” “As it happens, the Ninja Academy’s school doctor is also one of my former students.
I asked him to keep an eye on you.” Well, as the director of Kirigakure Hospital, she might not be particularly powerful politically, but her position certainly came with plenty of conveniences in everyday life.
Still, with his life at stake, Tachibana Kenji felt no embarrassment at having his story exposed.
He simply continued with the explanation he had prepared beforehand.
“I actually only won that match through a few tricks.
My real strength isn’t greater than my opponent’s, and I don’t think I’ll be able to pass the graduation examination.” Failing the graduation examination meant death.
Tachibana Kenji wasn’t afraid of losing face, so he deliberately made the situation sound more serious.
Sure enough, Saionji Keiko’s expression immediately turned solemn.
“I was the one who initially proposed this matter, and Elder Genji has already agreed to it and persuaded the Mizukage to approve it as well.” Elder Genji was one of Kirigakure’s absolute upper echelons and held considerable authority within the village.
Kirigakure’s attitude toward its Mizukage throughout the generations had always been rather straightforward: the strongest person became Mizukage.
As a result, beginning with the First Mizukage, Elder Genji had served as an advisor, assisting the Mizukage with a portion of the village’s administrative affairs.
Although the Mizukage’s authority was unquestionable, in matters that didn’t conflict with the Mizukage’s own will, the Mizukage generally wouldn’t object if Elder Genji strongly supported something.
“The original intention behind this selection is to choose a group of active-duty shinobi to study medical ninjutsu, while also selecting doctors from the hospital who possess chakra and know medical ninjutsu and providing them with shinobi training.” “But as you probably know, most of the village’s shinobi don’t place much importance on medical skills.
Medical ninja also require a certain level of chakra control and medical knowledge, so the program hasn’t progressed very smoothly.” “We hadn’t previously considered selecting medical ninja directly from the Ninja Academy.
If you don’t have any talent for medical ninjutsu, even if I forced you into the selection process, you might still fail to become a medical ninja.
Returning to the Academy afterward could also delay your training during these next few crucial months.” The more Saionji Keiko spoke, the more concerned she looked.
Tachibana Kenji knew that the most important part of the conversation had finally arrived.
He didn’t immediately answer.
Instead, he took a scroll from his ninja tool pouch and handed it to her.
Looking at Saionji Keiko, who still didn’t quite understand what he was doing, Tachibana Kenji shamelessly said, “This is a medical ninjutsu I developed myself: Water Release: Aqua Ring.”