A Midnight Visit to the Hospital Room

Late at night, Konoha Hospital was like a slumbering giant beast.

Only one corridor lamp was lit every ten meters, its dim yellow glow casting mottled shadows across the walls. The medical ninja on night duty dozed against the nurses' station, their exhaustion from excessive chakra consumption leaving them less vigilant than they should have been.

Hyuga Xiao stood in the woods behind the hospital, his Byakugan glimmering with a pale blue light in the darkness.

His vision pierced through the walls, turning the three-story structure into a transparent grid. Isolation Room Seven was on the second basement level, an area specifically used to confine dangerous patients—three layers of barriers wrapped around that room like an onion.

The first layer was a sensory barrier. Any chakra fluctuation would trigger an alarm.

The second layer was a confinement barrier, capable of suppressing a prisoner's chakra flow.

The third layer was a sealing barrier, designed specifically for special energies such as Curse Marks.

"The Hyuga Clan took part in building the hospital barriers..." Xiao murmured, recalling the blueprints he had happened to glimpse in the Main House library three years ago.

That had been when he was still pretending to be obedient. To demonstrate the "Main House's trust in the Branch House," Hiashi Hyuga had allowed several Branch House youths to help organize ancient texts. Xiao had spent three whole days engraving every detail of those blueprints into his mind.

—The sensory barrier's node was at the ventilation opening in the southeast corner of the ceiling. There was a design flaw there that the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan could see through, but ordinary sensory ninja could not detect.

—The confinement barrier's chakra flow underwent a periodic three-second weakening every two hours.

—The sealing barrier's weakest point was directly beneath the hospital bed, because a passage had to be left open for the medical equipment's grounding line.

Xiao glanced at his pocket watch.

2:47 a.m.

Thirteen minutes remained until the next barrier weakening.

He took off his coat, revealing the pure black bodysuit underneath—spare ANBU gear he had "borrowed" from the Hyuga Clan training ground warehouse. He pressed his fingers against the small pouch at his waist. Inside were three pale violet vials, their surfaces glowing faintly under the moonlight.

Evening Primrose extract mixed with Gentle Fist chakra inhibitors, along with three rare medicinal ingredients stolen from the Main House pharmacy. He had brewed it for six hours, failed twice, and only succeeded on the third attempt.

I hope this works.

Xiao took a deep breath, chakra slowly circulating through his meridians. He did not use the Body Flicker Technique—any explosive use of chakra might be detected. Instead, he moved along the wall like a cat, every step landing in the deepest shadows.

The drainage pipe along the hospital's rear wall was covered in rust.

Xiao hooked his fingers into the gaps between the bricks and climbed lightly upward. His Byakugan remained fixed on that ventilation node. In his vision, the barrier's chakra flow slowly revolved like a blue river.

2:50 a.m.

He stopped on the outer wall of the third floor, pressing himself beneath the window ledge. The patrolling guards had just rounded the corner below, their footsteps gradually fading away.

2:53 a.m.

Xiao flipped into the third-floor corridor and landed without a sound. A faint snore came from the end of the hall—one medical ninja had fallen asleep at a desk. He slipped sideways into the stairwell and headed down the steps.

The second basement level was colder than the floors above.

The air was filled with the mixed scent of disinfectant and something rotten. Xiao frowned. In his Byakugan's vision, the chakra concentration around the isolation room was abnormally high—that was energy leaking from the Curse Mark's rampage, carrying Orochimaru's distinctive cold, clammy presence.

2:58 a.m.

He stood outside Room Seven.

The three layers of barriers were clearly visible through his Byakugan: a blue sensory net, a red confinement current, and golden sealing patterns. The three energies intertwined into an airtight cage. Inside the room, Anko Mitarashi's life force was already as faint as a candle flickering in the wind.

Xiao closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing.

Chakra rose from his lower abdomen and circulated along a special meridian route—this was the Hyuga Clan's secret Breath-Concealing Technique, capable of suppressing one's chakra fluctuations to nearly nothing. The price was immense pressure on the meridians, and it could only be maintained for ten minutes at most.

3:00 a.m.

The confinement barrier's chakra flow began its periodic weakening.

Now.

Xiao formed three hand seals, his movements so fast they left only afterimages. Chakra seeped from his fingertips, precisely piercing the barrier node. The first sensory net split open soundlessly, like a water bubble pricked by a needle.

He squeezed sideways through it.

The second confinement barrier was in its weakened phase, its red energy current thinning. Xiao did not force his way through. Instead, he gathered chakra in his palm and gently pulled apart a gap as though parting a curtain—the Gentle Fist's precise control over chakra reached its full potential at this moment.

Three seconds.

He had to get through within three seconds.

His body slid through like a fish. His black bodysuit gave off a faint sizzle as it brushed the barrier's edge. Xiao could feel a burning pain on his skin, the barrier energy instinctively rejecting an intruder.

The final sealing barrier.

Xiao crouched down and pressed his palm against the floor. His Byakugan penetrated the flooring, revealing a grounding passage less than twenty centimeters wide below—its lines, once meant to connect medical equipment, had long been abandoned, but the passage remained.

He gripped the edge of the floor with both hands, muscles tensing.

Crack.

He tore up an entire thirty-centimeter square section of flooring, exposing the pitch-black passage beneath. Xiao did not hesitate. He curled himself into a ball and squeezed inside. The passage was so narrow that it nearly caught his shoulders, dust and cobwebs rushing into his face.

Three meters.

Two meters.

One meter.

Light appeared above him.

Xiao pushed open the grate at the end of the passage and emerged directly from beneath the hospital bed.

The sight inside the room made his pupils contract.

Anko Mitarashi was tied to a specially made medical bed, chakra-suppressing shackles locked around her wrists and ankles. Seven or eight tubes were inserted into her body, some delivering nutrients, others drawing blood contaminated by the Curse Mark. The girl's face was pale as paper, her lips cracked, and the Curse Mark on her neck writhed like a living thing. Its black patterns had already spread to her collarbone.

Most alarming were her eyes—even unconscious, they were half-open, an unnatural dark red gleaming deep within her pupils.

Xiao hurried to the bedside.

He took out the first vial from his waist pouch and pulled the stopper free. The pale violet liquid swayed in the glass tube, giving off Evening Primrose's distinct bitter fragrance. He held Anko's jaw with his left hand and gently forced her mouth open.

He poured in the medicine.

Anko's body suddenly convulsed.

Xiao had been prepared. He held two fingers together like a blade with his right hand, chakra gathering at his fingertips. His Byakugan locked onto the core node of the Curse Mark on her neck, and his fingers struck down like lightning!

Gentle Fist: Sealing Points!

The first strike sealed the Tianzhu point.

The second suppressed the Fengchi point.

The third cut off the Curse Mark's route toward her brain.

Anko's convulsions gradually subsided, but the Curse Mark's resistance intensified. The black patterns twisted and struggled as if alive, trying to break through the seal. Fine beads of sweat appeared on Xiao's brow—what Orochimaru had left behind was harder to deal with than he had imagined.

He took out the second vial.

This time, it was not for her to drink. Xiao tore open Anko's hospital gown collar and poured the medicine directly onto the surface of the Curse Mark.

Sizzle—

The instant the liquid touched her skin, white smoke rose. Anko let out a muffled groan, her body tensing again. The black patterns of the Curse Mark visibly faded, changing from deep black to dark red, then to pale violet.

It worked.

But it was not enough.

Xiao took out the final vial, the one with the highest concentration. He did not pour it out. Instead, he infused chakra into the vial, atomizing the liquid into a fine mist. Then he leaned down and slowly blew the mist toward the Curse Mark on Anko's neck.

This was an ancient method recorded in the Hyuga Clan's old texts—using breath as a guide to let the medicine penetrate deep into the meridians.

Second by second, time passed.

The only sounds in the room were Xiao's steady breathing and the faint hissing of the medicinal mist against Anko's skin. He focused completely, his Byakugan fixed on every change in the Curse Mark. Chakra formed a subtle cycle between them, and Xiao could feel the violent energy within Anko gradually calming down.

Five minutes later.

The Curse Mark's black patterns had completely faded, leaving only pale pink traces on her skin. Anko's breathing steadied, and some color returned to her face.

Xiao let out a breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Two minutes remained on the Breath-Concealing Technique. He had to leave quickly.

Just as he turned to crawl back into the passage, a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist.

The grip was weak, but resolute.

Xiao spun around.

Anko Mitarashi had opened her eyes.

The madness of dark red was gone from them, leaving only weak clarity. She looked at Xiao, her lips moving as her voice came out so hoarse it was nearly inaudible.

"You... you're the person from that day..."

Xiao did not pull away. He only looked at her quietly.

Anko's fingers tightened, her nails digging into his skin. Complex emotions flashed through her eyes—wariness, confusion, and a trace of reliance that was difficult to detect.

"Why... did you save me..." she asked.

"You're useful to me." Xiao answered bluntly. "Information on Orochimaru, the Hidden Sound Village's arrangements, and research data on the Curse Mark. Saving you is a transaction."

Anko smiled, but it was a bitter smile. "Of course... there's no such thing as kindness without reason in this world..."

"But at least," Xiao said, "I won't be like the Leaf Village higher-ups and throw you into an isolation room to die once I'm done using you."

Those words struck something.

Anko's gaze wavered. After several seconds of silence, she suddenly lowered her voice.

"Lord Orochimaru... has a laboratory... three hundred meters underground... in the Hidden Sound Village, in the Land of Rice Paddies..."

Xiao's pupils narrowed.

"Keep talking."

"There... are all his research materials from these past years... including the complete Curse Mark... and..." Anko's voice grew weaker and weaker, but she enunciated every word clearly. "There are also ancient documents about the 'Caged Bird Seal'..."

Xiao's breathing stopped for an instant.

The Caged Bird Seal.

The curse passed down through the Hyuga Clan for a thousand years, the eternal shackle around the Branch House's necks. Why would Orochimaru study it?

"He... is interested in every forbidden technique and ancient seal..." Anko seemed to see through his doubts. "Three years ago... he infiltrated the Hyuga Clan's forbidden grounds... and stole a stone tablet..."

A stone tablet.

Xiao remembered the primitive Curse Mark stone tablet he had seen at the bottom of White-Eye Spring last night. There was more than one?

"The laboratory entrance... is beneath the largest casino in the Hidden Sound Village... the password is..." Anko's voice grew softer, her eyelids beginning to droop.

Xiao leaned closer. "What's the password?"

Anko pressed her lips to his ear and whispered three numbers.

Then her hand fell away, and she slipped back into unconsciousness. But this time, it was normal sleep. Her breathing was steady, with no sign of the Curse Mark rampaging again.

Xiao stood still, processing the information he had just received.

The Hidden Sound Village. An underground laboratory. Documents on the Caged Bird Seal. And a password.

The value of this intelligence far exceeded his expectations.

The Breath-Concealing Technique had reached its limit.

A stabbing pain ran through his meridians, warning him that he had to leave immediately. Xiao gave Anko one last look, then took a small paper packet from his waist pouch and placed it beside her pillow—it contained enough suppressive medicine for three days, along with a note:

"Take this before the Curse Mark flares up again. If you want to live, learn how to play dumb."

After doing that, he crawled back through the passage and restored the floor to its original state. Then he retraced his path, passing through the barriers layer by layer before leaving the hospital.

3:21 a.m.

Xiao stood in the woods outside the hospital and glanced back at the sleeping building.

Moonlight filtered through the leaves and fell across his face. Cold light flickered in those Byakugan eyes.

The Hidden Sound Village.

The Land of Rice Paddies.

Orochimaru's laboratory.

And... the truth behind the Caged Bird Seal.

A clear path emerged in his mind. The S-rank mission arranged by the Main House was located at the border of the Land of Rice Paddies. This was no longer a coincidence. It was a blade fate had placed in his hand.

"Time to close the net."

Xiao murmured, his figure melting into the night.

And in the hospital room, Anko Mitarashi lightly curled her fingers around that paper packet in her unconsciousness.

As though she were clutching the last straw.