"Well, this is..."
Inside the hospital room, Jiraiya stood at the foot of the bed, having dropped his usual frivolousness. His gaze rested on Hyūga Kawa's pale face, and he scratched his hair in frustration.
"We finally found the 'Child of Prophecy,' and now he's ended up like this again."
He sighed, "Don't just sleep through this, you hear? This turbulent world needs a guy like you."
Tsunade didn't scold him for his ramblings as usual. She simply walked to the bedside, reached out to touch Hyūga Kawa, and examined his physical condition.
His life functions—breathing, heartbeat, pulse, blood pressure—were extremely weak. Ordinary clinical methods could barely detect vital signs...
Clearly, he was in a state of "weak death," or what is commonly known as being "clinically dead."
"Do you believe the Old Man and those two old geezers' suspicions?" Jiraiya couldn't help but frown, watching her actions.
"..." Tsunade briefly glanced sideways at him but offered no explanation. She muttered to herself in a low voice, "The preliminary casualty report for the village is out. It's devastating."
"If it weren't for that kid's final burst of power, which saved many people, the number would be even more terrifying."
She paused, then continued, "That kid did something none of us could."
"Of course," Jiraiya said. "He is the Child of Prophecy."
For the first time, Tsunade did not refute his so-called "prophecy."
The two walked out of the hospital room.
"You've slept long enough, time to wake up, hasn't it?"
Kakashi walked slowly to the bedside, hands in his pockets. His gaze swept over the various instruments before settling on Hyūga Kawa's tightly shut eyes.
"There's a limit to how much you can slack off, damn it," he murmured.
Just then, a ragged gasp and sniffle came from nearby. Kakashi turned his head, the corner of his dead-fish eyes twitching.
He saw Might Guy burying his face in Kakashi's shoulder, his shoulders heaving. Tears and snot were wiping onto Kakashi's vest, causing Kakashi to sigh helplessly.
Hyūga Iroha and Hyūga Komon walked into the room, their expressions far heavier and more confused than anyone else's.
"Iroha."
Looking at Hyūga Kawa on the bed, Hyūga Komon whispered to Iroha beside him, "Did we do the wrong thing? Did we cause Big Brother Kawa to become like this?"
"If we hadn't accepted that Hyūga Neji's proposal and waited for Big Brother Kawa to return, maybe we wouldn't have..."
Hyūga Iroha pressed his lips tightly, remaining silent for a long time before finally saying, "I don't know."
"But I think that if Lord Kawa had been here at the time, he absolutely wouldn't have just stood by and watched you be executed by the Main House."
"..."
Uchiha Shisui, supported by Sasuke, entered the room. Though his eyes, wrapped in black cloth, could not see, he faced the direction of Hyūga Kawa.
"Sasuke, I once believed that possessing powerful eyes allowed one to see further."
His tone was meaningful as he spoke softly to Sasuke beside him, "But when I lost my eyes, and began to 'see' the people and things around me with my Mind's Eye, I finally understood everything."
"Being unable to see as I am now is, from a certain perspective, a kind of luck."
He tilted his head slightly, as if looking at Hyūga Kawa, "Yet, even so, I still haven't truly seen clearly what kind of person he is."
After all the visitors had left, the Third Hokage finally brought Naruto into the hospital room.
Naruto's azure eyes quietly watched Hyūga Kawa on the bed. His face showed little emotion, only a settled calm.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stroked his head and asked, "Naruto, won't you say something?"
Naruto shook his head, his voice calm, "He will wake up."
He then turned and walked toward the door. Hiruzen Sarutobi's hand, which had been stroking his hair, hung suspended in the air.
A moment later, he slowly lowered his hand and turned to look at Hyūga Kawa on the bed.
"..."
Looking at the incredibly dim Cage Bird Seal on Hyūga Kawa's forehead, deep within Hiruzen Sarutobi's cloudy eyes, a hardening suspicion and a subtle chill began to emerge.
Hyūga Kawa, what kind of person are you, really?
Orochimaru's defection, the massacre of the Hyūga Main House, and the subsequent Akatsuki attack...
All these things seem unrelated to you, merely coincidences, yet you have used them to break free from the Main House's constraints and gained both public favor and immense prestige.
As the biggest beneficiary, what role did you play in all of this?
Of your actions and words toward me, toward others, and toward Konoha, how much was genuine, and how much was merely an act?
What is your true objective?
The title of Hokage? Or something more?
If you truly become Hokage, where will you lead Konoha, and will you still be that Hyūga Kawa?
Staring intensely at Hyūga Kawa's face, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a sense of powerlessness.
He couldn't see through him.
It felt like staring into a bottomless abyss, and something monstrous seemed to stare back from below the depths.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was afraid.
Beep... Beep...
Late into the night, the hospital room was left with only the faint glow of the instruments and the dim moonlight filtering in through the window.
Danzo Shimura emerged from the shadows. Leaning on his cane, he walked to the bedside and coldly looked down at the unconscious Hyūga Kawa. There was no sympathy or worry on his face, only scrutiny.
"You've been acting for long enough, haven't you?"
His voice was low and hoarse: "A guy as ambitious and deep in calculation as you would never sacrifice his life for others."
Thinking about the Caged Bird Curse Mark he managed to extract from Hyūga Hiashi's mouth, despite failing to acquire a Vasto Lorde-level Hollow a cold sneer flashed across Danzo's face.
With this, as long as I help this puppet, Hyūga Kawa, rise to the top, the Hokage position will be mine.
Just then, the faint sound of footsteps and a rolling cart came from outside the room.
Click.
The hospital door was pushed open, and the night-shift nurse rolled a small cart in.
There was no one else in the room besides Hyūga Kawa. Only the window, which had been opened a crack at some unknown time, allowed the cold night wind to flutter the curtains, swaying restlessly.
The nurse walked over, closed the window, and then began the routine check of the instrument data.
Inside the hospital room, it was as if nothing had happened. Only Hyūga Kawa lay there quietly, seemingly oblivious to everything that had transpired that day.
Meanwhile, in the hastily constructed temporary Hokage office.
"Hoo!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep drag on his pipe, inhaled the smoke, held his breath, and finally exhaled the smoke.
He looked down at the intelligence report submitted by the ANBU. His aged face was shrouded in smoke, obscuring his expression.
Just then, a crisp knock broke the silence of the room.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Come in," Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice was hoarse with fatigue.
The door was gently pushed open, and Hyūga Aoi walked in.
She approached the desk, bowed respectfully to Hiruzen Sarutobi, and said in a calm tone, "Lord Third, you summoned me?"
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