Chapter 39: Bragging to Someone's Face...

On Hokage Rock.

The mysterious masked man calling himself "Madara Uchiha" looked at Uchiha Itachi as he opened his eyes.

"Is it over?"

"Yes. Let's go."

"Not yet!"

Madara Uchiha gazed out over Konoha. "I have a question!"

"..."

Uchiha Itachi stared at him in silence.

"Come on! Don't look at me like that!"

Madara Uchiha smiled playfully. "Are you trying to kill me with a look? How frightening."

"Ask."

Uchiha Itachi wasted no words.

"Tsk... If you wanted to sever your ties with the Uchiha completely, shouldn't you have started with your family? That little brother of yours, Sasuke Uchiha, is adorable. I bet he'd make an equally adorable face when he died in despair!"

"..."

Itachi lowered his head without a word. His index finger twitched, then relaxed. He looked up. "What are you getting at?"

Madara Uchiha rested a hand under his chin as though deep in thought. "Just curious. Never mind. That little girlfriend of yours was adorable too. What a shame! I can still picture the despair in her eyes!"

Itachi frowned. "You must have sensed it. Shinji Uchiha was nearby. If we hadn't withdrawn, neither of us would have gotten away."

"Hmm... Fair point."

Madara Uchiha shrugged. "Fine, I'll accept that. I don't want to get tangled up with that troublesome guy too soon either. But..."

The masked Madara turned serious, his voice edged with a sneer. "I'll say it again. No one in the entire Shinobi World can stop me! Shinji Uchiha? He's just a green kid!"

Uchiha Itachi's face remained blank. "...Can we go now?"

"Of course!" The masked Madara smiled. "I'll take you to meet the leader right now!"

What?

Uchiha Itachi's heart skipped a beat.

Keeping his expression steady, he said, "The great Madara Uchiha, who once stood as Hashirama Senju's equal, now answers to someone else? You're not the organization's leader?"

"Hey, don't get the wrong idea. This Akatsuki and I are just working together. Partners, understand?"

Madara Uchiha patted Itachi on the shoulder and said pointedly, "But you're the one I recruited."

"..."

Uchiha Itachi let out a quiet breath. "Understood."

"Want me to introduce the organization's current full members? They're big names in the Shinobi World! There's Orochimaru, one of your Konoha Sannin. He's a new recruit. And there's a curly-haired guy called Zetsu who's always acting mysterious..."

Konoha Hospital.

It was Shinji's first time there. He rarely had a chance to return to the village, and minor injuries were usually treated at the front.

"I have to say, the scenery here is pretty nice. It could really lift a patient's spirits."

He strolled down the corridor.

Shinji kept glancing at the voluptuous figures hurrying past and marveled.

Were the Shinobi World's medical ninja all this gorgeous?

Oh...

Wait.

A thought struck Shinji. He had nearly forgotten one exception.

"Hello. Which room is Advisor Danzo in?"

"Oh, and you are?"

Shinji narrowed his eyes. "I'm Nara Ushimaru, elder brother of Shikamaru Nara, the Nara Clan Head's eldest son. My elders asked me to visit Advisor Danzo."

"Oh, I see—"

The young nurse Shinji had stopped studied the handsome young man before her with wide, pretty eyes.

Such a fine young man.

Ushimaru? Didn't the Nara Clan raise deer?

How strange!

Still...

The young nurse kept her professional composure instead of swooning. "But the Nara Clan Head just went upstairs!"

"Oh? Did he? The messages must have crossed. I'm already here, though. It wouldn't be right to turn back."

Shinji smiled brightly and lifted the flower basket in his hand. "Look, I brought flowers for Advisor Danzo. It would be a shame to waste them."

"Hmm... That's true. He's on the third floor, in Special Care Room One."

"Thank you!"

Shinji bowed. "You're a beautiful and kind healer! There are stars in your eyes. You're the prettiest Medical Ninja I've ever seen!"

"No, not at all!"

"I'm not even a qualified Medical Ninja yet. I'm just a trainee..."

The young nurse waved her hands, her cheeks flushing. She pressed her thighs together and rose onto her toes, her chin sinking into the deep valley of her ample chest.

Steam practically rose from her head.

"Um... Could I ask your name? It's fine if you'd rather not! I, I..." She lifted her bashful face and blinked, then suddenly turned her head and looked around. "Where... where did he go?"

Shikaku Nara and Inoichi Yamanaka were talking in the hospital room.

Flower baskets and fruit covered the bedside cabinet.

Unfortunately, Danzo lay in the hospital bed with tubes running into him to deliver nutrients. He could neither hear a word nor eat a bite.

"What do you make of what happened with the Uchiha last night?"

Inoichi Yamanaka peeled an apple and handed it over, ignoring the man in a Vegetative State on the bed.

Shikaku Nara sat in a Chair and took the apple. "I looked at it with my eyes."

"You don't have any... thoughts?"

Shikaku Nara rolled his eyes.

"Come on, I'm only human. We haven't had a single piece of solid information about any of it. How am I supposed to form an opinion?"

Inoichi Yamanaka nodded regretfully and looked at Danzo. "Do you think he'll live?"

"Hmph!"

Shikaku Nara curled his lip. "We do what we can and leave the rest to fate. If he holds out until Princess Tsunade returns, there might be hope..."

"But Princess Tsunade..."

Inoichi Yamanaka's expression turned complicated. He let the thought trail off, knowing how highly his friend regarded Princess Tsunade.

Having the Shinobi World's finest Medical Ninja in Konoha should have been a tremendous blessing for Konoha's ninja...

But how did she end up with Hemophobia of all things?

"Something else struck me as odd... When we arrived, the doctor said Danzo's condition had suddenly started improving."

Shikaku Nara rubbed his chin.

"But they hadn't done anything?"

"..."

Inoichi Yamanaka looked equally puzzled. "It is suspicious. Could it be..."

Knock, knock, knock!

A knock suddenly came at the door.

Inoichi Yamanaka went to open it and froze.

"Hey! Clan Head Yamanaka, Clan Head Nara!"

Shinji Uchiha raised the flower basket to his chest and waved a greeting to the two of them.

Shikaku Nara whipped around.

"Clan Head... Uchiha?"

Both men stared in shock.

What was he doing here?

"Don't look so surprised! I came to visit Advisor Danzo. After all, he ended up like this because he fought me."

Shinji walked in at an easy pace. As he set down the flower basket, he glanced at the gaunt, barely recognizable Danzo on the bed.

Though his back was turned to the two men, Shinji activated his Sharingan without the slightest attempt to hide it. A surge of ocular power spread outward. His Mangekyo Sharingan spun, and the Dōjutsu took effect!

"Amenotokotachi!"

Voom— The Eternal Mark was complete!

His Sharingan faded.

Shinji turned toward Inoichi Yamanaka, who was staring at him in astonishment, and offered him a friendly smile.

"Clan Head Yamanaka, is something wrong?"

"..."

Inoichi Yamanaka was too stunned to form a single complete sentence. He could hardly believe what he had just sensed!

Had his senses gone blind?!

Had he sensed it wrong?

Did Shinji think Shikaku and I were two cold corpses?

Was he really acting as if we weren't even here?