Yakushi Nono

When Houka woke up again, he didn't open his eyes immediately, but caught a faint, clean scent—it smelled like disinfectant, yet somehow more pleasant. He couldn't help but open his eyes, and a stark white ceiling greeted his vision.

"Where is this..."

"Ah, Houka, you're finally awake! You idiot, you actually worked out until you passed out. Do you even know how to take care of yourself?" Uchiha Obito's voice came from the side, his tone quite agitated, even bordering on exasperated. "I finally gathered the courage to confess to Rin, and you ruined it all!"

Houka blinked twice, only then recalling what happened before he fainted.

As for the confession... Heh, if it weren't for me, you probably would have been handed a rejection card by now and be off crying in some corner!

Houka hummed, "Is that so? Well, no need to thank me; it was the least I could do."

"You jerk, do you think I'm thanking you?!" Uchiha Obito was on the verge of exploding.

"Uh? I'm not?" Houka feigned innocence—no, he was only six, he was naturally innocent.

Uchiha Obito trembled all over, even the goggles on his forehead shaking along with him.

Fortunately, a young female doctor walked in at that moment.

"Houka, is it? You're awake." The doctor wore a white lab coat, had long golden hair, and wore glasses, looking quite gentle.

"Ah, hello, Doctor!" Seeing her, Uchiha Obito hurriedly stood up and asked, "Doctor, is Houka going to be alright?"

"Houka fainted because he overexerted himself and his body couldn't keep up with the nutritional demands. As long as he eats more meat, he'll be able to recover," the female doctor said with a gentle smile.

"Eat meat?" Uchiha Obito stiffened. Given the financial situation of his and Houka's families, eating meat wasn't impossible, but doing it every day was out of the question. Besides, could the energy consumed by such intense training really be replenished by just an extra piece of meat per meal?

The female doctor seemed to notice the problem and smiled, "It's alright. If you don't have the money, I can lend it to you."

"Really? Thank you so much!" Uchiha Obito was ready to jump for joy.

Houka, lying on the hospital bed, frowned and spoke up, "Doctor, wouldn't that be a bother for you? After all, you're just a doctor."

"A doctor? Heh, I am also a ninja," the female doctor laughed.

"A ninja? A medical ninja?!" Houka looked at the doctor, and inexplicably, a sense of familiarity washed over him, as if he had seen her somewhere before.

In the original story, she definitely appeared, but what was her identity? Golden hair, these old-fashioned glasses... wait, why do these glasses look like the ones Yakushi Kabuto wears?

Ah, that's it.

She is Yakushi Nono, a medical ninja of Konoha who later became the director of an orphanage. She took in a young Kabuto and even gave him her own surname!

No wonder she looked familiar.

Uh, wait!

Houka blinked, his heart suddenly turning cold, a chill creeping up his spine.

Before Yakushi Nono became the orphanage director, she was apparently a member of Konoha's Root...

A subordinate of Danzo?!

"Hey, Houka, are you cold?" Uchiha Obito suddenly lunged over. "You seem to be shivering."

Houka looked at Uchiha Obito, tears almost welling up: "No, it's not that. I'm just excited, yeah, too excited! Finally, I get to eat meat, boo-hoo..."

Good heavens, I'm only six years old; has Danzo already set his sights on me?

Has Root already infiltrated the Uchiha clan and discovered that I've awakened my Sharingan?

But thinking about it, that's impossible. Only he knew about his awakening, and he rarely used it. The only time he did was late one night a while ago; the chances of being discovered were extremely low!

"You two, you're children of the Uchiha clan, right?" Yakushi Nono smiled. "Although I'm willing to lend you money, you'll have to pay it back in the future."

"Of course! I would never owe anyone money and not pay it back!" Uchiha Obito said loudly with his hands on his hips. "After all, I'm the man who will become the Hokage!"

Just then, a young figure walked past the hospital room. It was a woman with fair skin and a tall stature, especially notable for a pair of exaggeratedly full breasts that seemed heavy as papayas. Combined with that sharp, golden hair, even without seeing her face, Houka knew who she was.

One of the Legendary Sannin, Tsunade!

Hmm, Tsunade will be the Fifth Hokage in the future...

Not bad, Obito, I didn't realize your ambitions were so grand—you actually want to be the man of the Fifth, heh.

"Then you'll have to work hard," Yakushi Nono said with a smile, patting Uchiha Obito on the head. She then gave Houka a few more instructions before turning to chase after the direction Tsunade had left.

"Lady Tsunade, please wait..." The faint sound of their conversation drifted from outside the room.

Houka let out a slight sigh of relief.

It seems Yakushi Nono's appearance here wasn't for me, but for Tsunade.

That old schemer Danzo is too dangerous, stopping at nothing to achieve his goals. For now, I should stay as far away from him as possible.

"Houka, are you still dwelling on what happened earlier?" Uchiha Obito sat by the bed, resting his chin on his hand as he looked at him. "That guy Kakashi is indeed detestable, but I have to admit, he is a genius..."

"What are you talking about?" Houka smiled. "It has nothing to do with Kakashi. It's me—I don't want to live a mediocre life anymore. I want to become strong, it's as simple as that."

"Well said!"

A young man's voice suddenly came from outside the room, and then another figure that looked somewhat familiar to Houka appeared before him.

"You are..." Houka's mouth twitched slightly when he saw him.

This guy, isn't he Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke's old man, Uchiha Fugaku!

It's just that he's only 25 right now; Uchiha Itachi probably hasn't even been conceived yet.

"I am Uchiha Fugaku."

At this moment, Uchiha Fugaku had not yet become the clan head of the Uchiha; he was merely an ordinary member of the Konoha Military Police Force. However, his talent was already gradually manifesting, and his status within the Uchiha clan was on the rise.

"Greetings, Lord Fugaku." Houka and Uchiha Obito bowed respectfully.

The Uchiha clan placed great importance on these superficial formalities. Even though Houka was dissatisfied, he had no choice but to submit while his strength remained weak.

Uchiha Fugaku smiled and said, "I have high hopes for you. Heh, once you possess the determination to become strong, the Sharingan will reward you with what you desire. I will be waiting for you up ahead, young brat!"

After saying this, Uchiha Fugaku dusted off his backside and left.

Houka's eyelid twitched. Damn it, I must not have checked the almanac before leaving the house today!

"Hey Houka, who was that uncle just now? He looked like he was pretty impressive." Uchiha Obito ran over to close the hospital room door and turned back to ask.

"He already said it, didn't he? His name is Uchiha Fugaku. He should be a member of the Konoha Military Police Force," Houka replied cautiously, ensuring that even if someone were eavesdropping, they wouldn't find anything of note.

"Is that so? The Konoha Military Police Force, huh? I wonder when I'll be able to join," Uchiha Obito said with a look of longing.

Houka said, "Obito, I feel much better. Why don't we check out of the hospital now?"

"No way!" Uchiha Obito was unhappy the moment he heard that and shouted righteously, "That nurse sister from earlier was going to lend us money. We haven't even gotten the money yet, so how can we leave?"

"..." Houka.

Your logic is so sound that I am actually speechless.