Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

"Actually, yes—there is something!"

Chiba Seihei didn't hold back in the slightest when Uchiha Haruki asked.

"This man's condition is too severe. While I extract the toxins, I won't be able to divide my focus. I'll need you to stabilize his vitals."

"That's it?"

Haruki muttered and immediately guaranteed,

"No problem."

"Good!"

Seeing Haruki's confident response, Chiba Seihei wasted no time. He had someone bring over a basin of clean water and set it beside them, then began adjusting his own condition for the task.

Once everything was in place, he adopted a serious expression and turned to Haruki.

"I'm starting."

"Mm."

Haruki nodded, his face turning solemn as well.

Then, Chiba formed a sequence of hand seals and activated the Pathogen Extraction Technique, carefully scanning the Konoha ninja's body for areas where the toxin had accumulated.

Moments later, he shifted his hand seals and used another jutsu—Chakra Scalpel.

Chakra wrapped around his right hand. With one swift motion, he sliced open the chest of the fallen Konoha ninja.

A nauseating stench immediately filled the room.

From the incision, patches of deep purple blotches emerged, spreading across the wound like bruises—this was the concentrated poison. The sight alone was enough to make one sick.

"Ugh…"

Even in his unconscious state, the Konoha ninja groaned in pain, his expression contorting in agony. His vital signs began rapidly plummeting, flickering like a candle in the wind—on the verge of being extinguished.

"Haruki!"

Chiba Seihei shouted.

"I got it!"

Haruki didn't waste a second. Raising both hands, he instantly completed a series of hand seals and cast an A-rank medical jutsu—Palm Sage Technique!

A surge of powerful Yang Release chakra poured into the wounded ninja's body. The effect was immediate—his life signs stabilized almost at once.

The result was so effective that even Chiba Seihei couldn't help but glance sideways at Haruki.

To the untrained eye, Haruki's use of Palm Sage Technique might seem ordinary. But to a skilled practitioner like Chiba, the depth of mastery was obvious.

"With this level of technique... perhaps only the legendary Tsunade-sama could rival him,"

Chiba thought to himself.

He had already been impressed with how quickly Haruki was healing people. Now it made perfect sense.

At this level, the Palm Sage Technique could indeed treat most battlefield injuries efficiently.

"No wonder he was so confident about stabilizing the patient. The boy's got real skill…"

While thinking, Chiba didn't stop working.

After making the incision, he switched his hand seals again and re-cast the Pathogen Extraction Technique.

Chakra tendrils, fine and controlled, flowed into the injured ninja's body. With utmost precision, they approached the toxin—like a finely woven net closing in.

Then, a portion of the toxin was carefully surrounded and pulled out.

Once outside the body, Chiba moved his hand over the basin of water.

Drip.

A globule of toxin-laced liquid dropped in, sending ripples through the water. The clear water turned a faint purplish hue.

"Whew…"

Chiba finally let out a breath of relief.

Although he had been about 70–80% confident before starting, only after successfully removing the first droplet of poison did he completely relax.

—

With the first extraction successful, the rest became a matter of repeating the same process—carefully and patiently.

Fortunately, with Haruki stabilizing the patient, Chiba could focus entirely on the toxin removal.

With their seamless teamwork—one holding the line on vitals, the other purging the toxins—more and more droplets of purple liquid fell into the basin.

And the ninja's complexion gradually improved.

Finally, after roughly half an hour, the last of the poison was removed. Chiba let out a long exhale of relief.

Haruki, seeing the process was complete, immediately activated Palm Sage Technique again, expending a large amount of chakra to swiftly heal the open wounds.

Of course, this was emergency treatment only. For full recovery, the patient would still need extended rest and care.

But even so—it was already a remarkable feat.

To an ordinary civilian, even to many in the shinobi world, this would seem like a miracle.

This was the power of supernatural abilities—they could bypass the limits of physical science and achieve seemingly impossible things.

In a world governed strictly by physics, perhaps similar techniques could eventually be developed. But in the short term, such efficiency was far out of reach.

Haruki pulled back his hands and turned to the waiting Konoha ninja nearby.

"He's stable now. Have someone take him away."

Tears welled in the ninja's eyes as he bowed repeatedly, thanking both Haruki and Chiba Seihei.

It was clear he had a close relationship with the wounded man.

Haruki, however, had no intention of prying. He simply waved it off and walked away.

—

Returning to Chiba's side, Haruki thought for a moment and then asked:

"Chiba-senpai, would you be willing to teach me the Pathogen Extraction Technique? I can exchange it for my modified version of Palm Sage Technique."

"So it was modified…"

Chiba murmured softly. Without hesitation, he nodded in agreement.

Seeing how easily the man agreed, Haruki knew he'd read the situation right.

Earlier, while stabilizing the injured ninja, he had clearly sensed that Chiba was deeply interested in his version of the Palm Sage Technique.

And now, it was confirmed.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have agreed to the trade so readily.

Of course, part of it was probably because Haruki was a member of the Uchiha clan, and for Chiba, the Pathogen Extraction Technique wasn't exactly a rare or forbidden secret.

So offering Haruki a favor wasn't a big deal.

After sealing their agreement verbally, the two parted ways.

After all, exchanging jutsu wasn't as simple as chatting for a few minutes. Especially with complex medical techniques, it required compiling detailed documents or scrolls—outlining not only the steps, but also usage conditions, key risks, and training methods.

Such things couldn't be handed over on the spot.

But Haruki wasn't in a rush.

The Pathogen Extraction Technique was merely something to cover his current weakness. It wasn't some profound transformation in his skills.

He could easily wait for Chiba to compile it into scroll form before studying it.

As for now…

Haruki looked around at the remaining wounded and muttered:

"Alright, let's keep going."