The Devil of Konoha: Starting as a Medical Ninja

However, the last piece of information that the Anbu gave Hiruzen Sarutobi was that they found a large number of bottles and jars belonging to Konoha Hospital in Hiroji's storage room, as well as some nutrient solutions contained in them.

There was even a notebook used to record the ingredients of the nutrient solution, seemingly to see if there was any possibility of optimizing the composition of the nutrient solution.

After receiving this result, Hiruzen Sarutobi was filled with questions, but he was also relieved.

However, he didn't know that Hongzhi had prepared all of these things in advance, in order to prevent the storage room from being discovered and targeted by the secret service.

Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi had thought, he felt a little guilty about the result. What a fine young man!

It was so wrong of me to doubt him.

Danzo, on the other hand, did not react at all. After seeing Hongzhi's scroll, Danzo did not understand it, but according to the information from Konoha Hospital, this was his hope for recovery.

Going after Hongzhi at this time is simply out of his mind. Although Danzo has a cooperative relationship with Orochimaru, the current situation is really hard to explain.

Orochimaru could help him prepare another arm, and he could also install a few more Sharingan eyes.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi isn't stupid; he doesn't suddenly have an extra arm.

Of course, having only one eye was not a problem. The day after returning to Root, Danzo had another Sharingan with three tomoe attached to his right eye.

However, because the Cloud Village spy cruelly took away that eye, Danzo's optic nerve was damaged to some extent, and he could not make good use of that Sharingan.

It can barely be used as a resurrection coin; as for its other abilities, it's basically useless.

For Hongzhi, the past week has been another boring and tedious seven days.

While in treatment room number one, Hiroji maintained his smile and showed no change because of the incident.

To outsiders, Hongzhi remained the same as before, but only he knew just how terrifying his gains over those seven days truly were.

Over the past seven days, almost everyone who has been admitted to Treatment Room Number One has had things collected by Hongzhi, such as blood and hair!

Chapter 30 The Death of Rie Shibata

"I'm so tired!"

A medical ninja's complaint came from Konoha Hospital at night: there were many ninjas and many people in Konoha.

Medical ninjas are usually very busy, and the patients they encounter are incredibly diverse, including all sorts of oddballs.

For example, there's the guy who acts like he's sick even though he's perfectly fine, and then there's the guy who spends all his time wandering around Konoha Hospital.

Of course, what the medical ninjas hated most was that guy who inexplicably started trouble for no reason.

For example, today this medical ninja encountered a ninja trainee who injured himself with a kunai.

They were the students from the ninja academy.

"Forget it, the kid who used to study healing techniques at Konoha Hospital has become a demon. If you don't work hard, you might be eliminated in a while."

Rie Shibata looked at the medical ninja in front of her, a smile still on her lips; she had been in a pretty good mood lately.

Since Hongzhi became a top medical ninja at Konoha Hospital, her status at the hospital has also improved, but this is not because her strength has increased.

It was because she was Hongzhi's mentor, and Hongzhi was always very humble whenever he met her.

This made many people respect Rie Shibata.

"I really envy your luck. If I had been in charge of Hongzhi back then, I wouldn't be so busy."

The medical ninja spoke with a hint of helplessness, "Who would have thought that the little guy from a year ago would possess such terrifying talent, becoming the strongest medical ninja in Konoha Hospital?"

Furthermore, he was given the title of "demon," which is clearly absurd.

"Dream on."

Rie Shibata smiled, then packed her clothes and left work, leaving the medical ninja behind her shaking his head helplessly.

On the dark streets of Konoha, Shibata Rie walked along as if nothing was amiss.

Suddenly, Shibata Rie felt the bushes beside her begin to shake. Although she wasn't a combat member, Shibata Rie immediately prepared herself. However, just as she looked at the bushes, a figure suddenly appeared behind her.

Under the moonlight, the headband representing Konoha looked exceptionally conspicuous.

……

Upon waking up in the morning, Hongzhi walked out of his room and headed straight for Konoha Hospital. Hongzhi originally thought it would be an ordinary day, but of course there would be surprises if the surgery was successfully completed.

His palm immortal technique will undergo another transformation, and perhaps this transformation will bring surprises.

"Hongzhi, the dean wants to see you in his office."

To Hiroji's surprise, Kudo Yuya, who was supposed to be in the scheduling room assigning tasks, was not there. Hiroji waited for a while but still did not see Kudo Yuya. Instead, he received a notification from a logistics staff member.

With a puzzled look in his eyes, Hiroji walked toward the dean's office. Upon entering, he noticed that Kudo Yuya looked somewhat tired, which puzzled Hiroji. Kudo Yuya had left earlier than him last night, and if he had rested on time, he wouldn't have looked so tired.

Since Kudo Yuya's expression is a bit off, it means that something has happened, and this problem seems to be related to him.

"Shibata Rie is missing."

Although he was prepared, Hiroji was still somewhat surprised by Kudo Yuuya's first words.

He suspected that Danzo was up to something again, but he didn't expect that it was Shibata Rie who was in trouble, which surprised Koji.

Logically speaking, Shibata Rie was just an ordinary medical ninja at Konoha Hospital, with low skill levels and not even qualified to treat other ninjas.

If there's anything special about her, it's that she had a pretty good relationship with Hiroji. After all, she was Hiroji's teacher, even though it was only for a short time. But this bond was very important to the people of Konoha.

When did this happen?

Hiroji, who instantly understood why Kudo Yuya had summoned him, changed his expression, but not to the point of losing his composure.

"Just last night, the Anbu discovered some signs of a fight and bloodstains on her usual route home. The specifics are not yet clear, but the Anbu has begun an investigation and we expect to have results soon."

Noticing Hiroji's expression, Kudo Yumi breathed a sigh of relief. Although she didn't know the specifics, Hiroji's attitude was quite good.

Kudo Yuya was still quite pleased. She didn't want the person she had painstakingly nurtured to be an emotionless tool, nor did she want him to be a brainless individual.

"Hopefully nothing unexpected will happen."

Hiroji casually added a comment and then prepared to leave. Shibata Rie's disappearance left Hiroji feeling somewhat confused. Although this matter was very likely aimed at him, kidnapping Shibata Rie did not seem to be a good choice.

Many people know about Shibata Rie's disappearance, but no one talks about it. It's not that these people are heartless, but rather that the medical ninjas at Konoha Hospital are extremely busy and don't have many opportunities to chat to begin with. Now that this has happened, it has made these medical ninjas even more serious.

Although it felt somewhat inexplicable, the Anbu had already been mobilized, which meant that Shibata Rie was most likely in grave danger.

Because of Hiroji, many people knew Shibata Rie, and their relationship wasn't too bad.

This sudden turn of events is something not everyone wanted to see.

As evening fell, Hiroji, who was still in the treatment room, was once again notified by Kudo Yuuya to go to the basement.

Upon hearing this news, Hiroji probably understood that Shibata Rie, who had once led him into the world of medical ninjas, was most likely in grave danger.

Although he had expected it, Hiroji still had an indescribable feeling when he saw Shibata Rie's body with his own eyes.

Who is the murderer?

Looking at the Anbu members on the side of the basement, Hiroji asked curiously, "Could it be that this was really done by that old codger Danzo?"

"A Jonin from Kumogakure is now dead."

The ANBU gave a casual reply, which left Hongzhi feeling somewhat bewildered. How could ninjas from Kumogakure be allowed to infiltrate Konoha and commit atrocities?

Moreover, what is the motivation for doing this?

Hongzhi walked out of the basement with a bewildered look on his face. He had a feeling that this matter was not so simple, but he couldn't see any problem.

In the end, he could only return to Treatment Room No. 1 indifferently to continue treatment. Although he felt a little uncomfortable, there was nothing he could do about it. However, he kept the matter in his heart.

Although they didn't have much interaction, he was still a great help to Hongzhi, and it's worth investigating him thoroughly when the time is right.

Chapter 31 This is not up to you!

It was late at night, and Hongzhi was walking home alone. Although that's what he called home, it was actually just a dilapidated room.

Although it's still habitable, it's unlikely to withstand much damage. If someone gets married in the future, the house might collapse in the middle of the night.

Koji never considered starting a family; his ultimate goal was to swallow the fruit of the Divine Tree, become an Otsutsuki, and gain eternal life.

Because he always had a clear objective, Rie Shibata's death only caused Hiroji some sadness.

Life is so fragile, and the only way to ensure the survival of one's fragile life is through immortality.

From a certain perspective, Hongzhi and Orochimaru should be considered the same kind of people. The difference between the two lies in their different entry points, or rather, their different understandings of the history of the ninja world.

Ultimately, it was the memories of his past life that made Hongzhi clearly understand how to find the path to immortality, or rather, how to best achieve that goal.

Orochimaru, not understanding those prehistoric secrets, could only explore step by step, which made him much more capable than Hiroji.

After all, it was the result of decades of hard work in research, so it must be a bit more advanced than the research conducted during the Hongzhi era.

Of course, in terms of medical ninjutsu, Hongzhi should be slightly stronger.

There is no need to compare the overall strength, as the fields are different and it is meaningless to make a forced comparison.

However, Orochimaru's research on the human body, Hashirama cells, and the Sharingan will definitely be of some help to Hiroji.

It's just that there's no opportunity to contact Orochimaru right now.

That was what Hongzhi originally thought, but when he pushed open the door to the room, he clearly sensed that someone had been there before.

Moreover, the people who came were not from the Dark Bureau or the Root. Hiroji had discovered traces of the Dark Bureau some time ago, but he did not make a fuss about it.

As long as the Anbu don't get in his way, that's fine. As for Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koji has no interest in him at all. He's just an old man who's about to die. If nothing unexpected happens, Orochimaru will achieve his goal of killing his master in a year and a half.

The people who came were not from the Dark Bureau or Root, and considering what happened last night, they were very likely the ones who attacked Shibata Rie.

If the speculation is correct, it can only mean one thing: Konoha's Anbu is really a bit useless.

Hongzhi pretended not to notice anything unusual, calmly walked into the room, closed the door, and sat quietly to the side, his gaze fixed on the hidden storage room.

"Now that you're here, come out."

Hongzhi spoke casually. As a medical ninja, Hongzhi's senses weren't particularly strong, but he was very familiar with this room.

The clues in the room all led to the storage room, so it's fairly normal to conclude that someone was inside.

clap clap ~

Applause rang out, and the door to the storage room slowly opened. Kabuto Yakushi, with a smile on his face and his glasses reflecting the room's light, slowly walked out.

"As expected of the medical ninja known as the devil, his insight is truly terrifying."