The twenty-three captured Mist medical-nin stood in a tight, frightened cluster. The oldest among them was barely in her early twenties. The youngest looked no older than sixteen or seventeen. They huddled together, shoulders hunched, eyes darting everywhere. None of them looked like shinobi anymore.
Taiichi couldn't help but feel a flicker of contempt for whoever had thrown them onto the battlefield in the first place. It had been a stupid, desperate move. But because of that stupidity, Leaf had won the battle with far fewer losses than expected. So in a twisted way, he supposed he owed these girls something.
He stepped forward, forcing what he hoped was a reassuring smile onto his face.
"Hello. My name is Matsushita Taiichi—"
He didn't even finish the sentence before several of the younger ones flinched like he'd drawn a blade. One girl's eyes went wide with pure terror and she started crying silently. The rest looked at him like he was death itself wearing a human face.
Taiichi's smile froze. He slowly turned his head toward the guard captain beside him.
"…Am I that scary?"
The captain straightened immediately and answered with perfect seriousness, "Sir, your might shakes the world."
Taiichi gave up on trying to look friendly. His expression hardened as he addressed the prisoners directly.
"You all know exactly where you stand right now. Leaf isn't some charity. We don't keep useless prisoners alive for free. If you have any value—information, secret techniques, ransom money—speak up now."
The guard captain blinked in confusion. That wasn't standard procedure for prisoners of war. Usually they were just held until an exchange or ransom could be arranged, maybe tortured for intel if needed. But these Mist medical-nin didn't have anything valuable to offer. They were low-ranking, had no real secrets, and came from poor civilian backgrounds. The only reason they'd become medical-nin in the first place was because they had no other options.
The longer the silence stretched, the more terrified they became. Taiichi's killing intent began to rise, cold and heavy, pressing down on them like a physical weight.
Finally, the only chunin among them—the one who had surrendered first—spoke up in a trembling voice.
"Sir… we're just medical-nin. We only know basic medical techniques. We don't have any valuable information or secret arts. Please… show us a path forward."
She dropped into a full prostration, forehead pressed to the dirt. The rest quickly followed, kowtowing desperately.
Taiichi watched them for a moment, then let out a quiet sigh and stepped back. He folded his arms and reined in most of his killing intent.
"Fine. Since you're medical-nin, you can work in the medical tents. But let me be clear—I'm placing a curse seal on each of you. If any of you even think about harming Leaf or trying to escape, the seal will activate. At best you'll wish you were dead. At worst, you die on the spot. Understood?"
None of them hesitated. They kept their foreheads on the ground and answered in shaky unison.
Taiichi nodded. "Get up. You're coming with me."
He turned to the guard captain. "Remove their collars. I'm taking them now."
The captain gave the order without question. While the collars were being taken off, Taiichi created twenty-three shadow clones. Each clone stepped in front of one of the women.
"Look into my eyes. Don't resist. If the technique fails, you stay here and take your chances on your own."
The threat finished whatever fight they had left. They all stared blankly into the clones' eyes.
Genjutsu: Mind Prison.
The clones wove the same technique Taiichi had once used on Tsunade—planting a subtle seed in their subconscious. Then came the physical component. Each clone cut the back of their target's hand and used the blood as a medium to carve a curse seal directly into the wound.
Curse Seal: Absolute Prohibition.
The seal would read their intentions through the genjutsu seed and punish them accordingly. The worst punishment was instant death.
When the last seal was finished, the shadow clones popped out of existence.
Taiichi was just starting to relax when a piercing scream cut through the air.
One of the older medical-nin clutched her head and dropped to the ground, thrashing in agony. Within seconds, five more followed. Some only groaned and held their heads. Others rolled on the dirt, foaming at the mouth. The worst one started bleeding from her nose and mouth, eyes already glassy.
Taiichi didn't move to help. He simply watched, face cold.
The surviving medical-nin scrambled away from the six who were suffering. Only the chunin who had spoken earlier—Mizuki—pushed through her fear. She crawled to the bleeding woman and started emergency treatment with shaking hands.
Five minutes later, the screaming stopped.
Those who had quickly abandoned their malicious thoughts felt the pain vanish. The slower ones suffered the full five minutes before realizing what was happening. The one who had bled out was already dead.
Taiichi finally spoke, voice flat.
"Remember your place. Don't mistake my mercy for weakness. I warned you what would happen if you kept bad intentions."
He pointed at the corpse on the ground.
"That's the result."
Then he walked over to Mizuki, who was still kneeling beside the body, and looked down at her.
"You're not bad. You actually acted like a real medical-nin. These people are yours to manage now. Don't disappoint me."
Without another word, he turned and walked out of the prisoner area. Mizuki scrambled to her feet, shot one last terrified glance at the corpse, and hurried after him with the rest of the group.
The guard captain finally snapped out of his daze and jogged to catch up so he could escort them out of the camp.
Behind them, the remaining guards stared at the body on the ground.
"Taiichi-sama… is seriously terrifying."
"No shit. You think the nickname 'White Death' and 'Half of Konoha's Twin Demons' is just for show?"
One of them spat on the ground near the corpse.
"Stupid bitch. She was already captured and still had the nerve to think about betraying us."
"Enough," another guard muttered. "Lady Tsunade and Taiichi-sama have their own plans. It's not our place to comment."
By the time they reached the medical tents, Taiichi's mood had improved. The moment the medical staff saw him, warm greetings came from every direction.
"Taiichi! Where'd you pick up all these pretty ladies? Getting lonely in camp?"
Taiichi turned toward the voice. It was a middle-aged Sarutobi jonin with a thick beard—one of Jiraiya's old subordinates who had been sent back to the village to recover and had ended up helping in the medical area.
"Uncle Tsuruya, don't pick up bad habits from Jiraiya-sensei. This is Tsunade-sensei's camp. If she hears you, you're in trouble."
Tsuruya glanced around nervously like a guilty child, then relaxed when he didn't see any sign of Tsunade.
"Not scared, not scared. Lady Tsunade is very reasonable. She won't get angry over something this small."
His voice didn't sound convincing at all.
Taiichi didn't bother arguing. He led the twenty-two women straight into the main medical tent.
"Shizune, come here."
Shizune was organizing medical tools. She looked up, smiled brightly when she saw Taiichi, then immediately frowned when she noticed the group of young women behind him.
"Taiichi, what do you need? I'm busy right now."
Taiichi ignored her sudden change in attitude and got straight to business.
"These are twenty-two new medical-nin. They don't know how anything works here. I need you to show them the routines and put them on basic tasks."
Shizune's expression turned serious the moment she realized it was actual work. She listened carefully as Taiichi explained everything.
When he finished, he gently ruffled her hair. At his current height he had to reach down quite a bit.
"I'm leaving them with you. I'll keep a shadow clone here. If there are small problems, go to Mizuki. If she can't handle it, come find me."
He called Mizuki over and introduced the two of them.
Before leaving, he looked at Mizuki one last time.
"Work hard. Being a medical-nin in Leaf actually has a future. If you have questions Shizune can't answer, come straight to me."
He waved and walked out of the tent.
He could only hope these former Mist medical-nin would eventually understand that he had given them a real chance instead of treating them like disposable prisoners.
Days passed.
Just as they had predicted, Mist launched attacks along the entire coastline the very next day. Small squads tried to slip onto land wherever they could. Leaf responded with everything they had, but the coastline was simply too long to cover completely with only a few hundred shinobi. Some Mist forces inevitably made it inland, forcing the land-based teams into constant pursuit.
For Taiichi, the workload became surprisingly light. Most injuries didn't require his personal attention, and major incidents weren't happening every day. With his shadow clones also working in the medical tents, his real body finally had some breathing room.
He didn't waste it.
Physical training, meditation, and body conditioning became his main focus. These were things shadow clones couldn't fully replace. He needed to do them himself.
Especially meditation. He had a feeling that today—after being stuck for over half a year—his Advanced Meditation skill was finally going to level up.
In a cleared patch of forest behind the camp, Taiichi sat in the center of the open ground in the five-hearts-to-the-heaven posture. Complex sealing runes formed and dissolved in his mind over and over.
This was how he trained his spirit now—by visualizing sealing formulas instead of random objects. It sharpened both his mind and his understanding of fuinjutsu at the same time.
The sun climbed higher until it hung directly overhead. Scorching light beat down on him without mercy.
Then the panel finally changed.
[Through advanced meditation practice, your comprehension has increased!]
[Advanced Meditation has gained experience +1]
[Congratulations! Advanced Meditation has reached Lv8 (1/9000)]
[Congratulations! Through long-term training, your Spirit has increased by +1]
The moment the skill leveled, Taiichi's mind cleared like a fog had been burned away. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel the world around him in perfect detail.
More importantly, he saw them.
Colorful points of light drifting through the air.
Some felt heavy and solid. Others were lively, restless, or gentle. There were types he couldn't even begin to describe. They filled the space around him, woven into the very fabric of the world.
In that instant, Taiichi understood exactly what he was looking at.
Natural energy.