Shinsei had fallen ill, and that was truly something to celebrate.
Shinsei was no freak. He had been looking forward to this illness for a long time.
On the journey back from the Land of Waves, he had vaguely sensed something wrong with his body. After returning to Konoha, seven or eight common illnesses struck at once, including a cold, a fever, pneumonia, and gastritis. After handing in his mission, he had no choice but to check into the hospital.
To be precise, Shinsei's seated meditation had reached the final stage of Foundation Establishment. This stage was also known as the return of illness. His body automatically adjusted itself, bringing out every latent illness within it, whether it would otherwise have surfaced or not. Once he recovered, his body would enter a more perfect state, and his physical constitution would improve as well.
Shinsei was not quite sure how much it would improve. In his previous life, even completing Foundation Establishment had not brought much change, let alone turned him into a superhuman. But the environment and his physical constitution were clearly different in this life. Shinsei wanted to know what sort of chemical reaction the two would produce, though judging by the benefits of his previous meditation, it was worth looking forward to.
His grandfather had once predicted that his chakra reserves would reach roughly Jonin level at best. But he had already met that target and even exceeded it, while his body was still growing. Even if he stopped meditating now, his chakra reserves would still double by adulthood.
He just did not know whether he could reach the threshold of Kage Level. He currently lacked a point of reference, but Shinsei guessed he was probably not far off.
Of course, he certainly would not give up meditating. This path was nowhere near its end, and Shinsei still wanted to try being an immortal in the Shinobi World.
"Shinsei, are you all right?" Ino rushed in with a bouquet of flowers.
Riya looked at the girl who had entered with an odd expression, then turned to ask Shinsei, "Is she your classmate?"
"H-hello, ma'am!" A little flustered, Ino placed the flowers on the bedside table, her face flushed red. "You must be Shinsei's mother. You're so beautiful!"
"Hahaha..." Riya covered her mouth as she laughed. "You're Ino, aren't you? What a pretty girl!"
Riya actually knew about Ino. She knew every pretty girl in the class, and often discussed with Nobita who would become her daughter-in-law.
"You two chat. I'll go home and cook for Shinsei." Riya stood up. She had no desire to be her son's third wheel.
"I'll see you out..." Ino stood, then suddenly realized that being so eager to send her off was far too forward. She hurriedly waved her hands. "That's not what I meant!"
"It's fine. Thank you for visiting Shinsei!" Riya waved her hand. "Enjoy your chat. I'm off."
Just as Riya reached the doorway, a girl suddenly entered and nearly collided with her.
"Ah! Ah! S-sorry!" The girl with long black hair held a fruit basket and hastily bowed, her voice growing quieter as she spoke. "I-I wasn't paying attention."
"Is that Hinata?" Riya looked at the pretty Byakugan girl before her. I never noticed she was this pretty before. "Don't worry about it. Thank you for coming to see Shinsei. I have something to do, so you all chat."
Riya turned to glance at her son, then left breezily, her eyes full of laughter.
Shinsei pretended to pass out. He had absolutely no idea how to handle the situation before him. He had never been this handsome in his previous life.
Blushing, Hinata held her fruit basket without even thinking to put it down, stealing glances at Shinsei on the hospital bed.
Ino wore a stiff smile, watching Hinata beside her entirely out of the corner of her eye. It was only because Hinata rarely offended anyone. Had it been Sakura Haruno, they would already have been tearing into each other.
An odd atmosphere filled the room.
"Shinsei!" Naruto's loud voice rang out in the corridor as he checked room after room. "Where is he? Not here! Where is he? Not here!"
"Quiet!" a nurse scolded in a low voice.
"You total idiot!" Sasuke's voice also came from the corridor.
"In here!" Shinsei called back.
"Hahahaha!" Naruto appeared in the doorway, laughing loudly. "So even you get sick! Huh? Ino and Hinata are here too!"
Shinsei secretly sighed in relief. Naruto's timing could not have been better.
Sasuke and Sakura walked in. Sakura was also carrying a fruit basket.
"Haha, so even you get sick!" Once Naruto learned it was nothing serious, he immediately began gloating.
A short while later, Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba Inuzuka arrived too, as though they had arranged it beforehand, packing the hospital room full.
"Say, don't any of you have missions to do?" Shinsei asked in puzzlement.
"We pull weeds and walk dogs all day. Not a single proper mission!" Naruto complained.
"Exactly! It's D-rank missions every day!" Kiba Inuzuka wholeheartedly agreed with Naruto.
"Woof!" As a fitting lackey, Akamaru hurried to back up his master.
"Oh, I see. Maybe they won't let you leave the village because the Chunin Ninja Exams are coming up." Shinsei recalled the news he had received in the Anbu. It was no great secret; their Jonin teachers simply had not told them yet.
"The Chunin Ninja Exams?" Naruto grew excited. "Are they for selecting Chunin?"
"What do exams have to do with you, Naruto? Could you even pass?" Kiba asked with a grin.
"Kiba, are you looking for a fight?" Naruto bared his teeth.
"Woof, woof!"
"Akamaru! I'll eat you!" Naruto tugged on Akamaru's ears.
"Dead last!" Sasuke remarked coldly.
"Sasuke, I'll kill you! You bastard!"
Sakura held the raging Naruto firmly in place, while Sasuke remained completely unmoved.
"Quiet!" came the nurse's angry voice from outside.
The room instantly fell silent.
A moment later, everyone began talking over one another in hushed voices, asking about the Chunin Ninja Exams.
Shinsei told them what he knew.
Learning there was a written test instantly soured Naruto's mood. Written tests had always been his weak point. Shinsei also knew that the questions on this written test would be incredibly difficult, beyond what most people could answer. Its actual purpose was to test a team's ability to gather intelligence.
Everyone laughed and chatted. It had been some time since so many members of Iruka's class had gathered together. After all, they had all become ninja, and it was hard to get together without a reason.
Shinsei finally noticed Shino Aburame in the corner and greeted him with a smile. "Shino, when did you get here?"
"It's fine," Shino said, sounding somewhat resentful. "You don't need to pay attention to me!"
Uh... Shino, your presence is a little weak. Shinsei thought that if he had not been sharp-eyed, he really would have had trouble noticing him.
Shinsei stayed in the hospital for five whole days. Fortunately, he was young and had an exceptionally strong constitution. If not for meditation, these ailments would never have manifested at all. His body's resistance would have eliminated them just as they were about to develop.
Hinata and Ino seemed to have an unspoken understanding, taking turns caring for him at the hospital one day each.
Shinsei found himself caught in a dilemma. He did not want to hurt anyone by rejecting them, so he simply pretended not to know. When had he ever had beautiful girls pursuing him together like this in his previous life? Neither initiating nor rejecting was his code of conduct.
Fine, he was a bit of a scumbag. But he had no intention of playing at romance right now. His goal had always been clear.
Strength, strength, and more strength.