Kakashi's Recovery

"Shizune, stay here and help me review the documents. I'm going to treat Kakashi!"

Shizune had just returned with the medical records and had not even caught her breath before hearing Tsunade's order.

Review the documents?

Looking at that enormous stack of files, Shizune's expression changed instantly.

"Lady Tsunade, this is the Hokage's authority. I'm just an ordinary jonin—I'm not qualified!" As a normal ninja, Shizune held the Hokage in great reverence.

In her eyes, these documents were meant for the Hokage alone. For an ordinary jonin like her to read them would be overstepping her bounds.

"I told you to do it, so do it. Why are you talking so much nonsense?"

"I'm going to save someone. Hikari, come with me. You review these here. If anything is important or you aren't sure how to handle it, just set it aside."

With that, Tsunade snatched the medical records from Shizune's hands, called out to Hikari, and headed for the door.

Hikari looked at the stunned Shizune, gave her a sympathetic look, then quietly slipped away after Tsunade.

Konoha Hospital, Kakashi's room.

Tsunade was examining Kakashi, her heart filled with shock.

She knew exactly what the nutrient solution she had prepared was capable of.

It did have therapeutic effects, but it was not this powerful.

Kakashi now had more than twice as much Chakra as before. Moreover, the rejection of his body toward his left eye had dropped to its lowest point.

If she had not heard Hikari's inner thoughts, she would have suspected that Kakashi's long period of adaptation with the Sharingan had led to genetic compatibility and caused this change.

But now, she could not.

She was truly curious about how Hikari had solved the Sharingan rejection problem.

Forget it. There's still time. I'll heal Kakashi today first, and worry about the rest later!

Having made up her mind, green Chakra instantly appeared around Tsunade's hands, and she pressed them against Kakashi's head.

Boom!

Inside Kakashi's mind, it was as though Pangu Creation had taken place, as though a Singularity Explosion had created a new world.

Kakashi felt an enormous change in his spirit. Beyond that, he felt a mysterious power in his left eye. That was...

Tsunade could not help closing her eyes.

That Hikari was actually providing Kakashi's inner monologue in his head.

Hearing that, Tsunade had nearly believed it was Kakashi's real thought.

"Eh? You're... Lady Tsunade!"

Due to being unconscious for so long, Kakashi still felt somewhat disconnected from both mind and body after waking up. His vision was blurry, and he could not see people clearly.

Fortunately, the Sharingan came through, allowing him to see who stood before him at once.

"How do you feel?" Tsunade asked with concern.

Kakashi closed his eyes and silently examined his body.

His Chakra had doubled, and he was in excellent mental condition. Most importantly, his left eye now felt just like an ordinary eyeball, without its former heaviness.

With a slight stimulation of Chakra, Kakashi discovered that the scenery seen through his left eye had changed dramatically.

He could see more clearly and farther away.

Lady Tsunade has so much Chakra. As expected of the Senju Clan.

That's Hikari. It looks like there's a layer of white gauze over him. I can't see clearly... Huh? The white gauze is gone. That's only the amount of Chakra a chunin has. Was that just an illusion?

"Kakashi, don't stimulate your left eye with Chakra. You can see now how it differs from before, can't you?" As she spoke, Tsunade handed him a mirror and held it before his face.

Seeing the altered Three Tomoe pattern, Kakashi froze.

"This is..."

"The Mangekyō Sharingan," Tsunade explained.

Kakashi understood. "So this is an eye on the same level as Itachi Uchiha's. But wasn't mine a Three Tomoe? How did it become a Mangekyo?"

Tsunade fell silent.

Could she say that she did not know either?

Of course, it was because Tsuchiko had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan when Rin died, after hating this world. Kakashi had been there at the time, so his eye naturally evolved as well.

This was a precious eye with the space-time ocular technique Kamui. It had to be concealed carefully. What if Tsuchiko lost his mind one day and came to dig out Kakashi's eye? That would be troublesome.

After all, I still didn't want to stand out. Being a lazy bum was quite nice.

So Tsuchiko was Obito?

As the disciple of the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze, and a famous genius of the Hidden Leaf Village, Tsunade knew Kakashi Hatake fairly well. By extension, she also knew a thing or two about his two teammates, Rin Nohara and Obito Uchiha.

She just was not very familiar with them.

Hikari is far too mysterious. Why does he know so many things?

The questions in her heart only grew.

"Kakashi, you must slowly learn to control this eye. Unless it's absolutely necessary, do not let anyone find out about it. Understand?" Tsunade warned.

Kakashi was a sensible man. Even if Tsunade had not said so, he would not casually reveal this matter.

The most important thing for a ninja was concealing their own information.

That was most vividly demonstrated by Hidan.

With an immortality like that of the Evil God, if one did not know his information, it was easy for him to steal their blood and use the Forbidden Art: Blood Death Art to kill them.

Yet once his information was exposed, he could not even defeat the current Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

As an Elite Jonin of the Hidden Leaf Village and a part-time technician, Kakashi naturally knew how to conceal his methods.

Now, he felt that the Sharingan was like an external object. As long as he did not stimulate it, it would remain obediently in place and would not affect Kakashi's normal life.

Even using the vision of the Three Tomoe to perform lightning-style ninjutsu like Raikiri and Chidori would not place much burden on his body.

At that moment, he felt as though a heavy burden had been lifted.

Kakashi Hatake was back.

"Thank you, Lady Tsunade, for treating me. I will keep this secret and will not use this eye unless it is a critical moment."

Mistaken by Kakashi as the person mainly responsible for his treatment, Tsunade looked somewhat embarrassedly at Hikari nearby. Yet she found him leaning against the door, dozing without a care in the world.

That completely cast away the last shred of shame in her heart.

That was right. The person who healed you was me, Tsunade.

Be grateful to me!

Of course, she could not say that aloud. She could silently accept the credit, but she could not be too ostentatious about it.

Keeping a low profile was her style. (PS: Mainly because she was afraid of losing face if the truth came out. As long as she did not admit it now, even if she was exposed later, Tsunade could say she had not known anything and that it had nothing to do with her.)

"Good. Stay here and recuperate properly for now. Try to get discharged soon. The Hidden Leaf Village needs you."

"Yes. I'll recover as soon as possible."

Without needing to think too much, Kakashi knew that the Hidden Leaf Village would be at its busiest during this transfer of power.

Do not ask why. It was all based on experience.

Thinking of the Third Hokage returning to the position after Minato's death, and Danzo's assassination attempt on the Third Hokage at that time, Kakashi knew he had to recover quickly.

The Hidden Leaf Village still needed him. He absolutely could not fall at a time like this.