Naruto: My Hiddden Village-Chapter 39: Dark Secret

Akimichi Choujiro sat leaning weakly against the trunk of a large tree, his two friends, Inori and Shikamane, supporting him anxiously.

Choujiro's breath came in ragged gasps, each inhale accompanied by a soft groan.

Blood continued to seep from the wound in his stomach, soaking his clothes and the ground around him.

The atmosphere around them felt bleak and filled with despair.

The post-battle exhaustion from fighting Kyuubi was still palpable, but the worry for Choujiro's condition was far more dominant.

The two Hatake Clan members, Kagami and Kaminari, could only show worried faces.

They had just gone through a life-and-death situation with this group, and despite their recent acquaintance, a strong sense of respect and camaraderie had grown between them.

"Damn it," Kaminari muttered, clenching his fist, "if only we could have done more..."

For all the Yorozuya members, the worry was clearly etched on their faces.

Initially, Ozora wanted to offer some help, but he was hindered by the tense situation and couldn't find the time to interject.

Choujiro began to utter his last words, messages he wanted to convey to his family at home, to Inori and Shikamane.

His voice sounded weak and trembling, each word spoken felt heavy and painful.

He left messages for his mother, his younger sibling, and also his characteristic little jokes for his friends in his clan.

This sad and heartbreaking farewell made the atmosphere even more poignant.

Tears began to wet Inori and Shikamane's cheeks; they couldn't hold back their stifled sobs.

Shikamane, who usually always looked calm and lazy, now stared at his friend with watery eyes. 'This situation is such a drag... why did it have to be Choujiro?' he thought bitterly.

Inori, with tears streaming down her face, tightly held Choujiro's hand, trying to channel a little chakra, even though she knew it wouldn't help much.

When Choujiro seemed to have said a lot and his breath became increasingly ragged, Ozora suddenly couldn't bear to see the despair that enveloped them anymore.

In a careful tone, he said, "Hey, may I interrupt for a moment..." Ozora's intervention, breaking the silence and despair, suddenly caught everyone's attention.

Everyone except the Yorozuya members stared at Ozora with sharp eyes.

A gaze full of questions and a little anger, why was this person suddenly disturbing this sacred moment of farewell?

Even Inori and Shikamane looked at Ozora with red and teary eyes, as if ready to pounce if he didn't give a good explanation.

"Uh... I just wanted to say that our group might be able to save your friend," Ozora continued in a slightly nervous tone, realizing the intense gazes fixed on him.

"Would you entrust your friend's care to... our doctor?" he asked carefully, offering a glimmer of hope in the midst of deep despair.

"Doctor...? Who?" Inori asked in a confused and disbelieving tone.

In this era, the existence of skilled medical ninjas was very rare. The thought of a 'doctor' among this ninja group sounded almost impossible.

All the Yorozuya members simultaneously turned their gaze to one figure: Tsubasa.

The spotlight suddenly shifted to Tsubasa, the mysterious figure who hadn't done much acting so far.

Choujiro's last hope now seemed to rest in his hands.

Tsubasa, who was the center of attention, finally spoke in a calm tone, "May I see Choujiro-san's condition?"

Tsubasa's tone was calm and confident, as if he truly possessed the ability to save Choujiro's life.

Shikamane, although looking lazy, his brain worked quickly, analyzing the situation.

'There's no harm in trying,' he thought. 'If we do nothing, Choujiro will definitely die. There might be a small chance if we let this guy examine him.' A decision made with a heavy heart, but driven by a small hope for a miracle.

So, with a weak nod, Shikamane allowed Tsubasa to examine Choujiro's condition.

Tsubasa crouched beside Choujiro, carefully examining the wound on his stomach.

He touched the wound gently, feeling its depth and the extent of the damage.

After conducting a few brief but thorough examinations, Tsubasa finally stood up and said, "I still have an 80% confidence level in saving Choujiro-san. However, this will require intensive care and perhaps a little... unconventional for you. Are you sure you want to entrust his care to me?"

Tsubasa's honest and realistic assessment gave a little hope without making false promises.

Inori and Shikamane exchanged glances.

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They had no other choice.

With heavy hearts, they both nodded in agreement.

Seeing the nods of approval from Inori and Shikamane, Tsubasa immediately took out a fairly large sealing scroll.

With quick and skillful movements, he opened the scroll and took out various equipment that looked foreign to everyone except the Yorozuya members.

There were clean cloths, bottles filled with colorful liquids, and various shiny surgical instruments.

Then, he asked for help from all his subordinates. "Kyoya, Benkei, Ginga, help me lift Choujiro-san up."

Swiftly, Kyoya, Ginga, and Benkei carefully lifted Choujiro's large body and laid him down on a folding patient table that Tsubasa also took out from his sealing scroll.

After Choujiro was lying comfortably, Tsubasa took out a syringe and filled it with liquid from one of the bottles. "This will make him fall asleep," he said as he injected the liquid into Choujiro's arm.

Soon after, Choujiro looked more relaxed and no longer grimaced in pain.

Tsubasa began his work with the help of his three subordinates.

Kyoya was in charge of cleaning the wound, Ginga helped hold a special lighting lamp, and Benkei prepared the equipment Tsubasa needed. They moved quickly and efficiently, showing solid teamwork.

The Yorozuya emergency medical team was in action.

Meanwhile, Ozora could only watch from the sidelines with a worried face.

His medical ninja skills were still not comparable to their group, so he felt it was better not to interfere and let his younger brother do his best. 'I hope Tsubasa succeeds,' Ozora thought anxiously.

As additional information, in Tsubasa's ninja village, everyone was required to know the basics of performing emergency care.

Basic medical education was an important part of their ninja training.

So, it was no wonder that Kyoya, Ginga, and Benkei could be competent assistants to Tsubasa.

The basic medical skills of the Yorozuya members might be considered strange and unusual in the ninja world at this time, where the main focus was on combat and offensive ninjutsu.

The four people besides the Yorozuya members seemed to show worried and confused faces as they watched the treatment process carried out by Tsubasa.

The unfamiliar medical methods they had never seen before aroused curiosity as well as concern.

When they saw a glowing green chakra emanating from Tsubasa's hands as he touched Choujiro's wound, they looked even more worried.

For those who had never seen medical ninjutsu, the glowing green chakra might seem like a dangerous attack ninjutsu.

In the end, Ozora, realizing their confusion and worry, took the initiative to explain. "That's medical ninjutsu," he said in a calm tone.

"Tsubasa has the ability to heal wounds using his chakra. It's a very rare and valuable technique." Ozora's logical and easily understood explanation managed to calm their worries and build trust in Tsubasa's medical abilities.

After performing intricate treatment and surgery with the help of medical ninjutsu for almost two hours, Tsubasa finally finished his treatment.

He went through the long and tiring operation calmly and focused. He let out a sigh of relief and smiled thinly.

Tsubasa then gave very relieving good news. "Choujiro-san has passed the critical stage," he said. "His wound was quite severe, but with proper care, he will most likely regain consciousness tomorrow." This good news was like an oasis in the desert of despair.

A glimmer of hope shone back into Inori and Shikamane's hearts.

Carefully, they took turns carrying Choujiro using a simple stretcher made from tree branches and cloth towards the nearest village.

The journey carrying the severely injured Choujiro felt slow and full of caution.

During the journey, Inori and Shikamane, still filled with relief and gratitude, repeatedly thanked the Yorozuya group, especially Tsubasa.

Words of sincere and appreciative thanks for Tsubasa's kindness and extraordinary abilities continued to be uttered by them.

However, Tsubasa did not become arrogant and only replied in a humble tone, "This is what a doctor should do."

After arriving at the nearest village, they rented several rooms in a simple inn.

Finally, they could rest after the long mission and the unexpected fierce battle.

When everyone had rested in their respective rooms, Tsubasa slipped out of the village using his special ninjutsu, 'VENOM'.

His body was coated in dark black chakra, merging with the darkness of the night and moving quickly underground through the roots of trees without making the slightest sound.

Tsubasa's secret actions were completely unknown to his companions.

Tsubasa reappeared in a remote cave located not far from the village.

When he entered the dark and damp cave, he saw the figure waiting for him.

The figure was the masked man they had encountered earlier when facing Kyuubi.

"Main body, you finally came," said the masked man, greeting Tsubasa in a slightly annoyed but also relieved tone. "I was almost bored waiting in this damp place."

It turned out that the masked man was none other than Tsubasa's own shadow clone.

"Well, sorry, sorry," Tsubasa replied with a soft chuckle, "this is all for the success of our plan, isn't it?" Tsubasa apologized for his lateness while emphasizing the importance of their plan.

Actually, all the events they had experienced during this mission, including the fierce battle with Kyuubi, were the result of Tsubasa's careful planning.

This mission itself was actually released because Tsubasa had given a 'suggestion' to the sick noble through 'VENOM', whispering the need for a rare plant that only grew in the Forbidden Forest.

He did all that with two very important main goals.

The first goal was to establish closer contact with the InoShikaCho Clan and the Hatake Clan.

Tsubasa had suggested to the noble to involve these two ninja clans besides their Yorozuya group in this mission.

That was Tsubasa's careful arrangement to bring Yorozuya together with these two ninja clans with great potential.

Tsubasa saw great potential in the InoShikaCho Clan's extraordinary teamwork and the Hatake Clan's high-level kenjutsu skills.

He hoped to build good relationships with them and perhaps in the future invite them to join his ninja village.

The second goal, and perhaps more important, was to obtain a small portion of Kyuubi's chakra.

On this journey, he had a hidden goal to collect all the bijuu chakra before they fell into the hands of the great ninja villages in the future and were used for the sake of war.

Tsubasa realized the great potential of bijuu chakra to increase his and his village's strength through wise research and utilization.

He knew about the strategic value of Bijuu chakra as an unlimited energy source and the potential of Bijuu chakra research to create revolutionary new technologies and ninjutsu.

He also realized that completely controlling Kyuubi was impossible for him at the moment, so he only targeted a small portion of its chakra, enough for initial research.

With the help of his clone, he managed to lure Kyuubi to appear and fight with his group, while also stealing a small portion of Kyuubi's chakra when the masked man (Tsubasa's clone) sealed the fox's tails with a special technique.

"Do you think the InoShikaCho Clan and the Hatake Clan will successfully join our village in the future?" asked Tsubasa's clone while taking off the mask on his face, revealing a face identical to Tsubasa.

"I don't know," Tsubasa replied, looking up at the starry night sky. "The most important thing is, we've established good contact with them. As for whether they will join our village or not, let time and fate answer that." Tsubasa's wise answer acknowledged the uncertainty of the future but still radiated optimism.

Tsubasa looked back at the vast and starry night sky. His mind had already begun to formulate further plans, strategic steps to realize his vision of his strong and independent ninja village.

The silent night sky seemed to silently witness Tsubasa's great ambition and his hidden plans, plans that might change the course of the ninja world's history forever.

Suddenly, Tsubasa's clone grinned. "You know, main body, sometimes I feel sorry for people who don't know how complicated your plans are. They would definitely be shocked if they knew everything that happened today was part of our 'play'."

Tsubasa chuckled softly. "That's the art of a plan, isn't it? Making others believe that everything happens by chance." He then looked back up at the sky. "This is all for a better future."