The smell was so thick it felt almost tangible, while the wind brushed past their ears with faint rustling sounds. Moonlight shone down without warmth, and the cold breeze made them suddenly feel chilled. Death filled the air, making each breath heavy with the truth that it was not just an idea, but something that could be smelled.
They all knew that if this pool of blood belonged to a single person, it would mean that person had been completely drained. Even for seasoned ninja, such a death inspired fear and anger. A famed Magnet Release user like Troy, a powerful ninja known across the Ninja World, had died in such a horrifying way.
"Who did this? Konoha?" Doubt and unease churned in Samui's mind as she looked again toward the deep crater in the distance. Her instincts told her that something else was still hidden there.
At the same time, in Konoha Hospital, the moon hung high outside the windows, casting pale light across the corridor floor. Wearing the Hokage Robe, Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped outside a hospital room. He looked through the observation window, his gaze flickering slightly.
Inside the white ward, the drip of the IV sounded softly, and the heart monitor traced steady lines. On the bed, Tangdong Akimichi slowly opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed being the numbness in his calves. Lifting his head, he saw a mess of black hair near his legs.
Yunchuan Hyuga was sitting on a chair at the foot of the bed, his head resting on Tangdong Akimichi's legs, fast asleep and even snoring softly. "That kid..." Tangdong Akimichi smiled wryly, feeling a quiet stir in his chest.
He glanced at the clock on the wall and estimated that a full day had passed since he forced himself back to Konoha and collapsed. If he was not mistaken, the boy had stayed by his bedside the entire time. His burned throat itched, and he could not help coughing.
Yunchuan Hyuga jolted awake and sat up straight, staring at Tangdong Akimichi on the bed. "Tangdong!" he exclaimed, hurriedly offering medicine. "Your condition right now..."
kacha. The ward door opened, and Yunchuan Hyuga instinctively turned his head. Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi standing in the moonlight, he froze for a moment and blurted out, "Third Hokage?"
"Third Hokage?"
The ward door opened. The one who walked in was Hiruzen Sarutobi, and behind him followed an unfamiliar old woman.
Hearing the surprise in Yunchuan Hyuga's voice, Hiruzen Sarutobi gave him a gentle smile and then looked at the old woman behind him with a sigh. "Sorry to trouble you, Koharu."
"All right, all right. This old woman is only good for this much anyway." Koharu Utatane shot him an annoyed look as she complained, then lifted her foot and walked toward Tangdong Akimichi.
Tangdong Akimichi had moderate burns to his respiratory tract, already affecting the trachea and main bronchi. It was like swallowing a mouthful of scorching sand, with every breath scraping his throat, a metallic smell filling his nose, as if feathers were scratching his airway again and again until the more he coughed, the worse it became.
"Cough, cough! Cough!"
At that moment, Tangdong Akimichi looked as if he were about to cough his lungs out. His hoarse coughing was harsher than the wind outside the window, and the black phlegm he spat up was mixed with blood-streaked mucus like coal dust.
Treating this kind of burn usually required lavage and removal of necrotic mucosa and soot, or even emergency intubation or a tracheotomy to prevent swelling from sealing the airway. However, Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed completely at ease with Koharu Utatane and did not even call in other Medical-nin in a hurry.
Although Koharu Utatane often seemed to sway between Danzo Shimura and Hiruzen Sarutobi, in her younger days she had been a member of an elite guard unit under the Second Hokage. That alone was enough to explain Hiruzen Sarutobi's trust.
With a soft hiss, Koharu Utatane first made an incision with a scalpel, then extended her palm in front of Tangdong Akimichi's chest. As fine streams of Chakra flowed into the wound, black and purple necrotic tissue and pus were drawn out.
Fine Affliction Extraction Technique was a B-rank medical Ninjutsu. By sensing the chaotic Chakra inside the body, it could identify the subtle sources of toxins and pathogens that harmed the human body, extracting them while also treating the damaged area. Even among medical Ninjutsu, which were generally difficult, this technique was considered high level.
Yunchuan Hyuga stared intently at Koharu Utatane's movements and even openly activated Byakugan to study them, though Hiruzen Sarutobi simply assumed it was out of concern. "Don't worry," Hiruzen Sarutobi said as he placed the Hokage Hat on the coat rack and sat down on another chair. "In all of Konoha, aside from Tsunade, it's hard to find a Medical-nin with more experience than this grandmother."
"Third Hokage…" Only then did Yunchuan Hyuga seem to relax and look away. Noticing Hiruzen Sarutobi's gentle gaze, guilt and dejection surfaced on his face.
He was about to stand up from his chair, but Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped him, resting a hand lightly on his shoulder. "Just sit. I already understand what happened, and both Tangdong and I know this wasn't your fault."
"The doctors said you were injured too. How are you feeling now?" Pressed gently back into his seat, Yunchuan Hyuga felt the warmth on his shoulder and placed his hands awkwardly on his knees, his face slightly flushed with nervous excitement.
The difference in their positions was vast, and they should never have been sitting so close and speaking like this. For that reason, Hiruzen Sarutobi was quite satisfied with how Yunchuan behaved. "Thank you for your concern. Thanks to Tangdong, I only have some minor injuries," Yunchuan Hyuga replied humbly and sincerely, meeting Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes with gratitude.
"That was no minor injury," Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed. "Aside from Tangdong, you were the closest to the blast. If it were anyone else, they would be dead or crippled."
Hearing the unspoken meaning, Yunchuan Hyuga's face paled slightly. "Third Hokage, I, I didn't mean to steal Kaiten. I just…"
"Yunchuan, I'm not blaming you," Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a smile, cutting him off. "If you and Tangdong hadn't been in front, the escort's casualties would have been much worse."
"I just didn't expect your progress to be this great, or your performance to be this outstanding." Hearing his continued gentle tone, Yunchuan Hyuga relaxed further and hesitated before speaking. "I, I don't really know why either. Ever since I activated Byakugan three months ago, my control over my body and Chakra seems stronger."
Seeing the confusion in Yunchuan Hyuga's eyes and noticing nothing overtly wrong, Hiruzen Sarutobi narrowed his eyes slightly and formed his own suspicions. Changes that appeared only after activating Byakugan three months ago, or rather, after Orochimaru defected?
It seemed Orochimaru had indeed done something to this child. No wonder he had tried to take him along when he fled. For now, nothing obvious could be seen, so keeping the child close for observation would be best.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had even forgiven and accepted people like Kakashi Hatake and Yamato, who had once tried to assassinate him and their companions, bringing them directly into ANBU as personal guards. With Yunchuan Hyuga, who clearly held the Will of Fire, there was even less reason to push him away. At least for now, Yunchuan Hyuga's character and loyalty were sound, and his strength and talent seemed to have improved through misfortune, perhaps completed by Orochimaru.