"Why is everyone… here all at once?"
Naruto stared at the crowd pouring in and looked a little stunned.
Konome had already seen them with her Byakugan before they even reached the door, so she was not surprised at all.
Everyone placed their flowers and fruit one by one on the bedside tables. Before long, the surfaces were completely covered and they had to start setting things on the floor.
"Of course we're here to visit you guys. Right, Akamaru?"
"Woof, woof, woof!"
Kiba reached up to tease the puppy sprawled on his head.
Akamaru panted excitedly and hopped from Kiba's head onto his right shoulder.
"It's the weekend anyway, and sitting around at home is boring. We heard you two were badly hurt, so we figured we'd come over together and check on you."
Shikamaru's expression was the same old lazy one.
But everyone present knew this very well:
Getting Shikamaru to not sleep through his weekend and actually come all the way to the hospital was no simple thing.
"My injuries are already fine."
Naruto scratched the back of his head, grinning so wide it almost split his face.
It was the first time he had ever had so many friends visit him.
For someone like him, who had always been unwelcome, that happiness was almost too much to handle.
"Here, Naruto."
Naruse, whose back was still wrapped in bandages, washed an apple clean and handed it to him, teal eyes full of sincerity.
"If it weren't for you, we would have ended up as beast food out there. Thank you."
"Heh heh heh heh heh…"
Naruto held the apple in both hands and just laughed foolishly.
You could practically see him "floating" in real time. Even his messy blond hair seemed to fluff out like a blooming sunflower.
Konome knew what this meant to him, but she still could not help turning her face away, unwilling to watch him make a fool of himself like that.
Too embarrassing.
Even her Byakugan was struggling to handle it.
Choji pulled a huge bag of snacks out of his pocket and offered it to Konome.
"These are my favorite grilled-meat chips. I hope you get better soon."
Ino immediately glared at him.
"Idiot Choji, you can't eat greasy stuff like chips while you're recovering."
"But… I always get better really fast when I eat them."
Choji hugged the chips, suddenly flustered.
"It's fine, Choji. My injuries are almost healed."
"Really?"
The soft-hearted boy brightened the moment Konome said so.
"Wishing you a speedy recovery."
As they spoke, Shino and Hinata also stepped forward to offer their blessings.
Of all the visitors, Konome had least expected these two.
Because of Shino's nearly nonexistent presence, they were not close at all.
As for Hinata, no need to even mention her. There was probably no one whose relationship with Konome was worse than the Hyūga clan's dignified heiress.
Perhaps noticing Konome's confusion, Hinata's cheeks turned red and she spoke in a soft murmur.
"We only made it out thanks to Kazama-sensei's rescue. Thank you for avenging him."
"Mm."
Shino gave a cool nod, but Konome could see through his glasses and high collar to the sincerity on his face.
"Kazama-sensei?"
When Konome asked, everyone realized she did not know what had happened to Kazama Yue.
So they all started talking at once, filling her in on everything.
Only then did Konome understand.
The wound on Yotsuki Isao's chest was left by his fight with Kazama Yue.
No wonder she had not connected the dots.
Even she could not beat Yotsuki Isao head-on, so it really had not occurred to her that someone like Kazama could break through the Lightning Release Armor.
If not for that chest wound dragging him down, that battle would have been much harder for her.
Tick, tick, tick…
While the others chatted, emotional lights started bubbling up from the neighboring bed.
Sasuke kept up his aloof pose, lying flat, but the irritation above his head was huge. Threads of envy and jealousy drifted over like willow fluff, practically forcing Konome to notice them.
He had just gone through the massacre of his clan.
This kind of loud, warm atmosphere was not exactly kind to him right now.
Ino and Sakura's support squad stood watching his profile in silence, their worry and pity almost spilling right out of their eyes.
These people had nothing to do with Konome.
They were obviously here to see Sasuke.
But no one knew what to say to comfort him.
The chill rolling off Sasuke kept his fans at a respectful distance.
If even the "Sasuke Fan Club" was like this, then the kids who were less familiar with him were even less likely to approach.
For a moment, the big ward split in two.
On one side, joy at surviving disaster.
On the other, a lonely boy swallowed by fresh grief.
People really did not share the same sorrows and joys.
"By the way, Naruto, how did you beat that monster of a guy?"
Kiba had seen Yotsuki Isao's power with his own eyes.
He looked at Naruto, curiosity written all over his face.
"Well, we…"
Crack.
Konome did not know when she had opened a bag of chips. She chewed crisply, calmly watching Naruto.
Naruto, who had been ready to brag about his own contributions, froze when he saw her and could not squeeze out a single word.
"Hokage-sama said it has to stay secret."
Seeing Naruto flounder, Konome smoothly grabbed the line and threw Sarutobi Hiruzen in front of them as a human shield.
With how big-mouthed Naruto was, she was terrified he would blurt out something he should not, which was why she had warned him to keep quiet before anyone arrived.
Even if Shikotsumyaku had been exposed to Sarutobi already, there was no need to spread it around.
That bloodline had a hidden economic value she absolutely could not afford to let anyone know about.
In the shinobi world, metals that could conduct chakra were incredibly expensive.
The Flying Thunder God kunai Fourth Hokage used were made from chakra-conducting metal, and each one cost a fortune.
Most shinobi would never get to use such materials, yet the demand for chakra metal was insane.
But the bones Konome produced through Shikotsumyaku were harder than metal, could freely extend and reshape, and conducted chakra with a perfect one hundred percent efficiency.
Bear in mind.
Even the best chakra-conducting metals on the market only reached about eighty percent efficiency.
Even with the most skilled craftsmen refining them, they might, perhaps, push close to ninety.
Compared to her perfect hundred, there was no comparison at all.
Once she realized she was basically a walking, inexhaustible chakra-metal mine, Konome had made a point of letting all the bones she used crumble away afterward.
No way was she letting anyone uncover this secret.
Thankfully, Hiruzen did not know the truth either, or there was no way he could say with a straight face that he did not covet her bloodline.
Seeing her push Hokage-sama to the front, Shikamaru and the others held their questions.
They chatted with Konome and Naruto for a bit longer, then started preparing to leave.
As they were about to go, Shikamaru stepped up as their spokesperson and placed a beautifully wrapped paper box on Konome's bed.
A neat bow was tied on top, clearly Ino's handiwork.
"We already said this a bunch of times, but I still have to say it again. Thank you. These are just a little something from all of us. We hope you like it."
Konome accepted the box.
Her Byakugan had already looked straight through the lid.
Inside were five scrolls, each marked with a clan sign.
Yamanaka (Yin). Nara (Yin). Inuzuka (Yang). Akimichi (Yang). Aburame (Yang).
Even with her emotions relatively under control, her eyes still flashed with real surprise.
Shikamaru knew very well how strong Konome's sensory abilities were.
Noticing how she suddenly went still, he realized she had already sensed what was inside and smiled.
"No need to get nervous. I asked my dad first. He said we owe you for saving our lives, and these are just common knowledge. Anything involving hidden clan secrets has already been cut out, so you can take them without worry.
Besides these, we really could not think of anything else you might want."
"Yeah, Konome, just accept it."
They all gathered around her bed, childish faces full of sincerity.
"This… alright then. Thank you for the gifts, I really like them."
There was no way she could reject knowledge about Yin and Yang nature transformation being delivered to her door.
She knew the clans would never hand over their true secret techniques. These would really just be general training methods for Yin and Yang Release.
But to Konome, that was already priceless.
She had already mastered water and wind.
Lightning, earth, and fire could be obtained from Sarutobi Hiruzen.
The only two natures she had no lead on, and that were the most mysterious by far, Yin and Yang, had just fallen into her lap.
Her plan to fuse all seven natures into the Bloodline Web was, without her quite noticing, already holding all the essential pieces.
After watching Shikamaru and the others leave one by one, Konome looked down at the precious gift box in her hands and could no longer hide the joy on her face.
If the Nine Tails could crawl out of Naruto's belly right now, it would see orange bubbles of happiness practically bubbling above Konome's head.
Sure enough.
No one stayed unlucky forever.
To avoid the potential danger of the Uchiha massacre, she had done nothing but quietly train in the Forest of Death, and still Kumogakure had managed to find her.
An ordinary man with no chakra signature, perfectly countering the Byakugan's scouting, a former Kage-level powerhouse, weakened but still loaded with overpowered techniques.
If she thought about it, her string of bad luck had been ridiculous.
But now.
Good things were arriving one after another, just like that old saying from her previous life.
When things reach their extreme, they reverse. When misfortune peaks, fortune follows.
Even so, Konome did not let all these good tidings go to her head.
These secret arts might be wrapped in words of gratitude, but she knew they were directly linked to the power she had revealed.
By now, the story of her killing a Kumogakure jonin had probably spread through the village.
A six-and-a-half-year-old elite jonin.
Reports about her were probably lying on every clan head's desk already.
Konome was now a force they had to treat with care.
The Third Hokage was old. No one knew how long he could keep holding on.
Based solely on her current potential, it would probably not take many years before she became a central figure in the village, maybe even a future contender for the Hokage's seat.
Their mindset was the same as Hiruzen's.
If they did not build ties with her while she was still this young, it would be too late when she was grown.
By that point, ninjutsu knowledge like this would no longer be enough to buy goodwill.
As for whether anyone would be worried about her contending for the Hokage position and try to suppress her early, that was impossible.
Same reason as always.
She was too young.
By the time Konome had enough years and achievements to qualify as a Hokage candidate, at least twenty years would have passed.
If she was unlucky and the future Fifth Hokage lived long and ruled well, then even forty or fifty years might not be enough to see her in that seat.
Konoha itself had only existed a little over sixty years.
Trying to stamp her down now out of fear she might compete for a title thirty or forty years in the future…
That was like the First Hokage feeling threatened by Namikaze Minato and deciding to suppress him in advance.
Utterly absurd.
Anyone petty enough to think like that would not do so fifty years ahead of schedule.
By the time Konome had the qualifications to compete for a Fifth Hokage spot, the other contenders would mostly be old, tired, and thinking about retirement.
Their paths would not even cross.
From any angle, Konome's age was just right.
She had potential. She had power. And she had no conflicts with anyone.
Being generous with her was the reasonable choice.
The seeds Konome had planted when she first entered the Academy were finally blooming.
She exhaled slowly.
A breath charged with Wind Release tore the pretty gift box apart, revealing the Yin and Yang scrolls lined up inside.
"Tomorrow, I'm going to apply for discharge."
"Huh? You're really all healed?"
Naruto spat the apple core into his palm and hurriedly asked.
Having been there that night, he understood better than anyone how serious her wounds had been.
"More or less."
Konome pressed her hand lightly against her bandaged chest.
There was still a faint twinge of pain, but nothing that would hold her back.
She was in a hurry to leave for two reasons.
One, the Lightning Release Chakra Mode and these Yin–Yang nature notes were calling to her too strongly.
Two, after Shikotsumyaku devoured the Nine Tails' chakra, its current condition was uncertain.
She wanted to examine how this newly evolved bloodline had changed.
"That's great. I've been sick of this place for days."
With his Uzumaki constitution and the Nine Tails' regeneration, Naruto had practically recovered overnight.
If leaving him here would not have meant leaving only Konome and Sasuke behind in the ward, he would have asked to be discharged long ago.
"Too bad all this fruit and flowers will go to waste."
Naruto clicked his tongue and, for once, actually tried to act.
His blue eyes kept drifting toward the boy who had been lying quietly on the other bed the whole time.
Konome could only chuckle.
The bond between "Sasu" and "Naru" really did run deep.
Fruit from discharged patients could be taken home. How could that be called waste?
Naruto clearly wanted to give most of it to Sasuke, but since some of it technically belonged to Konome, he could not just decide on his own.
And he was worried that if she disagreed, it might cause friction between the two boys, so he had been dancing around the issue.
People said Naruto was a fool, but when it came to Sasuke, his emotional intelligence was surprisingly decent.
Konome had just gotten her Yin and Yang scrolls and was in a very good mood. She was not about to be stingy over a pile of food.
"It really would be a waste to leave all this here. Go ahead and give it to Sasuke."
"Heh heh."
Once Konome gave her permission, Naruto started grinning again.
He gathered an armful of fruit and carried it over to Sasuke's bedside.
"We're going to leave tomorrow, so…"
"I do not want it."
Sasuke leaned back against his pillow, hands folded in a little triangle, voice as cold as ice.
Kindness treated like trash.
Naruto wilted on the spot.
Thinking about what Sasuke had gone through, he could understand his mood, and his gaze softened.
Even so, his tone was not about to back down.
"I'm just the delivery boy. Konome said I could give it to you. If you don't want it, go argue with her."
He dropped the pile of fruit on Sasuke's bedside table and stalked back.
Konome, who had just activated her Byakugan to examine their chakra, paused for a second.
She had only wanted to see if the interaction between the two of them would stir up the powers of Ashura and Indra, but had not expected Naruto to drag her name into it.
Sasuke, as expected, looked toward her.
Silver hair hung over her shoulders.
The blindfolded girl sat cross-legged on her bed, seemingly gazing at him with her sightless eyes, her entire body radiating the air of a seasoned fighter.
Konome was not like the shrieking support squad at school.
If she was unhappy, she absolutely would not indulge him.
Sasuke dared to snap at Naruto and Sakura, but he did not dare act out in front of the girl who had just killed an elite jonin.
After all.
Itachi had already personally demonstrated what elite jonin looked like.
In Sasuke's mind, Konome had long since been placed in the same category as that older brother.
He opened his mouth.
The harsh words would not come out.
The softer ones stuck in his throat.
In the end, he could only stay silent.
Loss, fear, confusion.
Emotions flowed across the top of his head like water.
"Once, I went through something very similar to you. My parents and clan were destroyed by a single catastrophe."
Sasuke slowly lifted his head and saw Konome looking at him, expression calm.
"Brooding does not solve anything. It only lets the problem fester and spread. I spent a long time learning that."
Sasuke wanted to refute her, to call out her arrogance.
But he could feel the sincerity in her tone.
"I am not saying this because I want to change you."
Konome read his mood without needing any help from emotional lights.
"Pain is not something anyone else can replace or fix. Only you, over time, can make peace with it.
Seeing you like this reminds me of my past self, so I just wanted to tell you what I have already learned, in hopes that you can walk a shorter detour and waste a little less of your life.
That is all."
The way both Naruto and Sasuke looked at her shifted.
So someone as strong as Konome also had such a tragic past behind her.
People did not share the same feelings, but their fates could still end up strangely similar.
Sasuke's lips trembled. The blood from that night still seemed to shimmer in front of his eyes.
"I do not understand…"
"If you want revenge, become stronger and kill your enemy.
If you have questions, become stronger and pin the culprit's head under your hand, then make him answer you, one word at a time.
It is not that you do not know how to solve the problem.
You simply lack the conditions to solve it."
With that, Konome turned her head away and stopped paying attention to him, who seemed faintly shaken.
She had already said more than enough today.
If she had not been in such a good mood, and if Sasuke did not remind her so much of her own past life, she would not have said any of it.
She pressed her fingers together and drew a cross in front of her chest.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique."
Boom.
Creak.
The bed let out a pained groan.
When the smoke cleared, five identical Konome Taketoris were sitting on the mattress.
The four clones glanced at one another, then sensibly each grabbed a scroll, hopped off the bed, and sat on the floor to read.
The original leaned back against her pillow and slowly unrolled the scroll marked Akimichi (Yang), fully slipping into study mode.
Crunch.
Crack.
She read while chewing on the grilled-meat chips Choji had brought.
Her Byakugan swept lazily across Naruto and Sasuke and saw both of them staring at the clones with wide, shining eyes.
They already understood the secret of using Shadow Clones to assist training.
If Kaguya Ōtsutsuki really did revive one day, she might still need Naruto and Sasuke to hold the line.
Hopefully, they would end up even stronger than in the original story.
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