Hospital

Konoha.

Hokage Building.

A bright moon hung high in the sky, while endless starlight blossomed across the night.

The Hokage Building, which should have been shrouded in darkness, was brightly lit. The neatly dressed Third Hokage stared solemnly at the figure kneeling on one knee below him.

"Speak! What exactly happened? Who was that ninja targeting?"

His authoritative voice rang through the room. Enduring the pain in his body, the Anbu kneeling on the ground recounted everything that had happened during the battle without holding anything back.

"Samu Kokaze?" The Third Hokage murmured in confusion before looking at the Anbu again. "Are you certain he wasn't after Naruto?"

"From all indications, that appears to be the case, but this subordinate cannot say for certain."

The injured Anbu lowered his head and hurriedly replied to the Hokage's question.

Hearing the Anbu's response, the Third Hokage frowned deeply. After thinking for a moment, he waved his hand and instructed the injured Anbu to go receive treatment first.

"Naruto! Samu Kokaze!" The Third Hokage murmured softly as he walked to the window. Looking down at the streets beneath the Hokage Building, now swallowed by darkness, he let out a sigh.

At the same time...

Inside Konoha's Root base, Shimura Danzō, who had been sorting through documents, heard his subordinate's report. He set down the papers in his hand, frowned, and snorted heavily.

"What is Sarutobi doing? He actually let an enemy come into Konoha and cause trouble! What did the Barrier Team say?"

After voicing his usual dissatisfaction with Sarutobi, Danzo questioned the Root ninja kneeling on the ground.

"The Barrier Team reported that other than a brief fluctuation in the barrier just now, there were no abnormalities. Moreover, that fluctuation should have been caused by the ninja escaping Konoha."

The Root ninja kneeling on the ground replied in a low voice.

"Heh!" Danzo sneered at the answer. "There was no fluctuation when he entered, but there was one when he left. It seems he entered the village normally. Investigate it. Find out which merchant caravan, or which other people temporarily staying in Konoha, have disappeared."

"Yes!"

The Root ninja kneeling on the ground flashed away and vanished from sight.

Watching the figure disappear, Danzo sneered beneath the dim lighting. "It seems Konoha's years of recuperation have made people think we're easy to bully. Anyone dares to make a move against Konoha now! They're courting death!"

The next morning.

Konoha Hospital, inpatient ward.

After being rescued through the night, Samu Kokaze opened his eyes. Squinting at the glaring sunlight outside the window, he narrowed his eyes.

He moved his aching body slightly, sensing the weakness and soreness throughout it. Seeing Ino asleep with her head resting beside the bed, a gentle smile appeared on his face.

He reached out and draped the blanket covering him over Ino, then braced an arm against the bed and struggled to sit up.

Sensing the movement, Ino opened her eyes. Seeing that Samu Kokaze was awake, she shot to her feet.

"Fū!" Ino cried out. Seeing Samu Kokaze trying to sit up, she hurried over to help him.

Looking at Samu Kokaze, whose body was wrapped in bandages and whose face carried a smile, Ino suddenly lowered her head. Tears as large as beans slid down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry! It was all because of my selfishness. Otherwise, I wouldn't have put everyone in danger, and you wouldn't have gotten hurt."

Seeing Ino silently weeping and drowning in self-reproach, Samu Kokaze smiled gently. He lightly patted her head. "You're overthinking it. Even if you hadn't suggested going out, the person following us in secret might have struck at some other time. If no one had held him back, I might already be dead. By that logic, you saved my life!"

"Really?" Ino asked, raising her tear-filled eyes.

"Of course!" Samu Kokaze nodded very seriously.

Seeing the earnest expression on Samu Kokaze's face, Ino threw her arms around him in lingering fear. "You're not allowed to scare me like that again! You have no idea—I was terrified to death when that person stabbed you in the chest with a kunai."

"Hiss..." Samu Kokaze sucked in a breath as she hugged him. With a pained expression, he said with difficulty, "Before you get scared to death, could you let go of me first? If you don't, I won't die at the enemy's hands—I'll die from the pain first!"

"Ah! Sorry!" Ino abruptly released him, her exhausted little face instantly flushing red.

Tap, tap, tap...

Just as Samu Kokaze was about to tease her a little more, a jumble of footsteps came from the doorway. He had barely turned his gaze toward it when the door opened with a click. Carrying several things, Naruto saw that Samu Kokaze was awake and ran over in delight.

"Stop!"

Seeing Naruto pounce toward him, Samu Kokaze shouted. He sighed in relief when Naruto stopped.

"Fū! What's wrong?" Naruto asked in confusion, standing in the middle of the room after being called to a halt.

"I'd still like to live a few more days!"

Samu Kokaze shot Naruto an annoyed look.

Sakura, Shikamaru, and Choji, who entered behind him, could not help laughing when they heard that.

"I'm relieved to see you can still talk," Shikamaru said with a sigh of relief as he looked at Samu Kokaze sitting up in bed.

"Maybe the Grim Reaper saw how handsome I am and couldn't bear to drag me down there!" Samu Kokaze said with a smile.

"You idiot!" Shikamaru chuckled twice, then suddenly turned serious. "Thank you for this. If it hadn't been for us, you would have escaped long ago, wouldn't you?"

Seeing the uneasy expressions on their faces and how much they cared about the matter, Samu Kokaze chuckled. "What nonsense are you talking about? How could I possibly leave you behind? I believe that if you'd had that kind of strength at the time, you would have made the same choice. It was just a normal thing! Or are you saying that if it were you, you'd abandon us and run away?"

"How could I!" Shikamaru suddenly raised his head and retorted loudly.

"Then there you have it!" Samu Kokaze waved his hand. Seeing that Shikamaru still looked somewhat concerned, he rested his chin on his hand and teased, "If you really feel bad about it, then find me the things on that list I gave you!"

"Don't worry!" Shikamaru nodded very seriously.

"Alright, enough! Fū himself doesn't care, so why are you overthinking it, Shikamaru? Fū, what do you want to eat? I'll go get it for you!"

Naruto, standing in the middle of the room, curled his lip at Shikamaru's expression. Carrying his bag, he ran toward Samu Kokaze lying in bed and asked.

"Hiss..." Samu Kokaze sucked in a breath, his expression pained as he lowered his head with great difficulty. "Before you get me anything, could you get off me first?"

"You idiot, go die!" Seeing Naruto sprawled on top of Samu Kokaze, veins bulged on Sakura's forehead. She rushed over, yanked Naruto up, and viciously slammed a fist toward his head.

"Hey! Don't hit my face!" Naruto suddenly shouted as he watched the fist come down.

Watching Naruto get beaten, Samu Kokaze laughed and asked Shikamaru beside him, "By the way, who wanted to kill me? Did you catch him?"

Shikamaru hesitated slightly before nodding. "According to the investigation, the ninja entered with the merchant caravan of the Tanaka Clan, nobles of the Land of Fire, the day before yesterday. After questioning the caravan, the person in charge said he had no idea why that ninja attacked you in Konoha."

"Nobles of the Land of Fire? The Tanaka Clan?" Samu Kokaze sneered twice. "Was that ninja always one of the Tanaka Clan's people?"

"At least he used to be. Whenever the Tanaka Clan's merchant caravan came to Konoha in the past, that ninja was with them. That was why he wasn't watched too closely. But whose man he is now remains unclear. Before he was captured, that ninja had already committed suicide."

"I see!" Hearing the intelligence Shikamaru had brought, Samu Kokaze closed his eyes.