The world kept turning. Jiraiya was on his way to the Land of Rain, while the Uchiha brothers were settling their own grievances.
What about Yunju? Yunju lay quietly in Konoha Hospital. At least, from a broad perspective, that was what it looked like: a lump of charred black flesh, utterly motionless.
Was Yunju dead or not?
Strictly speaking, he was dead, yet not dead.
His body should have been ruined beyond repair, his life force rapidly dissipating until it vanished completely.
But he possessed the Senju clan's enormous chakra reserves, as well as the Yin Seal and Strength of a Hundred Seal personally taught to him.
This kept him healing continuously, while the high-temperature flames continued to scorch him and char his body. His condition could never improve, and he endured piercing pain every moment. He had not died. He had gone into shock, forced unconscious by the agony.
With neither consciousness nor control over his body, it was easy for outsiders to assume he was dead. Yunju's chakra could not circulate either, because his most basic thoughts and awareness had fallen asleep.
The Yin Seal and Hundred Healings continued consuming the chakra they had stored away. Yunju's body slowly improved, and beneath the outer charred shell, fresh skin was gradually turning rosy.
Yet Yunju's consciousness would not return so easily.
Yunju did not know how long he had been floating.
There was no sense of time, no sense of space, no up or down, no left or right.
He was like a cloud of smoke scattered by the wind, suspended in midair, unable to touch or feel anything.
He tried to open his eyes—the thought of "open my eyes" appeared in his mind, but there was no response. He could not feel his eyelids.
He could not