Chapter 229: I really liked those dumplings
"How many seals have you learned so far?"
"Sensei, I've learned the storage seal and am working on the suppression seal. They're taking more time than anticipated. Sora-sensei said that once I get the hang of the basic idea, the learning will become easier, but so far, the progress is so slow," Kaida said. Initially,
Sora had told him that it would only take a month to learn eight seals, but it had been almost three weeks, and he was still stuck on the second one.
"This jutsu has the capability to give you healing abilities on par with the First Hokage. Do you think it will be easy to learn? If that were the case, hundreds of ninja would be roaming around the village with this jutsu, and Konoha would be so strong that all the other villages combined wouldn't be a match for us," Mitsuru said.
Kaida nodded. He knew that learning it wouldn't be easy, but with his medical training almost finished and fuinjutsu barely starting, he worried it might take him a year to learn even an incomplete version of the Mitotic Regeneration Jutsu.
That too, only because he had such a large chakra reserve. No wonder others didn't learn this jutsu. Mitsuru understood why Kaida felt that fuinjutsu was taking so long, but she simply chuckled.
"?"
"You think you've learned the medical part of the requirement, right?" Mitsuru asked.
"More or less, Sensei. I just have to practice what I already know until I perfect it. I don't think it will take much time," Kaida said.
"You're so wrong. Until now, you've only been able to heal small cuts and tears. When actual damage occurs, you'll have to regrow most of that area and ensure it works perfectly. I once worked on a case where a ninja was slashed at the waist, and most of his intestines were damaged and poisoned.
I had to remove 60% of his intestines and then regenerate them. It was almost impossible, even for me. That's the level you need to achieve before even thinking about learning this jutsu. Because this jutsu can heal a lethal injury as if it were just a scratch, but for that, you need to be able to do the same," Mitsuru said.
"Does that mean I'll need to focus on this for a few more months too?" Kaida asked.
"If you're lucky. I had to practice continuously for six months before reaching that stage, but I didn't have your chakra reserves, so who knows? Maybe you can do it in two to three months if you're lucky," Mitsuru said.
Kaida just groaned. "Nothing is easy in this world."
"From now on, you're responsible for finding your own 'patients.' Either talk to the Third Hokage for criminals or go capture some bandits yourself. Also, when he wakes up, inform me," Mitsuru said, pointing toward the bandit.
"Um, Sensei, did he somehow offend you?" Kaida asked, curious why Mitsuru wanted to torture the bandit both physically and mentally instead of just killing him.
"There was an old man who used to sell dumplings from a cart when he came to Konoha from time to time with his village. This bastard killed that man last month. I really liked those dumplings," Mitsuru said before leaving the room.
The shreds of pity Kaida felt for the bandit suddenly vanished after hearing that. Now, even he was looking forward to telling the bandit about the best joke of his life.
Since it was almost time for the medicine's effect to wear off, Kaida decided to get some practice done, especially with the most difficult part aside from the brain and heart—the intestines. They were a very important part of the body, responsible for absorbing nutrients from food. If they were destroyed and a medical ninja messed up in their recovery, the patient would die a very slow and painful death, similar to starvation. So Kaida decided to focus on this first.
After an hour, the bandit woke up groaning, only to find his belly cut open and a boy healing his intestines. He started mumbling and shouting something, but since his mouth was sealed with tape, he couldn't say anything. He was at least able to attract Kaida's attention.
"Oh! You're awake. Sorry about this. My sensei said we have to let you go now, but since you were unconscious anyway, I thought you could help me one last time before leaving. Thanks for your help. I'll go and call Sensei," Kaida said and left the room.
The bandit's mumbling continued as he tried to say, "Bastard, at least close my belly before leaving. That brat is also a demon, just like that bit—"
But he didn't have to wait long. Kaida soon returned with Mitsuru.
"Oh! You're awake, good. Now, as per our deal, you'll be sent to the mines and live as an ordinary person. You can have a normal life, but I'll send ninja to monitor you from time to time, so don't even think about running away," Mitsuru said in a tone like a big sister from the neighborhood teaching young children.
The bandit snorted in his mind, already thinking about running away to another village as soon as he got the chance to resume his old work.
"Did you think I would say that? Hahaha!" Mitsuru started laughing, seeing the hope on the bandit's face, and then enjoyed every bit of the despair that followed.
"I was just joking when we made that deal. You'll suffer the same fate until the day you die," Mitsuru said, her expression becoming more and more frightening for the bandit. He started thrashing around, forgetting about his open belly, only to stop when pain shot through his mind.
"Oh! You're trying to resist? Do you really think you have the capability to do so? How cute," Mitsuru said and then made some hand seals before placing her hand over the bandit's head.
A black symbol appeared on his head, and now, even if the bandit tried to move his body, it wouldn't budge an inch. It was as if he was in someone else's body, unable to control it.
"Juinjutsu?" Kaida asked. 'Sensei is good at everything. I wonder why she was never shown in the anime. She would have played a very important role if she had become a Jonin sensei for any of Naruto's friends. But considering how busy she is, there's no way she could be one,' he thought, his mind wandering from the bandit in front of him.
"Close him up and then find your new patient. He'll need some time to heal. We can't let him die, can we?" Mitsuru said and then left the room.
"Of course not, Sensei," Kaida said and started healing the bandit, who was desperately trying to move his body, even thinking of begging for death. But he couldn't utter a single sound. Even though he could breathe normally, he started feeling suffocated. Alas, there was nothing he could do.
Kaida closed the bandit's wound and then left the room as well, leaving the bandit alone to think about his miserable situation.
'I actually love this aspect of this world. Even though crimes here are far more heinous than on Earth, criminals here don't have any rights. They can be properly punished. On Earth, some people might have come forward to protect this bandit with human rights or something.
Hehe, I would love to see such people here. They would most likely join that bandit in that room,' Kaida thought as he headed toward Sora's house to continue his fuinjutsu lessons.
'I'll have to take on some bandit extermination missions too. I don't want to ask Hiruzen for this, even though I'm pretty sure he would agree. But it doesn't feel right, considering I'll have to ask for the Flying Thunder God Jutsu too. I should show that I'm competent enough,' Kaida thought.