Under the firm insistence of the medical ninja, Takeshi followed Kushina and the others to Konoha Hospital.
On the way, upon seeing the devastation along the streets, Takeshi and the others realized why reinforcements had taken so long to arrive.
The enemy had launched a two-pronged assault on Konoha.
This was a huge problem. Originally, in the canon, only Obito kept stirring up trouble, but now there were two separate groups eyeing Konoha like a predator.
After completing the examination, Takeshi lay on the hospital bed, staring up at the ceiling, deep in thought.
The Uchiha who attacked Kushina used a dōjutsu that altered others' perception and reversed their field of vision—it was a type of instant-kill visual jutsu.
Though troublesome, as long as one adapted to the new perspective, it was barely possible to move normally. Didn't Kakashi manage a surprise attack relying on just that?
Come to think of it, he could completely use the sensory enhancement from Sage Mode to block out vision and rely solely on perception.
He'd go with that next time!
After reviewing the battle in his mind, Takeshi realized there were many areas he could improve.
Yeah, if he could remember all this the next time they met, he'd do it that way!
Imagining countless ways to counter the opponent in his mind, Takeshi grinned and let out a strange laugh, determined to avenge the stabbing he'd suffered.
This laugh startled Obito, who was standing guard outside the hospital room.
"What the heck? Is this place haunted?"
The eerie laughter gave Obito goosebumps. Eyes wide, he instinctively moved closer to Kakashi as he looked down the dim corridor.
"Stay away from me."
Kakashi rolled his eyes and pushed him aside, patiently waiting for Takeshi's test results.
"Obito, Kakashi."
Soon, Rin, who'd been called in for emergency duty, arrived.
Waving at the two of them with a smile, Rin handed Kakashi Takeshi's report.
"Takeshi is in good health, no issues at all. Your reports will be ready shortly."
"Mm, thanks for your hard work."
Kakashi flipped through the report, and upon confirming nothing was wrong, finally relaxed.
"What about you two? Are you going to stay overnight at the hospital or...?"
Seeing Kakashi fall silent, Rin asked curiously.
"Beds must be tight, right? The whole second-floor corridor was full of injured shinobi."
Carefully putting away Takeshi's report, Kakashi looked up at Rin.
"Yeah, both single and shared rooms are completely full. And that's even with shinobi from the major clans going back to their compounds for treatment. There are already quite a few people lying in the corridors."
This was Rin's first time seeing something like this—her tone was filled with astonishment.
"I'll just sleep in this hallway tonight. It's almost dawn anyway." Kakashi glanced at the time, unconcerned.
"Then I'll stay too." Obito followed up immediately, saying he'd stay here as well.
Hearing their replies, Rin smiled and nodded.
"In that case, don't just sleep in the hallway. I'll go find two folding chairs—you two can rest in Takeshi's room."
Without waiting for a reply, Rin turned and left to find chairs.
...
At the break of dawn, Hiruzen, who hadn't slept all night, arrived at the Hokage Office.
In the main seat sat Sakumo, who had fought against Sasori. He hadn't even taken off his battle gear—after receiving basic treatment, he'd gone straight back to work.
Not far away, Jiraiya lay flat on a bench, snoring loudly.
He only stirred awake when Koharu and Homura entered the office.
"The Sunagakure shinobi who attacked the main gate fled."
Seeing everyone had arrived, Sakumo explained why he hadn't been able to assist in time. He also revealed the identity of the puppet Sasori had controlled:
"The puppet the enemy used should be the missing Third Kazekage."
"The Third Kazekage? Turned into a puppet? And Sunagakure dares to accuse us of murdering him?"
Homura was visibly upset.
"Yaaawn... That immortal guy escaped. He was rescued by a Uchiha." Jiraiya yawned and shared the intel from his end.
"So you're saying, not a single attacker was captured—they all got away?"
Koharu frowned deeply, clearly dissatisfied with the outcome.
Before coming here, she had visited Konoha Hospital to assess the losses. A large number of Chūnin and Jōnin, promoted during the war, had died, plunging Konoha—only recently recovering—back into a state of lacking manpower.
Not to mention the buildings destroyed by Susanoo.
"The one who attacked Kushina during childbirth was also a Uchiha." Minato, standing behind Sakumo, had a serious expression.
"A Uchiha... there were two of them? Where did they even come from?"
Homura's expression grew darker—clearly unhappy about the Uchiha's betrayal.
"Should we conduct an investigation of the Uchiha clan?"
Koharu tentatively asked.
"That would be unwise."
Sakumo was the first to object.
"This assault would've caused far more damage if the Uchiha hadn't stepped up to fight. Investigating them now would only alienate the entire clan."
Hiruzen nodded in agreement.
"That's right."
If it weren't for Fugaku, he might've been smashed to death by Susanoo.
"But Fugaku concealed the fact that he has the Mangekyō Sharingan..."
Homura voiced his concerns.
"That was because the previous circumstances didn't allow him to speak of it." Hiruzen understood Fugaku's mindset well—after all, the Uchiha had long been suspected by the higher-ups.
Especially by Danzō—he might as well have tattooed 'Uchiha discrimination' on his face.
"What's more baffling now is—how did the attackers know the exact time and place of Kushina's delivery?"
Strongly opposing the idea of investigating the Uchiha, Hiruzen redirected the conversation.
"Aside from us present, the only others who knew were the Third—your personal ANBU—and the three guards: Takeshi, Obito, and Kakashi."
"Takeshi and Kakashi clearly wouldn't leak information. And your personal ANBU all died in the assault. I really can't figure out how they got the intel."
Homura and Koharu both looked grim as they laid out their reasoning.
"Yeah... just how did they find out..." Sakumo and the others all began to ponder.
After another half-hour of fruitless discussion, unable to figure out the source of the leak, they decided to set the issue aside for now.
The urgent matter was to tally the damages and begin rebuilding the destroyed buildings.
They also needed to keep news of Konoha's attack under wraps, to prevent the other hidden villages from getting any bright ideas.
To that end, after some deliberation, they decided to mobilize Chūnin and Jōnin who weren't seriously injured, sending them out on missions.
This was their way of covering up the extent of Konoha's casualties.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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