Souji blinked at Rina's name, and the other doctors, who had watched from the sidelines, lost their composure. As murmurs of surprise went around, their faces went from expressions of doubtful indifference to gradual understanding and finally to awe-struck wonder.
They had thought that Souji's answers were just uncontrollable twitches or the voices of a crazy person. Such reasons are no longer valid because Rina's name was carefully and purposefully chosen. This time, just one word, spoken with strong will and thought, put an end to all questions.
Ryu gave Souji a small, encouraging nod, his own eyes showing a hint of rare emotion—a quiet satisfaction that bordered on pride. "Good, Souji. That's excellent. I will try my best to help you. This treatment will need months of meticulous preparation. I need to call a few more experts and make a concrete plan after consultation. But I do have a rough plan. But I must be honest; it will not be easy. The first thing I want from you is to not lose hope. Can you do that for me...? Keep the hope alive?"
Souji's eyes focused, and he blinked once. Long, clear, meaningful. A single, resolute 'yes' that echoed with an almost desperate will to live, to fight.
Ryu looked at Doctor Hoshino, whose professional demeanour had been unshakeable moments earlier but was now a pale canvas of disbelief. "I hope you don't mind if I take my time, Doctor. Patience, after all, is a virtue in medicine, isn't it?" His voice was calm, almost saccharine, a subtle barb veiled in politeness.
Doctor Hoshino seemed to physically recoil, as if struck. Her voice, usually composed, sputtered with a mixture of shock and lingering, desperate conviction. "Take all the time in the world, young man," she managed, her words clipped. "But I still think that organ donation is the most practical course of action."
Doctor Hoshino looked at Souji and said, "His body is deteriorating rapidly; prolonged life support would only delay the inevitable and consume valuable chances for organ donation. And frankly, prolong his suffering with little hope of meaningful recovery."
Rina, her face stained with tears but her voice now ringing with fierce indignation, shot back, "He's alive! He just spelt my name!" Her voice cracked with raw emotion, a desperate plea for recognition of Souji's humanity.
Suddenly, Souji's eyes began to blink frantically once more, in a rapid and agitated sequence that surpassed the previous slow blinking.
"He's saying something else!" Ryu interrupted, his voice sharp, immediately turning back to the board and starting to write the newly blinked letters, his marker scratching against the dry-erase surface with a deliberate, almost theatrical flourish.
001: U
1000: B
000: I
100: T
1010: C
0000: H
As Ryu finished writing, he straightened up, stepping back from the board. He then read the spelt-out word aloud, his voice flat, devoid of emotion, as if simply stating a fact. "YOU BITCH!"
He then looked directly at Doctor Hoshino, a slight, almost imperceptible smirk touching his lips, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "He said it, Doctor. Not me."
Doctor Hoshino's jaw dropped. Her already pale face turned a deep, mortified red. Outraged and humiliated, she choked out a sound. She looked as if she'd just been personally reprimanded by a ghost, slapped by a phantom limb.
Hoshino was alone in her mortification, as the other doctors shuffled out of the room, their scepticism replaced by a stunned silence.
"Alright," Ryu announced, turning to Tsunade, then back to Rina. "I think we should leave them alone for a bit." He gestured towards Souji and Rina, a gentle understanding in his eyes. "They have too much to share now that they have a way to communicate."
Ryu ushered Tsunade and the medical staff out of the room. Tsunade paused, looking at the person on the bed and the crying girl in his hand. She nodded and followed Ryu out, the room's door softly closing behind them, sealing the two young souls in their newfound, silent conversation.
Once they were in the quiet of the hallway, Tsunade turned to Ryu, her expression serious, though a faint hint of amusement lingered in her eyes. "So, you have him cursing people. What's next?"
Ryu paused, his expression contemplative as a realisation slowly dawned on him, a mix of determination and contemplation crossing his features. Then, an idea sparked, a mischievous glint returning to his eyes. "Auntie Tsunade," he began, his voice filled with newfound energy, "do you have a direct line of communication through your summon to the Leaf Village?"
Tsunade's eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of surprise in their depths. ""Yes," she replied firmly. "I can send a message directly through Katsuyu if necessary. Why?"
Ryu's smile widened, a confident, almost audacious grin. "Perfect."
They quickly moved to Tsunade's makeshift office—a guest room in the hospital now serving as her temporary headquarters. A small part of the Katsuyu clone was already on the table.
Ryu addressed her directly, his voice clear and earnest, devoid of his usual playful banter. "Aunty Katsuyu," he began, his gaze unwavering, a rare honorific from the boy.
Katsuyu twitched her antennae, acknowledging the unusual address. Ryu continued, his voice firm with purpose. "Please tell Grandfather and Mother Yuki that I need their help with a patient. I can't do this alone."
Moments later, the Katsuyu clone moved gently and replied, her voice a soft, resonant echo. "Yes, Ryu-kun."
In Leaf Village, another Katsuyu clone received the memory of the other clone; it took a few fractions of a second.
Katsuyu repeated the message remotely. "I sent your message, Ryu-kun, and Lady Yuki said, 'Oh, is our darling Ryu once again trying to generously share his achievements with Dan and me, just like with that healing seal? How considerate of him!"
Ryu watched Katsuyu tell him about Yuki's funny comment with a small twitch in the corner of his mouth. He could almost hear her smile from miles away.
Katsuyu continued, relaying the next part of Yuki's statement. "Mother Yuki states it is dangerous. Dan also has a bounty on his head. She will arrange a guard mission, but before that, she needs to talk to Dan and also with Lord Hokage."
He addressed the slug again, his gaze steady. "Aunty Katsuyu, please tell Mother Yuki to have many guards and not care about cost. I'll see you soon."
The Katsuyu clone acknowledged with a nod of her antennae-like eyes and proclaimed, "I have conveyed your message, Ryu-kun; Lady Yuki said to take care."
With that, the Katsuyu clone's call ended. Ryu thought, "I need to hurry up with telephones." Most of the groundwork was already done for a small city-range network, but there was still some work left.
Tsunade turned to Ryu with an expectant gaze, her golden eyes piercing. "Now, don't keep me in suspense, Ryu. You know I hate it. What's your plan?"
Ryu didn't hesitate, his features settling into a serious focus, all traces of mischief gone. "Parts of Souji's brain that manage motor function are damaged."
As Tsunade thought about the hard things she had to deal with as a medical ninja for years, her face turned dull and her eyes grew far away. "Then there is no healing him." Her voice was soft, but it had the firmness of a master medic. She had said this truth many times before.
Ryu nodded slowly, acknowledging her assessment. "I agree with you."
"Then why," Tsunade pressed, a hint of frustration starting to show in her voice, "did you take up the challenge to make him better?"
The brain is the most intricate and challenging organ in the human body to treat. Unlike other parts of the body that possessed pain receptors to signal injury and trigger protective instincts, the brain itself had none. As a result of this lack of warning signals, damage in the brain often becomes severe by the time it is noticed. Although the brain can occasionally rewire itself to compensate for injuries, such occurrences are too rare, unpredictable, and unreliable for medical prediction or treatment. The accepted medical consensus, within the shinobi world too, was that severe brain trauma was, for all practical purposes, irreversible.
He paused, allowing his words to settle, before meeting Tsunade's gaze with a confident, almost audacious glint in his eyes.
"Because that is what I am going to do. Make him better…"
"What…?" Tsunade blinked, genuinely bewildered, her famous temper momentarily forgotten in her confusion. "But you and I just agreed there is no healing from brain injury."
Ryu offered a small, knowing smile, a glint of audacious ambition in his eyes. "Yes, but I am not going to heal him..."
"Then what...?" Tsunade demanded, leaning forward, her patience wearing thin, her curiosity now fully ignited.
Ryu's smile got bigger when he finally explained his big plan. As he spoke, Tsunade's initial doubt slowly turned into shock, and she couldn't help but widen her eyes. Finally, she felt a spark of real awe.
The idea was so outrageously brilliant and against all medical norms that it took her breath away for a moment.
**
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