After personally confirming that Hyuga Natsu had woken up, Hyuga Yu placed the antihypertensive medication he had prepared by her side. He gave her instructions on the dosage and several postoperative precautions before finally leaving the tent.
The temporary medical camp established by the Hidden Leaf was short on everything, including medicine. Certain postoperative drugs for lowering blood pressure, reducing blood lipids, and regulating heart rate would only be available once they returned to the more stable environment of the Hidden Leaf Village.
During wartime, transport lines were frequently targeted by enemy shinobi. In fact, this had become the norm; for a ninja, small-team infiltration missions were always prioritized over large-scale frontal confrontations.
The battlefield of the ninja world was like a vast, dark forest.
The vast majority of shinobi hid in the murky shadows, waiting to deliver a fatal blow to the enemy's festering, vulnerable vitals. Under these circumstances, the Third Shinobi World War wasn't a contest of who was the strongest in terms of conventional forces, but rather who was the "least broken."
Clearly, the Hidden Leaf's organizational structure was more complete. With specialized units like medical-nin, scouts, the Assassination Tactical Special Forces (Anbu), interrogation ninjas, and the Cryptanalysis Team, their coordination was far more seamless.
This was precisely why the Hidden Leaf was capable of holding its own against four other nations at once.
"Attention. I am now announcing the special personnel assignments—"
It was 4:00 AM.
The horizon was just beginning to turn grey with the dawn. Hyuga Yu, who hadn't slept all night, was summoned to the center of the Kusunami Coast medical camp to await orders.
There were ten Hidden Leaf shinobi in total who had arrived with him due to the "erroneous" transfer order from the Hokage's Secretariat. Most were Genin, with only one Chunin among them. During this period, almost all Chunin-level forces capable of leading teams had already been deployed to the front lines.
At that moment, Might Duy squeezed in next to Hyuga Yu. He looked excited, winking at Yu from time to time with a proud expression on his face.
Unlike Hyuga Yu, who had been thrust into the life-and-death struggles of the Reconnaissance Squad immediately upon graduation, this was Might Duy's first time leaving the village to participate in a Great Shinobi War. At this point, he clearly lacked a clear understanding of the war's sheer cruelty.
"Yu, what kind of mission do you think I'll be assigned?"
"Being able to leave the village this time... the Third Hokage must have finally recognized my strengths! I absolutely cannot betray the Hokage's trust!"
"It seems Gai is also in this area. I wonder how he's doing? Is he keeping up with his training? Even on the battlefield, one must never stop their cultivation—that is the essence of youth!"
Duy's boisterous chatter quickly drew strange looks from the surrounding ninjas. He didn't mind at all, however; instead, he flashed his sparkling teeth at them in a grand smile and gave a confident thumbs-up.
Hyuga Yu had long since grown accustomed to his taijutsu teacher's behavior. The judgmental stares of others couldn't shake his calm demeanor. He simply replied to Might Duy in a flat tone:
"Master Duy, you will likely be assigned to help out here at the medical camp."
"As you can see, the medical department is getting busier. They need a hardworking shinobi like you."
"Ah? Really?" Might Duy blinked, his thick eyebrows drooping slightly. "But... I feel like I'm more suited for facing the enemy in combat."
"Pffft."
This comment immediately drew a snicker from the Chunin who had been transferred along with them.
Hyuga Yu turned his head calmly, looked at him, and asked, "What's so funny?"
"Heh, nothing."
The Chunin glanced at the eccentric pair of master and disciple. He clearly recognized these two Hidden Leaf 'celebrities,' but he said nothing more. The contempt in his eyes, however, intensified. Even though he remained silent under the gaze of the surrounding ninjas, his expression seemed to say every mocking word in the book.
After this brief interlude, the other ninjas intentionally or unintentionally distanced themselves by a few paces from Might Duy and Hyuga Yu.
Might Duy felt the unspoken isolation and disdain. He clenched his fists slightly, and the bright smile on his face became a bit forced.
At that moment, a group of camp officials led by Hyuga Hizashi approached. Walking alongside him were Furofuki, the head of the medical class; a ninja with a pale yellow ponytail who appeared to be from the Yamanaka clan of the Interrogation Department; and a ninja with short black hair wearing a high-collared combat vest emblazoned with the Uchiha clan crest.
After Hyuga Hizashi nodded, the Yamanaka Jonin stepped forward and spoke loudly to the ten gathered ninjas:
"Everyone."
"The situation at the front is critical. The direction of the Land of Whirlpools has almost entirely fallen."
"Currently, we can only hold our ground in the Land of Bears and the Land of Waves. Three days ago, the shipyard on the eastern coast was attacked, and a large number of ships were destroyed."
"The shipyard requires two teams to bolster its defenses. Morita Touta, you will lead the handover. The team roster consists of Ueda Yuki, Yokota Yasuhiko..."
"Yes, sir!" The Chunin who had just mocked Hyuga Yu accepted the mission with a solemn expression.
"Now for the rest of the transfer orders," the Yamanaka Jonin paused before continuing.
"Morino Ibiki, transferred from his squad to the Interrogation Department."
"Hyuga Yu, transferred to the Medical Class."
"Might Duy... will remain at the medical camp for labor."
When he reached Might Duy, the Yamanaka Jonin hesitated visibly, because there were no specific instructions for this Genin on the transfer order in his hand.
It was a bit strange, but remembering that the transfer order itself was a mistake to begin with, he quickly pushed it to the back of his mind and assigned Duy to a general chore-handling role that seemed to suit him.
A ninja who only knew taijutsu had very little value on the battlefield.
"That is all."
The Yamanaka Jonin turned around to face the camp leadership behind him.
"I'll leave it to you all to collect your personnel and arrange their detailed tasks."
Having said that, the Yamanaka Jonin quickly led away the quiet, taciturn Morino Ibiki from the end of the line. Hyuga Hizashi and the Uchiha Jonin also quickly took their respective teams assigned to the shipyard defense.
Now, only Hyuga Yu and Might Duy remained in the clearing.
Seeing that most of the people had left and the Silence Barrier had been deactivated, many medical ninjas emerged from their tents. Most of them had witnessed Hyuga Yu's incredibly clean and efficient surgery the previous day. His name was beginning to spread through the medical community in a positive light for the first time.
Many were curious about where Hyuga Yu would be stationed—and whether they might be able to join the team of this promising future medical leader.
The head of the Medical Class, Furofuki, walked over with an expressionless face.
This elderly woman was the Vice Director of the Hidden Leaf Hospital. She had been a medical ninja even longer than Tsunade. In the future, after her retirement, she would devote herself to the study of the Xu Fu flower.
Currently, she maintained her usual cold, stony face. She first looked at Might Duy and gave him a polite but distant assignment:
"Mr. Duy, the war at the front is intensifying, and the medical class will soon be overwhelmed. We cannot keep up with the camp's logistical needs. Therefore, I applied to the village to recruit a Genin to assist. I will be counting on your hard work from now on."
"Yes, ma'am!" Might Duy agreed readily. Then, he looked at his disciple with a hint of concern.
Back in the village, he had heard rumors that during his time at the hospital, Hyuga Yu's relationship with Vice Director Furofuki was... less than pleasant. In fact, one could say the Vice Director had gone out of her way to make things difficult for Yu, who was only working there part-time.
At that moment, Hyuga Yu looked at the high-ranking medical official who was now his direct superior and asked calmly:
"So, Teacher Furofuki, what is my assignment?"
Furofuki remained expressionless, her eyes cold as she looked at him.
"You are going to the Corpse Processing Unit."
The moment those words left her mouth—
Boom!
The surrounding crowd erupted into a buzzing hive of hushed discussions. Every medical ninja present looked at Furofuki with utter disbelief, unable to fathom the logic behind this assignment.
————
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