Naruto: The Nine-Tails' Legacy

Konoha Hospital.

The remaining nurses and doctors were all operating under extreme pressure.

From morning until night, they barely had a moment to stop moving.

They rushed from room to room, each nurse carrying several times more patient records than usual.

"Miss Kurenai, time for your routine examination!"

A nurse and a doctor hurried into Kurenai Yuhi's room.

After carefully checking her recovery, the doctor nodded in satisfaction.

"Your condition is improving nicely, Miss Kurenai. Just remember to take your medicine on schedule."

Then he turned to the nurse.

"If everything is fine, arrange for another week of observation. I have to go!"

"Doctor, wait!"

Kurenai quickly called out.

"Wasn't I supposed to have one more examination the day after tomorrow? If everything looked good, I could be discharged, right?"

But the doctor was already halfway out the door.

He didn't even turn around.

His expression was unusually anxious as he hurried down the corridor.

He was one of Konoha's most respected senior physicians.

A veteran medic who had served during the Shinobi Wars.

Normally, he was calm, orderly, and meticulous.

Seeing him this flustered left Kurenai genuinely stunned.

The young nurse quickly apologized.

"I'm really sorry."

"Most of the hospital staff received an emergency summons from the village this morning."

"The doctor was worried about abandoning his patients, so he insisted on completing all of his examinations before leaving."

"He's probably running out of time now."

"What happened?"

Kurenai frowned.

It was the first time she had ever witnessed something like this.

No wonder the hospital had felt strangely chaotic all day.

The same few nurses and doctors kept running back and forth.

Most of the staff seemed to have disappeared.

The nurse glanced around before lowering her voice conspiratorially.

"I heard something serious happened."

"The Hokage personally gathered the entire Medical Corps to discuss countermeasures."

"Countermeasures?"

"Where?"

"I don't know exactly."

The nurse leaned closer.

"But I overheard the doctors talking earlier."

"They kept mentioning things like 'deeply hidden,' 'unable to identify the cause,' and 'solving it at the root.'"

Her expression grew grave.

"I think it might be some kind of terrifying epidemic."

"A major outbreak, maybe!"

"Surely not?"

Kurenai blinked.

Suddenly, she remembered Asuma mentioning an emergency assignment last night.

He hadn't visited the hospital all day.

Instead, Shikamaru and Ino had come to check on her.

Maybe something really had happened in the village.

—

Meanwhile, inside Konoha Prison—

A truly inhumane conversation was taking place.

"Hold him down!"

"Hold him down!"

"If necessary, break his arms first!"

"They're already broken!"

"We'll heal them afterward anyway!"

"Holy hell, he's trying to bite off his tongue?"

"Do modern ANBU seriously know so little medicine?"

"He's just making trouble!"

"You can't actually kill yourself that way!"

"It's fine!"

"I stuffed cloth into his mouth!"

"Where did you even get cloth from?"

"No idea."

"Wait."

"Why is it covered in blood?!"

Several doctors and medical ninja in white coats surrounded a captive ANBU operative.

They definitely weren't conducting torture.

Absolutely not.

They were simply administering medical treatment.

His arms and legs were bound.

His mouth was stuffed with cloth.

Several middle-aged doctors were enthusiastically poking, prodding, and examining every part of his body.

The young ANBU beneath the removed mask had tears streaming down his face.

"Mmph! Mmmph!"

"Don't even think about it!"

"Now that you're in our hands, you're staying put!"

"Let's see what exactly is wrong with you!"

"Wait."

"You can actually understand what he's saying?"

"Do I need to?"

The elderly doctor snorted.

"Just listen to the tone."

"He's obviously saying something like, 'Kill me!'"

"I used to be a medical ninja too."

"Before retirement, I treated dozens of ANBU."

"They all have the same personality."

"His original character hasn't changed at all."

"Even his chakra flow is completely normal."

"Only his cognition has been altered."

"A fascinating phenomenon."

The doctor nodded thoughtfully.

"Examination complete."

"Someone cast a genjutsu on him."

"If we don't restrain him mentally, he'll struggle too much during the next stage."

Nearby—

Ibiki Morino stood with his team, guarding the doctors.

These ANBU prisoners weren't suitable subjects for interrogation.

After only a few questions, they had immediately accused Ibiki himself of betraying Konoha.

The situation was too unusual.

These people weren't traitors by choice.

Not only did they not require interrogation—

They required protection.

Ibiki's gaze swept across the prison.

Every cell contained the same bizarre scene.

Doctors.

Medical researchers.

Barrier specialists.

All crowded around captured ANBU like scientists examining rare specimens.

Originally, Ibiki had expected the doctors to be uncomfortable working in a prison.

Now, however, he felt Konoha's medical personnel were more terrifying than professional interrogators.

Even he had to admit defeat.

—

At the innermost cell—

The Third Hokage stood face-to-face with Shimura Danzō.

"...So you were also affected by Kotoamatsukami."

"Ridiculous."

Danzō's lone eye narrowed.

"You think I've been brainwashed?"

"Hiruzen, do you truly expect me to believe such nonsense?"

"I've already ordered everyone to search for a way to undo Kotoamatsukami."

The Third Hokage slowly rose to his feet.

"But that isn't why I came."

After a brief pause, he added:

"Even after it's removed, your punishment will remain unchanged."

He turned toward the exit.

"I simply don't want you entering hell without ever understanding what happened."

BANG.

This time, it was Hiruzen who slammed the prison door shut.

Inside the cell, Danzō sat silently.

His lone eye remained fixed on the iron door.

No one knew what he was thinking.

—

"Hokage-sama."

Genma Shiranui's fellow bodyguard, Raidō Namiashi, stepped forward as Hiruzen exited.

"Hiruzen!"

"Hiruzen!"

"We were controlled too!"

"We never wanted to help Danzō!"

"Let us out!"

"That's right!"

"Now that I think about it, I always felt like I was possessed back then!"

As they passed another cell, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane hurriedly shouted.

Having listened to the commotion outside, they had finally realized what was happening.

The Third Hokage merely glanced at them.

Then he continued walking.

Without saying a single word.

"Hey!"

"Hiruzen!"

"You—!"

Their mixture of panic and curses gradually faded behind him.

—

"Hokage-sama."

Ibiki stepped forward again when he saw Hiruzen emerge.

The Third Hokage looked through the prison.

Every cell was occupied.

Every doctor was busy.

He let out a long, exhausted sigh.

He had never imagined things would develop this far.

Judging by the frantic pace of the Medical Corps, he knew there would be no results anytime soon.

"Keep them secured."

"Understood."

"Provide the Medical Corps with every resource they require."

After issuing several more instructions, Hiruzen immediately returned to the Hokage Office.

Waiting for him there was a sweat-soaked Nara Shikaku.

A thick stack of documents rested in his hands.

"According to our preliminary count..."

Shikaku adjusted the files.

"Approximately forty ANBU operatives were apprehended at the scene."

"Afterward, Kakashi's investigation identified three additional suspicious individuals."

"These are their names."

Ordinarily, even Konoha's chief strategist had no authority to access ANBU records.

But extraordinary circumstances required extraordinary measures.

At this point—

The Third Hokage had effectively granted Shikaku authority equivalent to that once possessed by Danzō as the Hokage's advisor.

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