It was late at night.
Medical Room, Konoha Anbu Building.
Several Anbu Medical Ninjas were giving Hayate intensive treatment, setting bones, reconnecting tendons, stitching wounds, and more. They were working with great enthusiasm... In this peaceful era, it had been a long time since they'd treated a shinobi with injuries this severe!
Outside the Medical Room, Hanfu was busy too, reporting the whole story to Namikaze Minato.
Anbu Captain Hawk and Konoha Military Police Force Captain Kakashi were there as well.
"The one who kidnapped Hayate was Shennong... That's right, the highly respected doctor who traveled the Shinobi World years ago, renowned for his superb medical skills. He was actually a powerful ninja who'd been concealing his identity all along! About a dozen years ago, Shennong came to our village to exchange knowledge about medicine. I spent some time with him because of my mom, and then I accidentally discovered he was a ninja. He left that very night. I was just an innocent kid back then and didn't think much of it. It wasn't until... until tonight that I realized he'd held a grudge over it all these years. Sigh, Hayate got dragged into this because of me." Hanfu sighed.
"Wait."
Kakashi cut in, ruining the mood. "If all you did was discover he was a ninja, why would he hold a grudge against you for so long?"
He must've done something shady, right?
Kakashi's dead-fish eyes flicked up and down as he sized Hanfu up, his expression smug, as if he'd seen right through him.
"Hmph! I, Moon Person, have always acted with a clear conscience. Kakashi, don't judge a gentleman by your own petty standards!"
Hanfu defended himself righteously, then said to Namikaze Minato, "Lord Hokage, I discovered a shocking secret while fighting Shennong tonight!"
"What secret?"