Medical Ninjutsu isn't known for its speed when healing injuries. Even with the advanced-level Mystical Palm Technique, treating wounds this extensive would still take at least five minutes—for a normal medical ninja.
Therefore, during this downtime, Miyoshi continued explaining, "Medical Ninjutsu works by forming hand seals to activate the physical energy within one's chakra. Then, this activated chakra must flow and release through specific combinations inside the body."
Seiki expressed his understanding in his own words, "Could we think of it like this: Chakra is like a known number, Ninjutsu is the formula, while hand seals are auxiliary calculation tools? The stronger the Ninjutsu, the more complex the formula becomes, meaning more hand seals as calculation aids are needed. Ultimately, the result produced will be the ninjutsu we want to release."
This was the first time Miyoshi had ever heard such a novel explanation. Instinctively, she felt Seiki made sense, but due to ninjas' general neglect toward fundamental teaching concepts, she felt uncertain again. "Why do you think that way?"
Seiki answered seriously, "Today I looked through several books in the library—*Chakra: An Overview*, *Complete Compendium of Ninjutsu*, *Essentials of Ninjutsu Law*, and many other reference materials. But all of them stated that the three key factors for using ninjutsu are sufficient chakra, correct hand seals, and complete ninja formulas."
Misao and the others beside him asked doubtfully, "What's wrong with that?"
"But I heard even the First Hokage who founded Konoha could perform techniques without using hand seals," Seiki said gravely. "In other words, the hand seal process can potentially be skipped, right?"
In Seiki's view, if hand seals were calculation tools, then the First Hokage was like a mental math wizard who could leap straight to the final result.
"It seems you've already noticed the impact hand seals have on Medical Ninjutsu!" Miyoshi let out a sigh. "Every second spent on hand seals during treatment could end up costing the injured person dearly. Therefore, every medical ninja must invest significant time practicing hand seals."
"Still, even Tsunade-sama cannot accomplish seal-less healing techniques. Don't dwell too much on this concept, and definitely don't neglect your training with hand seals."
Seiki nodded firmly. "I understand."
He saw the bigger picture, yet never overlooked the importance of mastering the basics. Those who try to skip the basics rarely make it far.
Seeing that Seiki didn't possess the typical self-obsession found among prodigies, Miyoshi also felt relieved and continued her explanation, "Using Medical Ninjutsu and Genjutsu is much harder compared to common ninjutsu, and the reason lies precisely in how chakra is controlled. Regular ninjutsu only requires summoning internal chakra through hand seals, but Medical Ninjutsu is different—it requires precise control over the component of physical energy within chakra."
Koto raised her small hand and asked, "Miyoshi-senpai, when we use Medical Ninjutsu, why don't we just directly mobilize physical energy instead?"
"You call yourself a ninja? You've forgotten even the basics!"
"Miyoshi," Haku replied with a frown, "physical energy and spiritual energy are more like abstract concepts. They only gain tangible form when combined into chakra. For the scenario you mentioned to happen, someone would need physical energy powerful enough to achieve materialization. But how could that ever be possible?"
"Oh right..." Koto let out an awkward laugh while sheepishly shrinking her head back, still preoccupied moments ago with formulas and tools in her mind.
Seiki meanwhile held his chin in thought, quietly pondering, "Ordinarily, people use neutral chakra along with nature transformation to perform elemental techniques. The reason Sage Art is so powerful might be that the nature of chakra itself undergoes transformation. Could it be that the First Hokage's immense strength also stemmed from the fundamental nature of chakra?"
...
Nighttime inside Seiki's small wooden house.
Seiki sat at the table holding a small knife, carefully making a shallow cut on the back of his left hand.
His hands flashed through a series of hand seals, then he placed his glowing green right hand over the shallow cut on his left.
"It feels ticklish and painful—it must be because granulation tissue is accelerating its growth while nerve endings recover more slowly... One minute? Even for such a minor wound, one minute already reaches my limit." Seiki murmured as he diligently collected bodily feedback.
It wasn't that Seiki was especially kind—he just wanted accurate feedback. Only his own body could provide it.
If using healing technique alone gave him 1 point, actual testing gave 3—but the data he got from testing on himself was worth 10!
Under circumstances where his daily chakra refinement capacity was limited, this became the best method for improving proficiency.
Moreover, Seiki needed to determine his pain tolerance threshold and precisely measure his recovery time when performing medical ninjutsu.
As a medical ninja, he had to ensure constant absolute control over his physical condition.
"Only then can I figure out exactly how much damage I'll take in the fight to come!"
...
Thus, Seiki diligently attended classes during the day, spent lunch hours in the library, after school maximized Asuma's value, performed self-experiments at home each evening, and worked intern shifts at the hospital on weekends.
During this time, even though a few small crushes came up, Seiki brushed them off without hesitation, fully devoting his energy to these incredibly fulfilling studies.
Very soon, the half-month flew by.
Ring ring ring—
When the dismissal bell rang on time, the classroom exploded with cheers. Everyone simultaneously turned their gaze toward today's two protagonists.
Since this was a private "duel", and not wanting to occupy public time, Seiki specially arranged for it to take place right after school on this particular day.
"Seiki, you must win!"
"Class President—we're all rooting for you!"
"Asuma… uh, forget it—I got the name wrong."
Everyone around them cheered enthusiastically for the two contenders.
Although Asuma didn't really care about what others thought, listening to them still made him feel a bit sour inside.
At this moment—"Asuma-kun…"
Hearing the sudden voice, Asuma perked up. Looks like he still had supporters!
Turning his gaze toward the source of the sound, the girls in class seemed to have formed a united front as they shouted at him:
"If you beat Seiki-kun, we won't forgive you!"
"Don't talk like that, or Seiki-kun will get mad! But if you even try to hurt Seiki-kun… Hmph!"
"Oh come on, you guys, quit it already or Asuma-kun might start crying!"
Truth is, they didn't really harbor any malice toward Asuma. Since Asuma and Seiki became "friends," their opinion of him had changed a lot—a person who could be friends with Seiki-kun can't really be a bad person.
Of course, the threat was totally real!
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Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** on the weekend!