Seeing Veigar's gloomy, undisguised expression, Hiashi knew it would likely be very difficult to get Veigar to hand over the Samehada.
'Lord Third, you've really given me a difficult task.'
At this moment, Hiashi couldn't help but inwardly complain about Hiruzen.
But complaints aside, one still had to listen to their superior, right?
"Lord Third hopes you prioritize the bigger picture. The spoils of war you and Duy obtained from the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist will serve as leverage for our negotiations with Kirigakure."
"It could very well prevent Kirigakure from joining this war, or even lead to an alliance with Konoha."
Hiashi didn't relay Hiruzen's exact words but instead rephrased them.
He couldn't directly order Veigar to surrender the Samehada with the same forceful tone Hiruzen used in his command.
The order Hiashi received was to quickly send those five swords back to Konoha.
Hiashi had already had a headache then, and now seeing Veigar's attitude, his headache only worsened.
At this moment, Hiashi was also relieved that he hadn't immediately executed Hiruzen's order, or he would have offended Veigar.
Hiashi naturally had his own judgment about Veigar. Given the strength and talent Veigar had shown, he felt it was best not to offend him, but rather to befriend him.
What Hiashi was doing wasn't exactly defying orders, but rather making a slight adjustment. Hiruzen wanted the Samehada in Veigar's possession, so he would let Veigar bring it back personally.
This was Hiashi's plan!
"What?"
"Lord Third not only wants my Samehada, but also Duy-senpai's spoils of war?"
Looking at Hiashi, Veigar, guessing his thoughts, asked mockingly.
Before Hiashi could answer, Veigar changed the subject. Guessing that Hiashi was merely acting as a messenger, he then said:
"Hiashi-senpai, the Samehada is with you now, right?"
"Bring it over!"
"As for Lord Third wanting me to hand over the Samehada, I'll personally speak to Lord Third about it once I return to the village."
Hiashi gave an awkward smile, and realizing his thoughts had been seen through by Veigar, he quickly regained his composure, nodding and replying:
"It has indeed been sealed. I'll have someone bring it to you shortly."
After leaving Veigar's hospital room and heading towards the command post, Hiashi, through his brief interaction with Veigar, now understood that his twin brother, Hizashi's, assessment of Veigar had been far too modest.
In the hospital room, after Hiashi left, Veigar soon received the temporarily sealed Samehada.
After easily undoing the seal on the Samehada, the Samehada, extending its small head, immediately conveyed a sense of aggrievedness.
Upon seeing this, Veigar couldn't help but inwardly chuckle.
However, he also knew that the Samehada was currently in a weakened state. In order to gain Veigar's chakra, it had transferred all its stored chakra to Might Duy.
"Alright, I'll give it to you now."
Saying this, the weakened Veigar extracted a small amount of chakra and transferred it to the Samehada, appeasing its aggrieved feelings.
After the transfer, seeing the Samehada still not satisfied, Veigar could only say to it:
"I'm very weak right now too. Once I fully recover in a few days, I'll feed you until you're stuffed."
Patting the Samehada, Veigar spoke to it.
The Samehada seemed not to believe what Veigar said, coiling its small head around Veigar's body. Veigar, unsure what the Samehada intended, let it be.
However, Veigar didn't expect that after coiling around him, the Samehada would actually return about half of the chakra Veigar had just given it.
Moreover, this half of the chakra, after being converted by the Samehada, actually accelerated his recovery.
Yet, Veigar Koshima's gratefulness lasted less than a second before he was exasperated.
This was because the emotion the Samehada conveyed to him was a desire for him to recover quickly so it could absorb his chakra.
'This broken blade, sooner or later I'll...'
...
In a flash, Veigar spent another five days in the field hospital, and he had fully recovered.
He also used the Ultra-Fast Regeneration Technique on Might Duy once more. Although Might Duy's injuries had improved after Veigar's second treatment, he remained unconscious.
For Might Duy to regain consciousness, it would likely require Tsunade's personal intervention.
In the field hospital, Veigar looked at Might Duy, who had been moved onto a transport stretcher, and said to Might Guy:
"Guy, don't worry!"
"Your father will be fine. I've already sent a message to Tsunade-sama. Once we return to Konoha, I believe Tsunade-sama will fully heal Duy-senpai."
Might Guy looked at Might Duy on the transport stretcher and nodded heavily at Veigar.
"You all take good care of Duy-senpai. Leave the rest to me."
"Let's move out."
Seeing that everything was ready, Veigar immediately instructed Might Guy, Genma, and Ebisu. Then, the group of five left the frontline command post.
Aside from the Samehada being carried on Veigar's back, the other four blades were in sealing scrolls.
...
Meanwhile, Tsunade, who was originally on the Kikyo Pass border, was now rushing back towards Konoha with her assistant, Shizune.
With the Sand Shinobi not yet surrendered, Tsunade naturally couldn't leave casually, nor did Veigar's message hold that much weight.
The reason Tsunade left Kikyo Pass was, firstly, because she knew the person she was treating was the "Konoha's Blue Beast," Might Duy, whose name had recently spread throughout the ninja world.
Speaking of Might Duy, Tsunade had some impression of him. Even before she became a Genin, Might Duy was already a Genin in the village, and all these years later, Might Duy was still a Genin.
However, these weren't the main reasons for Tsunade's impression of Might Duy.
The key was that Tsunade knew that although Might Duy was the village's Eternal Genin, he was a friend of the former Konoha's White Fang, Sakumo Hatake.
This was why Tsunade had an impression of Might Duy.
So, she wanted to see with her own eyes how severe the injuries were for Konoha's Blue Beast, who single-handedly reduced the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist to three.
Moreover, she felt that a ninja like Might Duy, who was wholeheartedly devoted to the village, shouldn't die like this.
As for the other reason, it wasn't Veigar's doing, but Hiruzen's recall order, hoping she would treat the unconscious Might Duy.
One of the reasons Hiruzen issued the recall order for Tsunade at this time was an intelligence report Veigar wrote to him in Might Guy's name.
The general gist was that if Hiruzen wanted Might Duy's spoils of war, the four swords, as leverage for negotiations with Kirigakure, then he should have Tsunade return to the village to treat Might Duy.
Hiruzen, wanting those four blades, considered it and then issued the command to summon Tsunade back to the village.
Veigar didn't know how the sword that should have been inherited by Might Guy after Might Duy's death in the original story returned to Kirigakure; he didn't care about that.
However, Hiruzen wanting him to hand over the Samehada was currently one hundred percent impossible, with no room for negotiation.
The Samehada was of utmost importance to Veigar's plans, so he absolutely couldn't hand it over at this time.
In the intelligence scroll sent to Hiruzen, Veigar did not mention the Samehada. He believed Hiruzen would understand his meaning.
Along the way, Veigar also thought about what he would do after returning to the village. In his plan, he still lacked two and a half crucial ninjutsu.
As for why "half," it was because although he hadn't yet obtained the Eight Gates Formation, Might Guy had already agreed to teach it to him.
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TN: This fanfic has been fully translated and is available on my Patreon —— patreon(.)com/PrimalDemon [remove the parentheses ( )]