Performance of All Parties

The news reached the Hokage Building with lightning speed.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had just been agitated by an argument with Danzō, stood up abruptly from his chair upon hearing the emergency report from the Anbu, his face turning ashen in an instant!

"What did you say?! Root sent people to assassinate Uchiha Ling?! In the hospital?! And all three were killed in return?!" The Third Hokage's voice trembled with extreme fury.

"Y-yes, Lord Hokage. The scene... it was horrific. Uchiha Ling has sustained new injuries and is in an extremely unstable emotional state. He... he is questioning why the village wants him dead..."

The reporting Anbu knelt on one knee, his head bowed low.

"Dan! Zō!" Hiruzen Sarutobi squeezed the name through his teeth, his rage soaring to the heavens!

He never imagined that Danzō would be this insane, this unscrupulous!

To directly send Root to assassinate a student of the Ninja Academy who had just performed a great service! And in Konoha Hospital, no less!

This was a blatant, frantic slap to his face as Hokage! It was a trampling of Konoha's order and its bottom line!

"Immediately transfer Uchiha Ling to the highest-security intensive care ward! Send the best medical ninjas! Increase the Anbu guard! Without my direct order, no one is to approach!"

The Third Hokage roared the command, "Summon Shimura Danzō to see me at once! Now! Immediately!"

"Yes!" The Anbu vanished in an instant.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's chest heaved violently. He walked to the window and looked out at Konoha under the veil of night, his heart turning cold. Danzō... you have gone too far!

Deep within the Root base.

Shimura Danzō quickly received the news that the mission had failed completely and all three of his subordinates had been wiped out.

Danzō's withered fingers tightened around his cane. A flash of disbelief crossed his single eye, immediately replaced by an even deeper, sinister, and explosive rage!

"Trash! Three Chunin, and they couldn't take down one injured brat?!" His voice was low and hoarse, heavy with the weight of a brewing storm.

Besides, he had clearly ordered them to bring Uchiha Ling in—how did it turn into an assassination?

Just then, his eyes and ears stationed near the Hokage Building sent the latest update: Uchiha Ling was crying and accusing the village of sending killers, the Anbu had taken full control, and the Third Hokage was furious and summoning him urgently!

Upon hearing the words "crying and accusing," Danzō froze for a moment, then instantly understood!

That brat... that Uchiha brat! He didn't just happen to kill them in self-defense! He did it on purpose! He was acting!

He was using this incident to turn the tables on him!

He was fishing for sympathy, manufacturing public opinion, and placing him and Root in opposition to the entire village!

"Uchiha... Ling!" Danzō nearly ground his teeth to dust, an unprecedented sense of stifled frustration and boiling rage surging in his heart!

He had spent his life calculating others, yet today he had been outmaneuvered and toyed with by a teenager! He had even lost three elite Root members!

A humiliating disgrace!

[Extreme rage, frustration, and surging killing intent from Shimura Danzō +80]

Danzō could already see Hiruzen Sarutobi's questioning, furious face and feel the immense pressure coming from the Hokage's faction.

Perhaps even... other ninja clans might develop dissatisfaction and vigilance toward Root and the Council because of this.

All of this, because of that damned Uchiha brat!

His cane slammed heavily against the floor with a dull thud. The killing intent in Danzō's single eye was nearly tangible.

"That naturally evil Uchiha brat..."

Inside the highest-security intensive care ward of Konoha Hospital, the scent of disinfectant had been replaced by a faint, lingering sandalwood.

Uchiha Ling lay on the newly changed, soft bedding. His fresh wounds had been personally treated by medical ninjas and were wrapped in clean, white bandages.

Two Anbu wearing animal masks stood guard outside the door like statues. Unlike the cold, murderous intent of the Root agents from before, they carried a solemn, professional air.

Uchiha Ling closed his eyes to rest, but his mind was busy calculating his next move.

Next, I wait for the reactions from all sides... Uchiha Ling thought to himself. The script had been laid out; it was time for the actors to make their entrances.

The first to arrive was Uzumaki Kushina, who moved like a blazing flame.

She practically charged into the ward, ignoring the Anbu's perfunctory attempts to block her at the door. When she saw Ling's pale face, the new bandages wrapped around his body, and his look of utter frailty, her large, emerald eyes instantly filled with tears.

"Ling!" She rushed to the bedside, her voice thick with sobs and incredulous anger, "Are you alright? How could this happen?! I heard them say... it was someone from our own village... how could they do this to you?!"

Kushina had clearly heard the rumors on her way here, and her emotions were nearly impossible to contain. In Kushina's simple worldview, Ling was a hero who had been injured saving her, a comrade who possessed the true Will of Fire.

Kushina could not comprehend why such a Ling would be subjected to such a vile assassination.

[Anger, heartache, guilt, and fear from Uzumaki Kushina +60]

Uchiha Ling opened his eyes, forcing a "weak" yet "strong" smile to comfort her in return:

"I'm fine, Kushina. It's just a small injury... perhaps... perhaps there was some kind of misunderstanding."

Uchiha Ling spoke deliberately vaguely, even adopting a tone that seemed to "excuse" the village, which only served to further ignite Kushina's indignation.

"A misunderstanding?! What kind of misunderstanding requires sending assassins to a hospital?! They clearly wanted to kill you!"

Kushina clenched her small fists, her long red hair beginning to stir as if caught in a breeze.

Uchiha Ling keenly captured this, immediately reaching out to take Kushina's hand. He channeled a gentle stream of chakra into her while using his Sharingan to project a sense of calm: "Calm down, Kushina. I'm fine, really. Lord Hokage has already sent people to protect me; he will uncover the truth."

Under Uchiha Ling's soothing, Kushina's emotions calmed slightly, though the towering rage within her did not dissipate. She gripped his hand tightly in reverse, as if afraid he would vanish the moment she let go, and bit her lip until tears finally began to roll down in large, heavy drops.

"It's all because of me... If you hadn't tried to save me, you wouldn't have been hurt, and you wouldn't have been targeted by those villains... They were definitely coming for me; I'm the one who dragged you into this..."

In this moment, Kushina's reliance on and trust in Uchiha Ling reached its peak, while her hatred for the mastermind behind the scenes reached an equal intensity; she guessed almost instinctively that the culprit was likely the Konoha high-ranking officials who were supposedly protecting her.

[Guilt and reliance from Uzumaki Kushina +40]

"Don't say such silly things." Uchiha Ling gently patted the back of her hand. "Protecting a companion is never a burden. As long as you are safe and sound, everything I did was worth it."

These words struck like the most precise arrow, hitting the softest part of Kushina's heart.

She could no longer hold back, collapsing against the bedside to sob softly, her shoulders trembling slightly.

After a while, Kushina finally lifted her head and wiped away her tears, a flame of unprecedented determination burning in her emerald eyes: "Ling, just you wait! I won't let you suffer this injustice for nothing! I'm going to find Grandma right now! Grandma will definitely stand up for us!"

Having said that, Kushina didn't wait for Ling to respond; she stood up abruptly and rushed out of the hospital room in a flurry, her red figure disappearing like a whirlwind at the end of the corridor.

Uchiha Ling knew that the first domino had already fallen in the direction he had envisioned.

Although Uchiha Ling's calculations this time had included Kushina, utilizing her feelings for him, he had spent nearly a year with her, and as a human being, he was not made of wood or stone; Uchiha Ling had developed genuine feelings for Kushina.