Chapter 187 — Family, Development
Nonō Yakushi's startled cry drew the attention of everyone nearby. She quickly apologized to those around her, then hurried over to Taichi.
"When did you get back?" she asked, grabbing his hand and looking him up and down. "You're darker… taller… and thinner!"
Taichi didn't resist, letting her fuss over him like a long-absent child finally home.
"Thinner? Not at all, Nonō-nee. I've just gotten stronger." He grinned, only noticing the surrounding stares after a moment, and followed her into her office. "I just got back today. Reported to the Hokage and came straight here to see you."
"Was it dangerous on the front lines? Were you hurt?" she asked immediately.
"Don't forget—I'm a top-tier medical ninja. I'm the one treating others, not the other way around."
He skillfully glossed over the dangerous parts, instead talking about how many people he had saved, how lucky he had been, and how he had earned enough merit to become the youngest Special Jōnin in Konoha.
His words left her momentarily stunned.
But beneath her calm gaze lay unmistakable concern.
Merit was never earned without risk—she knew that better than anyone. Yet seeing him deliberately hide the danger just to reassure her, she chose not to expose his gentle lie.
Two people, each hiding their worries for the other, showing only their brightest smiles.
For a moment, the office felt warm and peaceful.
Then—
A knock at the door.
"Director, more patients have arrived. We need you."
Nonō glanced at Taichi. "Do you want to rest here, or—"
"Of course I'm coming with you. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can get off work. I bought a lot of ingredients today—and I've invited the kids from the orphanage over. We're having a proper feast tonight."
At the same time, Taichi's shadow clone had already reached the orphanage.
Even before stepping inside, laughter and excited shouting filled the air—especially one loud, familiar voice.
Yami.
Pushing open the gate, Taichi saw exactly what he expected: Yami leading a group of boys playing "ninja," forming hand seals and loudly shouting jutsu names. Clumsy, childish… but full of joy.
Nearby, the girls were doing crafts. The sharp-eyed Yame spotted him first.
"Taichi-nii!"
Her delighted scream froze the entire courtyard. Every child turned toward him, and then—
"Taichi-nii!"
"Taichi-nii!"
They swarmed him, chattering all at once.
Inside, Granny Keiko heard the commotion and stepped out.
"Taichi, you're back."
"Grandma Keiko, how have you been?"
"Good, very good. Seeing you makes it even better." She smiled warmly, patting his head.
After chatting briefly, Taichi was dragged back outside by the children. Just before leaving, he called out:
"Grandma, bring everyone to my house later. We're having dinner there tonight!"
Cheers exploded instantly.
"Yay! We get Taichi-nii's cooking!"
"You little gluttons," Taichi laughed. "You can eat—but you have to help clean first."
"No problem! We're the best at cleaning!"
After some lively play, he led the group back home.
Meanwhile, at his house, another clone had already bought ingredients and begun preparing dinner.
The kitchen filled with the steady rhythm of chopping—hands once used to kill now working just as skillfully with a knife for cooking.
Soon, laughter echoed from the courtyard as the children arrived.
"Alright! Boys, clean the yard. Girls, clean the house. Whoever does best gets an extra chicken leg tonight!"
"Yaaay!"
The kids scattered instantly, grabbing tools and getting to work.
Taichi helped Granny Keiko sit down in the courtyard, chatting as the house gradually came alive again.
By evening, Taichi returned with Nonō.
To free her from work, he had even left a shadow clone at the hospital in her place.
The house was spotless.
Though exhausted, the children forgot all fatigue the moment they saw the table—overflowing with delicious food.
They sat properly, waiting patiently.
For Nonō.
When she entered and saw dozens of shining eyes staring at her, she couldn't help but smile.
After washing her hands, she sat down.
"Before we eat, let's thank Taichi-nii."
"Thank you, Taichi-nii!"
"Alright—eat!"
Instantly, the children dug in.
The meal was lively but disciplined—only the soft clatter of chopsticks filled the room.
Soon, every dish was gone.
The children, bellies round, thanked Taichi again under Nonō's guidance before running off to play in the courtyard.
Inside, only Taichi, Nonō, and Granny Keiko remained.
Shadow clones handled the cleanup while Taichi and Nonō talked.
"How long can you stay this time?" she asked softly.
"Hard to say. Things are getting tense. This trip back was only possible because Jiraiya approved it. If war breaks out… I'll have to leave immediately."
She nodded.
"The hospital's getting stretched thin too. Many doctors have already been sent to the front lines. Even department heads are training apprentices now."
Konoha's medical system was already strong—thanks to Tsunade's efforts—but even that struggled under the scale of war.
"Recently, the fronts against Iwagakure and Kumogakure have intensified. The hospital has already sent three waves of reinforcements. At this rate… we might even meet on the battlefield someday."
Her voice carried worry—but also acceptance.
Taichi felt the same unease.
He wasn't worried about himself.
With his abilities, very few in the shinobi world could truly threaten his life.
But Nonō…
She didn't have those safeguards.
On the battlefield, anything could happen.
For the first time, his thoughts grew restless.
He needed to develop more ways to protect those he cared about.
They talked a while longer before Nonō noticed the late hour and stood to leave.
Taichi wasn't at ease letting such a large group walk back at night, even within the village, so he sent two shadow clones to escort them.
Before leaving, Nonō held his hand.
"This house is too big. If you're away for long, I'll have the children come clean it regularly."
"Alright. Thanks, Nonō-nee."
Taichi smiled.
For the first time in a long while—
the empty house didn't feel empty anymore.
Watching Nonō Yakushi and the others disappear at the end of the street, Taichi turned back and entered his study, his thoughts already racing.
How to protect the lives of those he cared about in a war this chaotic… that was no simple problem.
He had worked this hard to grow stronger for two reasons: first, because he genuinely enjoyed the process of becoming stronger, and second, because he wanted the power to protect the people important to him.
If, after all this effort, he still couldn't protect them… then what was the point of that strength?
Rubbing his temples, Taichi reviewed everything he had learned so far. In the end, he arrived at one conclusion—
Only sealing techniques and the Flying Thunder God Technique had the potential to solve this problem.
His long-neglected Sealing Art: Multi-Layer Light Formation could be revived and improved. And then there was the concept of the Transcription Seal, a technique rumored to require the Mangekyō Sharingan—yet undeniably powerful as a model.
Of course, recreating something on that level from scratch would be extremely difficult. But with his sealing techniques already at Level 11, it wasn't impossible.
As for Flying Thunder God, he already had a few ideas for improvement—but all of them ultimately depended on refining the technique's formula structure.
And that, again, came back to sealing.
After organizing his thoughts, Taichi realized something encouraging—
All of his ideas were actually feasible.
But every single one of them required exceptional mastery of sealing techniques.
"Let's see if Level 11 is enough…" he muttered. "If not… I might have to spend skill points again."
Now that he had a direction, his motivation surged.
He was just about to dive into work—
…when he suddenly noticed the time.
It was already past midnight.
He had spent hours just thinking.
Shaking his head, he went to wash up and collapsed into bed. Soon, he was fast asleep. After all, only proper rest would give him the energy to tackle the problem the next day.
At dawn, Taichi was already awake.
Morning training, washing up, breakfast—by the time he finished, it was around 8 a.m.
He created four shadow clones:
One went to the hospital to help out.
One practiced swordsmanship.
One focused on sealing techniques.
One studied Ice Release transformations.
His main body returned to the study, picking up where he left off.
Since his vacation time was uncertain, he decided to start with the simplest foundation—
Improving the Multi-Layer Light Formation.
But this time, it wouldn't be the same version as before.
Back when he created it at Level 6, it could only affect Chūnin-level opponents.
Now?
If it still only worked on Chūnin, then all his effort and skill points would have been wasted.
So he began writing.
Calculating.
Refining.
Starting from a single-layer formation, simplifying its structure while amplifying its effect. Then stacking it—two layers, three layers, building complexity step by step.
From merely affecting Chūnin…
To restraining them…
To briefly influencing Jōnin.
By the time the day ended, the desk was covered in thick stacks of drafts.
Looking at the final result, Taichi smiled.
This was a completed version capable of restraining a standard Jōnin for one full second.
The cost?
Extremely high.
Each activation required 20,000 chakra.
Without Jōnin-level sealing proficiency, it couldn't even be learned.
Execution difficulty was immense.
But none of that diminished its greatest value—
It could save lives.
At the training ground, Taichi began testing it.
Using a sealing brush, he carefully inscribed the array onto a prepared surface. It took him a full hour to complete a massive ten-meter-wide formation.
Standing at its center, he formed hand seals.
Chakra surged into the array beneath his feet.
The inscriptions came alive, writhing like living things.
Then—
They contracted.
Like chains, they wrapped tightly around his body.
A powerful restraining force surged through him.
But it was unstable.
Even without resistance, it would dissipate within ten seconds.
And once Taichi exerted strength, the duration shortened rapidly.
In theory, a standard Jōnin could break free in just one second.
But that was enough.
One second… could decide life or death.
"The concept works," Taichi murmured.
Now came the real challenge—
Turning this technique into a portable sealing tag.
A technique this powerful wasn't easy to compress into a usable form.
Glancing up, he realized it was already night.
He had been so immersed in research that he hadn't even eaten lunch.
His stomach growled loudly in protest.
"…Alright, food first."
Leaving the house, he made his way through a few turns until the bustling main street of Konoha came into view.
Tonight—
He'd eat out.