At 2 p.m. on a clear day, Matsushita and his father were resting at home.
"Matsushita, what do you want to do when you grow up?" his father asked while studying a medical text.
Matsushita, playing with a model scalpel, immediately nodded: "Of course, I want to be a doctor like you and heal people."
His father smiled with relief. "Good. Be a good doctor in the future."
"By the way, you stay home and study. Someone in the neighboring village is ill—I'm going to see them. I should be back in about three hours."
He packed his tools into a small wooden satchel, patted his clothes, and headed out the door.
Matsushita continued playing with his scalpel model, swinging it through the air in playful arcs. It was his birthday gift from his father. The real scalpel was too dangerous for him to use.
As his father left, Matsushita called out, "This time I'll cook for you! Dinner will be ready when you return."
His father laughed: "First time cooking? Let's hope it's edible."
Matsushita answered seriously, "It'll be fine. I've secretly practiced many times."
"That explains where all the missing food went," his father teased.
Blushing, Matsushita gently pushed him. "Go already! You'll find out how good it is when you're back."
His father patted Matsushita's shoulder, then walked away, his figure growing smaller in the distance.
Three hours later, Matsushita set aside the scalpel model and went into the kitchen to prepare dinner, carefully spending over an hour to finish cooking.
He laid out all the dishes on the table and waited for over thirty more minutes. The once-steaming food had grown cold, but still, his father did not return.
Standing at the door, Matsushita peered into the distance. "Why isn't he back yet?"
The sun had set. Yet his father was nowhere in sight.
Matsushita went back inside, sitting quietly in front of the cold food, staring in silence. Every so often, he would run outside to check, but his father never appeared.
Maybe the patient was harder to treat than expected. He'll be back soon, he tried to reassure himself.
And so he waited the entire night.
By dawn, faint knocking came from the door. Half-asleep, Matsushita jolted awake and rushed to open it.
As the door swung open, his father stood there—but before joy could rise in Matsushita's heart, his father collapsed to the ground.
The once-clean clothes were torn and bloodstained, his entire back reduced to mangled flesh.
Panicking, Matsushita knelt and held his father, sobbing.
His father weakly raised his hand to wipe Matsushita's tears.
"A man shouldn't cry…"
Matsushita sobbed even louder: "You're bleeding so much!"
With a sorrowful struggle, his father said,
"Matsushita, listen…"
"Don't cry. No matter how much it hurts, don't cry."
"I may not be able to stay with you much longer…"
Through tears, Matsushita forced a smile: "I'm not crying… you'll be okay. I don't want to lose you."
His father's eyelids drooped further.
"Don't blame others. My medical skills weren't good enough—I hurt the patient and was repaid with revenge…"
"But Matsushita, don't forget your dream to heal others."
"Continue to study medicine. And… don't let others feel pain."
With those final words, his father closed his eyes forever in Matsushita's arms.
———
Fifteen years later, Matsushita returned to his hometown alongside his fellow apprentice from the city.
Though his clinic had few patients at first, Matsushita felt great joy in being able to help people.
Two weeks passed. One day, a man brought his fifteen-year-old daughter to Matsushita's clinic.
"Doctor, she's coughing a bit. Just give her some cold medicine."
But the pale, weak girl was clearly in pain. Matsushita noticed traces of blood between her fingers as she coughed.
It was far more serious than a simple cold.
The father scolded: "Stop coughing! You're always whining about being tired. Once you take the medicine, get back to work."
Suppressing his emotions, Matsushita said,
"She looks quite ill. May I examine her further? It'll be free of charge."
Annoyed, the father agreed and left, barking:
"Just hurry up. She has work to do at home!"
———
An hour later, after examining her carefully, the girl asked,
"Is it serious? I hurt so much and feel so tired, but my father won't listen. He just forces me to work."
Matsushita's heart ached. He couldn't imagine how much pain she had endured.
It was terminal lung cancer.
After pausing to collect himself, he gently reassured her:
"It's okay. The pain will be gone soon, I promise."
He gave her some medicine. Under Matsushita's warm gaze, the girl gradually smiled.
"Thank you… it doesn't hurt anymore. I just feel a little sleepy."
"Sleep now. You won't hurt anymore."
As he spoke, her eyelids slowly closed. Her breathing faded, until it was gone.
Standing silently, Matsushita's youthful body seemed to slump under an invisible weight.
"I'm sorry… this was the only way I could help you."
That afternoon, her father returned and immediately turned furious:
"You quack! You killed my daughter! Now who will work and earn money?!"
He ran into the street, screaming:
"Help! This doctor killed my daughter!"
A crowd gathered, murmuring:
"Such a young quack. What a disgrace."
"Yeah, let him pay for killing a patient."
The father sneered:
"Pay up! I want everything my daughter could've earned in her lifetime. Otherwise, I'll beat you to death."
Matsushita's sorrow deepened.
What has the world become? Not one person cares about the girl's suffering or death.
Father… I can't do it…
Looking at the peaceful face of the girl, Matsushita said quietly:
"I'll pay. No need to calculate."
He tossed over a large bag of money. The father snatched it happily and left, abandoning his daughter's body without a second glance. The crowd soon dispersed.
After arranging the girl's burial, Matsushita told his concerned apprentice:
"I'm going out for a walk. If something happens to me, the clinic and all my savings are yours."
Ignoring his apprentice's protests, Matsushita walked out, his eyes vacant and lifeless.
Night had fallen.
Beneath the moonlight, he approached a river, stepping slowly into the deep water.
Medicine... what is it worth?
One can cure the body, but how does one cure the sickness of the heart?
As the icy river numbed his limbs, a cold voice suddenly echoed beside his ear:
"Are you seeking death?"
Looking up, Matsushita saw a man reclining in a tree, his face obscured, expressionlessly staring at the moon.
Matsushita answered calmly,
"Yes. I want to die."
Kibutsuji Muzan flicked his finger. A leaf sliced Matsushita's neck, and a bead of blood entered the wound.
With a flash, Kibutsuji vanished, his cold voice lingering:
"How amusing. You wish to die? Then I shall make you live."
The blood took effect instantly. Matsushita roared like a beast, his eyes turning blood-red. His mind went blank as memories faded like waves washing over sand.
Only one voice remained in his mind:
"Don't let others feel pain..."
Thus, the world lost a kind doctor named Matsushita and gained a strange man-eating demon who never allowed his prey to suffer.
———
Bathed in white light, Matsushita's face appeared gentle but full of sorrow.
With a sigh, he said to Kawanishi:
"My father was wrong. Medicine cannot save the world."
Kawanishi softly replied:
"Yes."
"Some illnesses… can never be cured."
(End of Chapter)