"Lord Third?"
The door of the ward was pushed open.
The one who walked in was Sarutobi Hiruzen.
However, behind him followed a strange old woman.
Hearing Hyūga Kumokawa's surprised tone, Sarutobi Hiruzen gave him a gentle smile, then turned to the old woman behind him with a sigh:
"I'll trouble you, Koharu."
"Alright, alright, this old woman only has this little use left anyway."
Turning Koharu shot him a glance, complaining impatiently. She then lifted her feet and walked toward Akimichi Todo.
Akimichi Todo had suffered moderate burns to his respiratory tract, already extending to the trachea and main bronchi.
It was as if he had swallowed a mouthful of scalding sand and gravel—every breath scraped against his throat.
The smell of rust and blood filled his nasal cavity. Like feathers scratching again and again inside the windpipe, the more he coughed the itchier it became, and the itchier it became the more he coughed.
"Cough! Cough! Cough!"
At this moment, Akimichi Todo seemed about to cough out his lungs.
The hoarse, tearing cough sounded even more miserable than the wind outside the window.
What he coughed up was black sputum, thick with streaks of blood and clotted filth like coal slag.
To treat such burns usually required irrigation and removal of necrotic mucosa and soot, even urgent tracheal intubation or tracheotomy to prevent the swollen throat from sealing the airway shut.
However, Sarutobi Hiruzen seemed to place great trust in Utatane Koharu, not even summoning other medical-nin in haste.
Don't look down on Koharu just because she sometimes appeared to be a fence-sitter between Shimura Danzō and Sarutobi Hiruzen—when she was young, she was at least one of the elite guard squad members under the Second Hokage.
Zi!
Only to see Turning Koharu first cut open the affected Utatane with a scalpel, then stretched out her palm in front of Akimichi Todo.
As chakra flowed finely into the wound, black-purple necrotic mucosa and pus-filled blood were extracted.
Technique of Extracting the Fine Affliction—a B-rank medical ninjutsu.
By sensing the chaos of chakra within the body, one could discern the minute origins of toxins and pathogens harmful to the human body, extracting the poisons while simultaneously healing the injured tissues.
Even among medical techniques—which were already notoriously difficult—this jutsu was considered one of the more advanced.
Hyūga Kumokawa stared fixedly at Utatane Koharu's movements, even openly activating his Byakugan to secretly learn.
Yet Sarutobi Hiruzen only assumed it was out of worry.
"Don't worry." Sarutobi Hiruzen set the Hokage's hat upon the coat rack and sat down on another chair, speaking gently, "In the whole of Konoha, aside from Tsunade, it's hard to find a medical ninja with more experience than this elder."
"Lord Third…"
Hearing this, Hyūga Kumokawa seemed to relax at last, shifting his gaze away.
Noticing Sarutobi Hiruzen's warm eyes fixed on him, his own face showed a trace of guilt and loss.
He was about to rise from his chair, but Sarutobi Hiruzen stopped him, pressing lightly on his shoulder to comfort him:
"Sit, it's fine. I already understand the general course of events. Both I and Todo know—this matter is not your fault."
"The doctor said you were injured as well. How do you feel now?"
Hyūga Kumokawa was gently pressed back into his chair.
Feeling the gentle warmth of that hand upon his shoulder, his own hands rested helplessly on his knees, his face faintly red as though somewhat nervous and stirred.
After all, the difference in their stations was as vast as heaven and earth.
To be sitting together and speaking so closely was something that should never happen in a lifetime.
That was why Kumokawa's demeanor made Sarutobi Hiruzen very satisfied.
"Thank you for your concern. Thanks to Senior Todo's protection, I only suffered some minor wounds."
Hyūga Kumokawa no longer insisted on standing, meeting the Hokage's gaze with words filled with humility, sincerity, and gratitude.
"That's not minor at all." Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed. "Other than Todo, you were the closest to the blast center. Had it been someone else, they'd be crippled if not dead."
Hearing the hidden meaning in his words, Hyūga Kumokawa's face paled slightly, and he hurriedly said:
"Lord Third, I—I didn't mean to secretly learn Rotation, it's just—"
"Kumokawa, I do not blame you." Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled before he could finish. "If it weren't for you and Todo standing in front, the escort squad's casualties would have been far worse."
"I simply did not expect your progress to be so great, your performance so outstanding."
Hearing Sarutobi Hiruzen's still-gentle tone, Hyūga Kumokawa also seemed to relax, pursed his lips, and hesitated:
"I—I don't know why either. Ever since awakening my Byakugan three months ago, my control over my body and chakra seems to have become stronger."
Looking at Kumokawa's eyes full of innocent puzzlement, without detecting any anomaly, Sarutobi Hiruzen slightly narrowed his eyes, his mind forming a suspicion.
Was it a change that only appeared after awakening the Byakugan three months ago?
No—rather, after Orochimaru's defection?
It seemed Orochimaru really did something to this child.
No wonder, when escaping, he wanted to take this child along as well.
Unfortunately, there was still no visible abnormality. For now, best to keep this boy close and continue to observe.
Even Hatake Kakashi and Yamato, who once tried to assassinate him and their comrades, Hiruzen could forgive and tolerate, even taking them directly into the ANBU as personal guards.
All the more so for Hyūga Kumokawa, who always held the "Will of Fire" in his heart—he had no reason to push him away.
At least for now, Kumokawa's disposition and loyalty were fine, and his strength and talent had, in a twisted way, been enhanced by Orochimaru.
Thinking this, Sarutobi Hiruzen let go of the last sliver of suspicion, no longer testing him. His expression grew solemn as he asked:
"Kumokawa, Todo and the others said that before you left, you used your Byakugan to see the outcome, correct?"
"I want to know what you encountered, what people you faced, and in the end what exactly happened."
The concern was shown, the test was done. Now it was time to ask the real question.
As if recalling that terrifying scene, Hyūga Kumokawa's face showed fear.
"Dead. They're all dead." His voice trembled. "That guy—he wasn't even human. That power was something no human could possibly wield."
___
Meanwhile, at the border of the Land of Hot Water, four figures stood silently in the night.
"Haa…"
Samui exhaled deeply, as though expelling the chill from her heart, calming her lingering fear.
Standing here and looking around, they could now clearly see the terrain of this region.
It was simply like the cap of a mushroom. The spot they stood upon was the highest point, while the surrounding land dipped lower.
Everywhere except their position, the ground was torn by hideous ravines, stretching from here all the way to the distant end a thousand meters away. A sight of utter devastation, radiating the violence and terror that had swept through this place.
Just looking at those marks gave off a sharp, cutting aura.
Samui closed her eyes and imagined in her mind what had happened here.
A man stood at the center. By unleashing some wind release ninjutsu akin to a tornado, he shredded everything before him into dust, leaving only barren wasteland.
Not only that—the man even controlled the tornado to spin once around him, as if sweeping away garbage, annihilating everything in its sweep.
A terrifying force worthy of being called a natural disaster, a hurricane incarnate—wielded in his hand as easily as a finger's motion.
Those who tried to resist with flesh and blood, men or matter, all were turned to dust—blood, flesh, and bone reduced to fertilizer buried beneath this scarred earth.
This kind of power…