Injuries

Crack...

As the people in the room argued noisily, the ward door opened once more. A tall, sexy figure walked in, raised an eyebrow at the chaotic room.

"You little brats, quiet down! Don't you know patients need rest?!"

The room instantly fell silent at her sharp shout. Hearing the familiar voice, Ino looked up in surprise. "Aunt Muzi!"

Naruto, the one causing the most trouble, looked up indignantly. "Who are you?! Why should we listen to you?!"

Muzi's face darkened at Naruto's words. She strode over, grabbed his ear, and gave it a hard twist. "Because I'm the doctor here. What, brat? Got a problem with me?"

"I don't! I don't!" Naruto immediately surrendered as pain shot through his ear.

"Hmph!"

Letting go of Naruto's ear, Muzi walked over to Samu Kokaze with a dark expression and reached out to examine him.

"I'm really sorry! I've troubled you again, Aunt Muzi!"

Looking at the tall figure seated beside the bed, Samu Kokaze spoke apologetically.

"So you know you're causing me trouble, huh?" Muzi rolled her eyes at him. "I told you last time not to fight, or one day you'd get beaten half to death and carried back here. Who knew that the very next day, you really would get beaten half to death? Kids are nothing but trouble!"

Samu Kokaze gave a bitter laugh. "I had no choice. Everyone's lives were on the line. If I hadn't fought with everything I had, we really would have all died!"

Muzi snorted at that, but did not say anything more to discourage him. "At least you've got some skill, brat, and you handled things well enough! If you'd dared abandon little Ino and run back alone, just see how I'd have dealt with you!"

"Alright!" Without waiting for Samu Kokaze to reply, Muzi withdrew her hand and stood up. "All the chakra you refined this past year was basically for nothing. The amount of chakra your body can refine in the future will be greatly reduced compared to before. Still, no matter what, you should thank heaven that you survived injuries like these!"

"Then when will I recover?" Samu Kokaze hurriedly asked as Muzi turned to leave.

Muzi paused at the door. "That depends. I used the Mystical Palm Technique to repair all the large and small wounds on your body, but whether they fully heal depends on your constitution. Still, it won't take more than ten days."

"Phew..."

Samu Kokaze let out a long breath of relief. "That's good. This weak, sore feeling all over is really unbearable."

"You brat!" Muzi raised an eyebrow. "Don't you have anything to say about how refining chakra will be much harder for you than for others from now on?"

"Well!" Samu Kokaze looked unconcerned. "I never wanted to become a ninja anyway. Even if I had to trade away my ability to ever refine chakra again for our chance to survive, it would still have been more than worth it! Besides, it'll only become a little harder in the future."

"As long as you're prepared for it. Eat more; it'll help your body recover." Seeing that he truly did not take it to heart, Muzi said no more and walked out of the room.

Bang...

The door slammed shut. Choji looked down at the chips in his hand, a pained expression flashing across his chubby face as he held out the last chip.

"This is for you!"

"What?" Samu Kokaze was still looking at the door and did not react at first.

"Chips! Eat more, and you'll get better faster!" Choji said, his face full of reluctance.

Samu Kokaze looked up at Choji, then down at the chip held to his mouth. Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, he ate it. "Don't worry! Didn't she say it'll take ten days at most? I'll be completely better by then, so don't worry!"

Seeing the guilty expressions on everyone's faces, Samu Kokaze comforted them.

"But your chakra refinement..." Ino clenched her fists, unwilling to accept it.

"It's fine! I already said my dream was never to become a ninja. Besides, it's not like I can't refine chakra anymore. It'll just be a little harder than it is for everyone else."

Seeing that they still looked guilty, Samu Kokaze smiled. "I'll have to rely on all of you to protect me from now on!"

"Don't worry! As long as the great Naruto is here, nothing will ever happen to you, Feng!"

Naruto suddenly shouted.

"Then I'm counting on you, Naruto!" Samu Kokaze said with a smile.

"Ha..."

As they spoke, Samu Kokaze suddenly felt a wave of weakness wash over him and could not help yawning.

Seeing this, Shikamaru said, "Get some proper rest first. We won't disturb you anymore!"

Then he turned to the others. "Come on, everyone."

"Hey! We only just got here!" Naruto shouted.

"You idiot, don't disturb Feng while he's resting!" Sakura punched Naruto hard on the head. From the look of it, after facing life and death together, she no longer cared whether everyone thought she was ladylike.

Konoha Hokage Building.

It was noon. The sun hung high in the sky, radiating endless light.

Inside the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage held a pipe and stared at the image displayed in the crystal ball on his desk. He took a deep puff, exhaling smoke that spread through the room.

"Sarutobi! There are too many suspicious things about that brat! Why won't you let me take him back for questioning?!"

Shimura Danzō, who had not yet transplanted all sorts of things onto his body, stood before the Hokage's desk and pointed at the crystal ball as he shouted.

The Third Hokage looked at the sleeping Samu Kokaze in the crystal ball and sighed heavily. "Danzo, he grew up in Konoha. No other village would use a genius like this as a spy. I'll question him thoroughly later. Don't involve yourself in this matter."

Danzo frowned at that, but he did not press the Third Hokage further on the issue. Instead, he changed the subject. "Have you found the person behind the ninja sent to Konoha this time?"

The Third Hokage took a puff from his pipe, pulled a document from beneath the desk, and handed it over.

"Take a look. Unless something unexpected happened, it should have been the Sato Clan. I truly never noticed before that this little fellow could cause such a huge shift in the Land of Fire's political situation."

Danzo frowned at that, picked up the document from the desk, and began reading.

"The Tanaka Clan... wood carvings... the Daimyo's Wife's birthday... the Sato Clan, currently fighting the Tanaka Clan for power..."

After reading the records in the document, Danzo tossed it back. "Sarutobi! What do you intend to do?"

The Third Hokage took another puff of smoke, thought for a moment, and said, "Have the Anbu and Root send some people to disrupt the Sato Clan's businesses. Give them a lesson!"

"That's too light!" Danzo said, deeply dissatisfied.

"After all, we must consider the Daimyo's position. We cannot go too far!"

The Third Hokage explained softly in response to Danzo's displeasure.

"Hmph!" Danzo snorted and turned to leave. "Your mercy will destroy Konoha sooner or later."

Watching Danzo's departing back, the Third Hokage lowered his head and looked at his hands, already stained with blood. "Mercy? Everything is for Konoha!"