Konohagakure – The Village Hidden in the Leaves
When the Third Hokage arrived at the hospital with Sasuke, Tsunade had already finished treating Sakura.
Seeing the wooden cask before her, Tsunade examined it and said, "We'll observe him for now. We can't move this sealing formula carelessly. Sasuke is in a state of suspended animation; it's not life-threatening."
"That's a relief," the Third Hokage sighed deeply.
"Leave him here for now. I'll try treating him with a healing array. There's another type of chakra within Sasuke's body that's constantly corroding him," Tsunade added, sensing it through the cask with her Mystical Palm Technique.
"I'm counting on you, Tsunade. He's the last of the Uchiha clan in the village," the Third Hokage said with a hint of regret.
After the Third Hokage left, Tsunade turned to Sakura. "Come, help me maintain the healing array."
"Lady Tsunade, you should rest. I can handle this," Sakura said, feeling guilty that her teacher had worked tirelessly through the night for her and was still going.
"Alright, then. You just need to maintain a steady chakra output," Tsunade said, a little weary.
"Yes, ma'am. Please go rest," Sakura replied.
Once Tsunade had left, Sakura was about to pour in the medicinal solution when she noticed movement inside the cask.
A large amount of black mist billowed out from the cask, and the sealing tags on it began to peel off one by one. The cask shook violently.
Seeing that the cask looked like it was about to explode, Sakura quickly formed hand seals.
"Snake – Hare – Boar – Dog!"
"Earth Style: Earth Wall!"
"Boom!"
Just as Sakura completed the Earth Wall, raising a barrier of earth in front of her, the cask in the center of the room exploded.
Sasuke emerged, the curse mark's pattern visible on his skin, and warily surveyed his surroundings.
"So this is Orochimaru's hideout..." Sasuke muttered to himself.
"Hello..." Sakura emerged from behind the Earth Wall, greeting Sasuke.
"Sakura! Were you captured too?" Sasuke asked, surprised to see her.
"Captured? You're in Konoha. This is the Konoha Hospital," Sakura said, dispelling the Earth Wall.
"The hospital? I remember being knocked out by that ninja who used bones, and then Kabuto fed me a pill... Ah..." Sasuke clutched his head, kneeling on the ground with a pained expression.
"It's okay now. You were rescued by Lord Third," Sakura said. "How are you feeling? Is anything hurting?"
"Ugh..." Sasuke remained kneeling, his expression slowly improving. "No, I feel fine."
"That's good. Then try to suppress the power of your curse mark," Sakura said, noticing the pattern rapidly spreading across his body.
"It doesn't hurt as much as it used to," Sasuke said, finally noticing the curse mark. "Kabuto gave me a bottle of medicine. He said taking it would help me adapt to the curse mark's power, but it would also put me in a death-like state that required a sealing jutsu to assist. It seems that's the pill he gave me."
"Don't worry about that for now. Suppress the curse mark, and I'll check your condition."
"Ugh... I'll try," Sasuke said, closing his eyes. The curse mark pattern receded like a tide.
As the curse mark retreated, Sasuke felt a wave of weakness. The curse mark forcibly drew out the body's power, so naturally, the body would feel discomfort when it receded.
Sakura stepped forward to support Sasuke and began examining his condition with the Mystical Palm Technique.
"There's nothing seriously wrong, just some weakness. You just need to rest," Sakura said after her examination. "Maybe you should stay in the hospital for a few days."
"No need. I'm going... back," Sasuke initially intended to say "home," but he realized that place could no longer be called home, his expression darkening.
"Um, Sasuke, are you hungry? Let's go eat," Sakura quickly interjected.
"No need. I'll make something myself at home," Sasuke's mood was somber. He hesitated for a moment after hearing Sakura's words, then offered, "If you're not busy, you can come to my place to eat."
"Haha, cooking is such a hassle! I know this amazing breakfast place..." Sakura laughed awkwardly, desperately trying to dissuade Sasuke from going home, even ignoring Sasuke's unusually direct invitation.
"I didn't bring any money..." Sasuke said, resigned, seeing Sakura's insistence.
"I have money. It's on me," Sakura said, stalling for time. Ideally, she wanted to trick Sasuke into staying with Naruto.
As they left the hospital, they noticed small groups of people who had just gotten up and were pointing at the sky behind the hospital.
"What's that?"
"I don't know. It looks like bones."
"No way, bones that tall? What kind of animal could grow that big?"
"Could it be an enemy invasion?"
"But there wasn't any commotion."
"That direction seems to be the Uchiha compound."
"I know. Last night, I saw it suddenly sprout up there."
"I heard from my brother in the patrol unit that there was a battle there last night. It seems Lady Tsunade went over and stopped it..."
"Lady Tsunade? She's back in the village?"
"Yeah, I heard Lord Third invited Lady Tsunade back to become the Fifth Hokage."
"No way, I heard she was invited back to be the head of the hospital..."
Hearing the street chatter, Sakura facepalmed. It had been a whole night, and they still hadn't cleaned up the battle traces. It seemed she couldn't hide it anymore.
As expected, Sasuke followed the gazes of the people and turned to look at the sky behind the hospital. The towering white bones, reaching into the clouds, were strikingly conspicuous under the newly risen sun.
"This is..." Sasuke said, astonished. "Sakura, was this caused by that bone-using ninja last night?"
"Yes, that's right. But he's dead now," Sakura said, cursing the Konoha ninjas' inefficiency in her mind. She had no choice but to tell the truth.
"I see..." Sasuke was momentarily stunned. That ninja had effortlessly knocked him to the ground last night, yet Sakura had been able to defeat him. The gap was still so vast...
However, Sasuke didn't feel the urgent need for power he'd felt before. His priorities had shifted. His first goal was now to revive his family, his second was to restore the Uchiha clan, and revenge was only third.
Reviving the dead wasn't something that could be accomplished quickly, so Sasuke began planning his grand revival scheme. One of his goals was figuring out how to obtain the Edo Tensei technique.
Orochimaru wasn't genuinely trying to help Sasuke; he wanted to take over his body. So, Sasuke immediately ruled him out for the time being. He might be taken over by Orochimaru before he even obtained the Edo Tensei. His next option was to obtain it within Konoha.
However, Sasuke wasn't interested in becoming Hokage. So, he wanted to see if there were other ways to acquire it. If he ultimately couldn't get it, he would wait until his strength was comparable to Orochimaru's and then get it from him.
Sasuke had a goal now, and he was prepared for the long haul. This naturally changed his mindset, and he no longer seemed as gloomy as before.
The face truly reflects the heart. The saying was absolutely correct.
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