Under normal circumstances, a shinobi traveling at full tilt could reach the border of the Land of Fire from the Hidden Leaf in two days—sometimes even less. However, when moving as a large military force, the pace slowed considerably.
First, coordinating a large number of people was difficult. Unlike a small squad of three or five who could adjust their speed at a moment's notice, a large army had to move at a lower average speed to maintain formation and avoid being strung out.
Second, a large force was a massive, conspicuous target. They didn't have the stealth or flexibility of a small cell. Consequently, the vanguard was always composed of sensory ninjas scouting the path ahead. The army's top speed could never exceed the scouting pace of those sensory ninjas.
Tatsuma had initially applied to join the reconnaissance squad. His sensory talent was high, and although his chakra reserves weren't deep enough to maintain a sensory field for extended periods, he could have served as an excellent relief scout.
Tsunade, however, had flatly rejected the idea. The recon units were at the very front of the column and were the most likely to stumble into an ambush. True to her concerns, the army was harassed several times during the march, resulting in the deaths of two sensory ninjas.
It took over four days for the main force to finally reach the border camp. Since the border between the Great Nations was perpetually garrisoned, and full-scale war hadn't officially broken out yet, the camp remained intact. The arriving reinforcements didn't need to build from scratch; they simply integrated with the existing garrison.
The moment they arrived, Tatsuma was handed his first mission: assist the medical team in treating the camp's wounded.
"Kano, you'll assist Tatsuma. Treat the ninjas with severe physical trauma. Take me to the poisoned patients first," Tsunade commanded. She handed the administrative handover to Orochimaru and led the medical team directly to the wartime medical department. "The rest of you, distribute yourselves as needed. If you encounter a case you can't handle, organize the files and wait for me."
The medical ninjas reflexively glanced at Tatsuma before rushing toward the patients.
A young girl, around sixteen or seventeen, stepped up to Tatsuma. "Hello, Sakamoto Tatsuma. I'm Mitokado Kano, the former head of this department. Please, follow me."
Tatsuma nodded, offering no complaint about being put to work the second his feet hit the camp floor. He shouldered his pack and followed Kano into a large medical tent.
The tent reeked of strong antiseptic. Inside, five or six ninjas lay on cots, some groaning in pain, others shivering under their blankets. Tatsuma walked to the nearest patient to assess the damage and frowned immediately.
"Who performed the initial treatment on this man?"
The wound was on the thigh, likely caused by a Wind Style jutsu. The flesh had been flayed open, and the bone showed signs of minor scoring. However, the most pressing issue wasn't the laceration—it was the raging infection.
Seeing Tatsuma's scowl, Kano looked down, her face flushing with embarrassment. "It was me."
"Was there no medical ninja in the camp before we arrived?" Tatsuma asked, dropping his pack and beginning to unpack.
Kano's face went even redder. Was she being stripped of her medical ninja status right then and there? She could only murmur shamefully, "The medical conditions here were limited..."
Tatsuma didn't bother listening to her weak defense. He donned a mask and gloves, then pulled a bundle of sealing scrolls from his pack. With a quick release, a dozen bottles of saline and hydrogen peroxide appeared.
He grabbed two bottles, a packet of surgical needles and thread, and returned to the bedside. "Do you know how to suture?"
Kano nodded quickly.
"I'm going to debride the wound and remove the infected, suppurated tissue," Tatsuma said professionally. "You will handle the suturing and hemostasis. Only after that can we use the Mystical Palm or other ninjutsu for supplemental healing."
If the wound were fresh and clean, the Mystical Palm would be enough. But with this level of suppuration, using medical ninjutsu would only trap the infection inside.
Kano nodded and reflexively took the supplies Tatsuma handed over. Realizing she was being directed by a child, she followed his lead anyway, snapping on her own mask and gloves.
"Next time, remember to tie your hair back," Tatsuma added absently.
"I... I understand."
Suddenly, Kano felt like she was back in her internship at the Leaf Hospital, being barked at by the department head. The only difference was that the department head back then was just mean; this kid actually seemed to know what he was doing.
Tatsuma observed the wound, exchanged a few brief words with the patient, and began. A blue blade of chakra hummed to life in his hand—the Chakra Scalpel. He moved with precision, carving away the necrotic tissue.
He didn't use anesthesia. The patient's leg was already tightly bandaged to prevent bleeding, and the limb was almost entirely numb. He didn't need to waste the supplies.
Once the infected tissue was removed, he flushed the wound with hydrogen peroxide and saline. After giving Kano a few pointers on the suture pattern, he stripped his gloves, donned a new set, and moved to the next bed.
The next patient wasn't as lucky. He had a severe injury to the ribs that had compromised his lung and stomach. Tatsuma performed basic debridement and stabilized the bleeding, but he couldn't handle internal organ repair. He marked the file for Tsunade's attention.
The remaining patients were relatively straightforward. The wounds were on the limbs, with one unfortunate hit to the gluteus. All they required was the removal of infection, cleaning, and re-suturing. Once he finished, Tatsuma looked at Kano with a strange expression.
Tsunade had told Kano to take him to the "severely traumatized" patients. Why were these cases so... basic?
If the initial treatment hadn't been botched, these wounds would never have turned septic. Even a basic ninja with no medical training should have been able to clean and stitch these properly.
Was Kano a fake? Then he remembered the surname. Mitokado...
Tatsuma scrutinized Mitokado Kano. It felt like she was here just to pad her resume.
Feeling his gaze, Kano lowered her head, looking quite aggrieved. She was a medical ninja, but she had never handled patients who were at risk of bleeding out in seconds. To prevent them from dying on the spot, she had panicked, jammed the wounds with styptic powder, and wrapped them tight, praying for a miracle.
Recognizing the likely truth—that she was the relative of the village elder Mitokado Homura—Tatsuma decided to keep his mouth shut. As a civilian-born ninja, it wouldn't do to criticize a member of a prominent political family. He didn't want someone "tripping" his career progress later.
He checked Kano's sutures. They were mediocre—unattractive, but functional. Once the bandages were loosened and blood flow returned without a new hemorrhage, Tatsuma finally used the Mystical Palm Technique to accelerate the healing.
Treating four patients wasn't enough to exhaust him. Once they were stabilized and sleeping, Tatsuma sat down to organize the report and surgical plan for the patient with internal damage.
He hadn't studied advanced medical theory, but having spent six months trailing Tsunade, he had seen plenty of case files. Relying on his memory, he drafted a plan based on similar successful surgeries.
Tsunade would have to review it anyway. If he was right, it would save her time; if he was wrong, it wouldn't cost her anything more than a few seconds to discard it.
"Not bad. Want to change your mind and study medical ninjutsu under me full-time?"
Tatsuma's hand jerked, his pen punching a hole through the paper. He turned to find Tsunade standing behind him with a satisfied smile.
"Teacher, you're going to give me a heart attack," Tatsuma sighed. "Anyway, did you settle the poisoning cases that quickly?"
"They were just standard Suna stock. There are existing protocols for those."
Tsunade picked up his surgical plan and compared it to the patient's file. "You know, you don't have to spend your life killing people to be a ninja. I think you have a real gift for medicine."
"I'll pass. I really don't like the atmosphere of a hospital wing," Tatsuma replied. "And... I didn't hesitate to kill because I'm a coward. It's just... never mind."
Tatsuma knew she was still trying to "scout" him for the hospital, but he remained firm. Tsunade didn't push it further.
"Go check the other tents," she said. "The medical standards here are abysmal. They need the support."
"Yes, Teacher."