Chapter 64: It’s time to start

A month later, in a secluded location fully equipped with the best medical technology available, the entire gang was gathered along with All Might and Nighteye. As well as a couple of very short elderly people dressed in what appeared to be hero suits.

The old woman wore what looked like an orange-brown nurse's outfit with a white line down the center, along with a lab coat and a huge syringe she used as a cane. The old man, on the other hand, wore a more classic suit with a white base, yellow boots, belt, and cape, as well as a wooden cane.

"Are you sure you can heal Toshinori, boy?" the old man in the hero suit asked in a serious tone, looking Kai directly in the eyes. Kai couldn't help but ask in confusion.

"Is it just me, or have you shrunk since the last time I saw you, old man?"

"Eh?! Do we know each other?"

Upon hearing Kai's question, the semi-retired legend Gran Torino could only ask, looking incredibly surprised. This caused Nighteye to cover his face, while All Might, in his scrawny form, briefly explained with an expression somewhere between scared and uncomfortable.

"Sensei, this is Saito Kai, son of Saito Jiro, Iron Palm."

"Oh! So you're Iron Palm's kid," Gran Torino exclaimed loudly with a look of realization on his face, eyeing Kai differently.

"Well, yes, that's me. And as for whether I can heal All Might, I'm quite sure. I've been running simulations during this time, and at the very least, I can tell you it will be hard for him to die, and I'll at least improve his condition if I can't heal him."

Kai responded, feeling somewhat amused by the antics of the curious old man. After hearing him, Gran Torino shifted to a serious expression, making his previous actions seem like mere acting, and then commented in a deep, grave voice.

"I hope you're aware of the responsibility that entails, boy."

"Quite aware, and don't worry, I won't let the Symbol of Peace die; things would get rather troublesome if that happened. But let me be clear: this is a one-time deal because it's All Might; after this, I won't heal anyone else."

As he stared intently at the old man, Kai spoke in a serious tone, causing various expressions among those present, especially the heroes, who could only remain silent. Shortly after, Nighteye adjusted his glasses and spoke in a serious tone.

"We understand, but I think it's time to begin."

"Certainly." Kai nodded in agreement toward Nighteye, then looked at All Might and commented seriously.

"It's time to start; let's go."

"I trust you, Kai-shonen," All Might said seriously, to which Kai could only roll his eyes casually.

"No emotional blackmail, please."

Upon hearing Kai, All Might and his associates exchanged wry smiles, then bid farewell and watched the Number One Hero follow the blue-eyed boy until he disappeared. At that moment, they followed Kai's family to a waiting room; they had been unusually quiet since they arrived.

After preparing All Might on the operating table, Kai anesthetized him using the Mystical Palm, rendering him unconscious. He then summoned Sage, who quickly examined All Might and presented all the information to her master.

[Well, his condition hasn't particularly changed during this time, so we'll proceed as planned. I'll take care of healing him, while you make sure to keep him alive and extract as much information as possible about his quirk.]

After verifying all the information, Kai ordered Sage through their mental connection, to which the beautiful fairy nodded with a serious and focused expression.

[Understood, Master.]

With everything said, Kai and Sage began working in complete silence, starting with All Might's respiratory system, as it was a complete mess, and would be the most noticeable improvement. This would increase confidence in his abilities not only from All Might but also from his associates, allowing him to continue extracting information from his body.

Once all the changes were decided, leaving only open wounds, Kai quickly materialized the Angel's Breath card, as he needed to regenerate a lung and a good part of the respiratory tract.

"[Angel's Breath] On!"

As soon as the angel appeared, Kai quickly ordered it to heal All Might. The angel positioned itself over him and then released a beam of light that completely enveloped the scrawny man, while a large amount of aura was drained from Kai.

Although [Angel's Breath] was really powerful and could heal wounds and illnesses, it still had its limitations. First, scars didn't count as wounds or illnesses, so it didn't heal them, which forced him to reopen the wound before being able to heal it. Also, it couldn't heal congenital diseases and things like that, since it didn't detect them as something 'abnormal.'

After a few moments, the angel disappeared from sight, and different holograms appeared in front of Kai, showing updated information about All Might as well as data about his quirk. This led him to issue an order through the mental connection as he sat on the floor to recover.

[Sage, we can still afford to lose a bit more time. Carry out the planned experiments with his quirk, but make sure not to leave any traces.]

[Understood, Master.]

Satisfied with Sage's response, Kai nodded and then closed his eyes to focus on his breathing, trusting completely in his capable assistant. After a couple of hours, he got up and left the room, carrying All Might on a stretcher to an adjacent room, where he connected him to a couple of monitors and provided oxygen.

After giving a quick glance at the data collected by Sage, Kai unsummoned her and then left the room. He found his own family along with All Might's associates, who wore expressions of deep concern as they looked at him intently. He smiled calmly as he explained.

"The first intervention was a success. All Might should wake up in a few minutes, but you can see him now."

"Is All Might really okay?" Nighteye asked, looking intensely at Kai with a pale complexion. The blue-eyed boy nodded.

"Yes, he'll wake up in a few minutes, and you'll be able to see for yourselves."

"I understand." Nighteye nodded and hurried toward the room, followed closely by the elderly heroes. At that moment, Gran Torino turned to look at Kai and spoke in a serious tone.

"Thank you, boy. You don't know what this means to us and to the world."

"Don't worry about it, old man," Kai replied nonchalantly. The elder nodded and then followed the others into the room.

Once Gran Torino disappeared from sight, Kai turned to look at his family. They all rushed to embrace him tightly, maintaining a comfortable silence that lasted until Nemuri spoke in a low, relieved voice.

"We were so worried; it's such a relief that you were able to heal him without problems."

"I didn't heal him completely. For now, I only fixed his respiratory system; there's still quite a bit to do."

Kai replied with a smile, while Salem, who had been in his small form in Tomoko's arms, quickly jumped onto his shoulder, meowing with happiness and relief. It had been a real torture to be with those females who couldn't stop squeezing him as if he were a doll.

"You're a real hero, Kai." Momo commented, evidently moved, so much so that Kai didn't have the heart to correct her, so he simply remained silent for a moment before speaking in a warmer voice.

"Let's go to the waiting room."

Once in the waiting room, everyone sat around Kai while Shino prepared tea with Chatora's help. They each received a cup and talked calmly to soothe their nerves for a while, until All Might suddenly entered the room in his muscular form, followed closely by his associates.

"Kai-shonen! Thank you so much! I didn't even remember what it felt like to breathe so freely; I feel like a new man!" All Might spoke in a powerful and joyful voice as he approached Kai, who indicated an empty seat in the room while speaking.

"It's good that you feel that way, but don't get overconfident. For now, I've only fixed your respiratory system; there's still a lot of work to do. You're still far from being 100% recovered. But for now, sit down and tell me how you feel."

"I feel wonderful! Now I can breathe deeply without any pain, and I even feel like the time limit of my muscular form has doubled!" All Might replied joyfully. He took a deep breath, creating a strong gust of wind in the room, and immediately sat in the chair Kai had indicated.

"It's good that you can breathe freely now, and you're right about the time limit. According to my calculations, you should now be able to maintain your muscular form for 5 to 6 hours."

After sipping some tea, Kai commented in a serious tone, to which All Might thanked him again with a big smile on his face, while the others took their seats, casting grateful glances at Kai.

"Thank you so much, Kai-shonen!"

"It's still too early for that; this is only the first session. We still have to address your stomach, liver, pancreas, kidneys, etc., not to mention your heart problems, hypertension, immunodeficiency, and so on. There's a lot left to do." Kai replied indifferently while being showered with admiring looks from his family, especially Nejire and Momo, who looked at him with shining eyes as if he were some kind of idol.

"Hahaha, I suppose you're right; there's still more to do." All Might responded with a smile. Kai quickly added in a somewhat amused tone upon seeing how restless the Symbol of Peace was.

"If you want, you can move around a bit to stretch; we can postpone the next intervention a little."

"Hahaha, alright, I'll go for a walk and defeat a couple of villains!"

As if he'd been waiting for it, All Might responded in an excited tone, almost like a child eager to try out his new toy. He then disappeared from the place at incredible speed, leaving behind a powerful gust of wind.

"Boy, I must say your quirk is really impressive; no one had been able to heal him before." After a moment, Gran Torino looked at Kai and spoke while receiving a cup of tea from Ryuko, to whom he nodded in gratitude.

In response, Kai only smiled diplomatically and remained silent, giving a clear message that he was not willing to continue the topic—something that brought a bitter smile to Gran Torino's face. After all, his little scheme had been discovered instantly.

"By the way, young man, would you mind if we thoroughly examined All Might before the next intervention?" To lighten the mood, the old woman asked in a cordial tone, to which Kai casually nodded.

"That's fine by me; I have no problem with that. We can even delay the second session a couple of days so you can examine him thoroughly and clear up your doubts."

"I didn't mean it that way, young man," the old woman commented with a slightly uncomfortable smile, to which Kai casually waved his hand.

"Oh, don't worry; I didn't mean it with any double meaning. I understand it's an important matter, and you want to be sure. It's better for me as well; it will avoid suspicions and things like that, although please avoid talking about me, as we agreed."

"I understand; we'll keep our part of the deal."

The old woman nodded in understanding, then began a more technical conversation with Kai about the details of All Might's condition. Even though he hadn't officially studied medicine, his medical knowledge was not far from that of an experienced surgeon with multiple specializations.

This was mainly due to one of the benefits of Enhancement he had discovered over time. Although Enhancers were generally simple-minded in the original work, Kai found that besides increasing his thinking speed and perception, Enhancement could also improve his learning abilities and similar skills.

But even though this improvement should have technically increased his IQ, the reality was that aside from things like learning much faster and performing complex calculations in his mind almost instinctively, not much had changed in other aspects. So it was hard to say if he was actually smarter or not.

After a cordial conversation, Nighteye and the elders said their goodbyes when All Might returned, agreeing to reschedule the second session for a couple of days later. Following that, Kai took his family home using Accompany, where they enjoyed a delicious dinner and played several board games together.