Hattori , Puppet Tyrant in Sand

In any place, those with rare and highly useful skills are always able to attract more attention and privileges.

This is especially true in the world of ninjas.

Medical ninjas, though not directly involved in combat, use their medical techniques to rapidly heal the injured, sustaining the fighting strength of the ninja villages.

For example, Tsunade, one of the Sannin from the Hidden Leaf Village, is renowned for her powerful medical skills. Not only does she possess exceptional medical techniques, but she also established a comprehensive medical system and trained numerous medical ninjas, saving countless lives in the Leaf Village.

It's thanks to her that the Leaf Village was able to sustain a steady supply of forces against the other four ninja villages during the Third Ninja War, ultimately securing victory.

If powerful ninjas can lead a battle, then a powerful medical ninja can, with their individual effort, influence the entire course of a war!

The Sand Village, in particular, feels this point deeply.

Due to its geographical surroundings, the Sand Village, unlike the Leaf Village, doesn't have enemies on all sides. Its primary foes are only the neighboring Leaf, Stone, and Mist Villages. But despite this, due to a shortage of medical ninjas, the Sand Village still found itself struggling to keep up in prolonged wars.

If it weren't for the support of the Third Kazekage, hailed as the "Strongest Kazekage," the Sand Village's situation might have been much worse.

In an attempt to change the tide of war, the Sand Village tried deploying tailed beasts, but regrettably, they failed, losing both the jinchuriki and the beast itself.

Because of this, the higher-ups in the Sand Village began to take medical ninjas more seriously, and Hattori, the "young medical prodigy," happened to appear at the perfect moment.

After becoming Chiyo's disciple, Hattori himself began to sense this shift, which is why he displayed his Chakra Scalpel technique in front of Mizusuna, further cementing his reputation as a prodigy.

He succeeded.

This was evident from how Mizusuna hurried out to find small animals for him to practice on.

After about ten minutes, Mizusuna returned, holding two small cages in her hands.

"Lord Tokage, I've brought the materials for your practice. Do you think these will work?" she asked excitedly as she walked in.

"Hmm?"

Hearing her, Hattori turned his gaze to the two cages she held. In one was a fluffy little mouse, and in the other, a small gray lizard.

**[Name: Sand Mouse]**

**[Level: 0]**

**[HP: 2/2]**

**[Specialty: Reproduction]**

...

**[Name: Sand Lizard]**

**[Level: 0]**

**[HP: 3/3]**

**[Specialty: Venom]**

...

From their attributes, both creatures had low levels. Hattori wasn't sure if practicing on them would grant any experience, so he decided to give it a try.

He chose the sand mouse first.

As this little creature appeared harmless, Hattori reached directly into the cage, grabbed it, and hit it with his Chakra Scalpel.

A line of purple text immediately floated in front of him.

**[You successfully killed the Sand Mouse, EXP +0]**

Hattori: "..."

Seriously? Just a light touch, and it's dead?

The sand mouse's fragile vitality left Hattori somewhat exasperated.

But there was a silver lining: his hypothesis was correct. The approach of gaining levels through killing was valid, but there were level restrictions.

Hattori guessed this limit likely meant he couldn't gain experience from creatures more than five levels lower than himself—a common setting in many online games.

"This really is starting to feel like a game!"

Mumbling to himself, he shifted his attention to the sand lizard in the other cage.

According to its stats, this creature was venomous, so he didn't dare to handle it directly and instead called out to Mizusuna.

"Teacher Mizusuna, please help hold it down. This one seems poisonous."

"Hehe, Lord Tokage, you can just call me Mizusuna!" she giggled, grabbing the sand lizard from the cage without hesitation and handing it over casually to Hattori.

"Lord Tokage, this type of lizard is called a sand lizard. Since it feeds on scorpions and other insects, it contains mild venom, but this poison has almost no effect on humans, so there's nothing to worry about."

"Uh... alright then!"

Since Mizusuna was so confident, Hattori relaxed and carefully applied his Chakra Scalpel to the sand lizard.

**[You successfully killed the Sand Lizard, EXP +0]**

Hattori: "..."

Seriously, another one that can't take a hit!

Having successfully downed two small animals, Hattori felt no satisfaction, only resignation.

"Small animals are just too fragile; they can't meet the requirements for leveling. I need to find larger, more resilient creatures!"

With this in mind, he was about to ask Mizusuna when, as he lifted his head, she spoke up first.

"Lord Tokage, please use your Chakra Scalpel on me instead; it'll give you better practice. Besides, I'm a medical ninja too, so I can heal myself. Go ahead!"

She rolled up her sleeve, revealing her slender, fair arm.

Seeing this, Hattori shook his head immediately.

"No, I won't do that. Instead, please find me a larger animal, one with stronger vitality."

"Understood," Mizusuna nodded, then turned to leave again. After a short while, she returned with a much larger cage.

"Lord Tokage, this is a mandala lizard. It's very resilient, and I've already removed its venomous fangs, so it won't harm you. Feel free to use it!"

She then took out a colorful, large lizard from the cage.

**[Name: Mandala Lizard]**

**[Level: 5]**

**[HP: 13/15]**

**[Specialty: Paralytic Venom]**

Compared to the sand mouse and sand lizard, this lizard, nearly as long as a child's arm, clearly had much stronger vitality.

"This one should be fine, right?"

With that thought, Hattori applied his Chakra Scalpel once again, pressing it down carefully on the mandala lizard.

As his hand touched the mandala lizard, he didn't receive a kill notification, which put his mind at ease. He dispersed the chakra from his hand and activated his Healing Technique.

The light in his hand shifted from white to green, and after a moment, two long-awaited lines of purple text finally appeared.

**[EXP +40]**

**[Level +1]**

With these notifications, Hattori successfully reached level 11.

**[Name: Hattori]**

**[Level: 11]**

**[HP: 132/132]**

**[MP: 102/113]**

**[EXP: 30/110]**

**[Specialty: Medical Skills]**

**[Combat Strength: C]**

Success!

Using small animals for practice indeed worked!

Ecstatic at his level-up, Hattori alternated between his Chakra Scalpel and Healing Technique again.

White and green chakra glowed in turns from his palms, and the familiar purple text floated up quickly.

**[EXP +40]**

**[EXP +40]**

**[EXP +40]**

...

(End of Chapter)