Tsunade's amber eyes locked onto Hyuga Xiao, shock and scrutiny churning in their depths.
The scent of disinfectant in the hospital room suddenly became especially pungent.
"What did you just say?" Her voice was low, each word seeming to squeeze through clenched teeth. "A Degraded Replica of Hashirama Cells? Learning ability? Sage Chakra? A bait?"
She took a step forward, the hem of her white coat brushing the edge of the bed with a faint rustle.
"Hyuga Xiao, why would a Genin from the Hyuga Branch House know about these things?"
The air in the hospital room seemed to freeze. Outside the window came the shouts of ninja training in the Medical Division courtyard, distant as though they belonged to another world.
Xiao did not answer immediately.
First, he slowly withdrew the hand pressed against Withered Wood's forehead. A faint ripple of chakra rose from his fingertips as they left the skin. Then he turned to face Tsunade, his movements as steady as if he had rehearsed them countless times.
"Lady Tsunade." Xiao's voice was calm—almost deliberately so. "Before I answer your question, I would like to confirm something. Do you truly want to know the answer?"
Tsunade's brow furrowed even more deeply.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that once some truths are known, there is no going back." Xiao raised his eyes. His pure white pupils gleamed with a faint blue tint in the dim light of the room. "You left Leaf Village for so many years to avoid certain things, didn't you?"
That sentence was like a needle, piercing precisely into Tsunade's deepest wound.
Her breathing stopped for an instant.
Then she smiled.
There was no warmth in that smile, only an almost cruel clarity.
"Brat, who do you think you're talking to?" Tsunade's voice turned cold.