"Surgeon—is that your codename?"
Jiraiya reacted a beat late. Surgeon… isn't that just a doctor?!
The white-haired man suddenly made a realization face.
"So you're a doctor, huh?! No wonder you've been treating the wounded at our hospital all this time!"
"Then I really have to thank you for that!"
Bai Xing's gaze remained calm as he watched Jiraiya's performance. His eyes flicked briefly behind Jiraiya.
"In that case, if you could tell that ANBU back there to move a bit more quietly, I might believe you."
"Move in!"
As Jiraiya's voice fell, an ANBU operative in a gray assassination uniform clung to the outer wall, blue chakra coating the soles of his feet. Moonlight washed over him, and his shadow began to twist—
In an instant, the black shadow shrank and stretched, slicing through the air at a tricky angle, trying to seize Bai Xing's shadow.
"Don't miss!"
Jiraiya had deliberately contacted ANBU in advance to capture Bai Xing peacefully.
Earlier that day, Yakushi Nono's heartfelt conversation with Mikoto had been overheard by Jiraiya, who had been staking the place out. Worried that Nono and the impostor "Kitada Aina" might be attacked during night rounds, Jiraiya followed them with his real body while a shadow clone contacted ANBU to explain the situation.
At this moment, only one ANBU was present here—meaning the other had gone elsewhere.
Bai Xing moved fast.
He wrapped an arm around Nono, effortlessly evading the Shadow Possession Technique, then sprang lightly onto a bamboo clothes-drying pole. From there, he surveyed Jiraiya and the ANBU who had failed to land his jutsu.
"You… who are you?"
Nono stared at Bai Xing, glowing under the moonlight. Combined with his philosophical words earlier, her heart thumped uncontrollably.
"Surgeon is my codename."
Bai Xing looked down at the familiar expression on her face and added lightly,
"Little girl, don't trust people so easily. I'm actually a bad doctor."
Nono shook her head. "You're not bad."
"Anyway, you should go down now. You're clearly not an ordinary medical ninja."
Bai Xing gently loosened his hold, signaling for her to climb down. Nono froze—only then realizing she'd been pressed against a strange man's chest and nearly lost herself. Her face instantly flushed bright red.
The two standing atop the bamboo pole looked like the start of a youthful romance from a fairy tale.
Jiraiya scratched his head in confusion, wondering if he'd come to the wrong place. Then he shook his head sharply and pointed at Bai Xing.
"Hey! You're not here to pick up girls, are you?! And one this young?! Are you desperate or something?! If you're gonna do it, at least go for a big—"
BANG!
In a split second, Jiraiya sensed danger. A wall behind him exploded—clearly Bai Xing's accomplice had appeared. Jiraiya twisted his head—
When he woke up later, all he would remember was a pale fist and a flash of blonde hair.
BOOM!—CRASH!
Countless green bamboo poles and dripping bedsheets were sent flying in less than a second as a blonde woman unleashed a monstrous physical blow, turning everything into chaos.
With a final thunderous crash, Jiraiya was embedded directly into the stone wall—dramatically proving that ninjas weren't something you could kill with a single kunai.
Moments ago, Jiraiya had been standing there.
Now he was a full-on human wall carving.
Even the ANBU, hidden behind a mask, seemed to be sweating profusely.
As expected of the willful Senju princess…
"Nono, come down!"
Nono lowered her head and jumped down from the bamboo pole. She turned back, reluctant, to glance once more at Bai Xing, then hurried to Tsunade's side. Tsunade immediately checked her for genjutsu or injuries.
Why are you looking at your teacher like that just because I changed identities?! Bai Xing complained internally.
Tsunade instantly realized that Jiraiya had used her disciple as bait to lure out this mysterious ninja. After confirming that Nono was fine, she stepped forward, shielding Nono behind her, and looked at Bai Xing.
"The one on duty tonight was Chūnin Kitada. What did you do to her?"
On the bamboo pole, Bai Xing moved lightly, landing and sitting down. His cloak fell open slightly. The empty bamboo pole didn't even bend.
Tsunade's pupils shrank—what terrifying control of force.
"She's fine."
"I like treating the injured. She likes researching medicine."
"So during the day, I let her work. At night, I take over."
"After all,"
"men and women working together makes the job easier~"
The young man swung his legs casually, further scrambling the already chaotic shadows on the ground.
At the same time, moonlight reflected countless small black figures leaping through the air—
Hiruzen Sarutobi's reinforcement unit had arrived.
"Alright."
"I've said what I needed to say."
"Looks like I can't work with her anymore."
"Such~ a pity."
His drawn-out tone sounded deliberately flippant.
Bai Xing raised his right hand. A swirling vortex appeared in his palm. Tsunade clenched her fists, tense. The ANBU fixed their gaze on him.
"The game ends here."
"ROOM."
Just as ANBU and the Third Hokage were about to arrive, a pale-blue spatial field blossomed outward, engulfing half of the hospital building.
In the next instant, Bai Xing vanished from the rooftop—leaving behind only a white note written in neat handwriting.
Moments later, the ROOM collapsed like a punctured blue bubble, fading away without a trace, as if it had never existed.
"A space–time ninjutsu user… no wonder White Fang couldn't catch him before!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi, clad in combat gear, landed on the rooftop. Turning his head, he saw Jiraiya half-beaten into the wall, and a Kage-level pressure erupted instantly.
The surrounding air pressure plummeted. The ground trembled, pebbles bouncing lightly.
"To dare lay hands on my disciple—old man I will fight him to the de—"
"Hokage-sama, that was Tsunade-sama who hit him."
"F-fight him to the de—dear friends, of course~"
Hearing the ANBU report, Hiruzen instantly understood: Jiraiya must have seriously angered Tsunade to get hit in front of a suspected enemy.
He coughed lightly and glanced at Tsunade, who—true to form—showed not the slightest hint of remorse.
What could he do? Hit his own disciple?
He then ordered someone to check the note for traps.
After confirming it was safe, the note was handed to Hiruzen.
"I want to see it too!"
"Can I look as well…?"
The shameless Tsunade leaned over despite having just beaten Jiraiya senseless. Nono scratched her cheek—she wanted to know the relationship between that young ninja and Kitada Aina.
Hiruzen sighed helplessly.
Nearby, ANBU were itching to look as well, but one glare from Hiruzen sent them scurrying off to search Kitada Aina's activity area for hair or other clues.
Of course—nothing.
Not even the handwriting could be traced: it was written with a left hand that had been trained long ago but never used. The note itself had been swapped in via Devil Fruit ability to avoid leaking information.
The note read:
I will go and release the genjutsu hypnosis on Miss Kitada shortly. Please do not make things difficult for her. She is merely a pitiful young lady who was toyed with for a time by the Surgeon~
—The Surgeon
Tsunade, Hiruzen: "..."
Genjutsu… can be used like that?!
"So scary! He really is a bad doctor!!!"
Nono shivered involuntarily, imagining genjutsu hypnosis that made people obey completely and then… do all sorts of things.
"That perverted doctor! A degenerate! Old man I must put out a wanted notice for him!!! Truly envi—cough—truly outrageous!" Hiruzen hurriedly corrected himself after noticing the faint dark aura forming around Tsunade.
"Let's not tell Chūnin Kitada about this," Tsunade sighed softly. "I'm afraid she wouldn't be able to handle the shock."
Hiruzen and Nono both nodded in agreement.
Elsewhere, a certain "degenerate ninja" finally relaxed after breaking Kitada Aina's genjutsu hypnosis. Even without his backdoor, it would've naturally faded in three or four days as chakra circulation washed it away.
But better safe than sorry.
What if some truly evil ninja targeted that pure and lovely young lady?
Then wouldn't he end up taking the blame?
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