Chapter 45: Visiting the Sick? I've Entered Heaven!
Konoha Hospital—this place is usually avoided by most, but for the candidates who just finished the preliminaries, they have to stay here for a few days.
Naruto looked like a mummy right now, his whole body wrapped in bandages—to slack off openly, he decided to package himself as a seriously injured patient.
"Ouch... it hurts so much... I feel like my whole body is falling apart..."
He moaned pretentiously while walking with an arrogant swagger around the corner.
As soon as he looked up, he saw Ino Yamanakaleaning against the wall.
She seemed to have expected Naruto to pass by, specifically untying and re-tightening her forehead protector that she usually wore around her waist, making her slender waist look even thinner.
Ino claimed she was taking care of Shikamaru and Choji, who were also hospitalized, but in reality, those azure eyes were always glancing toward this end of the corridor, intentionally or not.
The moment she saw Naruto appear, Inopretended to casually brush the blonde hair by her ear and turned sideways to make her curves more prominent.
[Oho? Isn't this the great beauty Ino?]
Naruto's eyes went wide, and his fake screams stopped instantly. His inner thoughts were accurately blasted into the mind of this blonde tsundere girl through the heavenly curtain.
[Is this the legendary hospital visit fan service? Tsk tsk, this waistline, this confident gaze—she truly is an existence capable of competing with Sakura's Broad Forehead in terms of looks.]
[However...]
Naruto leaned against the wall, rubbing his chin, his eyes scanning Ino up and down like a scanner.
[Although her current midriff-baring outfit is very sexy, in a place like a hospital, it feels like something is missing.]
[What if it were a pink and white nurse uniform? Swap that purple top that shows off her figure for a tight-fitting little nurse outfit, with the skirt short enough to reach mid-thigh, paired with white over-the-knee stockings and that little hat with a red cross...]
[Just imagine Ino holding a thermometer, blushing with a tsundere expression and saying: 'Take off your clothes, be good, you idiot!']
[Hiss—if that were the case, I'd probably be willing to have a leg broken every day just to stay here! This is what you call a miracle of life!]
Ino, leaning against the wall, suddenly stiffened. A visible blush spread to the tips of her ears, and steam even rose from the top of her head.
She bit her lip hard, her mind a complete mess.
"This pervert! What on earth is he thinking... a nurse uniform?!"
She cursed inwardly, but strangely, there was no feeling of disgust; instead, she felt a bit proud.
After all, Naruto had just praised her to the heavens in his heart, and terms like 'white stockings' and 'tight-fitting' did sound more lethal than her current outfit, didn't they?
[Ding!]
In Ino's mind, the system's voice arrived as expected.
[Detected that the host 'Ino Yamanaka' has received an extremely high-intensity 'medical uniform series' fantasy projection from Uzumaki Naruto.]
[He has projected onto you a longing for a 'healer where gentleness and tsundere coexist.']
[Reward issued: Medical Ninjutsu: Mystical Palm Technique: Neural Connection (Expert Level). Your finger flexibility and Chakra control have been significantly enhanced; whether it's flower arrangement or connecting nerves, you can do it perfectly.]
A cool stream of energy flowed through Ino's fingertips. She looked at her hands in surprise; that sense of control over the minute flow of Chakrawas like that of a veteran who had practiced for decades.
Ino clenched her fist, "It seems I really should consider that kind of outfit in the future..."
Naruto had no idea that his wild thoughts had already caused an incredible change in Ino. He wiped his drool and, to cover his embarrassment, quickly started shouting:
"Ahaha, Ino! Why are you here? Is that guy Shikamaru still alive?"
Ino snapped back to reality and gave him a sharp look, though this time it seemed quite charming: "He's not dead yet! As for you, wrapped up like a zongzi, get out of the way!"
She intentionally puffed out her chest as she squeezed past Naruto. At the moment they brushed past each other, Naruto took a deep breath of her fragrance.
After saying goodbye to the upgraded Ino, Narutopushed open the door to an Intensive Care Unit.
The originally energetic Bowl-cut youth, Rock Lee, was now lying on the bed with thick plaster casts on all four limbs, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Although Sakura had helped buy some time on the field to reduce the damage, in this world, being crushed by a sandstorm of Gaara's level was still a serious injury enough to end a Ninja career.
Might Guy was not there, likely out begging doctors or looking for medicine.
Seeing the hot-blooded idiot who usually only shouted about 'youth' in such a state, Naruto lost the mood to tease him.
He dragged a chair to the bedside, picked up an apple from nearby, and said indistinctly while munching on it:
"Don't give me that dead face, Bushy Brows. Even I passed, so how could a genius of hard work like you fall here?"
Rock Lee rolled his eyes, his voice dry: "Naruto-kun... the doctor said my bone fragments..."
"Just ignore what those quacks say." Naruto waved the apple core.
[What's there to fear if bones are broken? As long as they aren't shattered to bits, there's always a way.]
[Speaking of treating this, there's probably only one person in the entire Ninja World who can do it, right? That Granny Tsunade who ran away from home.]
Naruto's gaze fell on Lee's cast-covered leg, and his thoughts began to wander again.
[Princess Tsunade is a god-like person who can even reconnect a body that has been cut in half. However... let me imagine that scene.]
[With Granny Tsunade's magnificent chest, if she were to help a seriously injured patient like Lee set his bones... for example, if she had to press the displaced bones back into place... she would definitely have to lean down and use all her strength to hold the patient down to prevent struggling, right?]
[In that case, wouldn't the patient's face be buried directly into... ooh! That would be a suffocating treatment!]
[If Lee were treated like that... *crack*, the bone is set, but *splat*, a nosebleed gushes out, and he dies directly from excessive blood loss. Would that count as a medical malpractice? It definitely would!]
[Tsk tsk, to save Bushy Brows' life, I'll have to help him train his nosebleed resistance first.]
Far outside the village, Jiraiya suddenly sneezed, feeling the burden on his shoulders grow heavier. Meanwhile, Tsunade, who was traveling, had her right eyelid twitching incessantly.
On the bed, Lee suddenly shivered. Seeing the strange, widening grin on Naruto's face, he felt an inexplicable chill down his spine.
"Na-Naruto-kun? Are you thinking about something very rude?"
"Ah? No, no!"
Naruto snapped back to reality and patted Lee's uninjured shoulder with a righteous face.
"I'm saying, don't worry! Pervy Sage and I are about to set out to find the miracle doctor who can cure you. Once that doctor is back, never mind letting you stand up again, even making you learn to do handstands while spinning and drinking milk tea won't be a problem!"
[Ding!]
Just as Naruto was making grand promises, the notification sound rang in his mind.
[Congratulations to the host for completing the special achievement 'Even Visiting the Sick Involves Dirty Thoughts,' successfully activating a potential gift from someone nearby.]
[Although Rock Lee doesn't have the heavenly curtain, your strange concern about seeing him have a 'happy nosebleed' triggered a transformation of hot-blooded bonds.]
[Reward obtained: Taijutsu: Konoha Style Secret Taijutsu Manual (Automatically loaded into the brain, including muscle exertion techniques and dynamic analysis of the Front Lotus).]
"Good stuff!" Naruto's eyes lit up.
With this, combined with his Uzumaki Clanphysique and the Ichibi Chakra he just obtained, he could unleash quite violent Taijutsu even without opening the Eight Gates.
"Alright, Bushy Brows, you rest well. I'm going to find that 'crushing' miracle doctor for you!"
Naruto tossed the apple core into the trash can, waved his hand, and walked out of the ward, leaving behind a still bewildered Lee, who was still pondering what kind of special medical Ninjutsu'crushing' was.
In the corridor, Ino hadn't left yet.
She was leaning against the window, seemingly looking at the scenery, but actually still savoring the feeling of the 'Mystical Palm Technique.' Seeing Naruto come out, she subconsciously straightened her back.
"Hey, you're leaving?"
"Yeah, busy saving the world... or saving beauties." Naruto chuckled.
Ino bit her lip and suddenly asked out of the blue: "Um... is the white one really better-looking than the purple one?"
"Huh?" Naruto was stunned.
"Never mind! Just scram!"
Ino turned away with a bright red face, her ponytail swinging as she left Naruto with a tsundere back.
[Strange woman... but that back view is truly great.]
Naruto walked away humming a tune, completely unaware that a few of his casual words would make Ino, and even the entire Ninja World, shocked in the future.