Amado let go, and the glass bottle filled with blue pills fell into Boruto's palm.
The bottle felt cold in the way only something from a laboratory could. Boruto stared at the pills, rubbing his thumb over the cap.
"One bottle will last a month." Amado patted the medical folder and turned toward the door. "When you run out, remember to come find me at the Laboratory. Assuming, of course, you haven't killed her by then."
"Stop." Kawaki blocked the doorway.
His right hand had already transformed into a crimson blade, its edge pressed against Amado's throat. The calloused hand holding it trembled slightly from the strain.
"You deliberately left in that flaw." Kawaki stared into Amado's eyes.
"Think whatever you like." Amado didn't even glance down at the blade. "As a vessel, efficiency will always take priority over lifespan. If you want to kill me, go ahead. But how do you plan to make next month's medicine? With your Chakra?"
The muscles at the corners of Kawaki's eyes twitched.
"Get lost." He lowered his arm and shifted aside, leaving a narrow gap.
Amado disappeared down the corridor, his leather shoes tapping steadily against the tiles with the arrogance of someone in complete control.
The atmosphere in the hospital room turned icy. Kiyomi sat on the bed, a bag of potato chips in her hand, half of them spilled out. She looked at the bottle in Boruto's hand, then at Kawaki's back.
"Am I... not going to live much longer?" Kiyomi asked.
She sounded perfectly calm, as if she were asking about tomorrow's weather. In the laboratories of Amegakure, she had seen too many others deemed "defective" and dragged away to be disposed of. Living to twenty had seemed like a luxurious goal to her.
"Don't listen to that old