The real Shinobi World...
Four days before the content was played on the Heavenly Screen...
The windows of the Hokage's office were wide open, but they couldn't dispel the stuffy heat caused by the piles of documents. Tsunade on the desk, causing three stacks of documents awaiting approval to slide to the floor with a clatter.
"Those two old foxes!" She grabbed Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu's resignation letters, the papers crumpling between her fingers. "What do you mean by 'advanced age'? Clearly, they're afraid of too much Heavenly Screen and are eager to distance themselves!"
Shizune huddled in a corner, clutching Tonton, barely daring to breathe. Ever since the Heavenly Screen began playing footage of various powerful battles and future events, Lady Tsunade had been like a volcano ready to erupt at any moment—first swiftly dismantling the Root, then forcing two advisors and elders to resign. The Konoha High Command leadership was in a state of constant fear, and even departmental documents were piling up in the Hokage's office, no one daring to handle them independently.
"Where's Sakura?" Tsunade suddenly turned around. "Didn't you say you'd come to report on the hospital situation at eight o'clock?"
Shizune glanced at the clock on the wall—the hour hand was already pointing to 9:30. Just as she was about to explain, the office door was suddenly pushed open.
"I'm sorry, Lady Tsunade!" A pink-haired girl rushed in, panting, her white coat stained with suspicious blood. "Three seriously injured patients were suddenly brought into operating room number three, one of whom needs..."
Tsunade Teuchi her report, her sharp gaze sweeping over Sakura's puffy eyes and trembling fingers. This apprentice had been working at a high intensity for four consecutive days, yet she was still forcing herself to keep going.
"Treatment plan?" Tsunade suddenly asked.
"For Class A injuries, surgery can be performed after stabilizing the condition with the Mystical Palm Technique; for Class B injuries, hemostasis should be prioritized; for Class C injuries..." Sakura answered reflexively, her voice hoarse but clear and logical.
Chakra remaining?
"About... thirty percent..." Sakura's knees suddenly buckled, and she almost fell to the ground, but Shizune caught her in time.
Tsunade snorted coldly, tossed a small bottle from the drawer, and said, "Drink it. Then go to the next lounge and sleep for two hours."
Sakura hurriedly caught the medicine bottle, and as the medicine went down her throat, a warm current flowed through her limbs. Sakura leaned back on the sofa in the lounge, suddenly realizing that this was the first time she had been alone in half a month. The smell of hospital disinfectant still lingered in her nose, and her fingers twitched slightly from maintaining the Mystical Palm Technique for so long.
(Where is Sasuke-kun now?)
The thought, like a breeze sneaking through a crack in the window, gently brushed against her weary nerves. When was the last time she thought of Sasuke? Three days ago? Or last week? The outline of that black-haired boy in her memory had become somewhat blurry.
Instead, there was the image of Naruto the night he left the village. The blond boy stood before her, his fist pressed against the First's statue, vowing. "I will definitely bring Sasuke back!" The starry sky was exceptionally bright then, making the blue in his eyes even more intense.
Sakura unconsciously stroked the sofa armrest. Once upon a time, Sasuke occupied all her thoughts; but now, even longing for him had become a luxury.
The training in Medical Ninjutsu, the reform plan for the medical department, the compilation of a postwar psychological intervention manual... these real responsibilities pushed those romantic fantasies from her girlhood to the very edge of her mind.
In a daze, she recalled a dawn—when she was just a little girl who would only follow Sasuke around—and Kakashi-sensei said to her on the Training Ground:
"Sakura, true strength isn't about chasing after others, but about finding your own path."
She didn't understand it then, but now she understands it somewhat. On the low table next to the sofa was a thick stack of notebooks, the top page of which read "A Conception on Establishing a Wartime Emergency Medical System".
Sakura reached for the notebook; the ink was still wet. It was the result of three consecutive nights of staying up late. Her handwriting had gradually become messy from the beginning, but it regained its strength in the last few pages—just like her growth trajectory during this period.
"Lady Tsunade..." she murmured to herself, "I think... I've found my 'Ninja Way'..."
Sakura's pen tip also left determined marks on the paper. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door of the lounge, and Shizune knock came through the door:
"Sakura, the patient in bed number three is experiencing a rejection reaction!"
"Coming right away!" She stood up abruptly, her white coat tracing a clean arc in the air. The notebook was hastily closed, revealing a yellowed photograph on the back cover—a group photo from when Team 7 was first formed. The three children stood awkwardly together, Kakashi-sensei's hand resting on Naruto and Sasuke's heads, while she stood on the far side, smiling shyly yet brightly.
The photo was gently tucked back into the drawer. When Sakura rushed out of the lounge, the girl who cried for love was gone, replaced by Konoha Hospital's youngest attending physician.
At the end of the corridor, Tsunade crossed, watching her disciple's retreating figure, a slight smile playing on her lips.
"It seems..." She turned and walked towards the Hokage's office, her high heels clicking crisply on the floor. "The tender shoots of a new era have begun to grow."
On the other side
Hyuga Hiashi stood in the Main Family courtyard of the Hyuga Clan, moonlight shining on the white stone slabs of the courtyard, illuminating his cold and weary face.
The recent broadcast on the Heavenly Screen has shaken the entire Shinobi World. The battles between the Akatsuki, Pain, Sage Kabuto, and the future Naruto and Sasuke... all these powerful figures serve as a reminder to the Shinobi World that an era of change has arrived.
The Hyuga Clan, however, remains bound by ancient shackles.
The Main Family and branch families, the Cursed Seal of the Caged Bird Seal—these systems seem out of place in Konoha today.
After Tsunade took office Hokage, she swiftly and decisively reformed the Konoha High Command, dismantled Danzo's Root, and even forced two advisors and elders to resign. The entire village was revitalized, except for the Hyuga Clan, which still clung to the rules of the old era.
"Can Hyuga, in this state, still hold his own in future wars?"
Hiashi closed his eyes, his mind filled with Byakugan of his younger brother Hizashi's letter and Neji's Byakugan, which were brimming with complex emotions.
"Neji, I did not die at the hands of the Main Family, but to protect everything I cherish."
The letter left by Hizashi before his death gave Neji an answer, but it was ultimately just a lie to free Neji from the shackles of hatred, not a real solution to the problem.
Hiashi knows that the real conflict has never disappeared.
Those who branch out of the family line are forever marked with the Cursed Seal of the Caged Bird Seal on their foreheads; their fate is decided from birth—to protect the Main Family and sacrifice themselves.
But now, his comrades in Konoha no longer accept this system.
Might Guy, Kakashi, and even the young Naruto all felt indignant about Neji's fate.
Within the Anbu, ninjas would occasionally whisper among themselves, "The branch family of the Hyuga Clan is treated like slaves."
Even the usually gentle Hinata mustered the courage to question him, "Father, can't the extended family... truly gain freedom?"
He slowly opened his eyes, his gaze resolute.
"Tomorrow, I need to go find Neji."
If I fail, then at least... Hinata and Hanabi's future cannot be bound by the Caged Bird Seal.
"The Hyuga Clan must change."