"Doctor Xiao Dong"

Orochimaru, one of the Sannin like him, had never cared for "rest." He was always like a snake in the shadows, coiled up in some secret laboratory.

Uchiha Rei stood on the street corner, thinking for a moment. Suddenly, a light went on in his head.

"The hospital."

Yes, the hospital. He was a patient to begin with. He had simply left his hospital bed early to search for an antidote and uncover the truth behind his poisoning, first going to the Hyuga Clan, then circling back to the Uchiha Clan.

As it turned out, neither the Hyuga nor the Uchiha welcomed him.

"Without the Phantom Seal, I can only rely on the medicine left behind by the Third Elder and hold on until Tsunade returns."

At the end of the day, he really was a patient now. Going back to the hospital to recover from his injuries wasn't unreasonable.

Unlike some people in his previous life, who were perfectly healthy but would stop by a hospital while traveling just to enjoy the air conditioning and oxygen, treating it like an inn and wasting precious medical resources.

Konoha Hospital stood in the northwest corner of the village, next to the Ninja Academy. It covered a vast area, and its main building was stately and bright, like a peaceful fortress. It was staffed not only by Medical Ninjas but also by many ordinary doctors, making it an important institution for treatment and the study of Ninjutsu.

Uchiha Rei soon arrived at the hospital. His patient record was still active. As a Konoha Jonin, he was naturally treated with care by the doctors, who immediately assigned him to his original private room. They even thoughtfully arranged for the "prettiest one" among the nurses on rotation to look after him.

"I don't need anyone to take care of me."

He calmly sent Nurse away and closed the door, then lay alone in bed. The mattress was soft, covered with clean, neatly laid white sheets. It felt like a rare trace of gentleness and peace in this chaotic world.

In Konoha, the hospital was sacred.

Neither the Hokage's leadership nor Root Members dared act rashly inside a hospital.

It was not only a hub of medical resources, but also a symbol of a shinobi village's order and principles. Any damage to it would be a massive political disaster.

Back in the private room, Uchiha Rei finally relaxed.

Rei took off his shirt, removed the forehead protector, and changed into a patient's gown. He closed his eyes, and his body finally sank into real sleep.

Rei dreamed.

The Dreamscape felt startlingly real.

Perhaps it was because of Obito.

He dreamed of Rin Nohara.

The girl frozen in time, his teammate who had once smiled at him in the rain and said, "It's okay."

She wore a white nurse's uniform and glided into the room, then sat gently by the bed.

"Don't move. Let me take a look at your injuries."

She leaned close, her fingertips brushing lightly over his forehead, as if taking his temperature, or making sure he was really there.

Uchiha Rei's heart couldn't help but skip a beat. He could even feel her warm breath sweep across his cheek.

She pressed a stethoscope to his chest. The cold metal brought him briefly to his senses, only for her smile to dispel the feeling at once.

"Your heart's beating a little fast, Rei."

She whispered in his ear, her voice seeming to melt him completely.

He tried to speak, but his throat was dry. All he could do was watch as she continued her examination, checking his chest, shoulders, and wrists, her touch gentle. He even wondered if she was deliberately making every touch last longer.

In the dream, Rin hadn't died. She was alive, a Medical Ninja who had fulfilled her dream.

Rin tucked the blanket around him and lowered her head to rest against his forehead.

"Get some good rest... I'm here."

In the dream, Rin took even more careful care of him.

Time passed quickly, and Uchiha Rei slept deeply.

Soon, a burst of noise rang out. Uchiha Rei opened his eyes and used the Byakugan to locate the source.

He found an ordinary couple making the noise.

Not everyone in Konoha was a shinobi. There were plenty of ordinary people, too.

"You're a doctor? I'm a doctor?" Tōdō Xiao Dong roared. He was always impatient with ordinary people.

"Our child has been waiting for so long! When will the surgery begin?" the child's mother asked anxiously.

"I heard from the nurse... but we're still waiting. What are we waiting for?" the mother continued.

"If this goes on any longer, my child's sensory system could suffer permanent damage! It may be very difficult for him to become a shinobi in the future! What are we going to do?" The mother began to cry.

"What are we going to do? There are plenty of people in Konoha who can't become shinobi." Doctor Xiao Dong cut her off coldly. "Perhaps this is a fate he can't escape."

With that, Doctor Xiao Dong waved his hand and forcibly ushered the couple out. The door slammed shut with a bang.

He had shut the anxious parents outside.

But the next moment, a revolting scene quietly unfolded.

Doctor Xiao Dong turned and went back to the break room. He gently pushed open a hidden door behind a bookcase, and a female nurse in uniform emerged from inside.

"You've kept me waiting too long!" The nurse frowned and wrapped her arms around the doctor's neck. "Don't go worrying about patients again. I'm the most important thing you have to operate on today."

Doctor Xiao Dong laughed suggestively and put his arms around her waist, gnawing at her like he was biting into a watermelon.

"The patient isn't even a shinobi. What's an ordinary person's life worth? One word from my godfather, and they'll come crawling back to beg me." Doctor Xiao Dong's words were chilling.

The nurse playfully smacked his bottom. "Who doesn't know who you really are? And you still dare to act like an expert in front of me?"

Before the words were out of her mouth,

the two of them were already tearing at each other in the break room.

The break room. The files on the table were swept onto the floor.

The two of them tussled wildly in the room, locked in an intimate embrace—a stark contrast to the grief outside.

Meanwhile, outside the break room, the parents were still standing in the hallway, their eyes red.

"Our child... he only just turned seven. He's dreamed of becoming a shinobi since he was little." The mother spoke in a trembling whisper. "He was only sent to the hospital because he accidentally touched an explosive tag. We've already paid the medical bills, and even borrowed money. But what do we do now?"

The father clenched his fists, the veins standing out. "What did the doctor say? 'Perhaps he can't become a shinobi because that's his fate'? He gets to decide my son's fate just like that?!"

The mother collapsed into a chair and covered her face as she wept.

They didn't know that the supposed wait, the supposed noble doctor, was all a lie.

In Konoha, even a shinobi who couldn't use Medical Ninjutsu could become an exalted Medical Ninja.

Fortunately, Doctor Xiao Dong hadn't operated on the boy. Otherwise, the surgery in his hands might not only have failed to save a life, but could have buried a child's hopes as well.

"...When did Konoha rot this badly?"

Uchiha Rei's eyes turned cold in the hospital room.

He put on his patient's gown and quietly left the room, making almost no sound as he walked.

A little Nurse was crouched beside the operating table, trying hard to wipe the sweat from a seven- or eight-year-old boy.

The boy had a Watermelon Head and a pale face. Sweat poured from his forehead like a spring, soaking the bed. He gritted his teeth, seemingly forcing himself not to groan, unaware that no one was willing to help him.

The nurse's hands trembled. She was just an ordinary person and had no way to perform surgery. She had already filed a report, but it had been mercilessly rejected.

"Doctor Xiao Dong... he's the deputy director's godson. I heard he just 'returned from the Land of Wind after completing his studies.' Who would dare question him?"

She murmured under her breath, on the verge of tears.

"If anything goes wrong, I'll be the first one they make take the blame."

Just as she was nearly at the end of her rope, a figure entered the operating room without a sound.

For a moment, she was stunned.