The treatment at Konoha Hospital had proved remarkably effective. Combined with Ling's powerful recuperative abilities and the precise chakra control he had learned under Tobirama's guidance, his physical injuries healed at an astonishing speed. The tears in his chakra pathways gradually closed under the nourishment of gentle senjutsu chakra, while the trauma to his internal organs also began to settle. After another examination, Shizune finally agreed to let him take short walks in the hospital courtyard with someone accompanying him, so he could get some fresh air.
Sunlight filtered through the scattered clouds, carrying the faint chill of early winter. Dressed in hospital clothes with a dark coat over them, Ling walked slowly along the courtyard's cobblestone path beside Shizune. His face was still paler than usual, but most of the weakness in his eyes had faded, leaving them calm and sharp once more.
"You're recovering very well. At this rate, you might be able to start basic physical training in less than a week." Shizune adjusted her glasses, her tone carrying professional assurance and a barely perceptible hint of relief. As the head of the Medical Corps, she knew how seriously Ling had been injured. His rapid recovery was nothing short of a miracle.
Ling nodded slightly, but his gaze swept over the courtyard with seeming casualness. His senjutsu perception spread silently outward like invisible ripples. The hospital's barrier was thorough, and hidden sentries had been stationed inside; overall, the grounds were secure. Yet when his perception passed over a tall ginkgo tree in a corner of the courtyard, its leaves almost entirely fallen, he caught a trace as fine as spider silk: an exceedingly faint residue of cold, sinister energy from the same source as the cursed seals on his previous ambushers.
The residue was extremely faint, nearly