Konoha Hospital,
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Having shed his disguise and returned to his true appearance, Hatake Sakumo paced back and forth outside the delivery room, his scattered footsteps echoing through the quiet corridor.
He looked up at the three glowing words, "Surgery in Progress," above the door, visible anxiety written across his rugged face.
"Sakumo, stop pacing already. You're making me dizzy."
Dan Katō, who was waiting with him, could not help reminding him.
"But Hotaru, she..."
"You don't trust Tsunade's skills?"
Hearing that, much of the tension faded from Hatake Sakumo's face.
"Whew... You're right."
Just as Dan had said, Tsunade's medical skills ranked among the top three or four in all of Konoha. A mere delivery surgery should be easy for her, shouldn't it?
Bang!
As soon as he finished speaking, Tsunade, dressed in surgical scrubs, hurried out of the delivery room. The people waiting outside quickly gathered around her.
"How is it? Has she given birth?"
Tsunade removed her mask, revealing a pretty face full of gravity. Her slightly reddened eyes carried a hint of drunkenness.
"It's a little tricky. Hotaru's body is too different from a human's."
She vigorously rubbed her aching temples and shook her head, still not recovered from yesterday's hangover.
Her specialty was human medicine, not mechanical repairs. Although Hotaru wore a human face, she was still a mechanical life-form by nature, and the precision of her internal structure far exceeded ordinary imagination.
"Hotaru! My Hotaru!"
Hatake Sakumo looked as though he had been struck by lightning. Trembling, he covered his aged face with both hands, tears streaming through the gaps between his fingers.
"At present, there's only one way."
Looking at Sakumo's unbearable anguish, Tsunade nodded solemnly.
"Save the mother!"
"..."
Facing Hatake Sakumo's resolute gaze, Tsunade's face twitched violently.
"It hasn't