Nodding a friendly greeting to a couple of vaguely familiar shinobi who were comfortably settled on the other side of the hot spring, I stepped over the stone barrier and, with a satisfied sigh, immersed myself in the hot water, feeling the warmth penetrate every cell of my tired body. A small damp towel took its place on my head, and I closed my eyes, ignoring the few curious glances currently surveying my body.
After all, there are no fuinjutsu masters left in Konohagakure who are capable of applying seals to the body in dozens without any negative consequences for the bearer. And so what if my chest, back, shoulders, arms, and legs are covered with numerous patterns and kanji? That's the price of the profession and the lack of necessary resources—inks that become invisible after application were only made in Uzushiogakure.
Naturally, such a sight would spark curiosity, especially considering that I don't like appearing in public in open clothing. A cloak with temperature control is ideal! At least today is a men's day at my favorite hot spring, not a mixed one. Thanks, but I really don't like feeling like a juicy piece of meat being closely watched by hungry wolves! Two such visits were enough for me to avoid mixed days and choose only times reserved for shinobi.
At least in the company of men, I could relax, rather than flinch and suppress the reflex to respond to every overly curious gaze with a kunai or shuriken. The consequences of the war, however. And I urgently needed to unwind as fully as possible during those rare times when I had a few free hours.
And to stretch my brain a little without the constant need to rush somewhere and do something. Ha, when I thought that upon returning home I would actually have time to rest and focus not only on regular training but also to attempt to bring many of the ideas swirling in my head to life—ideas that I diligently transferred to paper, not to mention analyzing prisoners, examining the scrolls of trophy techniques, albeit in small quantities, and dealing with material loot and dead bodies for further use—I was very much mistaken!
Literally the next day, an old one-eyed geezer showed up in the clan district and almost forcibly dragged me to the hospital to be officially registered as a full-time iryō-nin, ignoring any objections. The only positive aspect of this was the almost immediate promotion to the second tier iryō-nin—Meido-san took care of sending the documentation and field hospital papers under my command, so the white-eyed old man simply glanced at the long list of patients with brief descriptions of their injuries and issued the new rank without any questions. However, this was just a spoonful of honey in a barrel of dung!
After somewhat settling into the hastily restored hospital's work, I argued and cursed for a long time—if the situation before my deployment was literally dire, it had now become even worse! Despite the complete withdrawal of the front contingent from Sunagakure and the return of surviving iryō-nin, which was supposed to ease the load on the main staff in the main building and departments, the last attack from Iwagakure had been too costly—many doctors, if not killed, lost limbs or sustained other severe injuries that prevented them from continuing their practice.
Given that supply had only slightly improved, and the stock of bodies for organ transplants had long run out due to the endless flow of patients during the war, it was quite evident that, in a few months, it was not possible to get even a third of the injured back into action.
The hospital staff, reduced by a third (specifically, qualified iryō-nin, not nurses and medics), simply couldn't handle all the maimed coming from the main camps in large convoys. So, unexpectedly for myself, I found myself among a dozen qualified doctors of the second and first categories, buried up to my neck in work.
Moreover, there were only three of us, including the old Hyūga—during this war, the iryō-nin community suffered about sixty percent losses with fatal outcomes and another seven percent with hopes of recovery.
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