What Kind of Gratitude Is This

Uchiha Fucheng rubbed his chin, deep in thought.

"Are the red-haired boy's parents still alive?"

Mikoto shook her head. "During this sweep of the remaining Rain ninja, two of Salamander Doshin's subordinates hid in this child's home. They killed the boy's father first, and the mother was also severely wounded before being rescued by our people."

Fucheng secretly found this strange. Nagato's fate has already been altered, so why hasn't there been a reward notification?

Fucheng grew suspicious: Is it possible that Nagato's mother's condition will worsen? As long as Nagato can still become an orphan, it doesn't count as truly changing his fate.

"Let's go. Take me to see the boy's mother first."

Fucheng stood up, and two of the Misaka Sisters split off, obediently following Fucheng and Mikoto with umbrellas in hand.

Inside the Konoha field hospital, which had been converted from a row of civilian houses, Nagato's mother was in critical condition and receiving intensive care.

Because this deviated from Nagato's original fate, his parents had not died at the hands of Konoha ninja, but had instead become targets of the remnants of the Rain ninja.

His father had died from a kunai strike by a Rain ninja, his carotid artery severed.

His mother, in order to protect him, had been stabbed in the abdomen and subsequently infected with Salamander poison.

Severe hemorrhaging, ruptured internal organs, systemic poisoning...

If not for the fact that Nagato's mother was also of the Uzumaki Clan, possessing an incredibly robust constitution, she likely would have succumbed long before they could even attempt to save her.

However, there was only so much the Konoha medical ninja could do.

They first used the Healing Technique to treat the internal hemorrhaging, then the Mystic Palm Technique to mend the arterial wounds, and finally, they specifically employed the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique to strip the Salamander toxin from her body.

These treatments alone represented the most advanced medical protocols in the entire ninja world.

The rest depended on whether Nagato's mother could pull through this ordeal using her own physical resilience and willpower.

Outside the field hospital.

Mikoto asked softly, "Brother Fucheng, is Nagato that important? Do we need to take him back to Konoha?"

Fucheng pondered for a moment, not rushing to answer. "Let's see how things go first. Bringing him back to Konoha might not be the best choice."

In Fucheng's view, although Uchiha Madara was old and frail, the Rinnegan remained a "soft spot" that would drive Madara to risk everything.

Recalling the power of Uchiha Madara's Perfect Susanoo, Fucheng had no intention of gambling his life against him.

Furthermore, this pair of Rinnegan was essentially a "tumor" parasitic within Nagato's body, constantly absorbing his physical nutrients to grow.

Even without the threat of Uchiha Madara, Fucheng had no intention of using the Rinnegan on himself.

This thing could drain an Uzumaki Sage Body like Nagato into a dried corpse; he certainly wouldn't dare put it into his own eye sockets.

As it stood, the best place for the Rinnegan was to remain with its current host, the parasitic vessel that was Nagato.

At the Uchiha field hospital, Fucheng took hold of a brief file on Nagato's mother.

Name: Fuso Bloodline: Suspected Uzumaki Clan Gender: Female Kin: Husband Ise (deceased), Son Nagato Condition: Ruptured liver, ruptured intestine, abdominal hemorrhage, 6cm abdominal laceration, Salamander toxin poisoning, electrolyte imbalance, moderate malnutrition.

Fucheng frowned slightly as he looked at the long list of injuries. "This Uzumaki Fuso's physical condition is not looking good."

Mikoto didn't speak, but a door next to them opened slightly, and a boy with long red hair stood in the doorway, looking terrified.

"Sir, can my mother be saved? Please, I beg you, please save my mother."

The red-haired boy was, naturally, Nagato, who was trapped in terror and grief.

He had seen his father die a tragic death with his own eyes.

He had watched from close range as his mother was run through by a Rain ninja while trying to save him.

If Nagato had been of the Uchiha Clan, this intense psychological trauma would likely have been enough to make him awaken the Three-Tomoe Sharingan on the spot.

The essence of the Rinnegan was, after all, an evolution of the Sharingan.

The intense negative emotions and the surging spiritual energy caused Nagato to exhibit a pathological state of fear.

Just as adrenaline surges after a person is injured, the insecure Nagato seemed to be triggering the power of his own bloodline.

The life force of the Uzumaki Clan flickered violently within him.

Under the observation of Uchiha Fucheng's Mangekyo, Nagato's Rinnegan was also absorbing this massive, surging life force.

A furnace!

These two words appeared abruptly in Uchiha Fucheng's mind.

This pair of Rinnegan had only been successfully awakened through Uchiha Madara's brilliant talent, the life force of Senju Hashirama's cells, and the accumulation of nearly Madara's entire lifetime.

However, the true formation of these eyes still relied on Nagato, who possessed the unique Uzumaki Sage Body.

It required the cultivation of life force to finally grow into a fully realized Rinnegan.

"Don't worry, I came here specifically to save your mother," Uchiha Fucheng said, softly comforting Nagato to alleviate the boy's fear as much as possible.

On the hospital bed, Uzumaki Fuso, with her deep red hair, remained in a coma.

A nervous Nagato spoke with a slight tremor in his voice, "Th-thank you. Please, you must tell me your name; when I grow up, I will repay your life-saving grace."

Uchiha Fucheng shook his head and gently patted the top of Nagato's head.

"There is no need to talk about repaying favors. It is enough if you remember in the future that I saved your mother and that these ninjas at Konoha Hospital saved you both. If you ever get into trouble later, it would be best if you didn't mention us."

Nagato was stunned for a moment by Uchiha Fucheng's joking words.

Mikoto, standing to the side, smiled and reassured him, "Nagato, don't worry. Lord Fucheng is the best medical ninja in Konoha; your mother will definitely be fine."

Seeing that Nagato's emotions had stabilized significantly, Uchiha Fucheng's Mangekyo Eye Technique was suddenly activated.

The [Okuninushi] in his left eye was precisely cast upon Uzumaki Fuso.

The Mangekyo spun.

A stream of blood flowed down his cheek.

The mysterious Mangekyo and Uchiha Fucheng's blood-stained face left Nagato, who was looking up at him, so shocked that he couldn't speak.

He seemed to understand that Uchiha Fucheng's miraculous eyes were using an overloaded power to heal his mother.

Turning his head back, Nagato looked at Uzumaki Fuso on the hospital bed.

His mother's originally pale complexion was turning rosy at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The severe injuries caused by excessive blood loss were also recovering rapidly.

Even though she had seen it twice before, Mikoto, witnessing Uchiha Fucheng's Mangekyo Eye Technique again, still felt shocked.

The first time was treating Fugaku.

The second time was treating Hatake Sakumo's wife.

That kind of visible healing effect was like a miracle!

It was just that after using the eye technique, Uchiha Fucheng's eyes would bleed profusely, which made people very worried.

Mikoto did not know that Uchiha Fucheng had long since mastered the technique of Lesser Kamui Tear Concealment.

This time, intentionally letting his eyes bleed heavily was merely to increase Nagato's sense of worship and gratitude.

Because of the constant destiny rewards, although Uchiha Fucheng's Mangekyo Sharingan would still suffer from reduced vision due to overuse, the side effects were not as strong as imagined thanks to the repeated strengthening from the rewards.

On the contrary, because he had mastered a portion of Fugaku's ocular power, it showed a trend of evolving toward an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

As Nagato's mother recovered rapidly, Uchiha Fucheng had the medical ninjas simultaneously remove the bandages from Fuso's abdomen.

Once the bandages were removed, the healing effect became even more intuitive.

A diagonal knife wound longer than a finger, which had still been oozing blood even after the medical ninjas had sutured it, was now visibly closing, fading, and disappearing.

A long-delayed system notification appeared in Uchiha Fucheng's mind as Nagato's mother's injuries were healed.

[Changed the trajectory of Nagato's destiny]