A Night Visit to the Hospital Room

Late at night, Konoha Hospital resembled a slumbering 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 dulling even their vigilance.

Hyuga Xiao stood in the woods behind the hospital, his Byakugan glowing faintly pale blue in the darkness.

His vision pierced the walls, turning the three-story structure into a transparent grid. Isolation Room Number Seven was located on the second basement level, an area specifically meant to hold 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 was a confinement barrier, capable of suppressing a prisoner's chakra flow.

The third was a sealing barrier, specifically designed for special energies such as curse marks.

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

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

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

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

—The sealing barrier's weakest point was directly beneath the hospital bed, since it had to leave a passage for medical equipment grounding.

Xiao glanced at his pocket watch.

2:47 a.m.

Thirteen minutes remained until the next barrier weakening.

He took off his coat, revealing a pure black bodysuit beneath it—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-purple vials, their glass bodies gleaming eerily under the moonlight.

Evening Primrose extract mixed with Gentle Fist chakra inhibitors, plus 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 it works.

Xiao took a deep breath, chakra slowly circulating through his meridians. He did not choose 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 exterior wall of the third floor, pressing his entire body beneath the window ledge. The patrolling guard below had just rounded the corner, his footsteps gradually fading away.

2:53 a.m.

Xiao flipped into the third-floor corridor, landing without a sound. Faint snoring drifted from the end of the hall—one medical ninja had fallen asleep at his desk. He slipped sideways into the stairwell and headed down the steps.

The second basement level was colder than the floors above.

The air carried a mixture of disinfectant and some rotting stench. Xiao frowned. In his Byakugan's vision, the chakra concentration around the isolation room was abnormally high—the energy leaking from a curse mark's rampage, carrying Orochimaru's uniquely cold and clammy presence.

2:58 a.m.

He stood outside Room Number 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-colored energies intertwined into an airtight cage. Inside the room, Mitaraishi Anko's life force had become as weak as a dying candle in the wind.

Xiao closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing.

Chakra rose from his dantian and circulated along a special meridian route—this was the Hyuga Clan's secret Breath-Concealing Technique, capable of suppressing his own chakra fluctuations to almost nothing. The cost was immense pressure on his meridians, and it could last no longer than ten minutes.

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 and precisely pierced the barrier node. The first sensory net split open soundlessly, like a bubble pricked by a needle.

He squeezed through sideways.

The second confinement barrier was in its weakening phase, and its red energy current had thinned. Xiao did not force his way in. Instead, he condensed chakra in his palm and gently parted a gap as though drawing aside a curtain—Gentle Fist's precise control over chakra reached its peak at that moment.

Three seconds.

He had to pass through in three seconds.

His body slipped in like a fish. When his black bodysuit brushed the barrier's edge, it gave off a faint sizzling sound. Xiao felt a burning pain across his skin—the barrier energy's instinctive rejection of an intruder.

The final sealing barrier.

Xiao crouched and pressed his palm to the floor. His Byakugan pierced through it, revealing the grounding passage below, less than twenty centimeters in diameter. The wiring originally used to connect medical equipment had long since been abandoned, but the passage remained.

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

Crack.

A thirty-centimeter square section of floor was lifted away completely, exposing the pitch-black passage below. Xiao did not hesitate. He curled his body into a ball and squeezed inside. The passage was so narrow that it nearly trapped his shoulders, while dust and cobwebs rushed into his face.

Three meters.

Two meters.

One meter.

Light appeared overhead.

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

The sight in the room made his pupils contract.

Mitaraishi Anko was bound to a specialized medical bed, chakra-suppressing shackles locked around her wrists and ankles. Seven or eight tubes were inserted into her body. Some delivered nutrients, while others drew 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 remained half-open, an unnatural dark red glimmering deep within her pupils.

Xiao strode quickly to the bedside.

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

The medicine flowed in.

Anko's body suddenly convulsed.

Xiao had been prepared. He held his right fingers together like a blade, chakra gathering at their tips. 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 path toward her brain.

Anko's convulsions gradually subsided, but the curse mark's resistance grew fiercer. The black patterns twisted and struggled as though alive, trying to break through the seal. Fine beads of sweat appeared on Xiao's forehead—what Orochimaru had left behind was more troublesome than he had imagined.

He took out the second vial.

This time, it was not meant to be taken orally. Xiao tore open Anko's hospital gown collar and poured the medicine directly over the curse mark.

Sizzle—

The instant the liquid touched her skin, white smoke rose. Anko let out a suppressed groan, her body tensing again. The curse mark's black patterns visibly faded, changing from deep black to dark red, then pale purple.

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 injected chakra into the vial, atomizing the liquid into a fine mist. Then he bent 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.

Only Xiao's steady breathing remained in the room, along with the faint hiss of medicinal mist touching skin. He focused completely, his Byakugan tracking every change in the curse mark. Chakra formed a subtle cycle between them, and Xiao could feel the violent energy inside Anko gradually calming.

Five minutes later.

The curse mark's black patterns had completely faded, leaving only a pale pink imprint on her skin. Anko's breathing became steady, and a trace of 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, yet resolute.

Xiao spun around.

Mitaraishi Anko 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 hoarse voice emerged almost inaudibly.

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

Xiao did not pull free. 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 dependence she could barely conceal.

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

"You're useful to me." Xiao's answer was blunt. "Information about Orochimaru, Hidden Sound Village's arrangements, and research data on curse marks. Saving you is a transaction."

Anko smiled, her expression bitter. "Of course... there's no such thing as kindness for no reason in this world..."

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

Something in those words struck her.

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

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

Xiao's pupils contracted.

"Go on."

"There... are all his research records from these past years... including the complete version of the curse mark... and..." Anko's voice grew weaker, but she enunciated every word clearly. "And ancient documents about the 'Caged Bird Seal'..."

Xiao's breathing stopped for an instant.

The Caged Bird Seal.

The curse inherited by the Hyuga Clan for a thousand years, the eternal shackle around the necks of the Branch House. Why would Orochimaru be studying it?

"He... is interested in all forbidden techniques and ancient seals..." Anko seemed to see through his confusion. "Three years ago... he infiltrated the Hyuga Clan's forbidden grounds... and stole a stone tablet..."

A stone tablet.

Xiao recalled the primordial curse mark tablet he had seen at the bottom of the White-Eye Spring last night. There was more than one?

"The laboratory entrance... is beneath the largest casino in Hidden Sound Village... The password is..." Anko's voice became softer and 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 loosened, and she fell unconscious once more. But this time it was normal sleep. Her breathing was steady, and there was no sign that the curse mark would rampage again.

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

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, reminding him that he had to leave immediately. Xiao gave Anko one final look, then took a small paper packet from his waist pouch and placed it beside her pillow—it contained enough suppressants for three days, along with a note:

"Take it before the curse mark flares up again. If you want to live, learn to play dumb."

After finishing, he crawled back into the passage and restored the floor to its original state. Then he retraced his route, passing through the barriers one layer at a time before leaving the hospital.

3:21 a.m.

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

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

Hidden Sound Village.

The Land of Rice Paddies.

Orochimaru's laboratory.

And... the truth of the Caged Bird Seal.

A clear route 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, but a blade fate had placed in his hand.

"It's time to close the net."

Xiao murmured, his figure melting into the night.

And in the hospital room, Mitaraishi Anko's fingers gently curled around that paper packet as she slept.

As though clutching her last straw.