Hattori , Puppet Tyrant in Sand

The Chakra Scalpel, as the name suggests, isn't exactly a healing skill—it's an offensive one.

In the original *Naruto* storyline, Kabuto Yakushi used this technique to injure Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin.

Not only did he sever the biceps and thigh muscles on one side of her body, severely limiting her strength, but he also almost turned the tide in his favor.

Of course, this doesn't mean the Chakra Scalpel is overwhelmingly powerful; the effectiveness of any technique largely depends on who's using it.

In other words, if the user is skilled enough, even a simple technique can shine!

It's like driving a car: with the same vehicle, a skilled driver can drift along cliff edges, while an inexperienced one might end up in a ditch on a flat road.

That's the difference!

Given Hattori's current abilities, he's got a long way to go before he can match the Kabuto who fought Tsunade in the original series.

However, this gap doesn't stem from his ability to use the Chakra Scalpel itself, but from a lack of real combat experience!

Kabuto, recruited by Danzo as a spy and later by Orochimaru, has faced countless battles, gaining extremely rich combat experience.

But before crossing over, Hattori was just an ordinary person. He could barely remember a time he argued with someone, let alone actually fought.

If we had to say he had any combat experience, it would probably be limited to the Summoner's Rift in *League of Legends*.

However, in the world of *Naruto*, Summoner's Rift battle skills are clearly useless—after all, there's no keyboard or mouse to control game characters here.

Right now, he's just a weak kid.

In Hattori's hands, the Chakra Scalpel, a combat medic technique that Kabuto wielded with mastery, might be less effective than a simple kunai.

For now, he knows he can strap an exploding tag to a kunai and throw it at an enemy, whereas he can't do that with the Chakra Scalpel.

Hattori knows his limitations, so his priority isn't how to use the Chakra Scalpel in battle—it's how to level up!

"Given the current situation, I should focus on leveling up. The Chakra Scalpel isn't a healing skill, so I can't use it recklessly. I'll just keep leveling up using my previous skills!"

Thinking of this, he glanced at the nearly empty MP bar in his status display, then took out more bandages.

"Alright, back to bandage leveling! The efficiency might be low, but until my MP recovers, it's all I can do."

With this decision, he began bandaging nearby injured people again.

But unexpectedly, when he finished, he didn't see the usual purple experience points appear, nor did he receive any notification.

He paused, realizing something, and put down the bandage to try a healing technique instead.

As he healed, he silently prayed, "I hope it's not what I think…"

After spending another 5 MP, a soft green glow emanated from his palm.

Ten seconds later, the green light faded, the wound healed, but the usual purple experience points were still missing.

"Well, this is troublesome."

Hattori sighed inwardly, lowering his hands in resignation.

"It looks like experience gain has a level cap, just like in many games."

He felt a little disappointed, but on reflection, it made sense.

From level 1 to 10, Hattori noticed that each level required only ten times the level's number in experience points.

With each bandage granting 10 experience points and repeat bandaging also providing experience, without any restrictions, he could reach a higher level than the Third Kazekage in no time!

Bandaging all the way to Kazekage level—that would've been amazing!

Unfortunately, it seems that won't work.

With the level cap blocking his easy leveling, only two options were left for him to gain experience.

The first was to find another way to earn experience, like the traditional "defeat enemies to level up."

This is a standard method in RPGs and always works.

Plus, fighting enemies often yields both experience and valuable loot—a win-win situation.

Earlier, the Third Kazekage ordered people to guard the natural barrier at the entrance to Sunagakure to prevent attacks from Iwagakure and Kirigakure, which suggests there are plenty of "experience points" outside the village.

Defeating them should lead to leveling up!

But after glancing at his small arms and legs, Hattori quickly dismissed that idea.

In his current state, leaving the village would be almost certain death!

Since the first option is off the table, the second option is all that's left.

That would be to use the newly unlocked medical ninjutsu—the Chakra Scalpel!

Based on his previous attempts, Hattori was certain that if he used the Chakra Scalpel to perform surgery on others, he could gain experience until he unlocked a new skill.

The problem, however, was that he'd never studied surgery, nor had he ever performed one.

So his only option for using the Chakra Scalpel was—stabbing!

Now the question is, who should he stab?

Stabbing a Sunagakure ninja is out of the question; they're trained warriors, and a kid like Hattori would get taken down in one punch.

And stabbing ordinary villagers in Sunagakure would be wrong, plain and simple.

Even though Hattori was confident he wouldn't kill anyone and could probably cover it up, he still felt uncomfortable with the idea.

They hadn't wronged him, after all. Stabbing them just to level up felt pretty heartless.

"Why is leveling up so hard?" 

Feeling a little lost, he began to worry.

"This won't work, that won't work… Am I supposed to learn surgery and join Sunagakure's medical team just to level up?"

As soon as this thought came, he dismissed it.

"No, that'd be too much hassle. Besides, I don't plan on spending my life in Sunagakure's hospital. Going out and fighting is what I really want to do. In that case, I have no choice but to try that plan!"

Taking a deep breath, Hattori closed his eyes, and when he opened them, a layer of white chakra had covered his hand.

"Chakra Scalpel!"

Without hesitation, he aimed his hand straight at his own thigh.

*Thwap!*

"Ah…!"

*(End of Chapter)*