Room 404

Land of Lightning.

Cloud Hidden Village.

A hospital ward in Cloud Hidden Hospital.

The air was thick with the smell of disinfectant, and several medical ninja in white uniforms stood around the hospital bed.

"Lord Raikage, you have to stand up for us!"

Assam lay on the bed, his voice tinged with tears as he wept bitterly and looked at the Fourth Raikage seated on the edge of the bed.

His chest was still wracked with intense pain.

As an elite jonin of Cloud Hidden Village, he held no small position within the village.

Assam had never imagined that serving as an envoy for negotiations in Konoha would lead to something so terrifying.

Uchiha Mirai's figure had been branded into his mind like a nightmare.

Only now did he understand the meaning of that saying from the Third Shinobi War: "Uchiha Mirai will make you lose your future!"...

"Lord Raikage, you must stand up for Lord Assam! Lord Assam did everything for the village!"

"That's right! That Uchiha Mirai was far too arrogant! He even told you to personally go to Konoha and find him!"

"Lord Raikage, you absolutely can't let that bastard off!"

The Cloud Ninja who had accompanied Assam to Konoha surrounded Raikage A, their tearful pleas rising one after another.

If the ninja outside saw this scene, their eyes would surely go wide.

Cloud Hidden Village, renowned for its tough men, actually had such a delicate side???

The Fourth Raikage, A, said nothing, his expression incomparably grim.

He had more or less investigated the matter thoroughly.

The envoy he had sent out had been brutally beaten by Uchiha Mirai in public, making his cheeks feel as though they were burning.

"Lord Raikage... there is something you need to know."

The speaker was a female medical ninja beside him. She held the examination reports to her chest, concern in her eyes.

"Speak."

A said darkly.

The female medical ninja exchanged looks with the other medical ninja before speaking hesitantly.

"Lord Raikage, we discovered a mass near Assam's chest cavity. It appears to be continuously growing. If it isn't removed quickly, I'm afraid it could endanger his life."

The ward suddenly fell silent for a moment.

Then came hoarse sobbing.

"I don't want to die! Lord Raikage, please arrange surgery for me as soon as possible!"

Assam, lying on the bed, grabbed Raikage A's arm and begged through bitter tears.

The female medical ninja looked hesitant.

"We still haven't determined what the mass is..."

"Is there still time to hesitate? Big Brother has contributed so much to the village. Are you going to just watch him die?"

Assam's underling shouted angrily.

The medical ninja looked at each other, helplessness in their eyes.

Their preliminary examination suggested that the mass was extremely unusual. They could not determine what it actually was.

"Remove it!"

Raikage A said in a deep voice.

The most urgent matter was preserving Assam's life.

An elite jonin could not die so inexplicably.

"Understood."

The medical ninja sighed.

Since the Raikage had spoken, they could only carry out the order.

The operation began quickly.

It was only the removal of a mass, and no complicated blood vessels were involved, so preparation did not take much time.

The medical ninja used a scalpel to cut open Assam's chest. As the skin parted, they could faintly see a fist-sized foreign object rising and falling with his breathing.

The object was located exactly where Uchiha Mirai had stepped on him.

The other Cloud Ninja and the Raikage watched tensely from the side.

The fat and flesh had already been separated. The medical ninja lowered the scalpel toward the object.

The instant the tip of the blade touched the mass, Assam suddenly let out a crazed howl from the hospital bed.

"AAAAAHHHH!!!!"

A searing pain engulfed his brain, making him feel as though his entire body were about to be torn apart.

Bang!

The foreign object exploded instantly.

Glittering particles like pollen swiftly engulfed most of the hospital room.

"Cough, cough, cough!! What is this???"

"Quick!! Get out of here!!!"

The closest medical ninja suddenly felt a burning pain across his skin and dropped his scalpel with a cry.

Assam's younger brother, who had been observing the operation nearby, clutched his throat in agony as he coughed, his eyes rapidly filling with bloodshot veins.

The fastest to react was Raikage A!

The instant the foreign object exploded, blazing lightning erupted across his body. In a flash, he smashed through the hospital room wall and rushed into the corridor.

"Seal off the room!!!"

"Now!"

A bellowed his command.

Assam's younger brother's pleading voice came from inside the room.

"Lord Raikage, don't!"

"Please let us out, we're still inside!"

Several ANBU appeared in the corridor with a whoosh. They formed hand seals at high speed and spat out thick, sticky clay.

Earth Release instantly plugged the gap in the wall, continuously pouring inward.

"Lord Raikage! Don't!!"

"Please, let us out!"

Those Cloud Ninja were still begging, but their voices grew quieter and quieter.

In the end, they were as faint as the buzzing of mosquitoes, nearly inaudible.

The clay spat out by the ANBU had completely sealed the room. Even the outer wall was covered in a thick layer of Earth Release.

Bang!!!

A angrily punched the corridor wall, leaving spiderweb-like cracks across it.

"Damn it! I actually forgot—that guy was the Calamity Uchiha!"

Uchiha Mirai, Konoha's Calamity Uchiha!

During the Third Great Ninja War, who knew how many enemies had died to his bizarre poison!

Even now, the four great ninja villages still had many ninja suffering from its effects.

It was said that quite a few of them had mutated.

Growing things like tentacles...

Scarlet veins burst across A's eyes.

There was no need to say it—the lump had definitely been Uchiha Mirai's contingency plan.

Its purpose was to disgust them!

A did not know the poison's weakness. To be safe, he could only seal the entire room, along with the medical ninja and Cloud Ninja swallowed by the poison, inside it!

His reaction just now had been extremely fast. The instant the lump exploded, he had escaped using Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

He should not have been infected by that poison.

Based on their experience from the Third Great Ninja War, sufficiently thick Earth Release combined with metal barriers could greatly weaken the poison's spread.

"L-Lord Raikage... what happened?"

An ANBU in the corridor asked nervously.

It was their first time seeing the Fourth Raikage in such a flustered state.

"It's already dealt with."

A shook his head.

He turned and stared deeply at the hospital room.

"Abandon this room. No one is ever to approach it again!"

"Yes!"

The ANBU immediately nodded.

After giving the order, A turned and left.

The number 404 was carved into the room's wall.

Room 404 became a forbidden area of the Cloud Hidden Village from that day onward.

It was not until more than a decade later, when the Cloud Hidden Village underwent tremendous changes, that a new generation of ninja opened this hospital room, which had lain dormant for over ten years, out of a sense of adventure...