Chapter 220: Blindness
In the Land of Fire, a horse-drawn carriage made its way slowly down a dirt road. Inside, a beautiful young woman watched over a sleeping young man, her face etched with worry. They were Hyuga Saori and the comatose Uchiha Kyosuke.
After the battle of gods, Kyosuke had successfully killed Uchiha Madara, but his own body had been pushed to its absolute limit. After giving a few brief instructions to the hastily arrived Saori, he had collapsed.
Following his instructions, Saori had done a quick search of the now-empty cavern before taking him back to the camp. The news had quickly reached Konoha, and Hiruzen Sarutobi had ordered the Northwestern Corps to immediately escort Kyosuke back to the village.
Saori had set out at once. The only hope for treating Kyosuke's injuries lay with the medical ninja back in the village. She feared that any further delay would only worsen his condition.
She didn't know that, at this moment, no one in the entire shinobi world could cure what ailed him.
The jolting of the carriage finally roused Kyosuke from his unconscious state.
"Ugh, my head... am I in a carriage?" He tried to move, a profound sense of exhaustion weighing him down, but he managed to slowly sit up.
He sensed her presence beside him and turned his head. "Where are we going?" he "asked" Saori. He couldn't be sure of the exact arrangements she had made, but from the state of his body, he could guess how long he had been unconscious. They couldn't still be on their way back to the camp.
But Saori didn't answer. Her breathing became ragged, her breaths coming in short, sharp gasps.
"It's alright," Kyosuke said, a gentle smile on his face as he "looked" in her direction.
Saori stared at his eyes, the pupils a pale, lifeless white. She clenched her fists, her voice trembling. "Your eyes... you can't see, can you?"
"Oh, these?" Kyosuke pointed to his own eyes. "Yes," he replied without hesitation. "After that last battle, I'm completely blind."
"Then..." The confirmation shattered Saori's usual composure. She was about to ask another question when Kyosuke's finger subtly gestured toward the ninja driving the carriage.
Saori's eyes narrowed. She took a deep breath, calming herself. Kyosuke, sensing the change, smiled. "With my sensory abilities, daily life won't be a problem. And I can always get a transplant later. Don't worry too much."
Seeing the "be patient" gesture he was making with his hands, Saori could only give a sullen nod. "We're on our way back to the village. We should be there in a few hours."
Back to the village... so Hiruzen already knows everything, Kyosuke thought. He reached for his waist and felt an unfamiliar scroll. He had a good idea of what it was. "Did they find Uchiha Madara's body?" he asked.
"Cough, cough." His abrupt question startled not only Saori, but also the driver outside, who let out a choked cough.
"Uchiha Madara?! You're saying... you were fighting Uchiha Madara?!" Saori's eyes narrowed at the sound from outside, then she turned back to Kyosuke, her voice urgent.
Kyosuke gave a nonchalant nod. From her reaction, he knew she hadn't seen the body. It must have been taken by White Zetsu while he was unconscious. He had wanted to seal Madara's corpse, but it seemed that was no longer possible. He felt no particular frustration. If he could kill him once, he could kill him again. He was confident of that.
The priority now was to restore his vision and prepare for the awakening of the Sage Body. He knew from the original story and his own years of research that if he could successfully transplant the Hashirama cells, it wouldn't be too difficult to reawaken his Mangekyo. But the transplant required an immense amount of chakra. At his current, elite-jonin level, he doubted he could do it. He would have to improve his "Cell Transplant Technique" skill, to lower the threshold with science.
System, he thought, and the familiar blue menu appeared before his eyes.
Good. At least I can still see you. He smiled and poured all of his accumulated experience points into the auxiliary skill.
Cell Transplant Technique LVL 5 (0/500)
Level 5... that should be enough, he thought, though a flicker of doubt remained. Even if it wasn't, he could just keep leveling it up. The only problem was how to gain experience now that the war was ending. With his war record, he could easily get a position as a squad leader in the Anbu, but that would mean constant surveillance, which didn't align with his own goals. He needed to find another way.
A wave of dizziness washed over him. He gave Saori a pre-planned excuse and fell back into a deep sleep.
When he next opened his eyes, he would be back in the village he hadn't seen in years.
Saori gently pulled a blanket over him. She thought about the things he had let slip earlier and sighed, turning her gaze toward the direction of Konoha.
Five years? Six? It's been so long, I can't even remember. The thought of the clan that had brought her so much pain made her eyes flash with a sharp, cold light.
This time, when I return, everything will be different. Just you wait. The pain you inflicted on me, I will repay a hundredfold.
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