Chapter 59: Hatake Sakumo Targeted

There are quite a few wounded people in the Konoha Hospital.

Even little Tsunade, who was in charge of handing over gauze on the side, felt somewhat exhausted.

Well into the deep night, Emiya Shiyuan’s surgeries still had not stopped. Little Tsunade raised a hand to cover her mouth and let out a huge yawn.

"Tsunade, go rest in the next room."

Emiya Shiyuan called out to little Tsunade and then instructed his assistant: "Send this patient to the ward and bring the next one in."

"I'm not sleepy yet..."

Little Tsunade hurriedly waved her little hands.

"Hatake kid, come give me a hand!"

The assistant’s loud, echoing voice reverberated through the hospital corridor.

A white-haired teenage Genin walked in. He wore a tight-fitting combat uniform and wore Konoha’s shinobi headband on his forehead, looking barely older than Tsunade.

Due to the severe manpower shortage caused by the war, even the personnel assigned to guard the Konoha Hospital had been replaced with Genin.

These Genin responsible for guarding the hospital had just graduated from the Ninja Academy and were not even of age yet, yet they were already sent out to execute missions within the village.

"Lord Emiya."

The white-haired teenager nodded respectfully and earnestly toward Emiya Shiyuan.

Because of his outstanding grades, the boy had been directly approved for early graduation, and he was assigned to guard the Konoha Hospital as well as patrol the village.

"Go ahead."

Emiya Shiyuan waved his hand, signaling the white-haired teenager and the assistant to push the patient away together. He watched as they hurriedly wheeled the next patient into the operating room.

"Hatake?"

"It seems to be our senior, Hatake Sakumo!"

Little Tsunade looked curiously at the retreating figure of the white-haired teenager and couldn't help saying, "I heard Senior Hatake was very famous back at the academy, the strongest genius in his graduation year!"

"Is that so?"

Emiya Shiyuan seemed noncommittal about this and didn't even raise his eyes to look. He spoke up suddenly, as if quite casually: "Your name is Hatake Sakumo?"

"Yes, Lord Emiya!"

Hatake Sakumo hurriedly settled the patient and spoke with a sincere expression: "If there is anything you need me to do, please just give the order."

"Then do me a favor."

Emiya Shiyuan continued performing the surgery and gave instructions with an unchanging expression: "There is a box of glucose in my office..."

"I only need to drink one bottle!"

Little Tsunade quickly raised her palm to indicate her little milk teeth; she knew Emiya Shiyuan would definitely give it to her, whereas Emiya Shiyuan himself had no need for food or water.

"Give Tsunade a bottle."

Emiya Shiyuan waved his hand, signaling that he could leave: "Distribute the remaining glucose to the Genin on duty tonight to replenish your stamina."

"Yes!"

Hatake Sakumo accepted the task earnestly.

In the boy's impression...

Emiya Shiyuan was a medical ninja with a very aloof attitude yet extremely brilliant medical skills.

Although a smile was never once seen on Emiya Shiyuan's face, there was never a wounded person who could not be saved under Emiya Shiyuan's hands.

Actually, beneath this adult's aloof exterior also beat a merciful and warm heart; it was only because his identity was too mysterious that he had to conceal his inner self.

Yes...

How could he not have one?

A doctor who cured illnesses and saved lives, with hundreds of critically wounded people in Konoha surviving from his hands—how could such a person possibly lack a merciful heart?

As a Konoha Genin, Hatake Sakumo originally had no qualifications to know Emiya Shiyuan's exact identity, only having the right to know some of Emiya Shiyuan's basic circumstances.

A medical ninja with brilliant skills and a youthful appearance.

This medical ninja always carried a rich aura of profound stillness and death.

The seniors in the village all held this medical ninja's identity in high respect, and the higher-ups were always tight-lipped about who he was, though it seemed they had no way to completely hide it either.

After all...
Emiya Shiyuan did not know how to lie.

Quite a few people inside the hospital knew his true identity.

Emiya Shiyuan believed he had learned how to conceal himself, but his novice concealment methods always seemed rather clumsy. Occasionally, when writing case scrolls or signing his name for the medical ninjas in the hospital who revered him, he would often 'accidentally' leave his real name behind.

No wonder...
The people in the village would cover for him...

No wonder...
The village had always circulated tales of a divine healer residing in the hospital, and only that legendary great figure could possibly possess such exquisite medical skills.

Until the wee hours of the morning.

Emiya Shiyuan treated seventeen critically wounded patients through the night.

Even Hatake Sakumo, who was originally responsible for guarding the hospital, was feeling somewhat drowsy.

The white-haired teenager looked curiously at Emiya Shiyuan, feeling as though Emiya Shiyuan’s spirit would never tire. Having saved seventeen patients on the verge of death throughout the night, he simply sat in the hospital corridor, brush in hand, writing up that day's case scrolls.

Little Tsunade groggily opened her sleepy eyes, lying down on the bench beside Emiya Shiyuan to drift back into a sound sleep, a white lab coat draped over her body.

Emiya Shiyuan wrote his cases while occasionally helping to readjust the lab coat over her. This man who never needed rest looked somewhat sorrowful.

"..."

Emiya Shiyuan seemed to notice Hatake Sakumo's gaze. He reached out to cover little Tsunade's ears and spoke, "You've worked hard. You guys should go back and rest as well."

"Lord Emiya has worked much harder."

Hatake Sakumo forced himself to stay alert and shook his head.

"I am a body revived by the Impure World Reincarnation; this body has no feelings whatsoever."

Emiya Shiyuan's expression was calm, making no attempt to hide his secret: "A body without sensation does not feel fatigue either, so there's no need to worry about me working hard."

After saying this, Emiya Shiyuan seemed to recall something and added a word of caution: "This matter is not much of a secret in the Konoha Hospital. After guarding here for a long time, you won't find my condition strange; basically everyone here knows I was summoned back to the present world from the Netherworld by Tobirama. However, still try your best not to leak it outside..."

"..."

Hatake Sakumo's expression shifted slightly.

Of course he wouldn't leak these secrets!

As a human with extraordinary observation skills, Hatake Sakumo had long since suspected Emiya Shiyuan's state. A body devoid of sensation—how was that any different from a dead person?

This condition...
It sounded simply like a tool used for curing illnesses and saving lives!

"Will Lord Emiya ever grow weary of this?"

Hatake Sakumo couldn't help asking one more question.

"You won't grow weary of doing what you love."

Emiya Shiyuan shook his head, his lifeless eyes seeming capable of seeing through everything: "If I don't save them, their families will have to bear the pain of losing loved ones and companions. That kind of pain is enough to make an innocent and cute child reticent and quiet, to fill the heart of a gentle and sunny teenager with darkness, and to cause a firm and unyielding man to collapse in agony..."

"It was precisely to prevent human beings in this world from enduring that heart-wrenching agony of losing loved ones that I began researching medical arts. There ought to be someone in the world who delivers people from suffering..."

It was the emergence of this very will...
That gave birth to the profession of medical ninja in this world.

Hatake Sakumo felt that he would never be qualified to evaluate Emiya Shiyuan's greatness; no matter how strong he himself became, he could only feel utterly inferior by comparison.

This man was indeed worthy of being the world's greatest medical ninja. His heart was filled with supreme, boundless love. By comparison, his own will to become stronger simply to protect his companions seemed so petty and small, making Hatake Sakumo feel somewhat ashamed.

"I truly feel somewhat ashamed..."

Hatake Sakumo couldn't help lowering his head as he spoke his inner thoughts.

"There's nothing to feel ashamed of."

Emiya Shiyuan's voice was very calm and gentle, as if a breeze brushing across the human heart: "In our era—the era when chakra first appeared—I actually really hated people who used chakra for combat, because I always believed that sooner or later, humanity would go to war because of it..."

"..."

Hatake Sakumo felt even more ashamed in his heart.

"However..."

"After wandering through this era for ten years, even though I still cannot agree with this trend, I can at least understand the actions of some among you."

Emiya Shiyuan lowered his eyes, speaking as if quite casually: "Some people cultivate in order to use chakra to seize interests, but there are also those who cultivate to protect their friends, protect their companions, and protect their families..."

"..."

Hatake Sakumo's eyes instantly lit up.

After this conversation, the relationship between Emiya Shiyuan and Hatake Sakumo visibly grew closer. The white-haired teenager increasingly grew fond of taking on guard missions at the hospital, and the topics they frequently chatted about became broader and broader.

Even...
Hatake Sakumo could occasionally serve as an assistant.

After all, Hatake Sakumo's swordsmanship was quite exceptional; he could act as an assistant to swiftly slice open surgical incisions for the critically wounded, allowing Emiya Shiyuan to dive straight into surgical treatment.

Moreover...
Hatake Sakumo also understood a bit of Lightning Release.

When Emiya Shiyuan was treating a critically wounded patient whose heart rhythm suddenly became erratic, he was forced to simultaneously handle emergency wound care and use Lightning Release currents to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the patient, making him somewhat overwhelmed for a moment.

As it happened...
Hatake Sakumo had seen it often enough to master the method of using Lightning Release chakra currents to treat arrhythmia, making this experience feel all the more astonishing to him.

"Lightning Release can actually be used to treat patients..."

"Yes, thank you for your help today."

Emiya Shiyuan thanked Hatake Sakumo very earnestly and sighed softly: "Actually, there are still many ways Lightning Release can be used to treat patients. For example, combining lightning and water chakra properties and infusing them into the human body, allowing tiny bolts of lightning to flow like water within the body, can treat nerve atrophy in patients and stimulate their bodily nerves to gradually awaken..."

"There are more and more patients in the hospital."

"Yesterday, a patient fell into a vegetative state."

"This kind of treatment method is extremely useful for stimulating vegetative patients to wake up."

Emiya Shiyuan looked at Hatake Sakumo, who was covered in sweat, before finally revealing his little trick: "Are you interested in learning these small techniques to become my assistant?"

"Of course..."

Hatake Sakumo wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling a sense of profound honor in his heart, because he knew such opportunities were rare.

Perhaps...
He might not find personal use for these small medical ninja techniques.

Yet for his life, being able to become the assistant of such a great figure as Emiya Shiyuan added immense luster to his journey.

However...
Hatake Sakumo ultimately underestimated his own harvest.

When Emiya Shiyuan taught Hatake Sakumo how to learn these small tricks of medical ninjas, he realized what an unimaginably precious gift he had acquired.

"I will guide you to fuse the Lightning Release nature transformation with the Water Release nature transformation, so that Lightning Release can acquire the characteristics of water..."

"Yes..."

After Hatake Sakumo agreed, he suddenly realized something felt slightly off.

Because fusing two types of chakra nature transformations together seemed to be called...

Kekkei Genkai.

The reason this ability was named as such was because once a ninja cultivated this special ability, it could usually be passed down through bloodline heritage to the bodies of their descendants.