#iryo ninja

[konohagakurekakashi]

❝ ...Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die...❞ - Herbert Hoover

[colorfulfoxengineer]

A upcoming, 2024 Sakura figure.

[shinoposting]

I won't hijack someone else's post to respond to these tags but yes 100%. To add to this there are a lot of medical applications for insects. You may have heard of maggot therapy for wounds and using honey on burns but there are way more and we're discovering new uses all the time:

(This was the inspiration for Shima)

My personal headcanon for the reason we don't see any Aburame women is because most of them are in the Medical Corps. There are definitely visual similarities with known members so it could even be that the two entities are influencing each other.

...And additionally that all three remaining Noble Clans work together to find medical applications for their jutsu, which the Nara dutifully record.

[elegiesforshiva]

I’m sorry for bothering you, but I recently finished reading an ongoing SSSK war fanfic and I have this visceral feeling that you would appreciate the way the author is willing to explore the darker aspects of what it means to be a shinobi during war, especially for someone like Sakura who has such an extensive background as an iryo-nin. It’s such a dark take on what could have happened if Madara was The Undefeated Big Bad in Shippuden and the Fourth Ninja War trailed on for another few years. It’s called Covenant by Starry0.o if you’re ever in the mood to read something emotionally tolling 😌.

Omg. I just assumed that you’re still interested in anything SSSK-related! If you’re not anymore, please disregard my message! I’m sorry for being presumptuous! I’m just so excited to have a fanfic to look forward to again since Ghost! I feel like I have a reason to live again 😭

I might take a look, but I don't actually read sasusaku anymore...but I get a lot of readers popping into this blog from Ghosts so !!!!!!! FIC REC IF ANYONE WANTS!!!! Covenant by Starry0.o Also thank you for having read and enjoyed Ghosts!!!! It means so much to me, thank you!!!!!

[hobakie]

Ino, Hinata and Medical Ninjutsu

The information presented in this post has been checked and revised. My aim is not to hate or to discredit any of the characters mentioned. Please read about me for further information. 

This post will contain evidence in picture format directly from the manga Naruto (1999 - 2014) created by Masashi Kishimoto and published by Shueisha in 1999. I will also use information from the official databooks of Naruto.

This informative post will show how the anime has created biased situations and changed the canon statements since the beginning of the manga and until chapter 699. I will use information present in the novels or the Boruto anime only if it includes character development within canon compliance.

This meta has been crossposted in AO3.

I give my permission to use or share this thread with informative purposes as long as you credit me. 

I will not count the anime in this list because I consider it over exaggerated and beyond biased. Furthermore, these fillers include some actions that these characters are unable to do in the canon according to official sources. These fillers also generate unnecessary debate. I do not support the anime or the work of Studio Pierrot in regards to Naruto.

Please, take this into consideration.

The anime of Naruto and Naruto Shippūden is full of filler arcs that complete empty spaces in the time-skips.

Because of this, they generate unnecessary debate among their fans on social media.

Hinata Hyūga and Ino Yamanaka have shown to be proficient in the art of Medical Ninjutsu. However, the canon states otherwise in certain aspects.

Hinata Hyūga:

Due to her lineage of the Hyūga Clan, Hinata has learnt jutsus that require very precise chakra control.

The Gentle Step: Twin Lion Fists is a jutsu passed down only to the members of the Main Branch of the family.

This accomplishment, linked to the extreme chakra control required to perform the Mystical Palm technique, have led Studio Pierrot into making Hinata a medical ninja in the filler episode 293.

However, Hinata is not a medical ninja and cannot actually perform the Mystical Palm Technique according to oficial sources.

For instance, the Mystical Palm Technique is composed of physical energy, also known as Yang Release. Hinata does not have this chakra affinity according to the fourth databook.

Although this feat was shown only once in a very short screenshot, it has generated intense debate among her fans.

In addition, another filler of Naruto Shippūden makes a similar point.

In episode 103, Hinata, Sakura, Ino and Shizune are in charge of sealing three tails with the Four-Corner Sealing Barrier.

This Barrier, created by the Fifth Hokage, is to be performed by Shinobi with specially good chakra control. For this reason, Ino and Sakura, trained in the art of the Mystical Palm, are chosen to perform this task.  

Just because the rest of the girls are trained medical ninjas does not mean Hinata is one as well.

What Shizune says is that thanks to her mastery of the Gentle Fist, which requires precise chakra control, Hinata can fill in the role of another medic.

Her control of the Gentle First and chakra stem from her Hyūga blood. She needs this in order to be able to perform her clan’s techniques. This is undeniable.

However, Hinata’s chakra control does not develop to rival that of a medic ninja as her fans claim. This is stated nowhere

I have also seen their fans claim that she would make a better successor for Tsunade than Sakura because she, too, infuses chakra in her palms to perform the Gentle Fist. 

Again, Hinata’s abilities are directly connected to her Hyūga lineage and only that. Hinata’s place is within her clan. Her place in the hierarchy of Konoha has already been established. 

•

Ino Yamanaka:

In contrast to Hinata, Ino learnt medical ninjutsu during the time-skip and she is shown using it in the manga two times.

Her knowledge on the matter is introduced in chapter 328 of the manga. Shikamaru asks Ino to use her Medical Ninjutsu to aid Asuma. 

She shows that she has indeed learnt and demonstrates mastery. 

This is further based and explained in the third databook (source). 

Ino “mastered medical ninjutsu... her skill level is high enough that she can make an immediate judgement about the condition of a patient”.

There is no further information about the vastness of her knowledge or who taught her.

For more contextualization about the matter, the anime filler dedicates episode 406 to explain this. 

In this episode, a frustrated Ino asks the Fifth Hokage to teach her medical ninjutsu. She is tested by Tsunade for 3 months, the same time it took Sakura to learn the Mystical Palm Technique. 

She gets guidance from Tsunade to assess the condition of the “patient” and only learns the Mystical Palm, while Sakura, more advanced in the field, studies medical scrolls. 

It is explicitly referenced that Ino learnt the basics of Medical Ninjutsu and how to heal fatal wounds: the Mystical Palm Technique. She trains for 3 months, as she is later tested by Tsunade. No more information is given.  

It’s not true that she became Tsunade’s apprentice or that she learnt passed that stage. 

At the end of the episode, Ino tells Sakura that she came to Tsunade to discover her place and recognizes that her place is within the Yamanaka Clan. That is her legacy. 

It is not true that she became Tsunade’s apprentice or that she learnt passed that stage.

In another filler episode, number 103, while setting a barrier to seal Three Tails, which was to be performed by trained medics and Hinata, she reminisces a moment during her training in the medical field. 

In the episode it is implied that Sakura guides and encourages Ino, like an apprentice.

However, the veracity of episode 406 is dubious because in chapter 425 of the manga, Ino does not know who Katsuyu is. Three months is enough time to meet the summon of the Fifth Hokage, who, in fact, has Katsuyu summoned most of the time in the filler episodes. 

Furthermore, the anime filler downplays the meaning of a medic ninja. If the Mystical Palm is everything a medic ninja needs for battle, it is incorrect to call Ino a professional medic.

The manga and third databook are a little more vague when it comes to Ino’s skills as a medic ninja because it is not the center of her character. This ability was cast aside in the series and it is really unknown if she can do something more than heal wounds. 

Ino’s position as a support ninja that cannot engage in battle makes her suitable for medical ninjutsu.

Given this statement, one of the popular claims about Ino among her fans is that she is a renowned medic but this is not the case. 

Also, the Boruto Wiki compiles a huge amount of biased statements about her skills.

1. Ino is NOT a professional medic. She learnt from somebody. Her introduction as a medic-nin is very vague. She knows how to heal injuries with the Mystical Palm Technique, which requires high skills and precise chakra control.

If we take the information provided by the data-book and the anime, I would not call 3 months of training in the art of the Mystical Palm and the ability to tell the condition of a patient as professional.

2. She got help from the Fifth Hokage for three months. This is also a filler.

3. She can NOT perform surgeries! And you cannot tell the severity of an injury just by glancing. At least not in the majority of cases.

4. She did NOT learn about poisons. The branch of poisons within the field of Medical Ninjutsu is for defense. In Sakura Hiden (official translation of the novel published by Jump J Books and edited by VIZ Media: SJ Fiction on May 3rd 2016) Ino does not use poison. 

What she uses is a poisoned kunai she took from Magire. This extract is from page 147.

Later, she uses anesthetic to fool Magire (page 149). If she was really using poison, it would have been stated. Anesthetic is a medical formula, not a venom made by medic-ninja. Ino cannot blend poisons because she never learnt anything past the Mystical Palm Technique. 

In fact, wielding sleeping powders is part of the standard equipment of Shinobis. The second databook confirms that secret medicines are part of the ninja tools that a Shinobi must always have during missions. 

Here is a more detailed explanation:

Many Shinobi are not medical ninja, so Ino, who does not know how to concoct poisons, is equipped with anaesthetic as part of her ninja pouch. This applies to regular Shinobi. 

5. She has never worked in the Hospital neither as a kid or as an adult. The anime fillers do include her aiding other medics in Naruto Shippūden . 

In the Boruto anime shes does not even come close to medical ninjutsu.

Her position in the hierarchy of Konoha is not even a medic but a sensor ninja, the specialty of the Yamanaka Clan. She is a combat medic-ninja, a ninja that Tsunade, explicitly said by her in chapter 236, wanted to add in every platoon.

6. No, Ino did NOT open the Clinic with her friend in Sakura Hiden, Sakura did, with Ino’s assistance and support. 

Furthermore, it does not say anywhere that Ino is the Co-founder nor the Co-director. I explain this in detail in this post.

During the anime adaptation of Sasuke Shinden (in the link is the official translation of the novel published by Viz Media and edited by VIZ Media: SJ Fiction on March 7th, 2017), when the people affected by the Ketsuryugan were approaching Konoha, Sakura tells Ino that their priority is to aid the wounded. 

In the novel, Ino does not do any of this but she does help Aoba with her Mind Transfer Technique and later treated in a hospital because she passed out.

This are all the times Ino has shown her skills in medical ninjutsu in canon.

-

[chojiakimichi]

Daddy’s Girl  + Uchiha Fugaku and his daughter, Toshiko.

Uchiha Fugaku was brought to his knee’s twice. Once by his oldest— he’d heard his kinsmen’s screams as they were slaughtered in the streets, Mikoto had taken his hand and squeezed as they waited with bated breaths and heavy hearts for their own ends —and once by his youngest.

There hadn’t been as much blood then as when his first born became a Clan Killer but there had still been blood; Toshiko’s birth had been hard on Mikoto. Harder than either Itachi’s or Sasuke’s. The Iryo-nin had needed to perform an emergency  C-section, Mikoto had begun to hemorrhage and what had turned into her third labor became her last as in the end, the maternity wards staff had ended up needing to perform an emergency hysterectomy.

But that hadn't been what brought Fugaku to his knees; waiting for some kind news on Mikoto and the baby with the boys— Itachi, Sasuke, and Shisui because after nearly three years Shisui had become like another son —hadn’t been what had brought Fugaku to his knees. No, what had made the Military Police Chiefs knees begin to shake had been the pink coated iryo-nin placing his daughter in his arms.

He hadn’t known a baby could be so small. Neither Sasuke nor Itachi had been so small when they had been born.

He hadn’t known a baby could be so beautiful.

She had Mikoto’s coloring; like the boys Fugaku could tell she would look more like his wife then him but she had his nose’s bridge and when she opened her eyes and Fugaku’s knees hit the hospital’s maternity ward flooring all he could think about was how those had been his mothers eyes.

They were sharper— more narrow —than both Itachi and Sasuke and not nearly as dark. The boys had gotten Mikoto’s eyes; Madara’s eyes. But she, his daughter— his Toshiko —had gotten his mothers eyes. His eyes.

Her tongue rolled out from between her lips as her eyes blinked closed then open slowly. Fugaku could hear the boys in the hallway getting impatient and rowdy, he could hear Mikoto’s heavy breathing from her bed as she slept peacefully, still unaware that the baby in his arms would be their last.

She’s always wanted such a big family. One that had put her own great-grandfathers to shame.

“Hello my sweet girl,” Fugaku said softly. Had he ever spoken in such a tone to either of his boys, not even when they had been born, “I am your father.”

There was so much he could tell her. When he had first held Itachi he had told the newborn boy that he was head of the village military police force, that he was clan head and he would make sure his first born would have the world.  When he had held Sasuke he had promised him much of the same, though not the exact. He couldn’t, as second born Sasuke would never inherit what Itachi would but still, nonetheless, Fugaku  had promised the boy power and honor and notability.

He promised to make him a great ninja, an even better man and the best of the Uchiha.

But he didn’t do that with her; he didn’t promise Toshiko power or notability, Fugaku didn’t swear to turn her into the best— the smartest, the toughest, the most elegant —woman to ever be brought up in the hidden leaf like he had done with his sons. She was already so perfect he hadn’t felt the need to promise her a world that was already hers for the taking.

So instead he swore, “I’m going to protect you. You won't know the feelings of loss or pain, nor hurt. Not the way I have. Not while I’m around, my girl. Not while I can protect you.”

And a chuckle echoed throughout the room, a warm, bell-like one that warmed Fugaku’s heart. The clan head looked up from his daughter and to the bed his wife had turned over in, onto her side so that she was looking at him and their youngest.

“Who would have thought,” Mikoto said with a grimace, “Wicked-Eye Fugaku, wrapped around his newborn daughter's finger.” Fugaku couldn’t help but smirk.

“Yes well, perhaps don’t tell anyone my love, I do have a reputation.” It was almost ironic, one would think living in a shinobi village would mean everyone had tight lips but Fugaku knew if word got out that he was— would be —at the will of his infant daughter, then everyone in Fire Country would know before tomorrow morning's breakfast.

And while part of him wouldn't mind— he wanted the world to know he loved his family; that he had fallen to his knees at the sight of his newborn daughter out of love —Fugaku knew no one could because he was the Chief of Police, the Uchiha Clanhead, a hero of the Third War and any sign of weakness would have the sharks circling.

And he couldn't protect his family— his daughter —if that happened.

“My lips, my dear, are sealed,” Mikoto promised, “Though, perhaps you should try to control your smile. You are making it a bit obvious.” And Fugaku's smile got larger.

“Of course my love.” Mikoto held her arms out.

“May I?”

“You’re her mother, you don't have to ask.”

“Please,” Mikoto rolled her eyes— a habit Sasuke had picked up as of late, even if he didn't quite realize what it meant —“if this is any indication, the moment she starts moving, she’ll be trailing after you and I'll be long forgotten.”

Fugaku laughed. It was low and rumbled as not to wake Toshiko up but his heart squeezed pleasantly in his chest and a pressure built up behind his eyes as chakra flooded them and his committed the scene— Mikoto holding Toshiko, close to her chest, tired but with a face only a mothers love could reflect —to memory.

I’ll protect you, Fugaku swore to the sleeping newborn. I’ll keep you safe.

[vermillioncrown]

do you read naruto si fics as well? i remember the fic that started it all with the self insert fanfic trends going big on ffnet, dreaming of sunshine. i was 12/13 when i got into it, now i feel old.

i still do 😏 naruto-verse is so rich, and so full of plot holes ready for fun. it's no wonder it's my emotional crutch.

dreaming of sunshine, catch your breath, deja-vu no jutsu are the most memorable for me of the og era of si/oc

there are a lot of staple skills and fixations of si/oc's that i feel were solidified by the big three. dreaming of sunshine as the original original. catch your breath for the main character and how refreshing she was (at the time). deja vu no jutsu for a balanced representation of a 'strong woman' that came from a lifestyle i had no inkling of. all three are different eras of konoha, yielded interesting worldbuilding of the same village.

i demarcate my experiences with 'ff.net'-era and 'ao3'-era

one of the 'newer' ones was 'a holmes in konoha' (?) once i switched over to ao3.

'sanitize' & 'the medic-nin's guide to casual revolution' are both different flavors of iryo-jutsu (first is in warring states era, second is canon era)

'the compass points north' for amazing uchiha clan worldbuilding and ninja-adjacent culture/society. it's rich as fuck.

'a stranger' for the best fucking characterization of... ██████ (the mystery is part of the fun, this is an amazing short read)

'the name of the game' is one i'm currently tracking. great civilian perspective of their shinobi neighbors. a spicy read. very big brain.

[koishua]

my fav naruto fics on ff.net, a comprehensive list for @nikis-mum

what doesn't kill you: one of the firsts that i read and *chef's kiss*

to kill a bull: omfg one of my top sakura fics oml

homeward: don't remember much of it, but i had it saved so??

team seven's ascension: lines in the sand: tried holding onto that one little tiny braincell in me that kept sane throughout this. failed. sobbed.

the price of living: oh deary *bursts into tears*

for a chance at happiness: crying screaming bleeding.

naruto: tales of a ninja magician: 2.9 millionwords of original ocs and diverse plot. a beast thati have yet tackled, but know it's amazing.

iryo-nin kasa: *incoherent screaming* brilliant. one of a kind. earth shattering.

shadowed sun: peak angst. gets dark. very dark. destroyed my mental health (just like all of these)

catch your breath: inspired by dreaming of sunshine. *clutches head* it's fan-fucking-tastic.

dreaming of sunshine: catch me screaming days and days about how fucking great this piece of literature is.

these are the catalysts of my dark mcd angst obsession.

[inspirashion]

Team Five

From Dislocated (A Naruto Fanfic)

Summary of a summary:

So now, both Kakashi and Obito are trapped in a strange new dimension that is all too similar yet scarily different at the same time. Where will life in this dimension take them? Well, being two clueless dumbasses, Obito and Kakashi will find out, one enjoyable step at a time.

Team Five is the only team in which all the members know some aspects of medical ninjutsu, thanks to their sensei.

Obito-sensei (Alternate Dimension)

He's known as the Red Eye Demon, the Slug Prince. He is a Medic ninja, second to only Tsunade and the best Male Medic in the Elemental Nations.

“Frankly, I think he’s deadlier than even Raiden.” Michio shivered. And that was saying a lot since the Hatake Clan are a powerful family. “At least, with Raiden, you can see his attacks coming, but Obito…you can’t.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I heard this story from Genma. Long story short, they went on a mission and was ambushed. Of course, most of the enemy nin realized Obito was the medic and targeted him. However, Genma said, Obito used mostly taijutsu and some medical techniques. With each touch, either the enemy overheated and died because their insides melted, or they were so severely poisoned, or they suddenly couldn’t use their motor skills, leaving them open for decapitation.”

“Shit.” Izumi gasped out. “He uses iryo-ninjutsu like that? I’ve only seen him use regular ninjutsu.”

“Plus, I’ve seen him use a katana and he’s not half bad.” Iruka supplied. “These three boys are in good hands.”

The Ninjutsu specialist of Team Five:

“Hatake Naoki.” The boy with the silver hair started. He had the standard red cheek markings in his face like an Inuzuka. “I like Hansuke, I like bathing and grooming Hansuke, I like to play with my cousins both from the Hatake Clan and Inuzuka Clan, I hate when Hansuke gets sick because he’s miserable and in pain. My dream for the future is to be a great shinobi like Sakumo-sama.”

Naoki is a very calm and collected boy, not at all boisterous like many of his cousins from his Inuzuka side. On the other side, he has his feral moments, should anyone harm Hansuke (his wolf) or his teammates.

According to Iruka: Naoki had a wolf that fed off the boy’s emotions and would go feral if its master was ever upset.

The [Aspiring] Medic of Team Five:

Obito then looked at Rikichi. “And lastly, Sir Uzumaki.”

Rikichi made one last slurp of noodles and placed his chopsticks across his bowl. “Rikichi. I like medicine and poisons and sealing, my dislikes are when my sealing ink and paper are finished, and I have nothing to use, and I have inspiration. My hobbies are creating different seals with my dad and terrorizing everyone I come across! My dream for the future is to become the greatest medic nin after Senju Tsunade!”

Like Naruto, his second cousin, Rikichi is a lively boy, who joins in Naruto with pranks. Together with their other cousin, Kazuya, the three were known as the Prankster Trio in the Academy.

[He was deliberately drawn to look like Naruto]

The Taijutsu specialist of Team Five:

"I’m Sato Minoru, I like taijutsu, chocolate, cooking and my mother’s cooking. I dislike my dad’s cooking because he can’t cook, when he doesn’t come home early from a mission to spar with me, and my hobbies are learning new taijutsu moves and reading fiction novels. My dream for the future is to be a kickass ninja with a flee on sight in the bingo book!”

Obito nearly choked on air, Rikichi and Naoki surely did choke on their ramen.

Despite being the taijutsu specialist of the team, Minoru is skilled in genjutsu.

Team Five is the only team in which all the members know some aspect of Medical Ninjutsu, thanks to their sensei.

[shammikorn]

what’s your interpretation of rin’s personality? i love your comics about her and it sucks that in canon she’s just Nice Girl

that's a great question, anon! and the one i've been asking myself for several years now.

first thing first: root!rin theory is an invention of @ahkaraii, and it’s the most important thing in naruto fandom.

i may be overthinking but i always thought there was something off about rin - she is not just nice girl™, she is creepily nice girl, and she is way too convenient for one certain uchiha nice girl. as i see it, writing a stereotypical love interest is not a complicated issue for a shounen author - there are a bunch of cliches and tropes that you have to combine to get such character right. rin? she is...not quite this. rin rather looks like someone who tries to be that ideal love interest (or, honestly, to be just a normal shinobi/human) but tries too hard and it spoils the impression.

if we look at rin's databook profile, we can see the formula - «kind, intellectual, devoted», and it's almost absurd that something like this is used as personality description.

what do we know from her canon appearances?

1) well, she does come off as sweet and kind, and i want to believe she was.

2) rin is quiet and reserved most of the time, and when she does speak out it's only generalized and mostly positive stuff. in childhood filler (unfortunately, it’s the only one i remember well) she also pauses before speaking or reacting in general.

3) rin often sounds way too mature for her age (plus, she must be an experienced ninja or at least well educated - in gaiden she comments on enemy's strategy and then on kakashi's usage of chakra). sometimes (mostly with obito but he totally buys it) she says things that seem kinda fake- almost like if she was taught to tell it.

i could say it’s just kishimoto’s writing but there are heroines who got little to no character development and yet still felt like, you know, human beings. rin at times seems like a completely ephemeral creature. to me, at least.

4) rin is obsessed with obito (despite narrator and then obito suggesting she was in love with kakashi). she is overwhelmingly caring - she seems to know constantly where obito is, most time she is around him (even when obito is unaware of that - i’m not sure if it was in the manga but anime has several moments like this), she is in charge of things i wouldn't consider quite normal for a childhood friend to be (like? bringing obito's documents? finding him and leading to a meeting point?). honestly, i can’t read this as simply display of friendship and affection, and i don’t see the same pattern in other relationships in the franchise. there is also an extra emphasis on the fact that rin liked kakashi both in gaiden and in war arc (as well as implementations that kakashi might have liked her back), so it’s not like kishimoto forgot about who was rin’s crush.

if i recall correctly, there is no information on how rin and obito originally meet and what was the foundation of their friendship outside of obito's aspiration to become hokage. therefore the reasoning behind rin’s obsession is unknown.

5) rin emulates obito's reactions, it's shown several times and, i would say, highlighted:

6) rin's reaction to obito's «death» seems much more reserved than kakashi's, and she quickly cuts off any visible display of her distress once obito asks to transplant his eye.

7) rin is clearly not afraid of fighting. she normally doesn’t engage in combat (i assume, the end of third war must have been the time of endorsing tsunade’s iryo-nin reform, thereby rin must have belonged to the generation of medics that followed hime’s rules to the core + rin is stopped from getting into combat by kakashi), however, both time rin was cornered by an enemy, she showed full readiness to fight.

now this is not about her personality, but:

8) rin is placed on future hokage's team, alongside the genius son of one of the strongest ninjas and the uchiha (who could actually keep up with the said genius and, as we see later, surprisingly well adjusted to hashirama cells implanted into him).

9) speaking of her abilities, rin's got a solid 4 in intelligence (among shinobi her age i can recall only shikamaru and sakura scoring 4 or higher), 3.5 in ninjutsu (shino with the same score was about to be put in the root; similar score was obtained by sasuke and neji) and 4 in hand seals, whatever that could mean. overall she's got 21 (while most of konoha11 got less than 20). impressive for a ninja coming from «a very ordinary household» [fourth databook].

10) rin is good as iryo-nin, but like...not outstandingly good, like sakura or tsunade or shizune. she carries a large rucksack (and is the only one who does that out of her team, so it's not part of common equipment) - she probably has to use more civilian methods. however, rin is able to transplant an eye with sharingan and keep its functions without any tools besides maybe her kunai; considering ophthalmology is a way too narrow specialty for a field medic and uchihas tend to keep their secrets secure, this seems pretty damn cool (and gaiden was written before eye swapping became a common thing and iryo-ninjutsu could easily heal any injury). if i don’t say suspicious. plus - rin instantly agrees to perform surgery, no second thought, no hesitation, as if she was trained to do it.

it’s also interesting that kakashi gaiden is the only part where rin is shown not from her teammates' perspective- and in gaiden she is a quiet and determined soldier who can put her duty above her feelings. when we see rin later on, mainly from obito's memories and therefore from his perspective, she is depicted as that constantly smiling and good-hearted girl most folks remember her as. it goes to the point where in the second databook rin is described as serious and capable medic-nin, while in the fourth the main focus is moved to her relationships with kakashi and obito.

i don’t want to try and get any conclusions about her personality from the circumstances of her death- i don’t believe in her voluntary death for the village, not after madara told obito about the seal.

so, what do we get from this? as i said, i've tried to sum these traits up: for a long time i pictured rin as a civilian-background girl with fascination for the shinobi world despite not quite fitting in it (which results in her overly perfected but distant behaviour). but this can’t explain her skills or her obsession with obito, and this is where the root theory comes to rescue: she then becomes a root operative, chosen by danzo for her friendship with obito + civilian background, but with personality not completely ruined by lord shimura (she probably wasn’t seen as useful enough outside the whole obito thing). the original aim of her mission was probably to keep safe and then awaken obito’s sharingan (loving the irony), not to actually steal it. rin did like (in a platonic way) obito even before the recruitment, as well as she grows to like kakashi (in a romantic way) later on, but her real, untouched by shimura and his orders personality must have remained mostly a mystery to them both.

[jjgrace42]

Symphonies - Chapter 14

Read on AO3

First Chapter — Previous Chapter — Next Chapter

To Be Stubborn is To Be Able

"I'd like to be your apprentice."

Tsunade looked up from her discussion, already frowning. Her gaze flicked around the restaurant before settling on Kyoko. "What?"

"I'd like to be your apprentice."

Tsunade blinked. She glanced at the man across from her. He looked from Kyoko to her and back, giving a shrug. He motioned to her to answer. Tsunade looked back at Kyoko.

And she started laughing.

"Sorry, kid!" she got out between guffaws. "But no. I don't do students."

— — — — —

"Your kanji are so pretty," Shizune said, leaning far into Kyoko's space to look at her notes.

"Thank you," Kyoko murmured, starting a new line about perception-distorting genjutsu. "I've practiced them a lot."

"I can imagine you couldn't have done that much practice. I mean, you're only four. And babies can't hold a pen."

She glanced up. "I'm five."

Shizune gave her a broad, cheeky grin. "Are you? Your cute, chubby cheeks say four."

"Well, they're wrong."

Shizune giggled at that and then bent to look at the page again. "They're so neat and clean. You don't even flow your lines."

Fuuinjutsu doesn't work with flowed lines, Kyoko didn't say. Instead, she just smiled.

— — — — —

"I'd like to be your apprentice."

Tsunade jerked her head up, eyes wide. Then they narrowed, and her grip on her clipboard tightened. "What?"

Kyoko squared her shoulders and didn't flinch. "I'd like to be your apprentice."

Tsunade didn't say anything for a long time. The hospital remained busy and loud around them. Kyoko didn't move. And then the Sannin snorted out half-laugh. "Listen, I'm busy. I have things to do."

"I know." Kyoko folded her hands behind her back, standing at attention. "I'll try not to take up too much of your time today. But I do want you to be my sensei. I'll work hard, and I won't distract you from your other duties."

Tsunade frowned at her. "No."

— — — — —

"Obito and Shisui found some people for Ninja. Are you sure you don't want to play with them?"

Kyoko shook her head, not looking up at him. She kept all of her attention on Itachi. She was holding him carefully, stabilizing him on his feet while he stared up at her with a mostly-toothless smile. "No thank you. I'm trying to teach Itachi-chan how to stand."

"I can see that. He's just barely old enough. You didn't stand until you were almost nine months, you know."

"So he has three months to beat me," she said. "He'll get there."

Itachi gurgled and swayed forward. Kyoko smiled and lowered him down onto his front. "Careful. Keep yourself up." She moved his arms so he was propped up on his elbows. "Just like that." She finally looked up at Kagami. "He's cute."

Kagami nodded and reached out, dropping his hand on the top of her head. "I don't think I've ever seen a baby that wasn't cute. You were too when you were a baby."

Kyoko pouted. "Are you saying I'm not cute now?"

He laughed. "Of course not. You're the cutest."

She looked back down and smiled. "Itachi's cuter."

— — — — —

"I'd like to be your apprentice."

"No."

— — — — —

"That's amazing, Kyoko-chan," Rin said, watching the green chakra. "I couldn't do anything with iryo-chakra until last year."

"I've practiced," Kyoko said, pulling her hands back from the orange she'd been demonstrating on.

Kakashi frowned at it. "Is it safe to eat?"

Kyoko looked up at him. It was easier than it had been before, but her gut still twisted when he stared back at her without any real recognition. "Yes. It's safe."

"Good." He picked it up and started peeling it.

"Hey, Bakashi! That's from my lunch!" Obito yelled, diving for the fruit.

Both girls were pulled back as the two boys immediately dissolved into a wrestling match. Kyoko leaned her head back to see Minato. He offered up a smile. "Very impressive, Kyoko-chan."

— — — — —

"I'd like to be your apprentice."

"No."

— — — — —

Kyoko woke up from the dream that she was dying in to a reality where she'd already done so. She laid there for a moment, reminding herself that she was alive. Then she got up and got dressed. The clock beside her bed said it was half past four, and she didn't have the Academy for a few hours. There was no way she would be sleeping again.

She settled at the kitchen table with a plate of leftover onigiri and one of her father's books on katon. She had made it through ten pages in the book and thirteen in her notes when she heard a door. Kyoko looked up and smiled. "Shisui," she said, careful to keep her voice low. "Did I wake you up?"

He rubbed his eyes and squinted at her. "Kyoko? Um . . . . I'm thirsty."

She nodded and got up from her seat, moving to get him a glass of water. Then she walked to where he was still standing in his doorway. "Here," she murmured, pressing the cup into his hands. "Drink this."

"Okay. Thanks." He peered past her at the table. "What are you doing?"

"Studying," she said, ruffling his hair. "Get some sleep, okay? I love you."

— — — — —

"I'd like to be your apprentice."

Tsunade slammed down the pen she was writing with so hard that it snapped, spilling ink all over her fist. "What is your problem?" she demanded, staring at the girl that had interrupted her work.

Kyoko steeled herself. "I'd like to be your apprentice."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed and she looked her up and down. "No."

Kyoko huffed, gritting her teeth. She nodded. Asking repeatedly had worked with her father, but it looked like she might need to introduce a backup plan to deal with the Sannin. Said plan was simple.

Kyoko flicked out a kunai, slashed it across her thumb, and then stitched the wound back together with iryo-ninjutsu.

Tsunade straightened. "Huh," she said, staring at the blood at the tip of Kyoko's thumb. She reached out and grabbed her wrist, turning it so she could see better. The action smeared ink across her skin. Then she caught Kyoko's stare. "There are a lot of other iryo-nin, even just in your clan. Mikoto-hime herself is an incredible medic-nin. She'd probably say yes if a stubbon relative went to bother her for training."

"I want to be an iryo-nin," Kyoko said. "And a combative shinobi. She might have been able to do that for me once before, but she has a baby now. You're the only one that can teach me how to master both."

Tsunade let her go and sat back to study her. She tilted her head to the side. "No."

— — — — —

First Chapter — Previous Chapter — Next Chapter

[justjstuff]

Dear author, for the Naruto asks - how about: (4) favorite chunin exam fight; (11) how would you wear your headband; and (35) what ninja occupation would you choose?? Either way, thank you for your time and writing and sharing your stories with us!

Hiya, Birk!! Thanks for the asks, lovely <3

11. How would you wear your headband?

r: I wanna say on my forehead like a proper ninja but I actually have very frequent headaches/migraines and having something on my head (sometimes even my hair) fucking kills me when I get like that so... I'm gonna go with either on my arm like Shika or my waist because fashion icon.

35. What ninja occupation would you choose?

r: To give a cool an edgy answer: ANBU. lol. I wouldn't like teaching/being responsible for clueless kids like Nart or edgy emo lords like Sauce so I think as soon as I made it to jounin I'd be like "yoo please let me innn". HOWEVER. To be quite honest if I was just magically teleported to the Naruto World, I'd probably work to be an iryo-nin because I have some chronic diseases/issues I'd like to get rid off lol Also, I did consider medicine for quite some time and am not entirely convinced I won't just decide to do it later on in life so... xD

- ask me a Naruto question -

[viktormaru]

For my Naruto D&D, I converted all the shinobi stats to the d&d ones (ex: dexterity became ninjutsu). There were some left over so I just kept them as they were. For classes, I had genin, and then chunin and jonin but chunin and jonin has different types (sensor, iryo, etc). For races, I used the different clans. I had a language for each of the five nations and a common shinobi language.

Yeah! Ive read someone doing it like that too! It seems like a good and simpler solution.

The issue is i like complicating things.......

Like, if you think in Naruto terms thats actually the most accurate way of dealing with it actually, but I’m a bastard and I want it to feel more “game” like... So you’d have classes as different types of ninja specialization (taijutsu master, iryonin,...) and ur rank would basically on your level (and maybe a test?). And the further u progress in ur rank the more u learn abt ur specialization

Again, its a lot more complicated , maybe uneededly (i cant spell that other wors) so.... but I really do like the feeling of my character having a more clear cut role and unique abilities from the start. One player filling in where other is lacking instead of just a lot of generalist skills.

But eh, if it gets too hard and I fail balancing this terribly I’ll def try going to the same system u used!!

As for race I’m also using clans instead (and boy does it feel weird saying that)! I didn’t think abt languages but that does sound fun sksjsjaka

[raendown]

Pairing: MadaraKakashi Soulmate au: The one where you stop aging at twenty until your soulmate reaches the same age

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

He’d been hidden for so long that he’d almost forgot what it was to speak with other people. He heard their voices of course when he went to spy on the different major villages across the lands, staying always in the shadows, but it had been so long since someone spoke to him that at times he wondered if he had faded away to become a true ghost. It had been so long since he last spoke he wondered at times if his voice would still work or if he would even remember how to form the words.

The world bowed before him once. When he was young shinobi everywhere would flee at his name: Uchiha Madara. But the years had turned, marching by unforgivingly until he lived to watch his own name pass in to legend and fantasy. He’d heard some people speculate that he never truly existed at all, that he was just some sort of made up boogey man, and it rankled. It also rankled to know that the rumors of his leaving the village were blown way out of proportion.

He never betrayed his village, no matter what the history books said. There had been no final battle at The Valley of The End. The statues of himself and Hashirama had been built to commemorate the end of the war between their clans, to immortalize the moment they both swore their names to the peace treaty. They were not meant as a reminder of some epic final clash between to estranged friends. When he left the village Hashirama did not hunt him down like some animal being called to heel.

Sometimes, Madara wished he had. He’d left because he could stand it no longer, watching all those around him grow old while he remained forever young, stuck at 20 years of age while his best friend and all his age mates in the clan grew up and had children of their own, hip-high before he could blink. It came to a point where it was too painful knowing that he was going to watch each and every one of them die. He’d left in the night, leaving his position as Clan Head to another, and Hashirama had done nothing to stop him. The last he had seen of his friend had been a sad frown watching him from the village gates as he left behind everything they had built together.

There were times he wanted to go back, of course. There were also times the madness of isolation crept in and filled his mind with strange plans. Surely he had been chosen? His body and mind remained twenty years of age even as his soul quickly crept up on its one hundredth year; he must have been meant to do something with this strange immortality. He couldn’t still be waiting for his soulmate after all. The very idea that he could still be waiting after all this time was ludicrous.

It was the madness which brought to him the Eye of the Moon plan. Madara wanted to fix the world, to find a place of perfection where all would have happiness and rest, the two things he most desired in the world. Madara wanted to go home – he wanted to know where home was.

His plans were mostly in his head, of course. Isolation does strange things to a person’s mind and for all that he was considered more of a man that most when he’d been younger, Madara was no less human than anyone else. He saw things that were not there, strange white beings called Zetsu that he imagined carrying out his bidding and bringing him nonsense information. He was following one of these incorporeal white beings through the tunnels he haunted when he came upon the children. One of them he recognized as an Uchiha, a distant relative from a clan he had long ago abandoned. This child’s body was crushed on one side by what looked like a cave-in. Of the other two children Madara dismissed the girl to stare at the small silver boy. His head was wrapped in bandages, covering one eye, and his face was covered by a dark cloth mask. The only part of his face left visible was his one uninjured eye, now leaking tears of frustration and grief. There was just something about him…

“No matter what the village says, I think you’re a great jōnin,” he heard the crushed boy say. None of them could be more than twelve, perhaps thirteen. If Madara remembered correctly ‘jōnin’ was a prestigious rank and it was quite impressive that the silver boy had achieved it at such a young age.

He crept a little closer, his body and chakra melding with the shadows and the rock around them as naturally as breathing. So many years of practice had him doing it without thinking as he strained his ears, oddly curious about these three brats he had never seen before. Their headbands denoted them as Leaf shinobi, though he could already tell that by the presence of an Uchiha.

“Take the entire eye and transplant my Sharingan in to Kakashi’s left eye.”

Madara twitched, two different reactions swirling inside of him. The stronger reaction should have been to the Uchiha boy’s statement about having a Sharingan transplanted in to someone not of the clan bloodline. It should have enraged him – and some small part of him in the back of his mind was indeed indignant at the very idea.

Yet, instead of anger, Madara felt a strange calm settling over him. He found that all he could do was stare at the young lad before him with the shiny silver hair and mouth the name ‘Kakashi’ to himself. It was a very pleasant name, in his opinion.

The girl he had dismissed earlier began the process right away. He could have stopped it if he were so inclined but found himself strangely reluctant to do so. He wanted to see how this played out. Something told him that this was meant to happen; something in him wanted to see what this Kakashi would do with a Sharingan. And so he stayed perfectly still as the girl’s hands lit up with iryo chakra, hovering first over the Uchiha’s eye while the silver boy tore open the bandaging around his own.

Once the eye was implanted Madara watched Kakashi kneel down and murmur a few words to his dying friend before suddenly he was bursting in to action, exploding through the roof of the cavern that the small cave-in had created. Madara crept through the shadows, easily avoiding detection by the little girl as her attention stayed on her fallen companion. His head popped out in to the sunlight and he watched with rapt attention as Kakashi faced down the one who had hurt his friends. The silver boy’s face was filled with dark determination while he made a few quick hand seals, raw lightening flickering to life around his hand.

Madara’s heart thrummed inside his chest as he watched the boy fly towards his opponent, moving almost faster than the naked eye could follow. His hand punched through his opponent’s chest with a spray of singed blood and Madara caught his breath as he thought to himself, ‘Magnificent’.

When the silver boy returned to the cave Madara did too, creeping inside to blink at the boy trapped below. This Uchiha meant nothing to him but he obviously was quite precious to that Kakashi boy. Madara had never met him before but for some reason he felt he wanted to do something for him, something to make him happy. He couldn’t have said what it was about the younger boy that drew him so but didn’t waste any time questioning it. The years had not worn well over him and by now he was accustomed to following strange impulses.

Only moments after Kakashi pulled the girl out of the cave Madara fell upon the boy left behind. They believed themselves to be sacrificing their companion, leaving him to die, and Madara aimed to change that; it was all he could think of that he could give to the silver boy. The Uchiha struggled and gasped when he felt Madara’s touch, shuddering when he felt the brush of his chakra. Madara had always been told his chakra had a strange, heavy feel to it and he wondered if it was uncomfortable to this one’s injuries. Not that he cared, really.

They burst out of the cave just in time. Kakashi stood protectively before his other teammate, lightning in his hand once more as he faced off against several new foes. The skeletal bones which surrounded Madara clutched the younger Uchiha’s form carefully, cradling him in one large palm as all other eyes in the clearing turned to face him. Madara met Kakashi’s gaze, delighting in the surprised awe in the expression that looked back at him. Then he looked at the group of men attacking, Stone ninja from the Land of Earth. Madara sneered at them. They dared to attack the pretty silver boy? When he had only just taken an interest in him and decided to protect him? They would pay for such stupid insolence.

Each of them screamed but Madara never so much as flinched, safe within his Susanoo and watching as one by one they were struck down by a sword limned in purple flame. When all but the three Leaf shinobi lay silent and still, Madara laid his prize gently at Kakashi’s feet, an offering. He let Susanoo evaporate in to the air as he watched their reactions.

“Obito!”

Both Kakashi and the girl cried out the boy’s name, rushing to his side. The girl began to cry when she saw that he was still alive, her hands jumping to life with bright green chakra like they had before.

Kakashi stood at her side, watching Madara with careful eyes. The eternal twenty year old approved of his suspicion, glad to see that his survival instincts were as strong as his battle skills.

“Who are you?” Kakashi called. “Why did you save him?”

Madara tilted his head, words springing up in his throat even as his mind wondered if he would remember how to use them. Did he remember how to speak? How to part his lips and curl his tongue, how to strum on his vocal chords and match the sounds he could hear in his memories? The silver boy watched him expectantly and Madara decided that perhaps he could work without the words for now.

He was pleased by Kakashi’s gasp when he flickered closer, a thoughtless shunshin that brought him right up close to the younger lad’s face. His eyes were wide, taking in as many details about this boy as possible, and he made a passing attempt at a smile though he couldn’t recall the last time he’d managed one. To his glee, Kakashi did not scramble away. Instead he held his ground and frowned at Madara, the visible half of his face settling in to an annoyed scowl.

“I asked who you are,” the silver boy growled. “We’re grateful for the help, for saving Obito. But I asked you a question!”

“Kakashi! I can’t heal him by myself! We need sensei; we need to get back to the village. Fast!”

Madara frowned as Kakashi’s attention was diverted from himself. That wasn’t what he wanted. His nose wrinkled as he scrunched his face up in disapproval. He watched Kakashi pull an oddly shaped kunai out of his holster and toss it lightly at a nearby tree; he wasn’t sure what that was supposed to accomplish but didn’t care.

What he cared about was having this boy’s attention back on himself. He still had no idea why he found the lad so fascinating or what drew him in but it mattered little to him. Reasons were boring. He needed no reason to reach out and grasp Kakashi’s shoulder other than that he wanted to.

Both of them gasped as a soul-deep shiver ran through them, echoing out through their bodies from that one point of contact. Madara felt his very soul reach out, blindly grasping for this boy in front of him as his inner thoughts clamored with a sudden wild refrain of mine, mine, belongs to me, mine, only mine. It had been so long since he gave up on the idea that at first the true cause never ever occurred to him. All he understood was the instinctive knowledge that this boy was his and he very much intended to keep him.

Madara was startled when suddenly a large body flickered in to existence right between them, a tall blond man with bright blue eyes that stared suspiciously in to Madara’s own as he pushed Kakashi behind himself. Rage filled him at being separated, his lips pulling back and a snarl ripping out of his throat, the first sound he had made in so very long.

“Mine!” he growled, his throat turning the word rusty and deep from too many years of disuse. The blond man affected a defensive position.

“Who are you?” The stranger demanded. “I thought I had met every Uchiha of fighting age.”

“Mine!” Madara snarled again, his Susanoo flickering to life around him again. “My Kakashi. Give him back.”

Kunai sprang up in to the blond man’s hands, the same odd shape as the one the silver boy had tossed before, and Madara could see a strange seal inked on to the handle of each one. His Sharingan spun, memorizing and analyzing, noting the subtle twitches of muscle which predicted which way his opponent intended to move.

The fight was over before it began, however. The other man had only just tightened his grip in a sure sign he was about to attack when a small hand tugged at his elbow, halting his movement. They both looked down to see Kakashi there, grip firm on the blond’s sleeve even as his eyes fixated on Madara’s face, awed expression obvious even around the mask and lingering bandages. His weight was shifted forward on to his toes as if he could barely hold himself back.

“Sensei wait,” Kakashi murmured. “Don’t hurt him.”

Madara watched the younger lad dodge around his senior and reached out, fingers stretching until Kakashi shyly reached out as well and took them in his own. He tried to keep his tug gentle, not too harsh, but Kakashi still ended up impacting his side with a light thump before Madara wrapped him up tightly inside the ghostly remains of the flickering Susanoo. His murmur of “Mine…” was muffled when he nuzzled in to silver hair.

“Kakashi do you know this man?” the blond asked worriedly. Behind him, the little girl was sneaking peeks at what was going on as she continued to heal her injured friend.

“I think he’s my soulmate,” Kakashi murmured, wriggling around to get enough room so that he could look up and study Madara’s face.

“Oh!”

Madara ignored the reactions of the others, staring down at the precious bundle in his arms. His soulmate. It hadn’t truly connected yet but now that it did it was all too obvious. That feeling when they first touched, it could mean nothing else. He had found his soulmate! He had found the thing that he’d been waiting for all this time, his reason for living, someone to call home. The two of them stared at each other in peaceful silence until Kakashi tilted his head, brows furrowing. His implanted Sharingan was still active, tomoe spinning lazily and encouraging Madara’s own to release the Mangekyo form, Susanoo fading for the second time.

“How old are you?” he asked suddenly. “You look a lot older than me.” Madara had to clear his throat before he could answer, suppressing the urge to squirm at the vibrations in his throat.

“Twenty.”

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. “How long have you been twenty?”

“I don’t know.” Madara answered truthfully. “A long time. You’re from Konohagakure, I see. How old is the village now?”

“Something close to a hundred years old?”

“Then I am something close to one hundred years old myself.” He smirked when both Kakashi and his blond sensei blinked at him in surprise.

“Who are you?” the other man demanded.

“Uchiha Madara.”

The silence which greeted his statement was threaded through with heavy disbelief. Madara waited impatiently for some kind of response, equal parts confused and smug when at first all he received were awed stares. At least, he chose to translate them as awed. They could just as well have been blank with indecision on how to react to someone declaring themselves under the name of a man who should have been decades dead. There had been a time when shinobi everywhere threw down their weapons at just the whisper of his name on the battlefield. He wrapped himself in that knowledge, those memories, as he waited.

“You must be really old then.” Kakashi tilted his head to the other side while Madara squawked indignantly.

“I’m twenty!”

“You’ve been twenty a really long time though.”

“Well how old are you then?”

“I’m thirteen. Today.”

“Well I – happy birthday – I’m no more than seven years older than you!”

Kakashi’s eyes turned up in a half-hidden smile, pushing farther in to Madara’s arms even as he continued to sass him. “Which makes you old.”

“I am not old!” Madara screeched. His arms tightened around his soulmate, instinctively gentle where the rest of him was coiled like steel springs.

“Senile old pervert! Too old for me!” Despite the mean words, Kakashi was laughing. From the corner of his eye Madara could see the rest of the lad’s companions staring at him in wonder and it made him wonder himself if it was such a rare thing to see. The thought made him sad, that his soulmate might not have had a happy life even with how few years he had lived so far. Then the words sank in and he made a second squawk.

“It’s not like that!”

It really wasn’t, no matter how pretty he thought Kakashi was or how much he wanted nothing more than to stand here forever, just holding him. It wasn’t truly a romantic thought. Not yet, anyway. Perhaps when Kakashi was older Madara would see him differently but for now his only thought was precious and mine, belongs to me. He had been without center or purpose for so long he thought to himself that he couldn’t be held responsible for anything that happened to someone who tried to take Kakashi away from him now.

Losing his younger brothers one by one had turned him in to a rather possessive and protective individual. His arms stayed tight when he felt his prize wriggling around, trying to pull away. He frowned at Kakashi, displeased by the very notion of separation. Didn’t he understand that Madara was never letting him go again?

“We need to take Obito home,” Kakashi said quietly. “He’ll die.” A small way behind him, the brunette girl looked up.

“He’s right sensei. We have to go now.”

“Right. I have a marker near the west gates. I can take us all. Rin, is Obito stable enough to travel like that?” The girl nodded and Kakashi wriggled again as his sensei eyed the two of them warily. The man’s voice held a low warning when he spoke again, “I’m not leaving my student behind.”

Madara scowled. His throat was so very sore but he spoke again anyway. “Mine.” The blonde sighed.

“Then I guess you’ll just have to come along with us.”

Kakashi settled in his arms briefly, looking up at him with a faint line of pink dusted just underneath his upturned eyes, evidence of a pleased expression. Madara smiled back down at him. This time when Kakashi squirmed Madara let him free, keeping one hand around his thin, pale wrist and allowing himself to be led over to where the others were gathered.

He wasn’t sure what the blonde meant by ‘marker’, though he suspected it was something similar to Tobirama’s hiraishin, a memory buried so long ago he was almost impressed with himself for pulling it up now. It didn’t matter though. It was obvious that some sort of instantaneous travel was able to occur and Madara found himself excited, looking forward to something the way he hadn’t in longer than he could remember.

When they reached their destination he would be back in Konoha; he would be able to see what had blossomed from the seeds he and Hashirama had planted together. He would be with his soulmate and, once Kakashi reached twenty years of age himself, Madara would finally grow older together with the one who would always be most precious to him.

He would be home. And he would never leave home again.

[primnroses]

— Explaining the meaning of medicine, Medical Ninjutsu and medic-ninjas in the world of Naruto

The information presented in this post has been checked and revised. My aim is not to hate or to discredit any of the characters mentioned. Please read about me for further information.

This post will contain evidence in picture format directly from the manga Naruto (1999 - 2014) created by Masashi Kishimoto and published by Shueisha in 1999. I will also use information from the official databooks of Naruto.

This informative post will explain how the world of medicine works since the beginning of the manga and until chapter 699. I will use information present in the novels or the Boruto anime because it includes character development within canon compliance.

This meta will be crossposted in AO3.

I give my permission to use or share this thread with informative purposes as long as you credit me.

I do not support the anime or the work of Studio Pierrot in regards to Naruto because I consider it over exaggerated and beyond biased. Furthermore, these fillers include some actions that these characters are unable to do in the canon according to official sources and they also generate unnecessary debate.

Please, take this into consideration.

This thread will be divided in four parts 

1. The concept and the field of medicine, hierarchy and facilities.  2. Types of medic-ninjas.  3. Techniques.  4. Medic-ninjas of Naruto.

1. MEDICINE, HIERARCHY AND FACILITIES: 

Medicine is the branch of science and the art that deals with the maintenance of health and the prevention, alleviation, or cure of diseases. 

It is a field concerned with the nonsurgical treatment of illness or discomfort.

In Naruto, medic-ninja (医療忍, Iryō-nin) are Shinobi specialized in medicine and medical care or ninjutsu oriented to heal people. 

There is also a type of medic-ninja directed to protect Shinobi in battle.

The rules of medicine declare that medic-ninja are not fighting Shinobi but ninja of support, and they are obligated to stay in the rear to supply care to those injured. 

There are medic-ninjas adept for fighting, but these types are very scarce among the field.

― The concept of medicine distinguishes between two types of physicians within its ranks: 

• Medic-ninja assigned for platoons.  • Medical Corps.

→ Medic-ninjas that are versed in medicine enough are sent to platoons to aid with Medical Ninjutsu. 

Nowadays, these medic-ninjas have been assigned to a team for high ranking missions to provide aid and increase the success rate of missions and squad members.

This precautionary action was advocated by Tsunade during the Second World Shinobi War, led by the death of her younger brother Nawaki in a team without a medic-ninja that could have saved his life.

When Tsunade became Hokage, she might have made this dream a reality. 

For example, Ino Yamanaka was the only member of her team to have trained in basic Medical Ninjutsu and Sakura Haruno also became a medic-ninja. 

Both provided aid in missions after the time-skip.

Tsunade became a pioneer and changed the Shinobi system the way it is known today. She asked team leaders to add a medic-ninja to ensure the success rate of the mission.

→ The Medical Corps are professional doctors and medics in the series and they are one of the five main Organization Systems of Konoha. They develop medicine, research about diseases and ninjutsu focused on healing. 

There are different groups according to specialty and rank.

― The organization and administration system of Konoha is composed of: 

• The Hokage and their advisors.  • The ANBU.  • Medical Corps.  • Operations Unit.

⇨ The Hokage is the leader of the village and their advisors guide them and offer their opinion.  ⇨ The ANBU is the organization indicated for torture and assassination.  ⇨ The Medical Corps are the medics that support the Shinobi and provide medical care. ⇨ The Operations Unit is the organization composed of active Shinobi that go on missions. Genin, Chūnin and Jōnin are part of this organization, normally represented by a leader.

The novel Sakura Hiden: Thoughts of Love, Riding Upon a Spring Breeze, focused on medicine among other things, offers an example of how this organization and administration works in Konoha.

Meetings of the main organization systems of Konoha include the Hokage, Kakashi Hatake, and his advisors Homura and Koharu; two senior members of ANBU, Kido and Magire; senior officials, in my opinion the Jōnin Commander; and the representative of the Medical Department, Shizune.

The Medical Corps are gathered in the Konoha Hospital, a facility where the personnel have materials at their disposal to help the medical needs of patients and they work here full-time. 

Field medic-ninjas indicated for battle do not necessarily work here.

Ino Yamanaka or Rin Nohara are examples of medic-ninjas for the battlefield that do not belong to the Medical Corps. 

 Although there is very little information about Rin in the manga, she has been shown to be a field medic-ninja.

Whereas Sakura Haruno is not only a medic-ninja for teams but also a first-rate medic that works actively in the Hospital and with the Medical Corps as circumstances require, for example, during Pain’s Assault or after the War.

This is the Konoha Hospital before Pain:

And after Pain:

The kanji used for the hospital is 医, which means “healing” or “medicine”. Sakura Haruno became the Director of this Hospital as an adult.

This kanji is also present in the standard medical uniform. There are different uniforms for medic-ninjas, probably according to their area of expertise or rank.

Sakura and Shizune, and other high-ranked medics, for example, have only been seen wearing the robe.

The Konoha Hospital is divided into different wards just like any normal facility in the real world including several intensive care rooms, wards for patients and an operating room.

The manga also shows an autopsy room during Pain’s Assault. However, this area in inside the Intelligence Division, which is headed by Ibiki Morino. A team of medics qualified for autopsies is charge of this room.

The Hospital went through many changes after the Pain Invasion and the Fourth World Shinobi War. 

For example, Sakura Haruno, who worked in the Hospital as part of the Medical Corps, founded a Therapy Center for children that suffered any kind of psychological pain.

In the current events, Sakura is a teacher of Medical Ninjutsu for the new generation of genin interested in the field. 

She dedicates a room inside her Hospital for the impartition of classes in the art of chakra control and the subsequent knowledge of the Mystical Palm Technique.

In order to become a medic-ninja, a Shinobi must be intelligent and have a thirst for knowledge about the human body and herbs, as well as the skill to prepare medicines or poisons.

However, the area about developing medicines and poisoning is not strictly a requirement, as there are examples of some field medic-ninjas that are not versed in this art. 

Nevertheless, they take advantage of it by carrying anesthetics or other powerful drugs inside the pouch.

According to Tsunade, Medical Ninjutsu uses too much chakra. 

In order to be able to use healing type ninjutsu (Medical Ninjutsu), a Shinobi must have a very advanced chakra control efficiently distribute the amount of chakra fairly and heal as many people as possible.

Chakra is formed from kneading spiritual and physical energies together. It is not a reserve filled with energy waiting to be transformed into ninjutsu. A ninja’s chakra reserves can be developed and increased with training.

These energies have nothing to do with Yin and Yang Release types because they are chakra natures that exist outside of the five elements. 

Likewise, Mei Terumi does not have Yin nor Yang affinities but she is able to mold and mix Fire and Earth releases to create Lava Release.

Another example is the Hyūga Clan. Hinata and Neji lack Yin and Yang Releases based on the fourth databook, but they can use chakra along with their taijutsu style of the Gentle Fist and some elements are listed in their abilities.

I do not know to which extent, but they would probably be unable to use Yin or Yang jutsus. 

Regardless, Hyūga Clan members have never been seen using techniques outside their field of taijutsu expertise.

Since medic-ninjas need to have an above average chakra control, Sakura Haruno is the perfect example of having a small reserve of chakra but a very above average control of it, capable of maximizing the efficiency of every jutsu she performs.

There are two medics in the series able of an even beyond perfect control of their chakra, like Tsunade or Sakura Haruno. 

They are capable of spreading their abilities to areas outside Medical Ninjutsu and implement them into taijutsu or chakra reservoirs.

2. TYPES OF MEDIC-NINJAS: 

However, not every medic-ninja uses chakra or meets the requirements to use healing jutsus. There are three types of medic-ninjas in Naruto: 

• Veterinarians  • Medic-ninjas that do not use ninjutsu.  • Medic-ninjas that use ninjutsu.

→ Veterinarians: They specialize in the care of animals. This type of medic-ninja has not been explored in the canon but the anime shows that some members of the Inuzuka Clan are proficient in this field.

Hana Inuzuka is a veterinary medic-ninja. She studies Akamaru’s strange disease in episode 184 of the Naruto anime.

After Kiba and Akamaru’s fight against Sakon and Ukon, she takes care of the ninken. She is also seen wearing the standard medic-ninja uniform.

→ Medic-ninjas that do not use ninjutsu: They exist in this ninja and ninjutsu centered series. The mere notion of it comes from the fact that the most basic Medical Ninjutsu in the series, the Mystical Palm Technique, is a jutsu that not every medic can perform.

This jutsu is what denotes a normal Shinobi that manages to master this technique as a medic-ninja, regardless of their apparent lack of knowledge about other fields like poisons or medicine.

Rin Nohara or Ino Yamanaka are good examples of this: Shinobis that mastered Medical Ninjutsu (Mystical Palm) but have shown no further knowledge of other techniques of fields.

There are two branches of medicine that medic-ninjas not specialized in ninjutsu can use: poison and medicine elaboration, which require more knowledge and skill than chakra control. 

Poison can be used for offense and defense battles. I will explain this later.

The elaboration of medicine is a field in which medic-ninjas that do not use ninjutsu tend to bring out their skills. In chapter 235, Tsunade is seen elaborating medicine for Choji Akimichi after the Sasuke Recovery Mission.

Sakura Haruno hands a patient a medicinal concoction to alleviate the swelling of a thumb in Sasuke Retsuden. The novel does not mention if she prepared this remedy or not. The narrative implies that she did not.

She also prepares antidotes using several herbs and plants from Sunagakure’s greenhouse for Kankuro, who had just been infected by the potent poison of Sasori.

Every type of Medical Ninjutsu seen in the series is A-rank, which means it is beyond hard to learn these techniques. It explains why not every medic-ninja uses healing ninjutsu.

While they do not necessarily need to become a medic-ninja, Shinobi must carry first-aid equipment like gauze. Kakashi shows this in chapter 11 when Naruto stabs his own hand.

In fact, medical equipment is part of the standard Ninja Pouch according to the second databook. Medic-ninja, not experts in medicines, also include all kinds of drugs as standard indicates.

For example, in Sakura Hiden, Ino Yamanaka carries her own supply of sleeping drugs, like anesthetics, inside her pouch to immobilize her enemies. Rin Nohara also carries a first-aid kit inside her pouch for wounds that do not require ninjutsu. This will be explained later.

→ Medic-ninjas that use ninjutsu: They make up the majority of medic-ninjas in the series. This art is known as Medical Ninjutsu and there are different techniques for every type of injury.

Medical Ninjutsu is a branch of ninjutsu dedicated to the restoration or repair of any damage produced in the body by pouring and using chakra to accelerate the process of healing.

Presumably, Medical Ninjutsu needs Yang Release type to be able to alter the physical properties and accelerate the healing process. Yang is the “light half” of body energies. The nature type of this ninjutsu is still unconfirmed, but there are several reasons that confirm that Medical Ninjutsu is, indeed, a Yang Release type technique.

In chapter 316, Naruto asks Kakashi about the nature type of Medical Ninjutsu and genjutsu. Depending on the translation, Yamato says that Medical Ninjutsu and genjutsu use either Yin or Yang Release or he simply gives another answer.

During the War, the second Mizukage explains that he is a “shadow style” ninja. Yin is the “shadow half''. Other translations confirm that “shadow style” equals Yin Release style ninja. The second Mizukage uses genjutsu so this mystery has been confirmed.

Genjutsu uses mental energy to manipulate the notions of the enemy and create an illusionary environment. Medical Ninjutsu uses physical energy to manipulate the body and accelerate the curation. Some Hiden jutsus are also Yin, Nara techniques, and Yang, Akimichi techniques.

Likewise, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki’s sons, Indra and Ashura, inherited the “mind” and the “body” of their father respectively.

For this reason, the Uchiha inherited Yin Release to cast genjutsu and the Uzumaki (and Senju) inherited Yang Release that grants them their strong life force.

All the members of the Uchiha have Yin Release to cast genjutsu, while every single medic-ninja shown in the manga has Yang Release to manipulate the body: 

― Tsunade: Yin  ― Sakura: Yin and Yang  ― Shizune: not shown  ― Rin: Yang  ― Kabuto: Yin and Yang  ― Ino: Yin and Yang  ― C: not shown

As aforementioned, mastering Medical Ninjutsu and other medical techniques requires aptitudes different from normal Shinobi. It is a science for which one must be really interested in to be able to become proficient.

For example, Ino Yamanaka learnt Medical Ninjutsu for her thirst in knowledge and good instincts, while Sakura Haruno learnt to be useful in missions and save her friends. 

Sakura also had that extra “special something” required to become a real first-rate medic-ninja.

Medical Ninjutsu oriented to heal is very hard to learn, because not only do they require control but also skill. Every Medical Ninjutsu technique shown to date is, at least, A-rank. 

There are also S-rank jutsus but they only apply to the best medics.

This ranking depends on the difficulty of the jutsu applied to heal the body. There are also B-rank techniques, but these are mostly battle oriented. Medical Ninjutsu is not a miracle, for this reason, there are wounds that are impossible to heal even by the best of medics.

Cases with difficulty 3 are normally assigned to Tsunade or even Shizune. 

For example, Lee’s back condition after his match against Gaara was of such a high difficulty that only the prodigal Sannin could take over the surgery even with all the risks involved.

The keirakukei (chakra pathway system) is linked to the organs in the human body like vessels and, in turn, organs are made of cells. The Hyūga Clan’s techniques are able to stop the keirakukei and the body’s functioning at the same time.

For this reason, the aftereffects of Naruto’s Rasenshuriken are also another rather difficult case for Tsunade. 

The body’s cells are destroyed and once that happens, the organ cannot be saved, not even by the most skilled medic.

Tsunade could not regenerate Dan’s kidneys after being blown to pieces. Healing techniques and regenerative techniques are completely separate and different styles of Medical Ninjutsu. 

She created techniques indicated for regeneration after Dan’s passing.

3. TECHNIQUES: 

There are several types of Medical Ninjutsu techniques according to the level of difficulty presented in each case. Just as ninjutsu could be used to heal the patients, so can medics use seals and regenerative techniques.

Inside this group of techniques there is also another subgroup that not every medic-ninja (especially those that do not use ninjutsu) learns: 

• Healing techniques.  • Defense/offense techniques.  • Very advanced technques.

→ Healing techniques: Those indicated to enhance the natural curative capabilities of the human body. They use chakra as the means of restoration to accelerate the process.

They are the most important base for a Shinobi interested in this matter and the mastery of its most basic jutsu is what denotes a field medic-ninja. A Shinobi that masters at least one type is automatically acknowledged as a medic-ninja

1. Mystical Palm Technique (掌仙術, Shōsen Jutsu) — A-rank: This is the most basic of healing techniques and is the main jutsu that transforms any Shinobi into a medic-ninja. When one person says they have mastered Medical Ninjutsu, they refer to this technique in particular.

This technique is taught to aspiring medic-ninjas to help them develop their chakra control. For example, Ino Yamanaka trained this jutsu in the anime filler by Tsunade. Tenten was also taught by a medic how to develop this technique in a filler. They practice on fish/octopi.

Sakura Haruno became Tsunade’s disciple in the original series and this technique was one of the first things she learnt. She practiced in a fish market under the watchful eyes of her teacher and was able to master this technique in only three months due to her talent.

Apparently, in Sasuke Retsuden, Sakura teaches her husband this technique and it saved her life after being unable to move because of Gigi’s paralyzing drug. 

It allows the body to accelerate the healing process without any medical equipment. This is why field medic-ninjas must learn this technique. 

Not every medic has the skills needed to learn this technique because it requires advanced chakra control to be effective.

The ability of self-recovery while fighting is the pinnacle of external healing. Sakura Haruno was able to stop the bleeding after being impaled by Sasori. 

Kabuto Yakushi was so proficient in this art that he could heal people using this technique from a distance, a feat only seen once in the series.

The Mystical Palm Technique can also be used for offense and defense. As the databook entry says, too much chakra can cause a disruption or a comatose state. Kabuto Yakushi uses this variant to knock Kiba Inuzuka out after healing Hinata Hyūga.

In her novel, Sakura Haruno was able to use a similar technique. She poured healing chakra while continuously punching Kido to accelerate the healing his chakra cloak was already providing. A very interesting and innovative way of mixing the two most advanced techniques.

This technique is an invention of Sakura as it is featured in her Boruto statistics under as Healing Power Transmutation jutsu (癒力変生の術, Yuryoku Hensei no Jutsu).

However, there is no further information about this technique and the nature of it is still unknown.

Although I do not know to what extent, healing techniques similar to the Mystical Palm Technique can heal people from the effects of Tsukuyomi.

2. Healing Resuscitation Regeneration Technique (治活再生の術­, Chikatsu Saisei no Jutsu) — A-rank: This is a cooperative technique used by medic-ninjas trained in Medical Ninjutsu to regenerate a missing part of the body using DNA from the hair (or other parts of the body).

This technique requires several hours of intense and constant chakra control. Jōnin medics of the Medical Corps must take turns to be able to maintain such effort and even the success rate of this procedure is not high.

Apart from ninjutsu, this jutsu also uses some sort of sealing technique judging by the lines on the floor and Neji’s body.

3. Cellular Extraction Healing Technique (細患抽出の術­ Saikan Chūshutsu no Jutsu) — B-rank: This technique is used to remove poison from the patient’s body. Sakura Haruno uses this jutsu to save Kankuro’s life after being infected by Sasori’s revolutionary poison.

This jutsu is accompanied by the chakra scalpel. According to the databook, it is one of the most difficult surgeries in medicine, probably because the medic must manage several procedures cautiously at the same time. The medic must detect the exact position of the venom substance, cut the area open and then heal while extracting the toxin. This includes two jutsus that require perfect control, healing jutsu and chakra scalpel.

In the manga, Sakura seems to use the Mystical Palm Technique to heal while removing the poison from Kankuro’s vital points after the incision was performed. There is also a bucket with a liquid on the table next to her, but it is unknown if she used it or not.

In the anime, Sakura uses her chakra control to manipulate the liquid inside the bucket and extract the poison while healing the body. The incision was removed and, in its place, the scene was prolonged. Then, she used the samples of the venom to elaborate the antidote.

4. Katsuyu Immense Network Healing (蛞蝓 網療治夥­, Katsuyu: Mōryōjika) — A-rank: This technique shares healing chakra to the affected patients through Katsuyu, which is called by a C-rank Summoning jutsu. Katsuyu uses its Slug Great Division to cover as much area as possible.

This jutsu is also linked to the Strength of a Hundred Seal and the chakra inside it and only users of this Seal can perform this technique.

Although the databook points out that Katsuyu uses its own chakra, the manga states that, in order to make this jutsu work, Katsuyu absorbs chakra from the Strength of a Hundred Seal and then transforms it into healing chakra to treat people.

5. Yin Healing Wound Destruction (陰癒傷滅­, In'yu Shōmetsu) — A-rank: This technique concentrates healing chakra to an area of the body before it is struck by an enemy’s jutsu, starting the restoration process before the impact and minimizing the damage of the attack.

For this technique to be successful, Kabuto must foresee all movements and analyze the enemy from the facial expressions to the technique and the speed. Every detail is decisive in order to make this jutsu work. The more powerful the enemy’s jutsu is, the more chakra the healing will waste. It is a great feat that Kabuto can muster healing chakra without using his hands. This is an indicative of how proficient a medic he is.

The name of this jutsu is misleading, as it is actually not Yin Release nor confirmed. It requires high concentration of Kabuto’s mental energy’s perception in order to manipulate the Yang nature of healing chakra and concentrate it in one specific part to reduce the damage.

6. Creation Rebirth (創造再生­, Sōzō Saisei) — S-rank: This is not a healing technique but a regeneration technique that can regrow organs and limbs. This jutsu was created by Tsunade and it is known as the “pinnacle of medical ninjutsu”.

In order to use this forbidden technique, the ninja must have a great amount of chakra or awaken the Strength of a Hundred Seal, which stores unlimited amounts of chakra inside the Seal and then is released together with the Creation Rebirth to regenerate the desired area.

7. Chakra scalpel (チャクラのメス­, Chakura no Mesu) — no rank: This technique is both used for healing and for defense. This jutsu molds chakra and transforms it into blades capable of slicing the flesh, but not sharp enough to reach blood vessels in the middle of a battle.

This type of chakra control is not listed in any databook, but Tsunade denotes this ability as being exclusive to a medic-ninja, possibly due to the difficulty of performing it. Kabuto is a genius of this Medical Ninjutsu art, even earning a compliment from Tsunade herself.

If performed in a quiet environment, the chakra scalpel can cut wood and through muscles and bones. 

Sakura Haruno uses the chakra scalpel with her index and heart fingers to cut Naruto’s sides and reach his heart.

→ Defense/offense techniques: These jutsus implement the knowledge of medicine and apply it for battle. Not all of these battlefield techniques are classified as ninjutsu, but they were created as a protection for the user.

1. Body Pathway Derangement (乱身衝­, Ranshinshō) — A-rank: This jutsu mixes taijutsu and ninjutsu. Tsunade, who has Lightning affinity, delivers a blow that sends an electric field directly to the target’s nervous system and halts the control of their body.

Tsunade has the ability to perform this technique thanks to the vast knowledge of the body and medicines she has. However, Kabuto Yakushi is also a very prodigal medic-ninja and he was able to regain the control of his nervous connections due to his high concentration and skill.

2. Poison Mist (毒霧­, Dokugiri) — B-rank: This jutsu is similar to the Great Fireball of the Uchiha Clan, but instead of fire or other elemental chakra releases, it involves poison. The user exhales poison from the mouth, which becomes mist at the mere contact with air.

It is unknown how Shizune is able to transform her breathing, a non-elemental chakra nature, into chakra with poisonous properties, but is likely that she ingests the poison and then mixes it with her chakra to transform it. It also requires a vast knowledge of chemistry.

3. Prepared Needle Shot (仕込針弾­, Shikomishindan) — C-rank: While not really classified a Medical Ninjutsu, this technique throws needles coated with poison.

4. Dead Soul Technique (死魂の術­, Shikon no Jutsu) — B-rank: This techniques restores the heartbeat of a corpse and also changes the facial features using plastic surgery to pose as the user and deceive the enemy.

Kabuto takes this technique to another level, even erasing the body’s odor or posing as a cadaver himself masking his own heartbeat to look dead.

He always has a scroll with corpses sealed inside to use this jutsu against prosecutors. In chapter 298, he uses one of them to pose as Sai and halt the movements of Team Kakashi.

5. Seals (封印術, Fūinjutsu) — no rank: The Medical Corps use a seal to heal Choji Akimichi. There is no more information about healing techniques using seals in the series.

→ Advanced techniques: Although not exactly Medical Ninjutsu, Tsunade and Sakura Haruno use their perfect chakra control to infuse their taijutsu attacks with chakra and augment their destructive power. Heavenly Foot of Pain and Cherry Blossom Impact respectively are their signature moves.

Shizune, on the other hand, never learnt this taijutsu skill, probably because it requires an even more precise control of the chakra than that needed for Medical Ninjutsu.

4. MEDIC-NINJAS: 

The series introduces a total of eight medic-ninjas. One filler showed 3 seconds of Hinata Hyūga or others using Medical Ninjutsu but it ignores canon bases. In fillers, Karin is seen using Medical Ninjutsu, but her chakra already has healing properties.

→ Tsunade: One of the Legendary Sannin. 

Her unparalleled knowledge of medicine turned her into the world’s greatest medic and she has revolutionized the concepts and the bases of medic-ninjas.

Her skills shone during the events of the Second World Shinobi War, where she prevented the deaths of many combatants by healing them in battle and also creating antidotes against Chiyo’s poisons.

Tsunade advocated the inclusion of a medic-ninja in every platoon during the War, but it was rejected because of the extensive amount of time it would take to train them. When she became the Fifth Hokage, she made this dream a reality.

She established the bases that every field medic-ninja should follow in battle, and spread them among students. But, to counter these rules, she created the pinnacle of medical ninjutsu, the Creation Rebirth, a forbidden technique that would allow the bearer to fight.

She saved many lives during her prime, including Naruto Uzumaki, the villagers of Konohagakure and the Gokage.

Tsunade trained two disciples, Shizune and Sakura Haruno, and taught them everything she knew. Her second disciple, Sakura, became her perfect successor, and Tsunade passed down her secret technique to her, eventually being surpassed by her. She retired after the War.

→ Sakura Haruno: She is the second disciple of Tsunade. 

Sakura asked the Fifth Hokage to train her at the tender age of 13, looking for the strength to protect the people she loved.

Tsunade taught Sakura everything she knew, making her the sole inheritor of the power of a Legendary Sannin and a Kage. Sakura demonstrated this feat at age 17, when she was able to awaken the Strength of a Hundred Seal, the pinnacle of Medical Ninjutsu and chakra control.

Sakura had a talent so unique that she mastered the basics of Medical Ninjutsu in only three months. She learnt how to prepare medicines, antidotes and paralyzers from Tsunade, and poisons from Shizune. She demonstrated to be very proficient in the field of medicines and poisons, making up to 3 antidotes for the most lethal venom of Sasori when nobody ever could.

She became one of the top medic-ninjas of Konoha at age 15 after her intensive training with her masters. 

Two years later and during the events of the War, Sakura was already hailed as the best medic-ninja of Konoha, surpassing her master, just like Chiyo and Kakashi predicted.

Like Tsunade, Sakura has saved many lives as a medic and continues to do so in the present. Without her, Kankuro, Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyūga, Karin or Sasuke Uchiha would be dead. She has also saved numerous lives in novels, like Temari or Hanabi Hyūga, among others.

During the Blank Period, she worked in the Konoha hospital as part of the Medic Corps. She founded a Therapy Center for children inside the Hospital. She also had enough power as a top medic-ninja in the Village to gather her own platoon of medics.

As an adult, Sakura was named Head of the Medical Department and she also is the Director of Konoha Hospital. She is the founder of the Children’s Therapy Center.

As Head of the Medical Department she would become one of Konoha’s Organizational System’s leaders, as well as being recognized as a Pillar of Konoha, one of the five most prestigious ninjas by taking care of the village's health and the Hokage's safety. 

Moreover, she is now in charge of training the newer generation of medic-ninjas of Konoha.

→ Kabuto Yakushi: Kabuto learnt Medical Ninjutsu from her mother Nonō Yakushi. 

He is one of the most proficient medic-ninjas in the series, often overshadowed by Tsunade and her disciples.

According to Tsunade, Kabuto is so proficient in the art of Medical Ninjutsu that his abilities exceed those of the Sannin expert during her prime, earning her recognition.

Kabuto was scouted by Orochimaru for his great talent and fast recovery skills, which would serve for the endurance of the Sannin’s human experiments.

He is also extremely talented in the field of herbs and elaboration of drugs. He experimented on Sasuke Uchiha, creating all kinds of painkillers or hormones to enhance his maduration. He also concocts interrogation serums and drugs to suppress power.

→ Shizune: She is Tsunade’s first student. She is also renowned as a great medic-ninja, only after her mentor.

Tsunade recognized that Dan’s niece had a great talent for Medical Ninjutsu, and took Shizune under her wing. Her greatest skill resides in the preparation of poisons.

Shizune was chosen as the Captain of the Logistics and Medical Unit during the War. She is also seen performing autopsies quite often, something she later taught to Sakura Haruno. During the Blank Period, she represented the Medical Department in high-ranking meetings.

→ Ino Yamanaka: She is kunoichi from the Yamanaka Clan that became a medic-ninja during the time-skip. 

She is a support-type ninja and, since field medic-ninjas cannot participate in fights, this role would be a great addition for her Shinobi style.

It is unknown who taught her, but the third databook confirms that her skills are high enough to heal wounds and assess a patient's condition. She learnt the basics of Medical Ninjutsu and she is seen aiding her teammates two times in the manga.

Ino never learnt how to concoct poisons but, as a support kunoichi that relies on her teammates in battle, she uses anesthetics as part of her ninja tools equipment. In Sakura Hiden, she keeps her own supply of paralyzers inside her pouch, a standard norm for active Shinobi.

→ Rin Nohara: She was a kunoichi member of Team Minato. There is scarce information about her, but she was introduced as a field medic-ninja.

She could perform the Mystical Palm Technique at a very young age. Rin kept first-aid kits inside her ninja pouch as standard requires, and she demonstrated to be a skilled field medic-ninja that could transplant Obito’s eye to his left socket.

→ Chiyo: She was a medic-ninja that became the Counselor of Sunagakure after she retired from the Shinobi World.

She became known in the Second World Shinobi War for her talent and expertise in the field of poisons, although her efforts were countered by the intellect of Tsunade.

→ Other medics include: C, the Raikage’s bodyguard, Biwako Sarutobi, the wife of the Third Hokage, Nonō Yakushi and the Alliance’s medical unit.

[shammikorn]

Imagine if Rin stay alive along with three tails beast and reach to 4th ninja war against Madara Uchiha, would her medical skills level be almost equal as Tsunade or Sakura?

i would say no, since iryo-ninjutsu relies greatly on the level of chakra control, and chakra control is tied to the amount of chakra. becoming a jinchuuriki must fuck this up real bad.

aside from this, even if rin could restore her chakra control, i think, sakura and tsunade are geniuses of a sort; shizune's trained under tsunade for more than a decade and couldn't achieve what sakura mastered over a course of like four years. and there are plenty of iryo-nins who didn't get to shizune's level after decades of service.

i would assume that the skill of a medic-nin is measured by how effectively they can heal with their ninjutsu alone- but rin carries quite a toolset and can't quickly heal kakashi's seemingly not that bad wound (just from comparison to what medics could do later in the series), despite her ninjutsu and stamina stats being almost the same as sakura's in the third databook. rin might actually be more skilled/educated as a civilian medic, but as a medic-nin i doubt she would match tsunade or sakura.