Chapter 348: Suspicion Rises Again
"Dan! How do you feel? You've been asleep for so long; your body is very weak..."
Tsunade was already weeping, constantly wiping her tears with her sleeve, but she didn't forget to ask about Dan Kato's condition.
However, in the next moment, Dan suddenly raised his hand and tried to strangle Tsunade.
Tsunade, still wiping her tears, didn't react at all, but Tobirama Senju beside her grabbed Dan's withered arm.
"What are you doing?!" Tobirama growled.
Tsunade asked in surprise, "Granduncle, what's wrong?"
Tobirama stared seriously at Dan's blood-red eyes. Although the man's expression was as blank as a puppet, the color of those eyes unsettled him, triggering bad associations.
"Tsunade, be careful! This guy isn't right..."
Tsunade was just too excited earlier. Having nursed him for years, she naturally knew Dan's eyes were green until today. She was somewhat alert too, but Dan waking up was the most important thing; she could accept anything else.
"Dan! Do your eyes feel uncomfortable?"
One of Dan's hands was gripped by Tobirama, but he wasn't compliant. His skeletal body unexpectedly burst with significant strength as his other hand formed a knife-hand strike, stabbing toward Tobirama's abdomen.
As an Edo Tensei body, Tobirama naturally didn't fear such attacks, but he still threw Dan away. With a flick of his right hand, several kunai and explosive tags appeared in his grasp.
Tsunade immediately blocked in front of Dan. "Granduncle... don't be impulsive!"
"This guy definitely has a problem!"
Tsunade knew Dan's changes were strange, but after waiting bitterly for years, how could she let her granduncle attack him?
"Traumatic amnesia! Granduncle, Dan has been in a coma for too long. His memory might be confused; he needs time to recover. He probably still thinks he's in the war!"
At this moment, the focus finally returned to Dan's blank red eyes as he looked at the figure in front of him. "You are... Tsunade..."
He had said this before and repeated it now.
His voice was raspy and dry, seemingly from disuse.
"Dan... it's me, I'm Tsunade... Don't get agitated. Granduncle saved you... There are no enemies here, don't be nervous... The war is over..."
Tsunade extended her hands to show she was unarmed, soothing Dan's emotions.
More and more light returned to Dan's red eyes, and finally, he seemed to truly lower his guard.
"War... is over? Tsunade...?"
Tsunade stepped forward and hugged Dan tightly. Not far away, the wariness and displeasure on Tobirama's face were undisguised.
Two Hours Later.
After applying to Yoshitoki, Tsunade was allowed to use the most advanced equipment in the research base to conduct a comprehensive examination of the awakened Dan Kato.
Fortunately, during the series of checks, apart from being a bit weak and wooden, Dan showed no more aggression and seemed to trust Tsunade very much.
Hearing that Dan had awakened, even Yoshitoki came to watch with interest. This patient had been in the research base for years; as the highest person in charge, he naturally knew the twists and turns involved.
Outside the examination room, Tobirama and Yoshitoki watched Tsunade examining Dan through the glass wall.
Their expressions were different. Yoshitoki was genuinely curious, while Tobirama's face was solemn and vigilant.
"Yoshitoki-senpai... do you think this guy is normal?"
Yoshitoki rubbed his chin. "Honestly, your method of awakening him is too unique, unprecedented. Waking him up at all is already a miracle; I can't judge."
Tobirama stared at the gaunt Dan being manipulated by Tsunade. "He gives me a very wrong feeling... a very cold and gloomy feeling. Although I don't know his past well, this is completely different from the Dan Kato Tsunade described."
Yoshitoki laughed. "Sometimes you can't trust your intuition too much; better to trust the data. The human body is magical. Honestly, after being in a coma for so long and involving the soul, strange things happening is normal. How about this: after Tsunade finishes, I'll examine him personally. Of course, from a medical perspective; I'm not familiar with the soul domain."
Tobirama knew Yoshitoki's methods and nodded. "Thank you, Senpai."
A while later, Tsunade walked out with Dan's report.
"Vital signs are fairly normal. The eye color seems to be a mutation of the iris. Fortunately, visual function and color recognition are fine..."
After listening, Yoshitoki said, "Do you mind if I check him? I'm quite curious about his current condition."
Tsunade hesitated but nodded. "Please trouble yourself. But Dan's memory is damaged, so please don't let him see that... I'm worried he'll get nervous."
Yoshitoki's level was naturally much higher than hers, and she hoped that if there were any problems with Dan, they would be found and solved early.
Yoshitoki nodded indifferently and entered the ward through the isolation door, followed by Tobirama. Dan showed no reaction to their arrival, still sitting blankly on the bed.
To avoid scaring him, Yoshitoki circled behind him. Extending a finger, black tendrils snaked out and lightly pierced Dan's back.
Injecting a slight paralyzing toxin, Dan didn't feel anything entering his body at all.
At least he showed no reaction...
Before long, Yoshitoki retracted the tendrils, deep in thought.
Tsunade asked nervously, "Master Yoshitoki, how is Dan's condition?"
Yoshitoki hesitated. "How should I put it... his condition is good, but a bit too good... I can't speak for the soul, but physically, based on my experience, a patient comatose for four years—no matter how well nursed—shouldn't recover this well upon waking... He even has a not-insignificant amount of chakra stored in his body... I heard you fought when he first woke up?"
Tobirama said expressionlessly, "Yes. This guy only looks weak; his strength isn't small..."
"Very strange... Tsunade, when was the last time you tested him? I mean before he woke up. Bring it to me."
Tsunade hurriedly said, "Just two days ago. I update Dan's data every two days. I'll get it right away."
Tsunade rushed off to get the report. Now only the three remained in the ward. Yoshitoki and Tobirama exchanged a glance.
Yoshitoki said, "There is a method we can try."
"What method?"
"Try Edo Tensei again—the normal version. If this person is indeed Dan Kato, your Edo Tensei should have absolutely no effect."
Beside them, Dan Kato still sat woodenly on the bed, as if he didn't care about anything they said.
Other Side of the Ninja World, Konoha.
It was late at night. Orochimaru, pretending to leave for home, secretly sneaked back into the laboratory.
The Inspectorate had been watching him, but he was confident no one would discover today's experiment.
In the secret room he excavated, Orochimaru was preparing to make an attempt.
A huge glass tank was pushed to the center of the Edo Tensei formation. Inside floated a tall, white-haired man, naked, bobbing up and down in the fluorescent green liquid.
Orochimaru stood before the tank, spacing out for a moment.
"Just an experiment. Doesn't matter if it fails... At worst, I'll just chat with a certain idiot..."
He stepped back outside the formation, carefully checking the Edo Tensei array he had carved.
If Tobirama Senju were here, he would see that Orochimaru's array, like his own previously, had undergone numerous modifications.
"Using a clone without a soul as a sacrifice to pull a soul from the Pure Land back to the living world and seal it inside the shell—what will the effect be...? Will it create true resurrection... or... just become an ordinary Edo Tensei body...?"
Orochimaru checked the details one last time, then formed hand seals and slammed one hand onto the ground.
"Edo Tensei!"
Chakra surged forward along the formation. Inexplicable dust rose, attempting to cover the sacrifice, but was blocked by the liquid-filled tank.
In a vision invisible to ordinary people, chains were trying to bind something into the naked body but couldn't find the way, deadlocked for a long time.
"Did it fail?"
In Orochimaru's vision, the Edo Tensei formation was silent with no reaction. He waited for a while, disappointed.
The chains continued to struggle, but some invisible force kept stopping them.
Just then, a certain power flashed, and the obstruction to the chains vanished. They successfully pulled the soul into the body.
The tall body inside the tank clenched its hand unconsciously.
Orochimaru's eyes widened.
"What happened? Success on the first try?"
Even he hadn't held much hope.
In the next moment, the body suddenly opened its eyes.
The pupils, which should have been black, were now red...