After his heartbeat returned, no one inside the stone warehouse declared the treatment a success.
The Medical Squad first observed sixty heartbeats.
No black membrane grew back over his right side.
The three white stabilizing rings were still working, and the fractured core had not regrown along the wound.
The three Memory Markers in Obito's consciousness responded one after another.
He was still lucid.
The Authorization Seal had not been replaced.
Only then did the Land of Rivers Witness declare the Third Stage complete.
Medical protection had not yet been lifted.
Under the contingency plan, Obito had to sit up unaided, sustain his right eye, and actively close the other dimension passage before both sides returned to their original hostile boundaries.
The Root observer outside the warehouse immediately objected.
The Heart Restriction had already been lifted. It was only a matter of time before the Masked Man regained his mobility.
If Konoha failed to restrain him now, it would be letting the enemy who controlled the Nine-Tails walk free with its own hands.
The Land of Rivers guards did not allow him to approach the entrance.
"The authorization does not permit an impromptu arrest."
"This concerns an enemy within Konoha," the Root ninja said.
"This is a site authorized by the Land of Rivers."
The Witness held up the three-party contingency plan before the stone pillar.
"Konoha may pursue him after protection ends. It cannot turn the final step of treatment into the first step of an ambush."
The Root ninja did not cross the line.
He sent his recorded objection back to the Hokage Building, trying to persuade the Third Hokage to revoke the medical boundary.
The Third Hokage's reply was just one sentence.
Continue executing the contingency plan.
The Hokage could not interpret restrictions he had already signed