The Resurrection

But things soon started getting more and more suspicious. He felt someone taking off his clothes, and a pair of calloused hands began groping all over his body.

"No way! No way!"

Yu naturally jumped to the wrong conclusion at first. In his previous life, he'd been a seasoned driver who'd hit seventy miles per hour.

But he quickly came to his senses.

"Could they be about to dissect me?!"

At the thought, alarm bells blared in Yu's mind. Given the situation, that really did seem possible.

But what could he do? If he suddenly got up now, then given the way Danzo's Root operated, they'd probably cut him up for research.

Then he'd be caught between a fate worse than death and death itself.

"It's just a matter of being cut open. It won't hurt anyway, so I'll just put up with it." Yu decided to endure it. He was a slime now. As long as they didn't burn him, a little dissection wouldn't affect him much.

With his senses shut off, Yu had no idea that he was in an operating room at Konoha Hospital, where a Konoha medical ninja in a white coat was examining his body on the bed.

"Lord Hokage, my examination confirms that this child has no vital signs. His heart in particular sustained fatal damage. There's no possibility he could still be alive," the medical ninja told Hiruzen Sarutobi, who stood nearby.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had brought Sasuke and Yu to the hospital. Sasuke seemed badly injured, but most of the damage was psychological. After a medical ninja skilled in Genjutsu treated him, a good night's sleep would take care of most of it. Ninjas had strong healing abilities, after all.

But Yu was different. After a series of examinations, the medical ninjas had concluded that he was dead. All his bodily functions had stopped, and the few flat lines on the medical equipment beside him also showed that the person on the bed had no vital signs.

"Let me try."

Hiruzen Sarutobi showed no reaction to what the medical ninjas had said. He already knew all of that.

But he could sense that Yu's consciousness was still active, and that it had become noticeably more active during the examination.

Although the evidence showed that Yu was dead, in the Shinobi World, death did not always mean the end. No matter how bizarre, anything was possible.

"Leave us. Remember, you saw nothing and know nothing," Hiruzen Sarutobi said, taking the medical ninja's place.

"Understood."

The medical ninja bowed. Lord Hokage's words were absolute orders to the ninjas of Konoha, and he knew what he had to do.

After leaving the operating room, the medical ninja resumed his usual rounds, as if nothing had happened.

Meanwhile, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood beside Yu, who had been stripped naked, and held out his hands. A green glow appeared around them.

"Mystical Palm Technique."

One of the most basic Medical Ninjutsu techniques, it activated all the cells in a wound and could heal it in a very short time.

But it required precise Chakra control, making it extremely difficult to learn and use. Fewer than ten medical ninjas in all of Konoha could use the Mystical Palm Technique proficiently.

Of course, Hiruzen Sarutobi was known as the Shinobi World Professor. He naturally knew the Mystical Palm Technique, and was quite skilled with it.

Hiruzen Sarutobi pressed both hands against the wound on Yu's chest. Soon, the wound began to heal before their eyes.

The green glow grew brighter, bathing the entire room in its light.

The Mystical Palm Technique didn't hurt the person receiving it, but the growth of new tissue came with a sensation even more unpleasant than pain: itching.

Especially since Hiruzen Sarutobi was treating him with a rough, "nothing to lose by trying" attitude. The fact that Yu's wound was nearly healed showed just how heavy-handed he was.

Yu didn't feel any of that, which spared him the discomfort. But the wound healing was still troubling him. He'd been suppressing his healing ability, but for some reason it had suddenly grown stronger, and he couldn't hold it back no matter how hard he tried.

"What is going on? I was already at the finish line, just one last little push away! Why is this happening to me?" Yu was on the verge of tears.

All he wanted was to die, then have someone dig a hole and bury him. Even that tiny wish was impossible to fulfill.

But no matter what he wanted, he still had to face reality. He could already imagine the horrible torment he'd suffer if he fell into the hands of a monster like Danzo.

Just as Yu thought the other person was about to cut him open, a warm hand covered his forehead. A gentle energy then passed through it and entered his mind.

"That feels so good."

That was how Yu felt, as if he'd sunk into a hot spring after a long, exhausting day. His whole body felt wonderfully relaxed.

Gradually, a wave of drowsiness crept into Yu's mind. He knew he couldn't fall asleep now, but the drowsiness grew heavier until he could no longer resist it.

"Whoosh... thump...!"

Once Yu's consciousness slipped into sleep, his body on the bed began to show signs of life. His breathing, heartbeat, and pulse all returned one by one, and the flat lines on the medical equipment beside the bed began to fluctuate.

Hiruzen Sarutobi watched the scene and took two steps back. He pulled a pipe from somewhere and put it in his mouth, but didn't light it.

Someone who had been completely dead just moments earlier had come back to life. That wasn't an everyday occurrence in the Shinobi World.

"Was it right to save him?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't stop thinking about the question. He had just used a Konoha secret technique to bring Yu back, but now he faced a choice.

With an ability to "return from the dead" and Uchiha blood, Hiruzen Sarutobi believed Yu would surely amount to a great deal.

On the other hand, the more Yu achieved, the greater the danger he might pose to Konoha, because the truth could never stay hidden forever.

Without Yu knowing it, he had once again been caught between life and death. He might have been the most miserable transmigrator of all: he'd arrived in this world and done nothing, yet was already facing one life-or-death choice after another.

Of course, Hiruzen Sarutobi had no idea that he hadn't actually saved Yu. His secret technique had merely knocked Yu unconscious. Once Yu fell asleep, he could no longer maintain his false-death state, and his body had resumed functioning on its own.

Although Yu had slime blood, he was still human by nature. Without consciously suppressing them, his human traits would still show.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stayed there for over an hour. At last, he lit his pipe and took a deep draw. He glanced at Yu on the bed, shook his head, and left through the door.

Soon, someone transferred Yu to another room. After several medical ninjas examined him, they concluded that he was only suffering from shock and malnutrition. He just needed to rest and eat properly.

However, one of the medical ninjas stared at the sleeping Yu in utter shock. He was certain the child had been dead earlier. His heart had been cut in half, yet now he was lying in bed, fast asleep.

"What exactly did Lord Hokage do?"

The medical ninja wondered. But then his body suddenly stiffened, and he hurriedly stopped thinking. He looked away from Yu and buried the thought deep inside.

Some things were better left unthought.