After the battle at Hozuki Castle, Onoki and Kitsuchi suffered severe injuries. Not only did Iwagakure suffer a major blow in terms of high-level combat power, but the elite ninja they had brought along were also heavily depleted.
By this point, it was no longer Iwagakure that wished to continue the war—Konoha simply refused to relinquish its advantage.
However, after such a long streak of misfortune, Iwagakure finally caught a lucky break.
A monster named "Satori" rampaged across the battlefield, randomly snatching up ninjas and feeding them into the Wish-Granting Casket.
Even the Jinchuriki and Kages from various villages could only drive it off. The only person capable of instilling fear and terror in that beast was Seiki Shimaseki.
This revelation elevated Seiki's reputation on both sides of the battlefield to its peak.
When even the strongest warriors from all the villages failed to stop it—but Seiki succeeded—he naturally became an object of intense reverence.
But precisely because of this creature's harassment, Konoha never managed to launch a full-scale offensive, giving Iwagakure a brief respite.
To Satori, a chaotic battlefield was like blood in the water for a shark—the surge of negative emotions thrilled him greatly.
Most critically, all the powerful fighters on both sides were locked in combat, unable to break free and deal with the threat.
As a result, every time Konoha attempted a general assault, the battlefield turned into Satori's slaughterhouse.
Once both sides realized this, they maintained an outward appearance of peace, limiting conflict to small skirmishes.
Konoha searched for ways to deal with the monster, while Iwagakure patiently gathered strength.
Under these turbulent circumstances, an entire year quickly passed.
...
Temporary Hospital.
After finishing treatment on an injured chunin, Seiki smiled and said, "Alright, you're completely healed now."
"Satori-sama, thank you so much!" Though expressing gratitude, the wounded chunin's eyes held more than just thanks—they burned with fanatical admiration.
"I played only a minor role," Seiki smiled, pointing toward the three children beside him. "You should be thanking them."
The injured chunin chuckled as he ruffled the heads of the young helpers. "You kids are truly amazing, little doctors!"
Kabuto replied warmly, "You flatter us. Compared to our teacher, we still have a long way to go!"
Looking at that strangely familiar smile, the wounded chunin was momentarily taken aback—he seemed to catch a glimpse of Satori-sama within Kabuto.
"Is this kid deliberately imitating Satori-sama?" the chunin mused with inward amusement, though it didn't surprise him.
As the Light of Konoha and a war hero, Seiki naturally inspired deep admiration and imitation from many.
In fact, this phenomenon wasn't limited to Konoha alone—there was also a loyal following of Seiki's admirers in Sunagakure.
After the wounded chunin recovered and left, the hospital grew quiet again.
Seiki praised with a smile, "Your progress is quite impressive. In a few years, you might actually be able to perform surgeries independently."
Kabuto's eyes gleamed with admiration. "Any progress we've made is entirely thanks to our teacher. As for performing surgeries independently, there's truly nothing to be proud of!"
Ren and Mist nodded eagerly. "We heard that you were already capable of performing difficult surgeries independently when you were our age!"
Just then, a mocking voice came from outside the door, "You guys, what're you even doing comparing yourselves to some freaky monster?"
Hearing this, the three turned to glare at the door with puffed-up anger.
As Asuma walked in, he was met by three murderous gazes, making him scratch his head awkwardly and chuckle, "Haha, did I say somethin' wrong, guys?"
The trio spoke in unison, "That's very rude! Seiki is definitely not a monster!"
"Just because of that?" Asuma couldn't help but find it amusing. "Seiki, your status in their eyes is way too high!"
Still, he easily admitted fault, "Alright, I apologize. I shouldn't have called Seiki a monster."
He should've said "a tailed beast without a tail"... Naturally, Asuma didn't dare to say these words out loud.
Seeing this, the three reluctantly let him off the hook.
Opportunistically, Seiki smiled and asked, "Finally back from your blind date?"
Instantly showing an expression of unbearable memory, Asuma complained, "I'm only thirteen and a half! Why must I bear pressures inappropriate for my age?"
Although Seiki also found this quite absurd, he still said, "It's just that Hokage-sama cares!"
"She should be concerned about my older brother instead—he's been married for years and still hasn't gotten anyone knocked up." Then enviously, Asuma added, "Tsunade-sama is much better; she never bothers Seiki with such trivial concerns."
Beside them, Kabuto chimed in with a poison-tongued smile while smiling cheerfully, "I think perhaps in Tsunade-sama's eyes, with our teacher's charm, there's absolutely no need to worry about these kinds of things!"
"That's true..." As Asuma was speaking, he suddenly paused. Hmm, something seems slightly off?
The two little girls played along perfectly: "Oh, so does that mean it's because Asuma-sama lacks charisma, causing Hokage-sama to show concern?"
Asuma facepalmed instantly—those kids were just too cute to be let off the hook!
Still, he felt embarrassed to argue with the children.
After coughing twice, Asuma hurriedly changed the subject by pulling out a scroll, "Seiki, this is something old man made me deliver to you."
Seiki took the scroll, "Is there another mission coming up?"
Shrugging, Asuma replied, "No idea—I didn't peek."
Seiki opened the scroll, frowning slightly, "Still written in code? Why don't you make yourself comfortable while I translate it."
Seiki got up and left, returning the room to an awkward state of mutual staring.
Helplessly chuckling, Asuma tried to find some conversation topics, "This hospital feels pretty deserted, you know? Nobody's shown up the whole time."
Kabuto sighed helplessly, "What can we do? It's been peaceful for quite a while after all."
Maki sighed as well, "Actually, there used to be more people before... but after Seiki issued the strict prohibition on self-injury, the numbers dropped significantly."
"Self-injury? What happened?" Asuma was confused. With both sides staying quiet recently and being recalled for matchmaking purposes himself, he genuinely hadn't kept up with certain happenings around camp.
Mist stifled her laughter behind her hand, "Isn't it obvious? It's all because of Seiki's immense charm. Not only female ninja, but many male ninja would deliberately harm themselves just to get treated by Seiki."
Asuma couldn't help but widen his eyes—so stimulating, really?
Kabuto stared intently at Asuma, "In fact, our Seiki envies Lord Asuma greatly!"
Asuma's eyes lit up with sudden interest, his eyebrows twitching upward on their own. "Seiki envies me? For what?"
Kabuto smiled with narrowed eyes. "Obviously, it's your plain-Jane looks he's jealous of! If the teacher looked like you, he wouldn't have all these silly worries!"
Asuma's expression twisted. What did he mean by "looking like you"? Back at the Ninja Academy, hadn't both him and Seiki been considered campus heartthrobs?
Ren interjected timely, "That kind of remark is too superficial..."
Hearing Ren defend him, Asuma felt somewhat comforted.
Then he heard Ren say: "With the teacher's strength and depth, even if he looked like Asuma-sama, he would certainly still be very popular!"
Kabuto suddenly realized his mistake and apologized, "I shouldn't have said that."
Asuma threw his head back in dramatic despair. This conversation had completely derailed!
When Seiki walked out holding a scroll, he found Asuma leaning lifelessly against a chair, staring blankly into space like a lifeless salted fish that had given up on dreams altogether.
Startled, Seiki asked, "Asuma, what happened to you?"
Asuma clutched his chest dramatically, "My heart! It's broken!"
"Then you better go nurse your wounds like a drama queen." Seiki chuckled helplessly. "I originally planned to ask you to accompany me on a mission to Loulan, but judging from how you are now, I think I'll find someone else!"
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