The infirmary camp lay behind the main military camp, a zone made up of multiple large tents.
Each tent held wounded shinobi with different injuries, ranging from light to severe. The moment you stepped into the area, you could smell a faint medicinal scent hanging in the air.
Even though the ninja world had a bug-like thing called medical ninjutsu, if conditions allowed, it was still best for the wounded to recover slowly.
Take the Mystical Palm Technique, for example: its essence was stimulating cells at the wound site, accelerating division and healing.
But middle-school biology already taught this—aside from cancer cells, every cell has a limited number of times it can divide.
"This is the infirmary camp," Shizune explained. "We currently have a little over thirty patients. Most were injured in fighting with Mist shinobi over the last two days."
"Mist?" Hyuga Kiyonari was surprised. "Why would they appear here?"
Shizune shook her head. "The border situation is complicated—shinobi from every country can show up. Mist arrived about a week ago, and the moment they did, they started attacking both Konoha and Kumo indiscriminately. They don't care about their own losses either. No one knows what they're trying to do."
Uchiha Shisui had spent time on defensive duty at the Land of Fire border before, with Mist shinobi as the main opponents, and he couldn't help sighing.
"Shinobi who come out of the 'Bloody Mist'… very few of them fear death."
Listening to their speculation, Kiyonari chuckled inwardly. "Bloody Mist," my ass—it's just someone's revenge.
As they spoke, the three entered the first tent.
Several beds were set up inside, each with a wounded shinobi lying on it. A few medical-nin moved between the beds, checking injuries and changing medicine.
"Shizune-sama." Seeing Shizune enter, the medics bowed.
"Mm. How are the patients?" Shizune asked.
"They were brought in last night—mostly light injuries," one medic answered.
"Good. I understand."
Shizune nodded and walked to a patient with thick bandages wrapped around his left arm. Kiyonari recognized the wrapping immediately—it was compression for hemostasis, meaning the wound was likely deep.
Shizune unwound two loops, and blood immediately seeped through the bandage gaps—
"The wound is deep. It damaged muscle and part of the bone. In this situation we need Mystical Palm to help the bone heal, otherwise there could be lasting effects that impair the arm's movement."
Green chakra light gathered in her hands as she gently covered the wound.
"The key to Mystical Palm is precise chakra control—stimulating cell division and regeneration," Shizune explained as she treated him.
"You have to sense the wound's depth and scope, then distribute chakra evenly to every damaged area. Too much causes excessive growth; too little won't heal."
In just a few seconds, the bleeding stopped and the wound visibly closed. What had been deep enough to show bone gradually shallowed, until only a faint scar remained.
"Done." Shizune withdrew her hands and instructed, "Rest well for a few days. Eat and sleep more. Avoid moving this arm."
"Thank you, Shizune-sama!" the wounded man said excitedly.
Shizune treated several more patients after that, explaining in detail each time—mostly teaching Kiyonari how to identify injuries and judge whether medical ninjutsu was necessary.
Time slipped by. When the last patient in the tent was finished, it was already noon.
"Alright, everyone in this tent is taken care of." Shizune rolled her stiff shoulders. "Kiyonari, you'll handle the next tent. No problem, right?"
"No problem," Kiyonari answered.
As they stepped outside, they saw Tsunade walking over with three boxed meals—rice balls and sushi—eating as she walked, finishing a few bites like it was nothing.
They continued toward the next tent. But just as they reached the entrance, a heated argument spilled out from inside.
"Guy, what value do those prisoners have? Keeping them just wastes food—and wastes manpower guarding them!"
"Kakashi, how can you say that! Even if they're enemies, if they've surrendered, how can you measure a living person by 'value'?"
"Shinobi war has always been kill-or-be-killed. Who knows if it's a fake surrender?"
"But—"
"No 'but'!"
Hearing the familiar quarrel, Shisui frowned. "Those two again."
"What's the reason this time?" Tsunade asked, clearly used to it.
"Let's find out." Shisui looked at Kiyonari. "Let Kiyonari-kun try. See if he can talk them down."
"I'll try." Kiyonari sighed, lifted the flap, and went in.
Inside, two men sat on separate beds, facing each other like drawn blades.
On the left bed was Hatake Kakashi, his left arm wrapped in bandages and secured to his chest with a sling. From the wrapping, it looked like blunt trauma.
On the right was Might Guy, with abrasions on his face and shoulder—likely cuts from a blade. His leg was wrapped heavily, the condition unclear.
Both froze when Kiyonari entered.
"You are…?" Kakashi asked first, puzzled.
"I'm Tsunade-sama's student, Hyuga Kiyonari. I'll be checking your injuries and setting treatment plans," Kiyonari said calmly, as if the tension between them didn't exist.
Then he walked straight to Guy, who was closer. "Guy-senpai, lift your injured leg a little."
"Sure!" Guy responded enthusiastically. "Thanks, Kiyonari!"
Kiyonari crouched and carefully unwound the bandages. A charred burn was revealed—skin tissue carbonized and necrotic, a typical Lightning Style injury.
He focused, sensing the scope and depth of dead tissue.
"Some tissue is necrotic. We need to surgically remove it, then use Mystical Palm for regenerative healing." Kiyonari stood and met Guy's eyes. "Can you accept that plan?"
Guy gave him a thumbs-up without hesitation. "No problem!"
Kiyonari fetched disinfecting alcohol and a scalpel. With precise cuts, he removed the dead tissue bit by bit. Soon the blackened wound exposed fresh red tissue underneath, and blood appeared.
After removal, he cleaned the wound again and then used Mystical Palm. Within minutes, it healed completely, leaving only new skin slightly paler than the surrounding area.
"Done." Kiyonari withdrew his hand and warned, "Your wound is healed. Over the next few days, move it appropriately so your body adapts to the new tissue. But—don't overdo it."
Guy sprang up excitedly and flexed his leg. "It doesn't hurt at all! As expected of Tsunade-sama's student—truly, what's that saying again?"
"Don't judge a book by its cover," Kakashi supplied from the side.
Kiyonari turned to Kakashi. "You're next, Kakashi-senpai."
After removing the bandages and splints, the entire arm was swollen and deformed, covered in blue-purple bruising.
"Bone's broken. We can set it with Mystical Palm, or you can rest and let it heal naturally. Which?"
Kakashi answered without hesitation. "Set it."
Green chakra light flared again, then faded.
Kiyonari applied medicine as he spoke. "The fracture is set. Soft tissue damage will have to recover on its own. Also, don't use this arm for the next three days. If anything is inconvenient, ask Guy-senpai."
Throughout it all, Guy sat on the opposite bed, his eyes never leaving Kakashi, guilt visible in them.
Kiyonari packed up his tools and looked between them. "Medical resources shouldn't be wasted on this kind of thing. Next time you two get injured from fighting each other, I won't treat you."
"How did you know?" Kakashi couldn't hide his surprise. They'd never told anyone they'd hurt each other.
Kiyonari spread his hands. "If you can't even identify the cause of injuries, what kind of doctor are you? One is blunt trauma from taijutsu, one is a Lightning Style burn. And even though your injuries look serious, you held back everywhere."
Kakashi was silent for a moment, then only managed: "As expected of Tsunade-sama's student."
"And one more thing—"
At the tent flap, Kiyonari paused and looked back at Kakashi.
"Even though Guy-senpai is always optimistic and kind, he is first and foremost a shinobi who keeps his principles. He wouldn't show mercy to enemies out of sentimentality. He stopped you because he doesn't want you to keep killing—especially killing people who won't fight back."
"Guy-senpai is afraid his friend will turn into someone he doesn't recognize. You understand that, Kakashi-senpai—deep down. That's why you fought him."
With that, Kiyonari lifted the flap and left.
Outside, Tsunade immediately looked at him. "Kakashi's arm—you can heal it completely, right?"
Kiyonari let out a long sigh and looked up at the sky. "If I completely heal his arm right now, then what chance will they have to heal the bond between them?"
The tent fell into a long silence.
Inside, Kakashi lowered his head, his face hidden in shadow, expression unreadable.
After who knew how long, Guy suddenly stood and strode to Kakashi. "You weren't like this before—don't you remember what we used to be?"
"What we used to be…?" Kakashi still wouldn't lift his head. His eyes stayed locked on the ground, yet countless figures flashed chaotically before him—
His father. Obito. Rin. Minato-sensei. Kushina-sama—
"Guy," his voice was dry and hoarse, "I… have nothing left."
"Then what am I?! Am I not your friend?! Am I not your friend?!"
Outside the tent, Kiyonari heard the commotion and sighed toward the sky.
"Maybe… they really are a pair of doomed lovebirds."
~~~
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