Two days later, in a ward in the Hidden Rain Village.
A red-haired man was lying on the hospital bed, with a circle of black metal studs around the edges of his ears, giving off a unique aura.
Nagato slowly opened his eyes, the piercing light made him instinctively close them.
"I'm... not dead?"
Nagato struggled to lift his arm, the two rows of black metal nails came into view, and seemingly recalling something, his eyes widened a bit.
He was lying flat! It had been more than ten years since he last experienced lying flat on a bed; for the past decades, he'd slept standing, like a horse.
"It seems the surgery was successful, the organism in the chest is gone, the organs are revitalized, the spine... has returned to normal, and the signal receiver is perfectly embedded; had the melee fighter considered this long ago?"
