Shuo lay in the hospital for five days.
It wasn't that he didn't want to leave. Tsunade had issued an absolute order-anyone who dared discharge him would have to write a ten-thousand-word self-criticism.
No one dared risk her wrath, so he could only stay put.
On the morning of the fifth day, the door to his room was pushed open.
The person who entered wasn't Sai, who had been watching over him every day, but a man in a black robe. Orange hair lay against his forehead, and his purple Rinnegan gleamed coldly in the morning light.
Pain.
Shuo lay without moving, not even lifting his eyelids, his tone lazy. "No visitors allowed. Get out."
Pain ignored him completely and walked straight to the window. With his back to Shuo, he gazed out at the bustling Konoha, his voice flat. "The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path was destroyed."
"I know."
Shuo chewed the candy that hadn't finished dissolving in his mouth, sounding unconcerned. "I did it."
Pain turned around, his Rinnegan fixed on the person in the bed. There was little emotion in his eyes, but they carried a suffocating pressure. "Do you know what that was?"
"The Ten-Tails' husk."
Shuo raised an eyebrow. "Used to bring people back to life. Why else did you think Obito went to all that trouble?"
Pain fell silent for a second, a hint of curiosity entering his tone. "You know quite a lot."
"A fair bit."
Shuo shrugged, fished a candy out from beneath his pillow, slowly unwrapped it, and tossed it into his mouth. "Heard people rambling about it."
Pain's gaze fell on his faintly glowing fingertips, and he pressed, "Where does your light come from?"
Shuo didn't answer, simply chewing his candy. Sweetness spread through his mouth, but it couldn't