Konoha Hospital, outside the emergency ward, corridor.
"What's the situation now? Is his life in danger?"
Amid hurried footsteps, the white cloak with flame-patterned trim embroidered with the Fourth Hokage's title trembled uneasily. Minato Namikaze's face was grim as he asked.
"When I left, they were still examining him. There's no conclusion yet."
Hearing his Hokage's voice, nearly as stiff as his expression, the Anbu Ninja beside him pressed his pale, dry lips together beneath his mask. After taking a breath to calm the tension in his heart, he answered truthfully.
"Did the person who found him say anything? Was there anything unusual about the scene?"
Minato Namikaze could not help taking a quiet breath himself before asking again.
"I heard he'd lost too much blood. His entire back was covered in blood, and he was unconscious."
The Anbu Ninja nearly swallowed on reflex as he told the Hokage everything he knew.
To be honest, he still had not fully recovered from the shock. He had originally been carrying out a routine inspection at the Ninja Engineering Corps when a colleague from the Defense Force suddenly found him, carrying Lord Chiba, who was covered in blood. At the time, his mind had gone completely blank, filled with nothing but the thought that something terrible had happened.
He did not even know how he had made it to the Hokage's office to report the matter.
Though he had gradually come back to his senses on the way here, his heart was still pounding in waves.
If something had happened to Lord Chiba, then what kind of terrifying person could have injured him so badly?
And if Lord Chiba were to fall, what would become of the village's future? What would happen to the candidate for the Fifth Hokage? Whenever he thought