A moment later, Miki Yūya slowly regained consciousness. His entire body felt as though it had fallen apart, aching with a blinding, explosive agony. The blood stains around the corners of his mouth and nose had not yet been wiped clean, and his face was a mottled mess of bruises, looking utterly wretched.
"Wait, didn't my strength get stronger?"
"..."
At that moment, a middle-aged medical ninja walked into the ward carrying bandages and ointment, expertly stepping forward to clean and dress his wounds.
Miki Yūya sat propped up against the head of the bed in a daze. His strength had clearly grown, so why was it that in front of Tsunade, his taijutsu still didn't have the slightest advantage?
Unable to figure it out, Miki Yūya simply stopped thinking about it. It didn't work this time, but next time it definitely would.
"Tch, as expected, only ordinary medical ninjas are reliable."
"With meticulous technique and steady progress, they're a hundred times better than that quack Tsunade, who only knows how to smash buildings and rely on brute force."
"Apart from fighting, gambling, and swindling funds, what else is that old hag good for?"
"She can't heal injuries and she can't save lives, yet somehow she can still be the Fifth Hokage."
"I reckon any random medical ninja in Konoha could be Hokage, and they'd definitely do a better job than that old hag!"
The middle-aged medical ninja's hands paused in their work. His eyes instantly lit up, as if he had found a kindred spirit in this life, and he immediately opened the floodgates, wearing a look of deep emotion and sighing ruefully:
"Brother! You've spoken right to my heart!"
"I won't lie to you, I've had a dream of becoming Hokage since I was a child!"
"It's just a pity my medical ninjutsu talent is too great, and my medical skills are far too exquisite!"
"If my medical ninjutsu were as lousy as Lady Tsunade's, I'd have gone and become Hokage myself!"
"Being too outstanding is truly an unsolvable annoyance."
Miki Yūya instantly resonated with this, sighing with a profound expression and striking a lonely pose of standing on the heights where it was cold.
"Right."
"I'm the same. Too outstanding, too handsome, and far too all-rounded."
"Being invincible is truly lonely."
As he spoke, his gaze swept over Rock Lee, who was lying motionless on the neighboring hospital bed.
"Look at ordinary people like this."
"No talent, no brains, no strength, yet they insist on stubbornly grinding away on the ninja's path."
"Sometimes I really envy people like them who lack talent and aren't outstanding enough, yet can still experience the process of working hard. People as outstanding as us don't even have a way to work hard. It's so distressing."
"Speaking of which, Tsunade said this guy probably can't be healed and is going to end up in a vegetative state, right?"
[Ding! Conqueror's Haki +7]
As soon as those words came out, Rock Lee in the neighboring bed, who had originally been downcast and plunged into despair, suddenly stiffened all over!
What? He... couldn't be healed and was going to become a vegetable?
The accumulated grievances, unwillingness, and decadence were instantly ignited by anger! How could this be, how was that possible? If he became a vegetative state, what would happen to all the hard work he had put in until now, and all the expectations Guy had held for him all this time?
Rock Lee abruptly clenched his teeth, his eyes wide with fury, and enduring the blinding pain throughout his body, he forced himself straight up from the hospital bed!
His gaze was stubborn, his eyes welled up with scalding hot tears, and his voice was hoarse yet incomparably resolute.
"I am not a vegetable!!"
"So what if I have no talent and am not outstanding?!"
"I can work hard! I can risk my life!"
"My injuries will definitely heal!"
"I will absolutely not let Guy down! I will definitely become the most outstanding ninja and prove it to everyone!!"
The ward fell into a dead silence.
Rock Lee was burning with passion and full of conviction as he stared intently at Miki Yūya.
Yet the very next second-
"Hahahahahaha!!!"
Miki Yūya burst out laughing, leaning back and forth, laughing so hard that his wounds twitched in pain, his face filled with the utmost mockery and derision.
"You moron."
"Who cares if you work hard or become a ninja?"
"Who wants to watch you prove yourself?"
"Ask anyone present here, who gives a damn about your crappy dream?"
He turned his head to look at the stunned middle-aged medical ninja beside him. The middle-aged medical ninja started, then hurriedly spoke up:
"Hey, don't look at me, I don't want to watch! Not at all!"
"To be honest, the most eyesore people in Konoha are that master and disciple pair!"
"Wearing green spandex and rocking bizarre bowl cuts, they're total freaks!"
With that, he even earnestly admonished:
"Yūya, you should talk less to people with abnormal brains like this. It's very easy to get infected."
Having finished speaking, the middle-aged medical ninja packed up his instruments and walked straight out of the ward.
"If your brain was broken you should have said so earlier."
"No wonder you like Sakura. Turns out it's idiots attracting each other, and neither of your brains developed normally."
Rock Lee's face instantly flushed crimson, a mix of shame and anger. He clenched his fists tightly and bit his tongue to talk back in defiance:
"So what if I like Sakura?!"
"Even if you look better than me and like Sakura too, I will never admit defeat!!"
[Ding! Observation Haki +3]
Miki Yūya was dumbfounded on the spot. Holy shit, the system's Observation Haki judgment even triggered for this.
Damn it, you actually dare to use Sakura to humiliate me? Who the hell do you think you're looking down on, Lee?
Miki Yūya genuinely didn't expect this bowl-cut's thought process to be so bizarre.
"My ass, you not admitting defeat has fuck-all to do with me! Do you think I'd ever fancy an idiot like that??"
"Besides, even if you're going to humiliate someone, you should go find Sasuke Uchiha!"
"Though a piece of trash like you isn't a match for Sasuke either, no wonder Sakura doesn't like you."
"The Uchiha are a prestigious clan and look good to boot-now take a look at yourself?"
"Never mind you, just look at that bunch of stinky fish and rotten shrimp you call teammates!"
"Tenten is a piece of trash who can't even contract a summoning animal."
"As for Neji of the Hyuga Branch Family, no matter how high his talent is, in the eyes of the Main Family he's not even worth as much as a dog!"
"Your entire squad is made of trash. What do you have to compare against Sasuke?"
"The only thing you've got going for you is your orphan status, letting you barely scrape by in a comparison with Sasuke. Aside from that, you have nothing! And even with all that, you're still dreaming of winning Sakura's favor? Hahaha!"
[Ding! Conqueror's Haki +5]
[Ding! Conqueror's Haki +5]
Ah! Saying it out loud felt so much better.
He really couldn't take even a shred of grievance. How dare Lee use Sakura to humiliate him? He was a normal person, so how could he possibly like someone like Sakura.
Sure enough, this guy Lee had a screw loose.
At that moment, Rock Lee's eyes were bloodshot and his chest heaved violently. He was angry to the extreme. Miki Yūya humiliating him was one thing, but Tenten... Tenten indeed hadn't contracted a summoning animal, yet Neji... Neji's status seemed-never mind, whatever the case, he simply couldn't let anyone humiliate his comrades!
Lee opened his mouth to retort!
Right at that moment!
Clang-!
The ward door was violently pushed open!
Two figures strode in, their faces brimming with fury!
They were none other than Neji Hyuga and Tenten, who had come to visit Rock Lee!
Sharp, chilling light radiated from Neji's eyes as he locked onto Miki Yūya on the hospital bed. Chakra surged faintly around his entire body; he had been standing outside and had heard every single word Miki Yūya had spoken.
"A mere commoner!"
"How dare you humiliate the Hyuga Clan!!"
"Apologize to me immediately! Otherwise, even if you're just an ordinary villager, I will absolutely not let you off!!"
Faced with the furious Neji, Miki Yūya paused. Wait, bro?
That's not how you act when you face the Main Family. Your own old man was dragged out by the Main Family to commit suicide as an apology, and you didn't even dare to bare your teeth then. I just casually said a couple of things and you're baring your teeth at me.
It's not like I was the one who killed your dad!
"Sorry."
"I didn't humiliate the Hyuga Clan."
Miki Yūya stood up and spoke solemnly.
"I was only targeting the Hyuga Branch Family. Since when did the branch family of the Hyuga Clan get so bold that they dare bare their teeth at a villager? If you dare bark wildly again, I'll go right over to Kumogakure and call someone to deal with you lot!"
Boom!!
Those words directly struck Neji's greatest lifelong pain point!
The destiny of the branch family, the Caged Bird Seal curse, the humiliation of being lower than others for a lifetime, and the incident back then when Kumogakure threatened the Hyuga Clan, forcing his own father to die in place of the Main Family head as an apology.
All these negative emotions instantly surged to the forefront of his mind!
Neji's pupils constricted and his murderous intent soared.
"Neji! Don't be impulsive!"
Tenten was quick-eyed and fast-handed, grabbing hold of the furious Neji while frantically signaling with her eyes for him to look at the report by Miki Yūya's side.
That was precisely the shinobi world's only psychiatric evaluation report given to him by Tsunade!
Suppressing his anger, Neji instinctively glanced sideways.
When he clearly saw the line [Konoha Official Mental Abnormality Certification] at the top of the document, it also clearly stated that Miki Yūya had mental issues and was somewhat intellectually disabled.
The pupils of both Neji Hyuga and Tenten instantly dilated as their brains short-circuited!
Holy shit!!
As it turns out, this guy is an officially certified mental patient?! And we actually stood here getting half-dead with anger over an idiot?
The two of them understood in an instant.
No wonder this guy acted so lawless and unreasonable.
Meanwhile, following their gaze, Miki Yūya instantly realized they had seen the report.
Heh, little things, this thing clearly states how many rogue ninjas' fallout and attacks I've suffered through. Do you dare lay a hand on a suffering villager? Do you have the guts?
Far from hiding it, he instead grabbed the evaluation report and shoved it right into the faces of Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee, acting arrogant, despotic, and utterly uninhibited!
"See it clearly?"
"This was personally certified by Lord Hokage."
"If you've got the guts, hit me!"
"The ones who dared to lay a hand on me before were all rogue ninjas like Orochimaru, Itachi, and Kisame!"
"If either of you dares touch a single finger of mine today, I'll go straight to the Hokage's Office to complain!"
"I'll accuse you of intentionally assaulting a Konoha commoner and deliberately imitating rogue ninjas to cause chaos!"
"Who dares come?!"
"Come on, come on, beat me to death!!!"
The arrogant words echoed throughout the entire ward.
Neji's entire body stiffened. His pent-up rage was forcefully bottled up in his chest with nowhere to vent. He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails nearly dug into his flesh, yet he didn't dare make a move.
Tenten also wore a deeply aggrieved expression, her temper completely extinguished.
Pick a fight with an officially certified psychiatric patient and idiot?
Once a matter like that blew up, the trouble would be enormous.
Tenten would be fine, but Neji understood that as someone from the branch family, if an incident like this escalated, the consequences would be extremely troublesome.
Meanwhile, Rock Lee-who had originally been furious, unwilling, and full of grievance-calmed down completely.
He stared in a daze at Miki Yūya, who was acting arrogant and abandoned all pretense, mocking them wantonly. All the anger and unwillingness in his heart instantly vanished like smoke.
So...
So this person, who spewed foul mouth everywhere, acted completely uninhibited, and had a sharp, venomous tongue, genuinely had mental and intellectual issues.
Clearly, fate was unfair to him and his intellect was abnormal, yet he still stubbornly lived on in Konoha, living unrestrained, carefree, and fearless.
And look at himself.
He had merely suffered a heavy injury and found his path uncertain, yet he spent every day decadent and consumed by self-internalization, plunging into despair simply because he might not be able to become a ninja.
However, so what even if he couldn't become a ninja?
He looked at Miki Yūya.
Even idiots could have their spring.
In an instant, the burning light of determination reignited within Rock Lee's eyes.
He could not admit defeat.
What right did he have to give up on himself?!
Before you continue