On the twenty-seventh day, Shuo was woken by knocking.
It was no ordinary knocking, but the frantic kind-bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang-as though someone were hammering the door with their fists, loud enough to make his head ache.
He opened his eyes and lay still, too lazy even to roll over.
Lightspeed Thinking activated instinctively, and information flooded his mind-two people stood outside. One had familiar chakra: Obito. He did not recognize the other, but their chakra was powerful, at least at the level of a Special Jōnin.
Both were breathing hard, their hearts racing absurdly fast, over a hundred and twenty beats per minute.
"Shuo! Open up! It's urgent! A real emergency!"
Obito's voice came from outside, so frantic he sounded close to tears, and the knocking grew louder.
Only then did Shuo slowly sit up, his hair sticking out like a bird's nest, his eyes still heavy with sleep.
On the opposite bed, the blankets were neatly folded. Sai stood by the window with a cup of tea, watching him quietly with a hint of helplessness in his eyes-clearly, the knocking had woken him too.
"Should I get it?"
Sai asked softly, his tone calm and even.
"Mm."
Shuo answered and dawdled out of bed, yawning as soon as his feet touched the floor.
The moment the door opened, Obito rushed in like a madman, followed by a male ninja in his twenties wearing ANBU clothes. A scar ran from his forehead to his chin, making him look fierce, but his face was pale now, his expression panicked.
"Shuo! We finally found you! Something happened at the front! Something terrible!"
Obito grabbed Shuo's arm, stamping his feet in agitation, his voice trembling.
Shuo brushed his hand away and said lazily, "What's the panic? Take your time. What