There were multiple scenarios of "being forced."
Either pressured by the village, or public opinion, or until things annoyed Akaba to the point where speaking would ease his mind.
However, Sakumo knew well enough that he hadn't reached the level of annoying Akaba.
Whatever. Let's just watch the Hokage.
Sakumo ran a hand through his hair in irritation, then tossed the two manga volumes down to the genin below before snatching up the newest Naruto chapter to read.
But by now, quite a few people had already seen the later parts of the story.
"Hey, doesn't everyone think Might Duy, Guy, and Rock Lee look super alike?"
"Duy, come stand over here so we can compare!"
"No! I must train! I must train!"
Might Duy was reluctant, but faced with a sea of public pressure, he could only obediently let himself be dragged over for comparison.
Most people didn't recognize Duy originally, and since his hairstyle and dress style were slightly different from Guy's, they didn't pay much attention at first.
As time went on, though, people began noticing how much Might Duy resembled that jonin, Guy.
That wasn't all.
"Now that I think about it, both Duy and Guy are surnamed Might. They might even be from the same bloodline," said Yizhong Akimichi.
The more they looked, the more familiar those three seemed—almost like they'd been printed from the same mold, aside from minor differences in facial features.
"That's right! Of course I'm Might Duy, Konoha's Blue Beast!" Duy declared dramatically while striking Guy's signature pose.
Wait, wasn't that Guy's title?
And sure enough—it really was exactly the same!
Big white teeth, thick eyebrows, and an eccentric personality. Should they say something like "Father and son indeed?"
Akaba stood nearby, secretly commenting inwardly.
"By the way, Akaba, you understand medical ninjutsu. If such an operation were entrusted to you, what's your chance of success?"
Sakumo couldn't help but ask.
After the previous battle, he had researched that technique—the one slash that effortlessly cut through his muscles. It was actually a rather difficult form of medical ninjutsu, created solely by Akaba himself.
So far, only he could use it effectively in combat.
This clearly showed Akaba's extraordinary skill as a medical ninja.
"About ten percent?" Akaba touched his chin thoughtfully, completely unashamed of his answer.
A regular medical ninja probably only had less than a one-in-a-hundred chance of healing such injuries back to ninja condition. His self-taught proficiency achieving even a ten percent rate was already pretty impressive.
"Ten percent?"
Sakumo was momentarily stunned before realizing the true meaning behind Tsunade's medical skills.
It represented the highest level of medical expertise!
Even someone of her caliber had only a fifty percent success rate performing such an operation. This alone demonstrated how dangerous such surgery truly was.
Becoming a ninja meant betting your life against Death itself.
"This puts Guy in a whole new light. He must've cherished Lee like his own son."
Sakumo sighed with deep feeling.
"You're right," Akaba nodded. Guy genuinely treated Lee like family.
And Lee indeed never disappointed him, always giving it his all—even though effort alone just couldn't beat fate in the end.
At the beginning of the Hokage arc, he was already able to open the [Gate of Opening], and by the end, he could still only open the [Gate of Resting]. The [Gate of Injury] seemed distant, not to mention the [Gate of Death].
After a while, everyone had seen enough.
Sakumo lightly coughed and said, "Very well, I have a new plan for today's training. Everyone will throw kunai five hundred times. If your hit rate is below sixty percent, you'll run two hundred laps. If you don't finish, do fifty handstands around the training field. And if you still can't complete—"
"No way! Please, no!"
The training ground immediately erupted into desperate protests, especially Loe, whose face instantly turned pale. What kind of plan was this? It was practically a punishment scheme.
He mourned for them quietly.
Akaba secretly felt a sense of "heartache," but then thought that from now on, it wouldn't just be them—the people from the Hatake Clan would probably also suffer through harsh days ahead.
What a harsh life the Hatake Clan would soon experience.
Just imagining Kakashi with his cold, stern expression and even wearing a mask, saying things like, "Run around Konoha five hundred times—if you can't do it, run one hundred laps on your hands."
Hmm, why does this feel so familiar?
Akaba shivered slightly, shaking his head. How could Five-Five say such things? The style was completely off.
Actually, the whole atmosphere felt strangely off.
Within seconds, everyone started training, each heading to the training area to throw kunai.
Sixty percent accuracy.
It wasn't a high standard, but combined with the volume—five hundred throws—it became grueling; ordinary Genin couldn't handle this easily.
Fortunately, they had gone through quite a bit of intense training recently; otherwise, three or four hundred throws alone might've left their arms useless for a whole day.
Akaba sat there watching for a while. Basically, most people could meet the requirement. Might Duy's success rate was only around forty percent, but thanks to his impressive stamina, after finishing all five hundred throws, he just went straight to running laps without needing any prompting.
In short, Sakumo's training methods appeared strict, but in reality, they were based entirely on his deep understanding of these Genins' capabilities.
"Done. Time to go back."
Akaba dusted off his hands, ready to return to his carefree, lazy routine. Recently, since he had finished drawing Loguetown, the updates regarding One Piece could proceed normally again, unlike before when he needed to work himself to exhaustion. Thus, he could leave the rest to his clones and finally get some proper rest.
He stood up, preparing to leave, but had just circled around the outer edge of the training field and passed by the lab entrance when Orochimaru's summoned snake suddenly slithered up to him.
Looking at Akaba, the snake spoke: "Mr. Akaba, I didn't expect to meet you here. If convenient, would you please come to Konoha Hospital?"
"Konoha Hospital?"
What business did Orochimaru have there? Plus, he specially left a snake waiting here—was he certain Akaba would show up at the Preparatory Division?
Wait, maybe there were snakes stationed at the manga shop too.
Akaba rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then patted the snake's head, indicating he understood.
Konoha Hospital housed many injured and disabled ninja. Although a month had passed, many should have recovered already, but there were still numerous cases beyond conventional treatment's capability.
These wounded ninja, unless something unexpected happened, would face "retirement," never able to serve as ninja again and living out their lives as ordinary civilians instead.
Considering Orochimaru being at the hospital, it was highly possible related to plans concerning those disabled ninja.
He had just sensed her out, but Tsunade wasn't in the research facility either. If Orochimaru asked him to come, it was likely some surgery or alternative treatment needed assistance from Medical Ninjutsu.
Akaba quickened his pace.
The Preparatory Division was somewhat far from Konoha; after all, it used to be an outer base located outside the busy areas.
After running for a while, he used his Sensor Ability to check his surroundings. Confirming no ninja were watching, he immediately activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.
The coordinates of this Flying Thunder God Technique were set at home.
After teleporting back home, Akaba climbed out through the window again and continued heading toward Konoha Hospital.
Thanks to the Flying Thunder God Technique, getting around became much easier.
Otherwise, traveling back into Konoha from the outside would probably take half an hour.
It wasn't just about wasting time—it was exhausting too. If there's an easier way, why not take it?
He finally arrived at Konoha Hospital.
Orochimaru's snake clone was waiting outside. Upon seeing Akaba appear, it immediately crawled down from the rooftop: "Mr. Akaba, please follow me."
"What exactly is going on? Is it some kind of research or surgery?"
Akaba asked curiously.
"A bit of both. A few days ago, a ninja voluntarily applied to the village, hoping to undergo physiological modification so he could return to the battlefield."
Explained Orochimaru's clone, "After careful consideration, Teacher Sarutobi decided to let me draft a detailed and feasible plan. I've been researching this thoroughly these past few days."
"I see. So you mean you already have a solid, executable plan?"
Akaba asked.
"Not really. At the moment, we can only use implanted ninja tools as substitutes. But tools aren't hands. Though their abilities in certain areas will be enhanced after the tool-based modification, their overall capabilities will definitely drop quite a bit."
The snake clone continued explaining.
"I understand. Let's go then."
Following the winding paths, Akaba was led all the way to the lower levels of Konoha Hospital. Originally a basement, this area had now been transformed into a temporary medical room.
"This is it."
After leading the way, the snake clone vanished on its own.
Akaba opened the door and walked inside.
Orochimaru, Koharu Utatane, and Tsunade were all present. The three seemed to be discussing and perfecting the plan.
Seeing Akaba arrive, the trio immediately waved him over.
"Is this about hand modification?"
The medical room was brightly lit. Sitting at the center was a ninja approximately in his thirties. One of his hands had been severed, and now he appeared ready to receive a prosthetic replacement.
"His name is Hide Kato. He's an Anbu ninja personally trained by The Second, mastering a Kinjutsu technique called [Spirit Transformation Technique]. His other hand was cut off during wartime when ambushed by Kirigakure ninja while performing the jutsu. We're currently considering how best to maximize the preservation of his combat effectiveness."
Koharu explained.
[Spirit Transformation Technique]?
Akaba looked on with surprise. It was a soul-based jutsu. So far, only Dan Kato had been known to master it. He hadn't expected someone with the surname Kato to also possess it.
Could this man possibly be related to Dan—perhaps his father?
He pondered briefly, then shook his head slightly. Now wasn't the time to dwell on such thoughts — right now, what mattered was Hide Kato's hand.
"Is one-handed hand seal formation still possible?"
Akaba thought about the One-Handed Hand Seal he had acquired. This technique allowed certain ninjutsu to be performed with only one hand. If the Spirit Transformation Technique could also be executed with a single hand, then it wouldn't significantly impair Hide Kato's combat effectiveness.
"That won't work," Orochimaru rasped. "This technique needs to be modified — it involves complex hand seals and chakra manipulation. It can't be done with just one hand."
"The arm he lost has been damaged beyond repair by Kirigakure ninja," Tsunade stated firmly. "In my opinion, our best option is to modify the Spirit Transformation Technique — equip him with a prosthetic ninja-tool arm controlled through chakra threads."
A ninja-tool arm?
So this was one of Orochimaru's latest creations. Guess tech really does come to the rescue sometimes.
After thinking for a moment, Akaba said, "I agree with Tsunade's suggestion. Our current level of medical jutsu simply isn't advanced enough to regrow a fully functional arm. Let's install the prosthetic limb first."
"So even you can't do anything?"
Koharu Utatane sounded slightly disappointed. She'd hoped Akaba might have a better solution. Now, apparently, they had no choice but to give up.
What a ridiculous thing to say. Did she actually think he was some kind of all-powerful wizard?
Akaba inwardly grumbled.
At this level of medical jutsu, even the strongest version of Tsunade from the future wouldn't have been able to regenerate it. Otherwise, why not just reattach Lee's leg when it got cut off?
Granted, later on, Naruto got his hand reattached using Hashirama Senju's cells. But obviously, Hide Kato wasn't in line for something like that. At that time, there hadn't even been any research into Hashirama's cells yet.
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>