A common belief in the ninja world was that medical ninjas were not good at combat. That's why many had set their sights on Aoshi.
If they couldn't rob other ninja squads, surely they could handle a mere medical ninja, right? Absolutely. No way they couldn't!
And the key issue was not just that one or two people thought this way. In fact, many were planning exactly the same thing.
---
The night passed without incident.
As the first rays of sunlight broke over the Forest of Death, those ninja teams who had marked Aoshi as prey began to move.
After all, Aoshi had never once tried to hide his whereabouts. So it wasn't long before someone found him.
"He's over here. I found him!" A Rain ninja suddenly appeared in front of Aoshi, shouting to alert his teammates.
Moments later, a man and woman—also from the Hidden Rain—emerged and surrounded Aoshi on all sides.
"You're that medical ninja going around healing people, aren't you?"
"If you know what's good for you, hand over your scroll. Since you're from Konoha, we might even let you walk away."
The three Rain ninjas were arrogant and dismissive, clearly not seeing Aoshi as a threat. To them, he was nothing more than a medical ninja.
The only thing that gave them even a slight pause was his identity as a Konoha shinobi. Slight pause, but not much.
After all, during this era, Hanzo the Salamander's reputation as a "Demi-God" was at its peak.
To Aoshi, their words were laughable. All he wanted was to earn some system rewards, and now these idiots had made him their target?
His quiet chuckle confused the Rain ninjas. They even started wondering if Aoshi had lost his mind from fear.
"Hand over the scroll. You're just a medical ninja. You don't seriously think you can escape from us, do you?"
"Have you ever stopped to consider this?" Aoshi said with a smile. "If I've been running around healing people all over this forest, would I really be foolish enough to keep the scroll on me?"
He had a point. But the Rain trio didn't seem surprised—they had already considered this scenario. If the scroll was on him, great—they'd take it.
If not, they could just capture Aoshi and use him as a hostage to trade for the scroll from his teammates.
As for the idea that Aoshi's teammates had already entered the Central Tower with the scroll? Impossible!
The rules of the second exam clearly stated: the entire squad must arrive together at the tower.
And besides, how could anyone believe that Aoshi would be wandering around the dangerous Forest of Death healing strangers while his teammates ignored his safety?
If anything happened to him, their entire team would be disqualified.
So why had they split up?
Well, since Aoshi was gutsy enough to do this kind of thing unguarded, who knew what kind of other crazy ideas they had?
To these three Rain ninjas—in fact, to everyone who had decided to target Aoshi—his team just seemed hopelessly naïve.
"Well, then... We'll just capture you and use you to bargain for the scroll." Before the sentence was even finished, the leader charged at Aoshi.
Boom!
In the next instant, he was sent flying, taken down in a single blow by Aoshi! The unexpected turn of events left the other two Rain ninjas completely stunned.
They hadn't even seen what had happened. One moment, their captain was attacking—the next moment, he was unconscious and sprawled on the ground.
"No way... That can't be real!"
"Hey! Tanyu, what the hell are you doing?!"
But no matter how much they yelled, the unconscious Tanyu couldn't answer them.
"Stop yelling," one said grimly. "We've walked into a trap. We need to defeat this guy first."
Now fully alert, the two Rain ninjas stared at Aoshi with grim expressions, no longer smug or cocky. Both instantly launched their jutsu.
Water Release: Black Rain Jutsu! Thick black oil began falling like raindrops, soaking Aoshi.
The other ninja seized the moment, casting a fire-style jutsu. A stream of flame shot out, igniting the oil and setting Aoshi ablaze in a fierce burst of fire.
Seeing their combo attack connect so easily, the two Rain ninjas relaxed.
"See? I told you! He's just a medical ninja—how strong could he really be?"
"Tanyu really embarrassed himself. Getting one-shotted by a medic? I say it's time we got a new captain."
But just as they finished speaking, a calm voice echoed from behind them. "Impressive jutsu coordination, I'll give you that."
Their grins froze. They turned around reflexively—and of course, there stood Aoshi, completely unharmed.
What they'd hit just now was nothing more than his shadow clone.
"Die!" Despite the shock, they acted quickly, lunging forward with kunai in hand.
Boom! Boom!
But how could Genin of their level ever hope to hit Aoshi? He ended both of them instantly.
As the two slipped into unconsciousness, the same thought crossed their minds: This guy's a medical ninja?!
Looking at the three battered Rain ninjas, Aoshi suddenly had an idea—should he tie them up and repeat the "injure and heal" cycle?
That way, he could earn system rewards more efficiently. Of course, if they were Konoha shinobi, he'd never consider such a thing.
But these three were Rain ninjas who had attacked him first. A little punishment seemed only fair. In the end, Aoshi decided against it.
He remembered that the Forest of Death had many hidden surveillance cameras already set up in advance.
If he did something like that and it got back to Hiruzen Sarutobi, it would be a classic case of ruining everything over a petty gain. His current strength doesn't allow him to do such things.
After healing the three Rain ninjas, Aoshi received three white orbs, gaining a total of 90 Chakra points.
...
The trio wasn't the only group that targeted Aoshi. Throughout the day, he encountered several similar situations.
He treated each of them the same as the Rain ninjas—with equal hospitality. And since he always beat them within an inch of their lives before healing them, the system's rewards were consistently generous.
By the end of the day, Aoshi had gained more than 400 Chakra points. Even more than a full day's work at the hospital.
Thinking he might enjoy similar gains over the next three days, Aoshi was disappointed to discover, no one else was coming for him.
In fact, most people now turned and ran the instant they saw him. The ninja communication network worked fast. Aoshi's true strength had been completely exposed.
At first, some doubted it. How could a medical ninja possibly be that strong?
But everyone who had underestimated him had already paid the price. So even though the truth seemed ridiculous, people chose to believe it.
The sudden shift in attitude left Aoshi feeling hurt. With an innocent expression, he tried to defend himself: "You've all misunderstood. I'm just an ordinary medical ninja."
Everyone else: Yeah, right! We totally believe you.
--
--
Show your support with Power Stones, everyone!
If we make it into the top 10 rankings at the week's end, I'll drop 5 bonus chapters as a thank-you!
P@treon/Lord IM(30+ Advanced Chapters)