Chapter 5

For a medic, the most crucial thing is hands for using Shōsen no Jutsu. Even if you attach someone else's limb in place of a severed one, it requires experience in restoring and merging the chakra systems, and at least several months of work, after which the patient must spend a considerable amount of time regaining control for normal medical technique application. For this, a second-tier qualification and above are required. It's clear why the head of the hospital personally rushed to reinstate me in the hospital.

Given the nearly fourteen-hour workday (even if fully paid), there's not much time left for rest as I would like. Not to mention that I had many other pressing issues requiring immediate attention. At the top of this list was the complete healing of Saya and restoring her former appearance.

Although I managed to take care of the severed arm and damaged leg during a short visit, I hadn't had time to properly address the keirakukei and the unsightly scar on her face and body, nor to deal with her significantly deteriorated health. And there was also Mito, Linley with her little one, and already not-so-small Kushina-chan!

Thinking of the chubby red-haired baby who would soon turn one year old, I made a great effort to hold back a happy smile, but it didn't stop me from feeling an immense sense of affection and love for my only daughter so far.

Thanks to a little maneuver by the older Uzumaki, I am now the official doctor for kunoichi Senju and her daughter, replacing the previously hired one, which allowed me to visit the little one and her mother on a fully legitimate basis, without fear of getting caught up in the mess of politics should any suspicion arise that I was involved.

Despite the Nara clan's general relaxation towards side affairs and even illegitimate children (due to the obvious lack of a true kekkei genkai), this doesn't apply to strong shinobi like me. Moreover, among our elders, there is only one man and two women, which even scares me a bit, considering the temperament of the clan's women.

These sixty-year-old hyperactive former kunoichi are capable of driving anyone mad with their admonitions and instructions even on minor matters, and if a child from another clan is discovered, it would be easier to drown than to continue living in the clan district. So, Mom doesn't know she's become a grandmother at thirty-four. Although it's a pity—her help would have been very useful for Linley and me.

Given that visiting the Senju district more than three or four times a week was extremely undesirable, and dedicating at least one day a week to Mito-chan was absolutely necessary not only for her but also for me, ideally two days, Linley had to manage with my short visits and a couple of clones that stayed for about a day and took care of Katsumi.

Considering that this is my friend's first child, past fatherhood experience and iryō-nin skills proved invaluable. And the kage bunshin technique is a blessing for busy parents. Amidst all this, I also had to find time to regain my previous physical condition, significantly eroded by the terrible diet at the front and excessive strain on my body's reserves. And as the icing on the cake—ensuring a steady supply of various seals to the newly opened fuinjutsu shop, which brings the primary income to our family.

Although it requires an enormous amount of chakra, even by my standards, as long as there is an opportunity to accumulate financial reserves, it should be done even at the risk of regular chakra depletion. After all, the reserve of several tens of millions of ryō allowed not only Saya and the few orphanages I supported during the war to stay afloat but also ten acquaintances of Mom, who did not belong to large clans or any clans at all (spending several tens of thousands of ryō is not a large sum for us, but an ordinary family can survive for several months if they economize). Ahead is still the third world shinobi war, and this must be taken into account, even if it means sacrificing everything else.

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