The Strange Konoha Hospital

Midnight.

Konoha Hospital.

The nurse on duty sat at the front desk, yawning with exhaustion. She still had to patrol the wards in a little while, so she had to keep her spirits up.

"Dr. Karin, I'm here to relieve you."

The nurse walked to the stairwell and said with a smile.

Karin's hair had grown a bit longer, and she wore the Konoha Hospital doctor's bracelet on her fair wrist. Because she wasn't wearing her glasses, her eyes appeared even more slender. "The light in the stairwell is broken; it keeps flickering. Be careful when you go upstairs to patrol. If anything happens, come find me. I'll be sleeping in the breakroom for a bit."

The nurse thanked her. Dr. Karin was truly worthy of being the closed-door disciple of Director Kushina Uzumaki; her medical skills were excellent, and she was a kind person as well.

The window in the second-floor corridor of Konoha Hospital had somehow opened. The nurse on duty walked over cautiously, preparing to close it with her hands, but a stone wedged in the corner of the frame prevented her from shutting it.

The nurse muttered, "It must be some child's prank from this morning. If I catch them, I'm definitely going to teach them a lesson."

At the very moment the window was about to close, a pale face suddenly dropped down in front of the nurse, blood streaming from above and below its eyes.

"Ah!" The timid nurse was terrified, let out a scream, and fainted on the floor.

Karin, who had just drifted into a light sleep, heard the scream and immediately stood up, sprinting to the second floor.

The wind picked up, battering against the window.

Karin helped the nurse up and pressed on her philtrum. "What's wrong? What happened?"

The nurse opened her eyes and said tremblingly, "Dr. Karin, there's something unclean outside the window. It was so terrifying."

Karin walked to the window and examined it in detail for a while, but she didn't find anything strange.

"You might be too tired and hallucinated, scaring yourself. Leave the patrol to me; you go get some rest first." Karin didn't feel comfortable letting the terrified nurse continue working.

"Really, I really saw it." The nurse on duty insisted she hadn't seen wrong.

Starting with this incident, over the next week, the nurses on duty at Konoha were all too scared by the "unclean thing" by the window to continue their work. Furthermore, the face each nurse saw was different, turning the supernatural occurrences at Konoha Hospital into a hot topic of discussion.

To resolve the problem at Konoha Hospital, Kushina Uzumaki consolidated the matter into a mission and reported it to the Hokage Office, where it was provisionally classified as a C-rank mission with a reward of two thousand ryo.

Director's Office, Konoha Hospital.

Karin was unconvinced and said directly to Kushina Uzumaki, "Teacher, let us stake it out for one more night. We will definitely be able to catch the guy who's playing ghost."

Standing on either side of Karin were Haku and Kimimaro.

Haku's temperament was increasingly gentle, and he looked at Kushina Uzumaki with bright, sparkling eyes. "Teacher, we actually made an important discovery. We found hidden paint on the roof terrace. This confirms that someone is indeed hiding on the roof at night on purpose, then scaring our nurses through the windows."

Kimimaro was wearing loose white clothing, his eyebrows short and sparse. He nodded along with Haku's words.

Years ago, because of Naruto's insistence, Kimimaro underwent a comprehensive examination at Konoha Hospital. In the end, Kushina determined that Kimimaro's body had suffered a loss of life force due to the use of his Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai.

Kimimaro had since been restricted from using his own Kekkei Genkai, usually training only in taijutsu and shurikenjutsu, while learning a few practical ninjutsu. Even so, Kimimaro's strength remained formidable.

This was Kimimaro's innate talent.

Kushina Uzumaki pulled a stack of medical records from the desk. "Karin, it is right for you to care about the hospital's safety, but you are a doctor. The health of these patients is your primary duty. If you stay up all night catching ghosts, will you still have the energy to treat patients?"

"Haku, Kimimaro, you two go back to the clothing store and don't come here to add to the chaos. This matter has already been handed over; a ninja squad will take the mission and figure out who the culprit is!"

The three of them left the director's office.

"Not happy, very unhappy," Karin said, gritting her teeth. "We've agreed to meet at the hospital's back entrance tonight. This time, I'll definitely be able to sense that guy's true location."

Haku and Kimimaro agreed with Karin's decision.

Hokage Office!

"Kakashi, are they doing the mission seriously?" Minato Namikaze asked with a smile. "Is Naruto being obedient?"

Kakashi stood straight. "Minato-sensei, Naruto knows how to think. Although we are currently only doing D-rank missions, Naruto treats them all with seriousness."

"Hinata is a careful child. Her Byakugan is used comprehensively, and she can make a fine reconnaissance ninja."

"Although Sakura Haruno's foundation isn't very good, she has talent in genjutsu and chakra control. I am currently working on improving her strength in these areas."

Minato Namikaze nodded. "Kakashi, I truly didn't misjudge you. To be able to see their strengths and weaknesses so clearly in such a short time and then formulate specialized training plans—I believe that under your leadership, they will all become pillars of Konoha."

"Konoha Hospital has a small problem. This mission is assigned to you."

After reading the mission information, Kakashi accepted the scroll. "It's not a difficult task. I'll go resolve it tonight."

"I look forward to your good news."

Small bridge, flowing water, old trees, and evening crows.

Naruto held Hinata's hand to steady her.

Hinata stood firmly on the railing beside the small bridge and said joyfully, "I did it, Naruto! Do you want to try?"

Naruto said, "What if I let go of your hand?"

Hinata maintained her balance and slowly raised both hands, not slipping from the railing.

"I told you my chakra control ability had improved, but you didn't believe me. In a few more days, I'll be able to run on the railing." Hinata showed off the extent of her progress to Naruto, her expression confident.

Naruto gave a thumbs up. "Amazing!"

Sakura Haruno ran over and said loudly, "So this is where you are! Kakashi-sensei notified us that there's a new mission. He wants us to gather at Konoha Hospital after dinner."

Naruto helped Hinata down, saying, "This should be the mission to resolve the strange phenomena at Konoha Hospital. It shouldn't be too difficult. How about this: I'll head to Konoha Hospital first to set things up, and you all can come over after you've had dinner."

After arranging the tasks, Naruto headed toward Konoha Hospital alone.

Hinata's gaze fell upon the new crossbody bag Sakura had bought. "Sakura, did you buy the latest model?"

The two girls instantly found a common topic and began sharing their preferences.

Night fell.

Kakashi was late again.

Hospital lobby.

All six had arrived.

Haku said happily, "Naruto-kun, with your help, the hospital's problems will be solved in no time."

"Indeed!" Kimimaro echoed.

Hinata activated her Byakugan to conduct an initial observation. "There are no abnormalities."

Naruto rubbed his fingers. "Karin, the three of you have quite severe dark circles under your eyes! You need to rest when you can. These past few days, the incidents involving the nurses have mostly occurred at midnight. To maintain a normal routine, Haku, put on a nurse's uniform and patrol the wards with Karin."