The hospital's "emergency" scare subsided without serious incident. Thanks to the clever explanation offered by the medical ninja in Tsunade's faction, Ling's "acute rejection reaction" was attributed to a rare conflict between residual unknown energy inhaled during his mission and the medication used in his treatment. A carefully orchestrated accident was perfectly covered up.
A few days later, Ling and Inuzuka Gaku, who was still weak but out of danger, were discharged at the same time.
Outside Konoha Hospital, the sun shone pleasantly.
Inuzuka Gaku clapped Ling hard on the shoulder. Though his face was still a little pale, he was as hearty as ever. "Kid, we owe you this time! If you hadn't thought fast at the last moment, Kuromaru and I probably would've died in that godforsaken place! If you ever need a hand, just come find me at the Inuzuka Clan!"
Kuromaru also came over, rubbed his enormous head against Ling, and gave a low whine, expressing affection and gratitude.
Ling offered a perfectly measured smile with a hint of shyness. "You're too kind, Mr. Gaku. I was just lucky. You and Kuromaru should get plenty of rest."
After saying goodbye to Inuzuka Gaku, the smile gradually faded from Ling's face. Discharge certificate in hand, he headed straight for the Hokage Building instead of returning to his little house.
The guards outside the building seemed to have received instructions beforehand. After checking his certificate, they silently let him through and directed him to a small meeting room in the side building.
He pushed open the door to find two people already waiting inside.
One was the female Anbu in the fox mask whom he had met before. She stood motionless in the shadows, like a lifeless statue.
The other made Ling pause slightly-a boy in a green jumpsuit, with thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a bowl haircut: Rock Lee. But instead of his usual fiery enthusiasm, his expression held a quiet concentration, and a pair of crutches rested beside him.
"Uchiha Ling, I'm the acting head of the Hokage's Direct Anbu Training Unit. Code name: Fox," the female Anbu said, her voice as cool as ever. "This is Rock Lee. For now, he'll serve as both your taijutsu instructor and your fellow trainee."
Rock Lee tried hard to strike an enthusiastic pose, but apparently aggravated an old injury and grimaced. Still, he said earnestly, "Ling! I look forward to working with you! Even if I can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu, I'll do my best to teach you taijutsu! That's what youth is all about!"
Ling understood at once. This was a clever move arranged by Tsunade. Rock Lee was Might Guy's student, with a clean background and a straightforward, passionate nature. Contact with him would improve Ling's taijutsu-currently one of Ling's weaknesses-and the arrangement seemed natural enough not to make Danzo overly wary. After all, one "failure" teaching a "sickly weakling" was perfectly reasonable.
"I look forward to learning from you, Lee," Ling replied politely. He held no dislike for this passionate boy who pushed effort to its utmost limit.
Fox handed him a scroll. "These are your new identification papers and training plan. You've been reassigned to the Anbu training dormitory. The address and key are inside. Rock Lee will oversee your daily training. Once a week, I'll conduct a comprehensive assessment and... a special examination. Understood?"
"Understood." Ling accepted the scroll, fully aware that the so-called "special examination" meant Tsunade's monitoring of the fragment and the condition of his eyes.
The formalities were brief and efficient. Soon, Fox led Ling to a secluded dormitory building on the outskirts of Konoha. Most of its residents were Anbu candidates or special logistics personnel. The surroundings were quiet and management was strict, forming an invisible layer of protection.
His new life began.
During the day, Ling followed Rock Lee through grueling taijutsu training. Although Rock Lee had yet to recover from his severe injuries and could not engage in intense sparring, his solid fundamentals, extensive theoretical guidance, and profound understanding of the body's limits still benefited Ling immensely. Combined with the Jōgan's precise insight into and optimization of his muscular exertion and energy circulation, his taijutsu improved at an astonishing rate.
After training, Ling practiced chakra control and ninjutsu alone. Nourished by the fragment's Yin Release energy and the Yang Release Tsunade secretly supplied, his chakra reserves and control precision also steadily recovered and grew. He paid particular attention to familiarizing himself with and mastering his mutated Sharingan, attempting to develop more applications for its "perception" and "prediction" abilities while carefully concealing its true characteristics as a fusion with the Jōgan.
Every week, Fox appeared punctually to conduct the so-called "comprehensive assessment." She recorded Ling's physical data and chakra growth in detail, then used a special sealing formula in conjunction with medical ninjutsu to examine the pitch-black fragment's condition and the stability of his mental state. The process was rigorous and meticulous. Ling cooperated by displaying some of his "Sharingan" abilities-carefully selected and disguised-while concealing the mysterious mark over his heart.
Life seemed to have settled onto the right track, full and peaceful. But Ling knew that beneath this peace, the undercurrents had never stopped flowing.
On several occasions, the Jōgan detected even more covert surveillance by Root around the dormitory. Danzo clearly had not stopped watching him. It was only because Ling now fell under the Hokage's direct authority that Danzo could no longer act as openly as before.
Meanwhile, through Rock Lee and other fellow trainees he occasionally encountered, such as Tenten and Neji, Ling learned snippets of news from outside: Lady Tsunade had officially concluded treatment outside the village and would soon take full charge of the Hokage's affairs; Naruto apparently had left the village with Lord Jiraiya to train; Sasuke, who had failed in the Chunin Ninja Exams, was growing increasingly agitated and training even more desperately...
Everything seemed to be following some predetermined course, yet his presence had planted tiny variables along the way.
Late one night, after finishing his day's training, Ling was concentrating on refining chakra in his dormitory, trying to further fuse the Yin and Yang Release energies, when the mysterious black mark over his heart suddenly emitted an extremely faint yet distinct pulse without warning!
It was neither the warmth nor the cold from before, but a tremor resembling... resonance?
Ling's eyes snapped open, and he pressed a hand to his chest.
At almost the same moment, his keen senses, combined with the Jōgan, caught an extremely subtle pulse of Yin Release chakra from the direction of the Forest of Death, far away on the other side of Konoha. Filled with negative emotions and identical in origin and nature to the fragment inside him, it vanished in a flash!
Though the distance was immense and the pulse exceedingly weak, Ling could never mistake that distinctive "flavor"!
Another fragment?! Or... something like that scroll?!
And the mark over his heart had resonated at the very instant that pulse appeared!
That mysterious man... the mark he left could not only track and communicate, but also sense energy sources of the same type?
Ling's heart suddenly raced. What did this mean? Was that mysterious man using me as a detector to search for similar objects scattered across the world? Or was this just a coincidence?
The Forest of Death... it was Konoha's training ground, but it also concealed countless secrets and dangers. Why would a pulse like that appear there?
Ling immediately tried to probe the mark with his Jōgan and his consciousness, but it fell dormant again, giving no further response, as though the resonance just now had been an illusion.
But he knew it was no illusion.
A new crisis-or perhaps a new opportunity-seemed to have quietly revealed the tip of its iceberg.
Ling walked to the window and gazed toward the pitch-black outline of the Forest of Death, his gaze deep.
It seemed this peaceful life of training would not last much longer.
Before you continue