July 21st, Saturday. Clear skies.

  My name is Takagi Naohito. At least, that’s the name of this body. I seem to have undergone some kind of unknown consciousness transference—my mind is now inhabiting this person’s body.

  But I don’t mind. After all, my previous self is already dead. Killed by the ET virus—an alien-born infection I couldn’t cure.

  I’ve long forgotten how I died, and I don’t care to remember. What matters is that I’m alive now, and as long as I’m still breathing, I intend to stay that way—and return to what I do best.

  Turns out, I may not need to start from scratch. This Takagi Naohito is already a medical-nin. A healer. The words “medical” and “ninja” are two I’d never have imagined in the same sentence in my previous life.

  After absorbing a massive amount of the original host’s memories, I’m beginning to understand what this “Konoha Vilge” actually is.

  A thriving, powerful hidden vilge. I’ve seen ninja leaping across rooftops with my own eyes. And this thing they call “chakra”—some kind of life energy. I’m starting to understand how they’re capable of such superhuman feats.

  If I could decode it all... No, I can’t go back. Might as well focus on doing my job properly.

  I am Takagi Naohito. I’m a doctor. That will never change.

  ———

  In a modest second-floor room tucked into a forgotten corner of Konoha, Takagi Naohito sat buried in a mountain of books.

  “So that’s how it works... I see now,” he murmured, nodding slowly. “Chakra refinement is actually this simple? People in my old world spent tens of thousands of years and never discovered anything like this... Hah, forget it.”

  He closed the book and set it on a growing stack beside him, then picked up another volume—this one on medicinal herbs.

  He had vague memories of all this, but nothing detailed. He needed to review everything from scratch. That’s why he’d requested three days off from the Konoha Hospital.

  Three days to dive deep into what it meant to be a medical-nin.

  Ninjas in this world were a unique profession. Unlike the shadowy assassins dressed in bck from my past life, these ninja could refine chakra within their bodies and use it to perform a variety of powerful jutsu. Their capabilities were truly terrifying.

  Ninja ranks went from Genin, to Chūnin, to Tokubetsu Jōnin, then Jōnin, and finally Kage. Medical-nin stood apart as a special cssification—not a rank, but a role. As the name implied, they were the ones responsible for treating and supporting others on the battlefield.

  In other words, combat medics.

  Takagi Naohito didn’t mind being a medical-nin. He’d served as a field doctor before. He liked being a doctor—not just because his parents had been doctors too, but because without doctors, he wouldn’t have lived this long.

  As dusk approached and the light began to fade, Takagi Naohito finally lifted his head from the books.

  He reached up, flipped on the light, and slowly stood, steadying himself against the wall. He gnced at the piles of books scattered around the room and sighed.

  “Still so much to get through.”

  One thing that puzzled him about this world was the bizarre state of its technology. Despite seemingly being stuck in the age of swords and kunai, they somehow had electric lights, fshlights, cameras, and even flush toilets.

  And these things had only appeared recently. It was baffling.

  “Eh, no point overthinking it.”

  He still had two more days of leave. Two more days to learn about this world. But for now, he needed food.

  His stomach had already started grumbling. Skipping meals was never a good idea—especially for someone in his line of work.

  Leaving the little house behind, Takagi Naohito blended seamlessly into the evening crowd. On the stone-paved roads of the vilge, a ninja without a forehead protector like him drew no attention at all.

  Konoha might be called a vilge, but it felt more like a town. Built into the mountains, surrounded by high walls with three great gates. The fourth side was marked not by a gate, but by the iconic Hokage Rock.

  The faces of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, the Second, Tobirama Senju, and the current Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi, were carved into the mountain.

  Takagi Naohito stood on the street, looking up at those solemn stone faces. There was something awe-inspiring about them.

  “Kage, huh?” he muttered, tilting his head. “The strongest ninja in the vilge... What kind of people were they really? If only I’d arrived in this world a bit earlier.”

  Compared to them, he was a nobody. Just an unremarkable medical-nin with no real presence. And yet... he could already feel the difference in his body. He could leap onto a third-story rooftop with ease.

  And that was as a medical-nin, one of the weaker types in terms of combat. So just how powerful was a Kage?

  His curiosity fred, but after a moment, he shrugged it off and continued walking. Along the way, he bought a few skewers of dango and some takoyaki to fill his belly.

  With every step, the vilge felt more familiar.

  “Konoha’s way bigger than I thought.”

  At this rate, he could walk all night and still not see everything. Before he knew it, he had arrived at the Konoha Hospital.

  A standard four-story building, but rger than expected. Memories of the body’s former life here began to stir.

  “Guess I’ll take a look inside.”

  Konoha’s hospital was open twenty-four hours. Both ninja and civilians used it when they were sick—there were no small clinics or family practices here.

  “Dr. Takagi?”

  He hadn’t even walked in far when a nurse recognized him.

  “Weren’t you on a three-day sick leave?”

  “It’s just regur leave, not sick leave,” he said, scratching his head awkwardly. “But I saw the hospital and couldn’t help walking in.”

  “You’re always so dedicated to your work,” the nurse said with a small ugh. “Feel free to look around, Dr. Takagi. Dr. ōkouchi isn’t here today, so if an emergency comes in, maybe you could help out.”

  “Sure.”

  Takagi Naohito worked in general surgery. It wasn’t broken down into subfields here—cardiothoracic, neurosurgery, and more all fell under one umbrel. But even so, work was usually light.

  And that was a good thing. In this line of work, the less to do, the better.

  He was just about to head to the staff room when he heard the sound of a stretcher being rushed down the hallway.

  “Make way! Make way!”

  Instinct kicked in—he stepped aside. The stretcher sped past him, carrying a civilian with massive abdominal bleeding. The group made a sharp turn and disappeared into the emergency operating room.

  A lead surgeon had already gone in with them.

  Even standing outside, Takagi could hear the patient’s agonized screams. But after the anesthesia kicked in, the cries faded.

  Takagi Naohito turned and left without a word.

  He couldn’t help there.

  Rather than stand around doing nothing, it might be better to just cut the break short and return to work.

  There was still medical ninjutsu to explore. Takagi looked down at his hands and murmured to himself:

  “Let’s see how well these medical techniques really work.”