The very next day, the official announcement of Orochimaru's defection, and his crimes, was made public, causing a massive uproar throughout the village.
Human experimentation had always been a taboo topic. Not only in Konoha, every other shinobi village outwardly forbade it as well.
What made it worse was that Orochimaru hadn't experimented on enemy captives, but on Konoha's very own civilians.
As outrage flared across the village, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately called a public assembly. Now, before the gathered villagers, he solemnly offered his apology for failing to control Orochimaru's actions.
"As Hokage, I bear undeniable responsibility for Orochimaru's crimes. I have failed your trust, and failed those who lost their lives because of it."
"..."
"Starting today, Orochimaru is designated a top-priority fugitive of Konoha. I swear this to you all, I will lead the village in bringing him to justice. Every victim will have their reckoning."
Moved by his heartfelt words and his hunched, aging posture, the villagers' anger slowly began to subside.
Some even stepped forward to comfort the remorseful Hokage.
"Please, everyone… trust the village. Trust in our Will of Fire. Wherever the leaves dance, the fire will burn eternally…"
Thus, under the banner of the Will of Fire, the gathering dissolved peacefully. With the ANBU guiding the crowd to disperse, the crisis of trust had been masterfully defused.
Time flowed quickly. Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
At first, people still murmured about Orochimaru's betrayal, speculating when he'd be captured and brought back.
But as days went by, those conversations became fewer and more scattered, eventually fading like melting snowflakes.
Life, after all, had to go on. Everyone was too busy trying to survive to linger on past tragedies.
In the quiet of his clinic, Hyuga Kei worked diligently as always. He had long expected this outcome.
The news cycle, he mused, was predictable. A story might explode into public consciousness, becoming the center of attention, but give it a few days, and it would vanish. A week more, and it would be forgotten.
That afternoon, as the sun began to sink beneath the horizon, a lull finally came over the clinic. Kei stretched and was just about to rest when a cup of hot tea was placed on his desk.
"Thanks, Haru," Kei said gently.
Ever since he had saved Haru from Orochimaru, her attitude toward him had improved significantly. The most noticeable change? He no longer needed to ask, she now served tea at just the right moment.
It seemed trivial, a matter of routine, but Kei understood the significance perfectly.
This level of responsiveness revealed a deep-seated psychological shift. Her unconscious alignment with his presence meant one thing: his mental conditioning was progressing extremely well.
In psychological terms, well, outside of formal psychology, this level of subconscious behavioral influence had a special name: training.
From "training" stemmed an entire genre of special cases, the most infamous of which was known as the master's task. He wouldn't explain further, it was... unseemly.
After all, Kei was a respectable therapist and professor. Naturally, he wouldn't dabble in such twisted practices.
His goal was far more "pure", he just needed Haru to lean completely to his side.
And judging by the way things were going, that day wasn't far off.
Once that line was crossed, it would mark the start of his counterattack against Hyuga Taihiro and the main house.
"You don't need to misunderstand," Haru said flatly in response to his thanks. "This is only because of Lord Taihiro's orders."
"Don't worry. I won't misunderstand," Kei replied without skipping a beat.
She offered nothing more, simply taking a seat at the side of the room, clearly uninterested in further conversation.
Kei had just been about to probe further when his senses picked up two chakra signatures approaching the clinic.
One was very familiar, Shisui, whom he hadn't seen in over half a month. The other was new, but shared the same cold, repressed chakra as Shisui.
Kei instantly knew who it was.
Uchiha Itachi.
Another idiot brainwashed by the Will of Fire.
To Kei, Itachi was even more extreme than Shisui. The guy had slaughtered his own clan and parents, all for Sasuke.
Kei didn't bother faking his usual warm smile. He calmly sipped his tea, completely ignoring the two of them.
Shisui, unsurprised by the cold reception, led Itachi to the patient's bench and said:
"I admit I was wrong before. I shouldn't have judged you based on my first impression."
"Took you long enough to realize," Kei said, unimpressed.
Shisui didn't react to the sarcasm. "I've spent these days thinking seriously about what you told me last time."
Kei shook his head. "If you came here just to tell me you've figured it all out, don't bother."
"Why? Wasn't that what you wanted me to do?" Shisui asked.
"I've explained this already." Kei set his teacup down. "I can't help you. Only you can help yourself."
"If you truly understand now, then you don't need to come here at all. Someone like you could solve your own problems, I never doubted that."
"But if you still haven't figured it out… then there's no point in coming either. Because your ending is already sealed, and I don't doubt that, either."
Shisui fell silent for a long moment before asking, "So which do you think I am? Someone who's figured it out, or someone who hasn't?"
"Oh, that's easy," Kei said. "You haven't."
He didn't even need to think about it.
The fact that Shisui had brought Itachi along spoke volumes. Even though Itachi hadn't spoken yet, Kei could sense the same suspicion in him that Shisui once held.
Identical to Shisui's earlier perception of him.
"I shouldn't have placed any hope in you," Kei said quietly. "That was my mistake. A mistake that taught me a valuable lesson."
"From now on, there's no reason for us to talk. This conversation, this relationship, is meaningless. At least, for now."
"Then when will it be meaningful?" Shisui frowned.
Kei turned slightly toward where Itachi was seated, as if "looking" at him.
"Soon enough," he replied.
"Let's go, Shisui. This guy's just spouting nonsense," Itachi finally spoke, voice cold.
He'd been hearing about this therapist nonstop from Shisui lately, so today he came along to see what all the fuss was about.
And now?
To him, Kei was just another fraud spewing vague platitudes. He couldn't allow Shisui to get manipulated, before something truly bad happened.
Shisui hesitated, glancing at Kei again.
In truth, he had come hoping to clear the air. But Kei's attitude left him nowhere to begin.
Sighing, Shisui finally stood and followed Itachi toward the exit.
But just as they reached the doorway, Kei spoke:
"Shisui, did you know mustelids have a rather nasty habit? Once they enter a killing state, they instinctively slaughter everything in sight."
Itachi turned sharply, his gaze icy.
He wasn't stupid, he knew exactly who Kei was referring to. That line had been very specific.
His impression of Kei plummeted further into disgust.
Kei, on the other hand, was quietly grinning inside. Just one sentence, and he'd planted disgust in Itachi's heart, what a bargain.
He was already having a hard enough time fixing Shisui. He didn't need to pick up another patient, especially one even more broken than the first.
<150 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter>