The commotion in the corridor soon reached the family members anxiously waiting outside the ward.
The child's mother looked haggard and panicked, as though she had only just finished crying. Her eyes were red and swollen. Behind her, the father stood silent, fists clenched and veins bulging at his temples.
"How is my child?!"
The mother nearly charged into the corridor, frantic to the point of losing control. When she saw Uchiha Rei standing by the operating-room doors, it was as if she had spotted a glimmer of hope.
She shoved Doctor Xiao Dong aside and rushed straight up to Uchiha Rei.
"I just heard—it was you! You operated on my child just now, didn't you? How is he?!"
Doctor Xiao Dong spoke up from the side. "Madam, please calm down. We've looked into the situation. This Genin acted without permission—"
"Without permission to do what?!"
Unexpectedly, Nurse cut him off.
"If he hadn't performed the surgery, that child might never have been able to become a ninja again!"
Her voice rang out, clear and firm, with a conviction that inspired trust. "You have no idea how difficult that surgery was. Most Medical Ninjas wouldn't dare attempt it!"
The child's mother froze, then slowly looked toward Uchiha Rei. Her voice trembled. "He... is he really all right now?"
Uchiha Rei glanced at her. His tone held no warmth, yet his words were reassuring. "His chakra flow has returned to normal, and his vital signs are stable. His body has entered the natural healing phase. If nothing unexpected happens, he'll wake up soon."
At that, the father's eyes finally welled with tears. They slipped down his cheeks as he stepped forward and bowed deeply to Uchiha Rei. His voice was hoarse but sincere. "Thank you, sir... I truly am grateful that you saved my child."
The mother could no longer hold back her emotions. Tears fell as she choked out, "I'm sorry, I was so... harsh just now. I was just so scared. You look so young, and so... handsome. I thought you were just some..."
At her words, Uchiha Rei smiled to himself. Was being handsome a crime? Then again, he wasn't really a doctor yet.
He thought the matter was over, but Nurse suddenly pointed at Doctor Xiao Dong and laid bare the truth without the slightest hesitation. "He's the one who should be held responsible! In the ward, he had no intention of operating at all. He kept stalling, going on about discussing the best treatment plan. But actually—actually, he wasn't even there! He was in the break room, fooling around with a woman!"
Her explosive accusation left the corridor silent for a moment.
The attending doctor's face flushed scarlet. He stood frozen, caught between retreat and resistance, as though someone had slapped him. After a few seconds, his eyes hardened and he suddenly struck back.
"What do you know about treating patients?!" He jabbed a finger at the young mother. "You're just an ordinary person. You have no idea how many risks we doctors have to weigh!"
Then he turned to the nurse and said coldly, "And you, a mere nurse, know nothing about surgical procedures. You're just spouting nonsense because you think he's handsome!"
Then he turned his accusations directly on Uchiha Rei. "You, a patient and a Genin, practiced medicine without a license. You've seriously violated Konoha Village's regulations for ninja medical care. You must bear all the consequences!"
The argument grew louder, drawing the attention of more people at the hospital. Several senior medical staff hurried over, but they still couldn't calm things down.
Before long, a dignified-looking old man strode over. He was the deputy director of the Ninja Hospital. He had just been visiting the Root ninja admitted the previous night with the director's assistant.
As soon as the deputy director arrived, he saw the attending doctor throwing his weight around. Without a moment's hesitation, he took the doctor's side. "Do you know where you are? You're a patient. Patients should rest quietly in their wards, not barge into an operating room and perform surgery without permission."
He stared at Uchiha Rei, sensed his Genin-level chakra, and immediately passed judgment.
"You have two choices.
"First, apologize to the attending doctor in front of everyone and admit that you acted without permission. If anything goes wrong with the child you treated, you'll bear all the responsibility yourself.
"Second, leave this hospital right now. Konoha Hospital will never welcome you again!"
"You're giving me a choice?"
Uchiha Rei tilted his head slightly as he looked at the silent deputy director. He smiled to himself.
So this is Doctor Xiao Dong's backer—the deputy director.
Uchiha Rei looked from the deputy director to the attending doctor but said nothing. Still, everyone could feel the chill in his eyes, freezing the air inch by inch like frost.
It was obvious that the attending doctor was so arrogant because the deputy director had his back.
Uchiha Rei only smiled faintly, his gaze slowly sweeping across everyone present. Though his chakra was only at Genin level, the pressure he exuded made them feel as though they stood at the edge of an abyss.
That gaze was unlike anything an ordinary Genin could possess.
Among the crowd, the director's assistant suddenly stiffened, as if something had just come back to her. Looking at the patient clothes Uchiha Rei wore, she cried out in fear, "U-Uchiha Rei!"
At those words, everyone was stunned.
Just yesterday, a squad from the Root organization had been brought to the hospital for emergency treatment. Their captain had been gravely injured, his ribs crushed. No one knew who they had crossed. They had only heard one name: Uchiha Rei.
The Root captain belonged to a combat unit and held a position in Konoha Village even higher than the deputy director's. Rei had dared to take him on. What did the deputy director amount to in front of someone like that?
The deputy director's expression changed on the spot, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Realizing that the situation had turned against him, he hurriedly put on a smile and spoke in an anxious tone. "This is a misunderstanding, all of it... Xiao Dong, apologize to Mr. Uchiha at once!"
Doctor Xiao Dong went deathly pale and dropped to his knees with a thud.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was blind and offended you. I deserve to die! Please spare me!"
He slapped himself hard across the face, his voice almost breaking into sobs. Kneeling on the ground, he trembled like a skinned dog.
"That bitch in the room ruined everything... If it weren't for her, I'd have operated ages ago... Why did I have to provoke a menace like you?!"
He tried to make a few more excuses, but for some reason his expression suddenly went blank and his eyes grew unfocused. His mouth began spilling even more shocking confessions against his will.
"I... actually... I've cheated with a lot of people at the hospital—not just the head nurse, but several of the female interns, too. Some of them are already pregnant..."
"And I... while I was performing surgery... I was fooling around with a new nurse. The child was under anesthesia, so I left the operating room. It was my fault, all my fault!"
"Also, I'm not really a Medical Ninja! I've never studied medical techniques. In the Land of Wind, I studied intelligence. I only got in by falsifying my records!"
"My backer is the deputy director! He knows I can't do anything, but he still made me an attending doctor!"
The Four charges were more shocking than the last. A deathly silence fell over the area. Everyone stared wide-eyed at his moving lips, unable to believe what they were hearing.
The deputy director standing before them went ashen and swayed on his feet, as if he might faint at any moment.
"Tōdō Xiao Dong is my godson." The deputy director fell to his knees too and stammered, "I knew all about what he was doing... I... I let him get away with it. I was wrong!"
At that moment, everyone understood just how rotten this Konoha Village hospital was.
A ninja who knew nothing about Medical Ninjutsu had used connections to become an attending doctor;
Meanwhile, a child who truly needed help had nearly been denied treatment simply because his family had no connections.
The deputy director's eyes were empty, his soul seemingly drained from his body. He finally realized that the Genin before him was someone they couldn't afford to provoke.
And Doctor Xiao Dong, who had once been so arrogant, lay on the ground as if stripped bare. He couldn't even cry.
Uchiha Rei stood there without a word, his gaze passing lightly over the two men. He hadn't even laid a hand on them. He'd only used a touch of Genjutsu.
That barely perceptible trace of Genjutsu had been enough to make them confess every last one of their crimes.
He shook his head, a bitter smile touching his lips. "Maybe... this Ninja World really is rotten to the core."
Maybe this was a world that deserved to be destroyed, just like Obito had said.
But just then, his gaze fell on the playful little nurse beside him.
Uchiha Rei paused, and his expression softened for a moment.
"But... maybe it's still worth saving."
Before you continue