The next morning, Taiichi, Yohei, and Saori woke up before dawn. After finishing their morning training, Taiichi headed to the medical camp alone. Yohei and Saori went to find Kakashi's team so they could start carrying out missions together.
Compared to a month ago, the medical camp now had far more medical ninjas. Not only had the apprentices who used to just assist become capable of simple treatments, but the village had also sent over another batch of newly trained medical ninjas.
Even so, medical resources at the front were still extremely tight. The biggest problem was the severe shortage of truly skilled medical ninjas.
Unlike the low-level medical ninjas who could start treating basic wounds after only two or three months of training, true jonin-level medical ninjas who could handle severe injuries weren't something you could mass-produce. They required years of study and even more years of real-world experience. Even Taiichi, with his system, had only reached his current level by working part-time at Konoha Hospital whenever he had free time.
Taiichi had barely stepped through the entrance of the medical camp when Director Fujita spotted him amid the chaos.
"Taiichi! You're finally back! Quick, we've got several critical patients waiting for treatment!"
Director Fujita grabbed a white coat from a nearby rack and rushed over. He tossed it to Taiichi, then grabbed his arm and started pulling him toward the critical care area.
"Director, Director—I can walk on my own. Just lead the way. We'll get there faster that way."
Taiichi hurried to keep up while quickly putting on the coat.
Director Fujita had been so excited to see Taiichi that he'd lost his composure for a moment. He let go and continued leading the way at a brisk pace, explaining the condition of the critically injured patients without wasting a single second.
As Taiichi listened, he got a clear picture of what he was about to face—typical battlefield injuries with massive internal bleeding. Ordinary Mystical Palm Technique couldn't stop the bleeding. At this rate, the patients would die from blood loss within minutes.
For ordinary medical ninjas this would be extremely difficult. For Taiichi, it was almost trivial.
This was the difference in skill level. Taiichi's healing was on a completely different plane from what most medical ninjas could achieve.
When he actually saw the first patient, Taiichi realized Director Fujita had understated the severity. The man wasn't just bleeding internally—the blood had already filled his abdominal cavity and was crushing his lungs, making it impossible for him to breathe.
Taiichi stepped forward. His hands glowed with dense green light. He activated his sensory perception and immediately located the bleeding point on the liver. The green light concentrated on the wound as rich Yang-natured chakra combined with Mystical Palm Technique rapidly healed the injury.
At the same time, he freed one hand to form a chakra scalpel and made a small incision below the ribs. He followed it with a suction technique, and the pooled blood in the abdominal cavity quickly drained out.
The patient's massively swollen abdomen deflated back to normal. The pressure on his diaphragm eased, and his breathing returned to normal.
About ten minutes later, Taiichi withdrew his hands. The patient no longer had a single wound. The only remaining issue was severe blood loss, which would require rest and recovery.
"Taiichi, you really are incredible. Why does your Mystical Palm Technique stop bleeding so quickly while ours doesn't? Is there some trick to it?"
Director Fujita had just asked the question every medical ninja in the room was dying to know.
On the battlefield, the most common injuries were uncontrolled bleeding. Whether internal or external, if you could stop the bleeding in time, there were plenty of ways to keep the patient alive afterward. But many people died simply because the bleeding couldn't be stopped.
If everyone here could learn Taiichi's method of stopping bleeding fast, the entire medical unit's survival rate would jump dramatically.
Taiichi looked at all the eager faces and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. There was no shortcut. Anyone with solid fundamentals could do it.
"It's not that I don't want to tell you. It's actually not a secret," Taiichi said, organizing his thoughts. "First, your understanding of Yang Nature Transformation has to reach jonin level—Lv6. Only then will your chakra have enough life force to stimulate and protect the patient's vital functions.
Second, your Mystical Palm Technique needs to reach the proficient level—Lv6. That means you have your own unique understanding of it and can simplify the hand seals on your own.
Third, your Chakra Control has to be extremely precise—Lv10. Specifically, you need to be able to turn your chakra into strands as thin as hair and thread them through the eye of a needle."
As Taiichi listed the requirements one by one, every medical ninja in the room felt their hearts sink.
Forget all three conditions—most of them couldn't even meet one. Even Director Fujita could only condense his chakra to about one millimeter thick. Hair-thin control was still a very long way off.
Seeing everyone looking crushed, Taiichi quickly shared some of his own training tips to lift their spirits.
"Actually, since you're all full-time medical ninjas, just pay close attention to the rhythm of life during your daily treatments. Your Yang Nature Transformation will naturally grow stronger over time. That's how I improved too."
As expected, hearing advice from someone who had already walked the path gave most of them renewed motivation. As for the few who still looked defeated, Taiichi could only sigh. If they couldn't even handle this much discouragement, they were never going to improve.
From then on, to increase treatment speed, Taiichi created two shadow clones to work alongside him. He didn't need to heal every patient completely. He only handled the most difficult parts, then let the other medical ninjas take over the rest.
Treatment efficiency skyrocketed. Many patients waiting in line even stopped moaning as loudly when they saw how fast things were moving.
Taiichi spent an entire week at the medical camp. During that time, the camp achieved unprecedented efficiency. Any wounded shinobi who made it back alive had a 100% survival rate—no matter how severe their injuries.
This small miracle was possible because Taiichi's Yang Nature Transformation had reached Lv11. While it wasn't quite at the level of bringing the dead back to life, its effect on battlefield injuries was immediate and dramatic.
News of the miracle quickly spread through the Konoha forces. Along with it came the name Matsushita Taiichi.
At first, many of the newly arrived reinforcements didn't believe it. It sounded too good to be true.
But as more and more wounded—and even critically wounded—shinobi walked out of the medical camp fully healed and returned to the front lines, everyone finally understood.
Konoha had produced another top-tier medical ninja after Tsunade.
Morale across the entire camp surged. The effect was obvious: Konoha shinobi became much bolder and more aggressive in battle. Some even took minor injuries on purpose just to land a heavy blow on Sunagakure forces.
A small change might not seem like much on an individual level, but when multiplied across the entire battlefield, the difference became enormous.
And the change worked both ways. Konoha shinobi could get injured and still return to fighting quickly. Sunagakure didn't have that luxury. Once they were wounded, they stayed wounded. The gap between the two sides kept widening like a snowball rolling downhill.
Sunagakure gradually started feeling the pressure. Not only were their casualties rising, but even battle lines that had been evenly matched were slowly being pushed back. The silent shift left them confused. How had the fight suddenly turned against them?
Inside Sunagakure's forward command tent…
"What the hell is going on? Why are we suddenly losing ground? I haven't heard anything about Konoha bringing in some incredible new fighter!"
Rasa looked extremely frustrated. Everything had been going their way. Even after Konoha received reinforcements, Sunagakure had still held the advantage. Then, without warning, the tide had turned. Now they were being pushed back.
Chiyo and Ebizo were equally puzzled, but they still had to answer their Kazekage.
"I questioned several people who fought against Konoha shinobi," Chiyo said. "Nothing particularly unusual stood out—except that their morale has been unusually high lately."
Ebizo nodded. "Same on my end. Many of our shinobi reported that when fighting Konoha forces, the enemy seemed to hold a personal grudge—like they wanted revenge for murdered parents. They'd rather take injuries themselves than miss a chance to strike us."
Rasa grew even more confused. Shinobi were still human. They had emotions—sometimes even stronger ones. They felt fear. They hesitated.
For most shinobi, war was just a large-scale mission. A small portion might fight out of genuine patriotism, but that was definitely not the majority.
Yet according to Chiyo and Ebizo's reports, it seemed like every single Konoha shinobi was fighting with reckless enthusiasm, completely unafraid of death.
"There has to be something behind this. Elder Ebizo, activate our sleeper agents. Investigate this immediately. It's critical."
"Understood. I'll get to the bottom of it as fast as possible."
Ebizo understood the stakes. Whatever—or whoever—was quietly shifting the balance of the war had to be eliminated before it was too late. Otherwise, this war would become much harder to win.
Meanwhile, after a week of treatment and recovery, the medical camp's patient load had returned to normal levels.
Everyone had also developed a good working rhythm with Taiichi. They no longer relied on him for every case. Only when truly critical patients arrived did they call him in to handle the toughest problems. Everything else was handled by the other medical ninjas.
Taiichi was deliberately training them. After all, the only way to improve in this field was through hands-on experience. And as the war continued, the demand for skilled medical ninjas would only grow. Taking advantage of the current situation to train more talented healers was the right move.
This new arrangement also gave Taiichi a lot more free time. He could now spend it on other things—like continuing his research on Flying Thunder God and training his advanced taijutsu and meditation.
Half a month after arriving at the front, Taiichi's physical training finally paid off with another breakthrough.
[Through long-term advanced taijutsu training, your body has been tempered. Strength +1, Agility +1]
Improving physical stats was like laying a stronger foundation. The stronger the base, the taller the building you could build on top of it. The same applied to Taiichi's ninjutsu and kenjutsu—the stronger his body, the more effectively he could use them.
This progress only motivated him to spend even more time training his physique.
At the same time, after a week of waiting, Ebizo finally received a report from his sleeper agents.
The root cause of everything was a single Konoha shinobi named Matsushita Taiichi. Ever since he arrived with the last batch of reinforcements, the medical camp had undergone a massive change. Treatment efficiency had skyrocketed, and not a single critically wounded patient had died.
With such powerful medical support behind them, Konoha shinobi naturally fought more aggressively. After all, as long as they didn't die on the spot, they could return and be patched up good as new.
After reading the report, Ebizo immediately ordered all information about Matsushita Taiichi to be compiled. He then took the full dossier straight to the Fourth Kazekage.
When Rasa finished reading the compiled intelligence, he couldn't help but sigh. "Konoha really does produce talent after talent. Now they've got another Tsunade-like figure."
But in the next moment, his expression turned vicious. What was a hero to one side was an enemy to the other. Someone like this had to be eliminated before he fully matured.
"What are your thoughts?"
Chiyo and Ebizo exchanged a glance. Both saw the same ruthless determination in each other's eyes.
"Didn't we already have a plan to raid Konoha's camp?" Chiyo said. "Originally we were only targeting their command center to try and kill Jiraiya. Now we should include the medical camp in the attack."
"Exactly," Ebizo agreed. "Even if we can't kill Matsushita Taiichi himself, we can cripple their medical system. Let's see if he can treat that many wounded all by himself!"
"Good. We'll do it." Rasa slammed his hand on the table. "Elder Ebizo, refine the plan. We'll execute it as soon as possible. Konoha's shinobi have been getting too bold lately."
At that moment, Taiichi had no idea any of this was happening. Since arriving at the front, he hadn't even stepped outside the camp gate. His days were spent training his body and healing people.
Even so, his name had already landed on the Fourth Kazekage's desk, and Sunagakure had created an entire assassination plan specifically for him.
If Taiichi had known, he wouldn't have known whether to feel honored or just sigh at how stupid Sunagakure's leadership was. He would have happily welcomed them to come and die.
Right now, Taiichi had split himself into seven parts, each doing something different. Some clones were teaching medical ninjas, others were researching ninjutsu, and still others were training kenjutsu. He wasn't idle for a single moment.
His strength continued to grow steadily, one small step at a time.