The icy needle pierced his spine.
Yoru mercilessly pushed every drop of the pale green liquid from the vial into him.
"Aaaagh—!!!"
The next second, a pig-slaughtering scream nearly blew the roof off the intensive care ward.
Ōnoki's short body suddenly curled up, like a wild cat whose tail had been stepped on. Every bone in his body trembled violently.
"Pain, pain, pain... My old back is about to snap into eight pieces!"
Tears and snot streamed down the old man's face as he flailed wildly on the hospital bed.
"Yoru! Did you inject me with fake medicine?!"
The head of the medical department beside him went pale with fright, dropping his stethoscope to the floor.
"Tsuchikage-sama! Hold on!"
"Quick! Prepare cardiotonic injections and sedatives!"
The entire medical team descended into chaos.
Only Yoru remained calm, his hands tucked into the pockets of his white coat as he leaned against the wall.
"What are you yelling for? It's just a final burst of life. He won't die."
Yoru yawned, his face full of disdain.
"The Yang Release power of the Hashirama Cells is reconstructing his bones and meridians. Pain is normal—it means the medicine is taking effect."
The moment he finished speaking—
Boom—!
A massive life force, so overwhelming it made people suffocate, erupted from Ōnoki's body like a volcano that had slumbered for a century!
Dense green chakra light pierced through his hospital gown, bathing the entire ward in an eerie jade glow.
Crack! Crack-crack-crack—!
A dense series of crisp pops, enough to make one's teeth ache, erupted wildly from Ōnoki's back like beans bursting in a pan.
Before the horrified eyes of the medical team, who were nearly popping their eyes out of their sockets—
Ōnoki's severely deformed, hunched back, bent nearly ninety degrees from years of flight—