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When Taiichi opened his eyes again, four hours had already slipped away. The sky was dark, and campfires flickered across the entire base.
He glanced around. His teammates were still out cold. Yohei and Obito had somehow ended up tangled together in one sleeping bag. Damn, I wish I had a camera. Showing them this later would've been priceless.
His chakra reserves felt solid—more than half restored. Taiichi grinned. With this much chakra and his medical skills, he could at least stabilize the critically wounded and buy them time.
He didn't waste another second. He stood up and headed straight for the medical tents.
The camp was still humming with activity. Shinobi streamed in and out of the main gate, some carrying fresh casualties on their backs. The fighting clearly hadn't stopped outside the walls.
At the medical tents, two nurses were triaging patients at the entrance.
"Broken arm, no major vessel damage—light injury, Zone 1."
"Fire-style burns with minor internal bleeding—light injury, Zone 2."
"Blast trauma, severe internal bleeding—heavy injury, Zone 4, emergency!"
"You? That's just a kunai cut. Stop wasting our time and go bandage yourself."
The moment Taiichi stepped up, the younger nurse recognized him and nearly burst into tears. "Lord Taiichi… you're finally here!"
Her voice carried like a thunderclap through the crowded tents. Every exhausted medic inside looked up with sudden hope. They'd been praying for him. Too many patients had died waiting for treatment.
The nurse's shout was all it took. Taiichi nodded at her and walked straight in without a word.
The northwest corner was packed with over twenty critically wounded shinobi. Only five medics were working on them.
Taiichi formed the seals instantly—Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ox.
Summoning Technique!
With a soft poof, Katsuyu appeared.
"Lord Taiichi."
"Katsuyu, we're short on time. Please help stabilize these patients and keep them alive while we work."
The giant slug's antennae twitched as it took in the situation. "Understood."
Her massive body shrank and split into dozens of small slugs, each no bigger than twenty centimeters. They crawled over to the dying shinobi and began glowing with soft green light.
The patients' faces relaxed almost immediately.
"That's Lady Tsunade's summon—Katsuyu!"
"I knew Taiichi was her student, but seeing it… damn."
"Finally. I knew if Lord Taiichi showed up, we could save these guys. If only he'd gotten here sooner… Yujiro might still be—"
The murmurs spread, but Taiichi ignored them. He moved to the first patient who was barely breathing and placed a glowing green palm on his chest. Yang-natured chakra flooded in, both stabilizing his vitals and scanning the damage.
Right-side rib fractures with broken ends piercing the lung. Massive internal bleeding.
Taiichi didn't hesitate. He formed a chakra scalpel with his left hand and made a precise incision on the side of the man's chest, avoiding major vessels and nerves. Dark blood and trapped air poured out. The patient's chest visibly deflated as breathing eased.
With his right hand, Taiichi reshaped the chakra scalpel into a delicate tool. He reached inside without widening the cut, gently pulled the broken rib free from the lung tissue, and set it back in place. Mystical Palm Technique followed—stopping the bleed and jump-starting tissue regeneration.
It looked simple. It wasn't. No ordinary medic could have pulled it off that cleanly.
One by one, Taiichi moved through the critically wounded. He couldn't fully heal everyone—his chakra wasn't infinite—but he stabilized the life-threatening injuries, turning "dying" into "recovering." The rest of the medical team could handle the follow-up.
When the last heavy casualty was wheeled away, Taiichi was drenched in sweat, his face pale.
"Director Fujita, the rest is yours," he said, voice hoarse. "I need to rest again."
"Go. We've got it from here," she replied, her eyes full of quiet gratitude. The scene reminded her so much of Tsunade—shouldering the entire medical effort alone.
Taiichi walked out of the tent under the respectful and thankful gazes of everyone inside.
It was already deep into the night. The central command tent was still brightly lit, shadows of people moving across the canvas walls. Jiraiya still wasn't back—Nara Shikaku was clearly running things.
Taiichi only glanced at it before heading to his own tent. Right now the most important thing was sleep. The sooner his chakra recovered, the more help he could be—whether in combat or healing.
Back at the resting area, his teammates were still sound asleep. Taiichi smiled, satisfied. Good. Everyone made it.
He found a comfortable spot, lay down, and as sleep pulled him under, one last thought drifted through his mind: Once this wave is over, I really need to master the Yin Seal.
Then the tide of exhaustion swept him away.