Zombie Sage in Naruto

Chapter 2 Medical Ninjas Are Even More Valuable to Hunt

Nobody likes dealing with Ryoma Aburame, and Kazamatsuri Takuno is no exception.

Ryoma Aburame is both the current second-in-command of the medical unit and the second-in-command of the Root Corps.

“I know your health has always been poor, but the village is short-handed, and the new generation trained by the Ninja Academy is not enough to handle too many tasks. And as you know, Lord Ryuma never listens to suggestions from Chunin like me; he only asks others to carry out orders.”

Kazamatsuri Takuno was very worried about Kaedeji's health, always feeling that Kaedeji was about to die at any moment—in fact, everyone was worried about this during Kaedeji's few actions.

But Kaede Tsukasa persevered and made it through.

"There's nothing I can do. Ryoma Aburame is Danzo's right-hand man. He doesn't even give ordinary Konoha ninjas the time of day, let alone a ninja like me who is a war orphan."

Kaedeji revealed a chilling expression, a savage grin resembling that of a skeleton.

War orphans are a common group. In any village, if there is enough capacity, a group of young children will be specially taken in and educated.

In Konoha Village, Yakushi Nonou has taken over this job. This woman will become the head of Konoha's medical unit in the Third Shinobi World War a few years later.

The MVP among the war orphans is naturally Kabuto Yakushi, whom Nono Yakushi adopted during World War III.

After being brought back by the people of Konoha, Kaede Tsukasa was destined to never gain their absolute trust.

The village only trains war orphans like Kaedejima in a specific direction, that is, to train them into functional ninjas who are only good at one aspect, and then uses them up when appropriate—this approach is actually quite reasonable.

Aburame Ryoma was the first to come and select suitable candidates. Regardless of whether there were spies from other villages among these children, as long as they entered the Root, everything would be fine.

First, children with special bloodlines are selected. Kaede Tsukasa has none, and he's on the verge of death, looking like he could die at any moment, so naturally he wasn't chosen.

Then, on-site testing was conducted to select candidates who were intelligent and suitable to become disposable spies. Kaede Tsukasa had a high fever and pretended to be stupid, so he was not selected again.

When the ninja who was actually in charge of receiving the war orphans finally arrived, they took Kaedeji and the other children who had no talent away. If abandoning Kaedeji hadn't violated Konoha's founding principles and sown seeds of distrust in the hearts of the other children, Kaedeji would probably have been left to die in the wild long ago.

“One country, one village, but as a large military region, even including the civilians in the village, the total population is still too small. We need to constantly obtain available manpower from other towns in the country... I have been lucky enough to live to this day, so I should do my best to help the village. This is what I should do.”

Kaede Tsukasa spoke slowly, his words carrying a hint of sincerity: "I've learned a new ninjutsu and have been practicing it diligently lately. I hope I'll never need to use it."

In this messed-up world, because of the existence of the extraordinary power of chakra, even a child as young as a few years old, as long as they are a ninja, can easily kill ordinary people without considering their mental state. Naturally, they will also participate in the battle when the fighting is intense.

To be fair, only Konoha Village would give Kaede Tsukasa enough time to develop, because Konoha Village was the last of all the participating ninja villages to send its children to the battlefield.

This was true at least during World War II.

The guiding principle of Konoha Village when it was first established was to protect children. This was what Hashirama Senju thought, Madara Uchiha did, and Tobirama Senju also wanted to carry it out to the end.

However, towards the end of World War II, Konoha could no longer hold out, and Hiruzen Sarutobi sent his children to participate in the war, carrying out some simple side missions.

It was at that time that Kaede Tsukasa stepped onto the battlefield, using his extremely poor so-called medical ninjutsu to try his best to treat the wounded. He was disliked by everyone no matter what he did, and was eventually assigned to do some simple, important but not so important work - joining the corpse-moving squad to escort corpses.

He was a war orphan who had received years of training from Konoha and was confirmed not to be a spy. Moreover, given his poor physical condition, he seemed to have no combat ability whatsoever and could be discarded and sacrificed at any time. Therefore, he was assigned to carry out tasks such as transporting corpses, moving fallen ninjas of both sides to designated locations and handing them over to designated people.

Of course, the precious bloodline corpses couldn't be handed over to Kaede Tsukasa for transport; he could only accompany the team to escort the most ordinary and least valuable corpses.

"I am certain that I have passed the critical point and my physical condition is stabilizing. After so many years of carefully refining my meager chakra and repeatedly conditioning my body, I have finally reaped the rewards."

Kaedeji followed Kazamatsuri Takuno as they moved through the lush forest. He was now able to leap from one giant tree to another like a normal Konoha genin.

No one knows how much, even how arduous, effort he put in!
The moment he stepped on the branch, a layer of chakra appeared under his feet to absorb it, and then he jumped with force. He was already very familiar with this move.

It was all worth it, and things will gradually change in the future.

"But then again, compared to my body, Moonlight Gale is already an unparalleled powerhouse." Kaede Tsukasa paused for two seconds on a tree, coughing and panting, trying to give his body some time to recover.

"Hang in there a little longer, we're almost at our destination."

Kazamatsuri Takuno's expression shifted slightly, and he suddenly made a gesture. Kaedeji and the other medical ninja immediately stopped and tried to conceal themselves as much as possible.

"Three companions have been found. The one with minor injuries is leading two seriously wounded men toward the village. No trace of the enemy has been found yet."

Kazamatsuri Takuno observed for a while, harboring doubts. He gave Kaedeji a wink before revealing himself. After verifying the code, he began to direct the treatment.

"Captain Takuno, I'm so sorry, we were on a normal patrol when we were ambushed by infiltrated Kirigakure ninja! Please save my comrades, I think they're about to die."

The young genin was covered in dust and dirt, clearly having just gone through a fierce battle. He was on edge and only breathed a sigh of relief when he recognized Kazamatsuri Takuno.

Kazamatsuri Takuno was somewhat famous, having healed many people; after all, not everyone was qualified to follow Jiraiya-sama.

Kaede examined the various marks on the ground and assessed the injuries on the three men, asking, "You're a standard four-person team, right? Where's your medical ninja?"

“They’re dead. Although Kirigakure has never waged a large-scale war against us, they know very well that our village implements a system of one medical ninja per team, and all attacks are targeted at the medical ninja first.” The genin was very sad.

During World War II, Tsunade, Dan Kato, and others worked hard to promote this system, overcoming various difficulties such as manpower shortages and a lack of teaching staff, and gradually improving the status and number of medical ninjas—although the so-called medical ninjas assigned to many squads were extremely incompetent, with many being genin who had mastered basic healing techniques.

The higher-ups in Konoha Village didn't know exactly how to build a more cost-effective training system with the least amount of resources, and they were constantly trying and failing during this period.

For example, Kaede Tsukasa, a war orphan, has very little chakra, yet he can still be called a medical ninja.

Until now, the villages have suffered heavy losses, and large-scale army operations have become less and less frequent. The tactic of small-team infiltration has become popular, and small teams on missions have more opportunities to be equipped with a medical ninja.

Kaede Tsukasa knew that if they waited a few more years until the Third Shinobi World War broke out, most standard four-person teams led by Jonin would be equipped with a well-educated orthodox medical ninja, such as the teams of Minato, Kakashi, Obito, and Nohara Rin.

“Kigiri Village…that’s a formidable opponent.” Kazamatsuri Takuno urgently treated the unconscious, seriously wounded, and gestured to Kaedama Tsukasa and another medical ninja to treat another.

Even from the most pragmatic perspective, ninjas who have survived near-death experiences undergo a significant change in their character. They become more composed in handling unexpected situations and have a greater motivation to improve their strength. Every veteran has immense value. Everyone present was deeply worried. If a full-scale war were to break out between the weakened Konoha and the nearly fully-powered Kirigakure, who knows how many more people would die.

"The Third Hokage will probably seek peace, offering some benefits in exchange for the peace of Kirigakure... In his eyes, this is the most advantageous option for Konoha, a village with a deep foundation and the fastest recovery speed."

Kaede Tsukasa recalled things that would happen in the future, such as Kushina Uzumaki being almost kidnapped and Hizashi Hiashi being sacrificed.

Immediately, he looked down at the wounded: "There is a penetrating wound in the left abdomen with irregular edges, which may have been caused by a laceration. There is a laceration about 3 centimeters deep on the outside of the right thigh, and the tissue around the left shoulder is swollen... The wounded is breathing rapidly, has a weak pulse, and is beginning to lose consciousness."

Another medical ninja quickly said, "Then I'll use the chakra scalpel on his leg—"

"No, you need to conserve more chakra. Use Healing Palm Technique to heal your abdomen first. If I'm not mistaken, your liver or intestines are probably injured here, which is the most dangerous area. Healing Palm Technique consumes a lot of chakra."

As for the vein on his right thigh, Kaede Tsukasa directly reached out, peeled away the flesh, completely ignoring the bloody and mangled texture, and skillfully pulled the vein out separately, tying a neat knot: "This way he can hold on for a little longer."

The medical ninja stared in disbelief as he treated his abdominal wound.

In this era, medical skills are not as advanced as they were in the era of Naruto and Sasuke. Systematization, institutionalization, and routines are not yet perfect, and people tend to use chakra and various drugs to solve problems in a fixed mindset.

“As for the confusion… Captain Takuno, I remember you can only carry one extremely precious dose of adrenaline, right? I suggest you give it to your wounded first,” Kaedeji said.

"What? What about him? Both of them are my comrades. Are we going to abandon one of them? Damn it..." The young genin was devastated and buried his face in his hands, weeping in despair.

"Calm down, we medical ninjas will never abandon any of our comrades. I remember your name is Tobitake Dragonfly, right?"

Under the shocked and numb gazes of the crowd, Kaede Tsukasa kicked the wounded man's groin several times.

Bang bang bang!
Successfully crushing the wounded man's pubic bone, the almost unconscious guy indeed let out a pig-like scream, the effect far surpassing that of an adrenaline injection.

As for what to do if the pubic bone is fractured, and whether kicking that area might cause other problems...

Kaede Tsukasa doesn't care about that; his only responsibility is saving lives, and due to his physical condition, he often uses the most chakra-efficient treatment methods.

Kaede Tsukasa strictly fulfilled his sacred duty as a medical ninja. After the treatment was completed, he felt a sense of satisfaction as he watched his comrade, even in his dazed state, instinctively reach out to cover his genitals.

"That's great, so energetic, I've saved another comrade." Kaede Tsukasa was moved by his own words.

Kazamatsuri Takuno wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled. As one of the few people who had partnered with Kaede Tsukasa, he naturally had a certain ability to adapt to Kaede Tsukasa's methods.

“This way, both of our companions will have a chance to survive. However, we still need to be vigilant. Although this place is quite a distance from the border, the enemy could infiltrate. This has happened many times, even…”

In some cases, the enemy might deliberately let their wounded comrades escape, luring out Konoha's medical ninjas so they can kill them.

Killing a medical ninja consumes more of Konoha's resources, making it the most cost-effective option.

Looking at his companion who was out of danger, Tobiki glanced at Kaedama Tsukasa with awe, and said to Kazamatsuri Takuno, "Captain Kazamatsuri, I am not absolutely certain that I can safely escort the two seriously wounded back to the village by myself. May I ask for your assistance?"

“No, we must also follow Lord Ryoma Aburame’s orders. Unless Lady Tsunade, as the Captain-Commander, personally orders the mission to be canceled.” Kazamatsuri Takuno shook his head.

The current medical corps is still incredibly rudimentary in terms of its system, and can even be described as chaotic.

Kazamatsuri Takuno and Kaedeji Tsukasa, who had left the village twice, had previously mainly followed Jiraiya and participated in the battles on Amegakure's side.

Last year, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru joined forces but suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Hanzo, the leader of Amegakure. They earned the title of "Sannin" from Hanzo, but they did force Hanzo to back down, which can be considered the end of the war between Konoha and Amegakure.

Tsunade and Orochimaru successfully returned to the village and joined the battles on other fronts, but Jiraiya did not return, and no one knew where he went.

Many people harbored doubts, even resentment—unless they had died in battle, why didn't they hurry back to their villages to join the fight? What could be more important than war? Every day, many comrades were dying in battle!
It has been over a year since then, and there is still no news of Jiraiya. In the midst of war, it is indeed outrageous for our general to make such a mysterious move.

Kaede calculated the timeline in his mind and confirmed that at this time, Jiraiya must have stayed in the Land of Rain, carefully teaching 10-year-old Nagato Uzumaki.

From Jiraiya's perspective, teaching the Child of Prophecy was indeed far more important than participating in the Fourth Shinobi World War. No matter how many ordinary people died, it was not as important as nurturing the Child of Prophecy.

"Uchiha Madara awakened the Rinnegan during World War II and is probably still hiding in the mountain cemetery of the Land of Iron, searching for a suitable successor."

Many hidden dangers were sown during World War II. This was true for Nagato, and it was also true for Obito, who turned to the dark side during World War III. The reasons for these can all be traced back to World War II.

Suddenly, Kaede Tsukasa spoke up: "We do have orders that we cannot disobey, but if we encounter an emergency, that's a different story."

"What's the emergency?"

"This is an unexpected situation... You, a genin, were ambushed and were still able to slowly walk this far with two companions. This is an unexpected situation."

Kaede Tsukasa moved sideways, protecting the group from all sides.

Kazamatsuri Takuno's face showed an expression of "I knew it," and he looked around warily.

rustle!

"So we were discovered after all. But we've already achieved our goal. You medical ninjas must have used up a lot of chakra, right? Medical ninjas are far more valuable to hunt than ordinary ninjas."

Three Hidden Mist ninjas were scattered around, surrounding Kaedeji and his companions.

Venturing deep into the Land of Fire is undoubtedly a huge adventure, and losing manpower is inevitable. However, if there is a chance to kill a few more medical ninjas and then kill the guy who was deliberately let go earlier, this kind of adventure is a huge win.

"Three medical ninjas... Although I didn't encounter the Hyuga clan members I was hoping for, it wasn't a wasted trip."

The leader of the Kirigakure ninjas pulled out a kunai and said, "Konoha ninjas, remember this: the one who killed you was Ao, a Jonin from Kirigakure. Don't forget that even in the Pure Land of the Dead."

(End of this chapter)