"Uh... Lord Hanzo, did you forget? Youzo is Young Master Sheng Yue's teacher. She's still angry because Youzo was injured protecting Chiba, and she said she was going to teach Chiba a lesson..." Hanzo's Left Hand wiped the sweat from his forehead. During the few days Youzo had been down, all the work had fallen to him. As Zozo put it, he hadn't understood before why Youzo was always so resentful, but now he did.
Hanzo the Salamander sighed, then shook his head. "Let the kids handle their own problems. Sheng Yue isn't much older than Chiba. Zozo, I'm heading to the front lines in a bit. Tell the scouts to send any news to headquarters as soon as they get it."
"Yes, Lord Hanzo." Zozo nodded.
"He's recovering pretty quickly. He's adapted to the Salamander Toxin. If I'd known that mutt was a mad dog, I would've kicked it to death myself. Then Youzo and this kid wouldn't have gotten hurt." Hanzo watched Chiba's face.
Zozo spoke up. "Lord Hanzo, this wasn't your fault. Konoha's the one to blame."
A long while passed.
"Keep an eye out for information coming from Konoha over the next few days, especially anything involving Danzo. The map this kid carries must be important. Otherwise, they wouldn't have sent one of Danzo's Twelve Root Members after him. It takes a lot of time to raise a Kage Level fighter." Hanzo the Salamander looked out the window. Rain pattered down, and Amegakure had long since grown accustomed to its misty drizzle.
"By the way, Lord Hanzo, Chiba's friends spent the whole night waiting in the hospital stairwell. Should I ask them to come up and see him?" Zozo suddenly remembered and spoke up.
Hanzo the Salamander nodded and said nothing more.
He was thinking about the future.
A few breaths after Zozo left the hospital room, Hanzo the Salamander, the Demigod of the Ninja World, sighed. He murmured to himself, "Amegakure was never the right place for you... Konoha has better resources. Kid, I... really do like you. If only you were my son..."
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone gently tapped on the door.
"Come in," Hanzo the Salamander said evenly.
Then,
Zozo entered the hospital room with Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato, the Three Orphans. Since Nagato's hair was long, Hanzo the Salamander didn't notice his unusual eyes.
"Chiba!" Konan's purple hair was a little messy, and she didn't look well. Chiba had only been at the front for three or four days, yet here he was, back in the hospital again.
"Lord Hanzo, what happened to Chiba?" Yahiko looked at Hanzo the Salamander. Yahiko wasn't afraid of him.
Hanzo glanced at the orange-haired boy. His voice sounded muffled beneath his mask. "He'll wake up soon. He let his guard down on the battlefield and got hurt."
Suddenly,
"Cough... cough... cough, cough."
Uchiha Chiba furrowed his brow. His throat was parched. He coughed a few times, then slowly opened his eyes.
"Water..."
Konan looked around. There was no water jug. What should she do? She hurriedly took a small canteen from her back and handed it to Chiba.
It was Konan's own canteen. She'd just taken a sip from it.
"Gulp... gulp..." Chiba drained the canteen.
"Phew... I'm alive again." Uchiha Chiba let out a long breath.
Hanzo the Salamander stood up.
"Kid, good to see you're all right. On the table over there are those eyes with the three tomoe. There are a few Sunagakure Ninja to the east of Amegakure. Once you've recovered, clear them out. As for the main battlefield... we'll deal with that later." Hanzo the Salamander spoke, but before Uchiha Chiba could reply, he had already left the room with Zozo.
"He left in such a hurry. The fighting at the front must be intense," Uchiha Chiba murmured to himself.
"Mm... ngh..." Konan's face flushed red.
Uchiha Chiba reached out and placed his hand on Konan's forehead.
"You don't have a fever. Why's your face so red, Konan?" Uchiha Chiba smiled.
"Y-your canteen..." Konan turned her head away, her voice faltering as if she were terribly embarrassed.
Then,
Uchiha Chiba looked at the canteen in his hand.
It was an exquisite purple canteen. If he remembered correctly, it was Konan's personal one. Wait... that meant drinking from it was basically...
Police car: Are you walking away, or am I taking you for a ride?
Chiba: No, come on, don't mess with me! I'm new here!
Just as the whole room sank into an indescribably awkward silence, someone shoved the door open.
"So you're the Chiba Father—Lord Hanzo—told me about?" a lively female voice rang out.
Then,
A woman who looked four or five years older than Chiba, with a rather nice figure and face, walked in.
She had long, golden-blond hair.
In her hand was a kusarigama.
"You... can break free of a Kage Level fighter's genjutsu? I find that hard to believe. Get out of bed and spar with me." The woman looked Uchiha Chiba over, then snorted as if she were angry.
Chiba: Wait, lady?? Do we even know each other?
"Chiba just woke up, and he's not feeling well. How about another day, miss?" Yahiko spoke up.
"Hm? How dare a kid like you tell this young master what to do? You're asking for a beating! Wait... you're not a ninja? Neither are you two?" The woman turned to look at the Three Orphans, then turned her gaze back to Chiba.
"This young master doesn't hit kids. You can just sit back and watch." The woman shrugged.
Clink!
The kusarigama rattled.
"First of all, I'm injured." Uchiha Chiba just wanted to avoid a pointless spar. This woman looked like the sort who had a big chest and an empty head. She was also arrogant, so she was probably one of Hanzo's students or something. After all, it made perfect sense for the mighty Demigod of the Ninja World to have several disciples.
"Hm? I know. So what? Does that stop us from sparring? Come on, I'm itching for a fight today." The woman spoke earnestly.
Chiba: ...
"Secondly, I don't even know your name."
"Sheng Yue. Just call me Sheng Yue. Now you know, so get out of bed."
Chiba: I'm starting to fall apart...
"Konan, you guys rest here for a while. You must not have gotten any proper rest. Wait here for me. I'll deal with this... airhead." Uchiha Chiba paused slightly before saying the last word.
Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato knew they couldn't help, so they could only nod. But Sheng Yue's sudden appearance and what she had said had already planted a seed in the Three Orphans: the desire to become ninjas.
Uchiha Chiba picked up the kusarigama from the table.
He looked at Sheng Yue.
Her chakra was around that of an elite jōnin. She was probably the type of ninja who focused on taijutsu and ninja tools.
The two of them went to the training ground.
The wound in his abdomen had healed, but the cold breeze still made it ache faintly.
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