Perhaps Shiki still didn't fully understand why he kept thinking he couldn't bring himself to hurt a ten-year-old child.
But Tenten, who brought him lunch every day and was different from other kunoichi — she wasn't fragile and never judged by appearances alone — had left a deep impression on Shiki.
When Shiki finally returned home, it was already late at night. Under the lamplight, he noticed that each breath he exhaled turned into a puff of mist.
"Shiki, you're back!"
It was rare to see Naruto still awake at this hour, and Shiki felt slightly surprised.
"Yeah, I'm back. But... what exactly are you doing?"
Naruto was flipping through magazine after magazine filled with pictures of beautiful women, studying them intently as if learning something.
Upon hearing Shiki's question, Naruto excitedly explained, "[The Ultimate Transformation Jutsu]! Something powerful enough to beat that old-man Hokage!"
Could it be...?
The jutsu?
Spending so much time in this world, Shiki had almost forgotten about Naruto's signature skill.
"You're not planning to use the jutsu against the Third, are you?" Shiki couldn't help but blurt out.
Actually, Shiki always believed that the reason the Third fell for the jutsu was because he deliberately went along with Naruto. Maybe in the Third's heart, he felt too guilty toward Naruto, so he just played along for a bit.
"Huh? How did you guess my plan, Shiki?" Naruto did a double-take, clearly shocked. "Did you already use a similar trick to beat that smelly old man Third?"
What kind of logic is that?
Shiki realized he had underestimated how wild Naruto's imagination could be. Just as he was about to explain, he saw stars practically sparkling in Naruto's eyes as he eagerly asked,
"So, Shiki, does that mean you've become Hokage already?"
"No, I didn't do what you're thinking," Shiki quickly interrupted Naruto's seemingly endless train of thought. "But Naruto, why exactly are you doing this?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Shiki realized he'd asked a useless question — he already knew the answer.
Right now, Naruto still naively believed that becoming Hokage would earn him recognition from everyone in the village.
Just as Shiki was about to offer some comforting words, Naruto suddenly jumped up, shouting excitedly,
"Awesome! If you didn't use that method, then that means I still have a chance to become Hokage!"
Was he even listening?
Shiki watched helplessly as Naruto bounced around joyfully and decided it was better not to bother with him anymore.
After all, tomorrow would bring plenty of patients and another round of training.
He really needed an early night, or else he'd be too drained for tomorrow's patients and training.
Lying down and pulling the covers over himself, Shiki suddenly realized how attached he had become to this life.
Attached to Sanae Hoshino, Rock Lee, Tenten, and even this silly idiot Naruto.
I hope… I can make it through that challenge ahead, Shiki silently encouraged himself.
A/N: That's all for today. More chapters will be released next week as part of the scheduled bonus updates.
To be honest, I'm going through a bit of a creative slump and need some time to get everything straight in my head.
So the updates for these few days will be steadily three chapters per day. Sorry about that, but I still ask for your support and recommendations.
Chapter 33: Kabuto Yakushi
"The connection between chakra and the body's meridians is crucial. But what if someone pretends to be injured, only to be targeted on their vital meridians?" Shiki pondered quietly while looking at the medical book in his hands. In fact, he spent almost every day like this.
Even the Anbu assigned to observe Shiki found it quite boring. Everyday listening to Shiki talking about things he couldn't understand made him feel helpless.
Actually, there was a reason why Danzo had assigned him to monitor Shiki. After all, even Danzo felt some fear toward The Third. If Shiki really managed to find The Third, that would basically indicate Shiki had completely severed any ties with him.
"But this child has absolutely no fighting spirit," the Anbu silently evaluated.
He couldn't understand what Danzo was possibly worried about. This was just a child who seemed to have already accepted his fate—yet they had sent an elite Chunin to watch over him.
He even knew that unless most Jonin within Anbu were already occupied with their own missions, Danzo would've actually assigned a Jonin to this task.
How ridiculous! This was simply a child who hadn't even graduated from the Ninja Academy yet. Despite having some talent, having an elite Chunin assigned to surveillance was overkill. There was zero chance for this kid.
"Lord Danzo definitely does everything with too much caution."
After reaching this conclusion, the Chunin from Anbu resumed watching with a drowsy expression.
And just like that, half the day passed. Surprisingly, Shiki hadn't received a single patient—an understandable occurrence since minor wounds were usually treated at home by common people. More severe injuries would generally be dealt with at hospitals.
However, Shiki didn't feel distressed over lacking patients to practice on.
Looking up at the sky, Shiki realized it had already become noon. Feeling slightly hot, he took off one layer of his coat.
"It seems like it's time to go to the orphanage again," Shiki murmured to himself.
Sena Hoshino was on duty today, so naturally she had no time to go out for meals with Shiki, nor did she have time to further instruct him in Medical Ninjutsu.
So, Shiki decided to visit the orphanage and give the kids free checkups.
Most of Shiki's patients tended to be these orphans.
Due to standardized Medical Ninjutsu techniques, Shiki didn't really worry about misdiagnosis. Plus, he mainly only dealt with external injuries among the children.
After all, fights among lonely children were pretty common in an orphanage without any real parental love.
There would often be many external wounds resulting from such conflicts. Yet whenever this happened, Shiki always enquired further and tried to stop the fighting.
"I suppose someone as overly kind-hearted as me is probably hard to find nowadays."
Shiki sighed with emotion. Actually, he knew his words were accurate.
These days, most people followed the principle of "live and let live." From the novels he'd read, heroes usually only showed kindness to those who treated them well first—reciprocating kindness specifically.
For someone like Shiki with a "savior complex," he's bound to draw criticism.
Shiki tends to be the first to show kindness—only to receive it back in return. This is precisely why Shiki enjoys such great popularity within Iruka's Ban.
As he was lost in thought, Shiki had already arrived at the orphanage. Looking up at the weathered sign covered in rust, he couldn't help but sigh in resignation.
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