Since he had been asked by Utakata, Ren began his hospital training at the general hospital the next day. What he did was create a clone with 3000 points of chakra each morning and had it on standby while it read some medical books. In the meantime, he let his other clones carry on with their usual training routines except for the yang release clone, which he decided to practice directly through the medical clone working in the hospital.
On the first day of joining, Ren was asked to meet the general hospital director, Takemi Nara a middle-aged woman who clearly had the signature Nara women look. She looked nothing like the Nara men he had seen before, who always looked like they could fall asleep at any moment.
Once Ren met with her, she said, "Utakata-San told me about you, so I have no problem with you joining the hospital for a week. However, I was instructed not to make things easy for you. I'll give you a day to adjust here, but starting tomorrow, you'll take on the same responsibilities as a senior doctor."
Ren nodded. "Understood."
Takemi rang a bell on her table, and a few seconds later another woman entered the room. Takemi introduced her. "She is Ami Kimura. She will be your guide for today and your supervisor for the rest of your time here. Ami, this is Ren Takahashi."
They both bowed to each other in greeting, and after that, Ren began following Ami around for the day as she explained the operations of the general hospital and how work was divided across departments.
He learned that even though it was the general hospital, medical ninjutsu was allowed for practice purposes but only under strict supervision. She also informed him that from the next day onward, he would be taking over all her duties for the next six days, while she observed him silently during patient visits. She wouldn't help or intervene but would always be near him to monitor his performance. Thankfully, this only applied during direct interactions with patients and not the rest of the day, as full-time observation would have been uncomfortable for both of them.
Once Ren officially started the work, he did receive some looks from staff, but they faded quickly. People in Konoha had become used to young geniuses showing up, learning alongside them, and eventually being left in the dust by them. During his time there, Ren didn't receive much enthusiasm from his senior coworkers but, unfortunately, he wasn't ostracized or criticized either, so he missed out on a typical protagonist moment.
The attitude was understandable. Generally, those who worked in the general hospital were either trainees or shinobi whose skills weren't sufficient for the shinobi hospital. So when someone as young as Ren came in, especially for just seven days, it was clear to everyone that he was using the general hospital as a stepping stone, a quick introduction to hospital operations before moving on.
While the staff remained neutral toward him, the patients definitely liked him, especially old grannies and little girls.
The old ladies always gave him candies whenever they came for treatment. Ren would then pass those candies on to the little girls who visited him. What started as a one-time thing somehow turned into a trend. Word spread in the granny circles that there was a "cute little doctor" in the hospital, so many started requesting him. At the same time, rumors reached the little girls that there was a "good-looking big brother doctor" who gave candies if they behaved well.
If it had been up to Ren, he would have preferred being liked by middle-aged women, but all of them already had their regular doctors and he didn't even get a chance to meet any of them.
In the end, he completed his 7-day internship at the general hospital smoothly, and was told that his performance report would be sent to his Sensei.
~~~
Once the 7 days were over, Ren asked Utakata, "Sensei, when should I start working at the shinobi hospital?"
Utakata, still flipping through Ren's report, looked down and said, "Start from tomorrow. I'll make the arrangements. But just so you know, the shinobi hospital won't have any grannies giving you candy or little girls lining up for sweets."
Ren turned red at that. Somehow, word had gotten around about his "popularity" at the general hospital, and his team had been teasing him nonstop. He could handle their jokes just fine, mental fortitude and all that but hearing it from his calm, stoic Sensei somehow hit harder.
The next morning, he made his way to the Leaf Shinobi Hospital and was greeted by the vice-director, Nanako Nara. The moment he heard her name, a thought slipped into his mind.
'The Nara clan is everywhere. Women in medical, men in planning. Uchiha and Hyuga might be noble clans, but in terms of actual authority, the Nara clan has them beat. I guess that's just what happens when you are born smart but are too lazy to chase power, so people just hand it over.
Nanako was polite and helpful, maintaining a calm smile throughout as she gave Ren a tour of the hospital, introduced him to the key staff, and explained how work was handled here. Everything felt much more structured and focused compared to the general hospital.
The biggest difference was the people. The doctors and nurses here were welcoming they didn't treat him like a guest passing through. Instead, they made real efforts to connect, exchanging greetings, offering help, and even cracking the occasional joke. Ren responded in kind, treating everyone with quiet respect, without putting on airs or acting superior.
He knew why the staff was so warm. It wasn't just because he was Utakata's student, though that alone carried weight, since Utakata was the highest authority in the hospital since Tsunade was not in the village and Koharu just took care of important dealings.
It was also because of who Ren was. Most of the people working here were shinobi hoping to climb the ladder in the medical field, and Ren had the kind of future that could help make that happen. Making a good impression on him could go a long way.
Ren understood this, of course. But he didn't mind. That's just how people were and if being polite meant easier cooperation in the future, he was fine playing along.
~~~
Two months passed, and Ren's time at the hospital finally came to an end. During his stay, he maintained a good relationship with everyone, staff and patients alike and gradually earned a name for himself. While he wasn't extremely famous, the people of Konoha had started to recognize him as a budding genius in the medical field. Sometimes, he was even recognized by patients on the streets, who greeted him warmly.
Since most of the patients he treated were shinobi, he now had connections with many active ninja across the village. One major highlight during his time was when he managed to save a critically injured jonin and his entire team an incident that significantly raised his reputation.
Like the Fuinjutsu masters, medical shinobi were also divided into 6 levels or classes here. Normally, a Class-4 medical shinobi would be assigned for such cases, but that night, Ren was on duty with only interns present, all of whom were only Class-2. The Class-4 assigned that night had failed to show up, leaving Ren to take full responsibility.
With the help of his shadow clones and the interns, Ren had performed the surgery alone and successfully saved the entire squad. This incident not only earned him their deep gratitude of the squad he saved but also led to the suspension of the absent doctor for 6 months. As a result, Ren was granted a Class-4 Medical Shinobi Certificate, making him the youngest person in the Leaf to hold the title, which further cemented his reputation.
The hospital staff wanted to throw him a farewell party on his final day, but after speaking with Vice Director Nanako, Ren quietly skipped the last day and simply stopped coming.
Meanwhile, his team continued to complete their weekly C-rank missions and had also undertaken two B-rank emergency missions during this period. Now that he had fulfilled all the tasks assigned by Utakata, he was finally eligible to receive the Chakra Enhanced Strength scroll.
Currently, he was lying in bed, glancing at his system panel.
'Status'
[STATUS PANEL]
[NAME]: Ren Takahashi
[LEVEL]: 49
[HEALTH POINTS (HP = VIT × 100)]: 6900/6900
[CHAKRA POINTS (CP = CHA × 100)]: 6700/6700
[ATTRIBUTES]
Strength: 49 (46 + 3)
Agility: 58 (55 + 3)
Intelligence: 61 (56 + 5)
Vitality: 73 (69 + 4)
Chakra: 70 (67 + 2 + 1)
[AVAILABLE POINTS]
5 Jonin Level Points
6 System Points
[MASTERY PANEL]
Chakra Control – 81% (Advanced)
Fuinjutsu Mastery – 34% (Basic)
Yang Release Mastery – 25% (Basic)
Fire Release Mastery – 49% (Basic)
Space Release Mastery – 30% (Basic)
Iryojutsu Mastery – 55% (Intermediate)
Lightning Release Mastery – 2% (Beginner)
[MASTERY POINTS]
3 Intermediate Level Points (30%)
10 Advanced Level Points (20%)
2 Master Level Points (2%)
[NINJA PANEL]
Ninjutsu: 60 / 100
Taijutsu: 59 / 100
Genjutsu: 43 / 100
Fuinjutsu: 34 / 100
He hadn't used any of the system points from his missions, so he had 5 Jonin Level Points and 6 leftover system points, which could be converted to 1 Jonin Level Point when he had 10. The biggest improvement came in his Iryojutsu Mastery, which shot up after applying his theoretical knowledge in real practice. His Taijutsu also improved thanks to the Eight Gates training.
His Space Release Mastery had increased too after he invented a sensing technique using space chakra, though he hadn't focused much on other release styles or panels lately.
He still hadn't used a single Mastery Point, preferring to save them for significant breakthroughs like Yang or Yin Release. With enough points, he could even skip both intermediate and advanced levels in one go.
For now, he decided to use 4 Jonin Level Points on Vitality and 1 on Chakra.
[VIT +4] → 73
[CHA +1] → 70
Now, two of his stats had entered the 70s range. However, his Strength stat had started to lag behind the rest. He didn't know exactly how much of a boost the Eight Gates gave since the system didn't show temporary stat changes, but he was certain that higher base stats would definitely amplify the technique's power.
After reviewing everything once more, he closed the system and turned in for the night.
~~~~~
{I didn't add all the masteries since it would just unnecessarily increase the words, there also weren't changes significant enough so I didn't add them, if you want any specific mastery level comment here.}
{I am telling you guys, you don't want to see me sad, so give me Power Stones.}
[STONES!!!!!!!!]