"She's already asleep. Let her rest quietly for a while… the rest of you can leave."
The medical-nin issued the order to clear the room.
"Alright…"
Shimizu, Minato, and Yoshimaru filed out of the cramped, makeshift infirmary one after another.
"I originally thought Satomi was just suffering from ordinary exhaustion," Yoshimaru said, shaking his head. Then he sighed deeply. "How did it suddenly turn into she may never be a ninja again?"
"It's not quite that bad," Minato replied. "She could still recover. But it'll require a long period of rest. For the foreseeable future… she'll have to step away from the world of shinobi."
His tone carried regret—but inside, there was even more self-blame.
The battle earlier had been brutally intense.
Minato, Yoshimaru, and Satomi had each been responsible for holding the three directions under the heaviest assault from the Sand forces.
Minato and Yoshimaru were both veteran elite jōnin. They had years of combat experience and enormous chakra reserves.
But Satomi—
Despite the "genius of the Hyūga clan" reputation surrounding her, she was still a newly promoted jōnin who hadn't fully matured yet. Compared to the other two, both her experience and chakra reserves were clearly lacking.
Perhaps the Hyūga clan's formidable Gentle Fist could make up for some of that gap.
But a shortage of chakra was a weakness that couldn't simply be overcome in a short battle.
If she didn't want the defensive line to collapse, the only thing she could do was grit her teeth and keep going—pushing her already depleted chakra reserves past their limit, draining even the energy from her own cells.
Until her body began to break down.
"And then she nearly drowned afterward, which made the damage even worse," Shimizu added quietly.
Even though he had rushed to rescue her with everything he had, he had still arrived a few seconds too late.
If only he had been faster…
And now, at a time when Konoha desperately needed strength, losing an elite shinobi was a heavy blow.
Especially one with the Byakugan—a priceless asset on the battlefield.
Still…
There was also a strange sense of reluctance in his heart.
Was it simply the feeling of losing a comrade?
Shimizu shook his head, tossing aside the messy thoughts.
Instead, he asked about the current situation in Rakuyō City and Konoha as a whole. Minato and Yoshimaru didn't hide anything, explaining in detail the dire circumstances Konoha was facing.
"The enemy knows far too much about Konoha's intelligence."
"Exactly!" Yoshimaru said angrily. "I've had that feeling the whole time. It's like the Sand knows everything about us!"
"But how could Sunagakure's ANBU possibly be that capable?!"
He then said something even he didn't quite believe.
"Could it really be that the Sand has simply gotten stronger?"
"It's possible they have outside assistance," Minato said thoughtfully. "Like the group that originally provoked the war between Konoha and the Sand."
"Or the man we encountered at the southwestern border… the one who called himself 'Tobi.'"
Minato hadn't forgotten the mysterious ninja wearing the spiral mask—the one who had nearly taken his life.
"And that's not all."
"There could also be… a traitor."
Shimizu couldn't help wondering if the intelligence he had delivered earlier had already been read by the Third Hokage or by Jiraiya.
Konoha itself was far away in the heart of the Land of Fire, so there was no way to know yet whether the Hokage had seen it.
But Jiraiya was nearby.
Very nearby.
"Minato, what's our plan now?" Shimizu asked.
To be honest, he wanted to reunite with Jiraiya as soon as possible. He urgently needed answers about the truth behind that mission at the Land of River border.
"According to Senior Kosuke's analysis," Minato said, "this might actually be a trap aimed at Sensei."
"If that's the case, his situation is probably even worse than ours."
Even though the reality was grim, Minato had already made his decision.
"Tomorrow morning, we head out to meet up with him."
"Alright." Shimizu agreed immediately.
Meeting Jiraiya was exactly what he wanted.
"Oh right—" Yoshimaru suddenly said, still unable to let it go.
"How did you actually survive back then, Shimizu?"
Even after Shimizu had refused to answer multiple times before… Yoshimaru still couldn't stop asking.
The situation back then had looked like certain death.
And yet Shimizu had come back alive.
Not only alive—but seemingly even stronger than before.
What exactly had happened during that time? What kind of twists and turns had he gone through? Yoshimaru couldn't help being curious.
Unfortunately, Shimizu's refusal was just as firm as ever.
"I've already said it," he replied patiently. "The full report has to be submitted to the Hokage first. Whether it'll be made public afterward… that's for the Hokage to decide."
"Well, regardless," Minato said with a gentle smile, "the fact that you made it back safely is already a blessing. Shimizu—welcome home."
...
After saying goodbye to the two of them, Shimizu headed outside Rakuyō City alone.
Lately, whenever he had a moment to spare, he would try to use Wood Release.
Who knew—maybe one day he'd suddenly succeed.
Maybe even tonight.
But no matter how many times he tried, he still couldn't feel the slightest hint of Wood Release within his body.
Wood Release… the legendary kekkei genkai formed by combining Water Release and Earth Release.
But how did the simple fusion of water and earth produce something as vibrant and life-filled as Wood Release?
Was it really just a matter of combining the two?
Or was there some crucial piece he was still missing?
Shimizu quickly formed a series of hand seals.
Earth Release: Rock Lodging Destruction!
A powerful jutsu that used chakra to shatter rock formations from within, causing them to collapse violently. Its destructive power was considerable.
He had learned this technique after Kakuzu left—he'd found the scroll among the belongings of several fallen Iwa shinobi.
At first he had only meant to try it out.
Yet after studying it briefly, he was already able to perform it almost perfectly.
The entire process felt as natural as breathing.
And that same sensation had happened to him twice before.
Shimizu wasn't an idiot.
He understood exactly why.
The Hashirama cells had altered his body, drastically increasing his affinity for Earth Release.
He had no proper point of comparison, but mastering an A-rank earth-style technique like Rock Lodging Destruction in such a short time…
That went far beyond the explanation of mere "talent."
"Alright… let's try again."
Shimizu steadied his mind and slowly closed his eyes, once more drawing out two completely different types of chakra within his body.
His Water Release chakra and Earth Release chakra had both grown absurdly powerful.
In theory…
Recreating Wood Release shouldn't be impossible.
…Fuse!
It worked!
A surge of excitement burst through Shimizu's chest as he hurriedly opened his eyes to see the result.
He spread his fingers.
In his palm was a lump of muddy sludge.
It bubbled weakly.
"…What the hell is this?"
Shimizu flicked his hand in disgust and immediately turned to leave.
"Whoa, littering! I saw that, Senior Uzuki!" Obito's piercing voice rang out from a distance.
"…Oh. It's you, Obito."
Shimizu glanced over.
The kid hadn't even awakened his Sharingan yet—so how the hell was his eyesight so good in the middle of the night?
Did those windproof goggles of his come with night vision or something?
Shimizu had originally thought he could perfectly avoid running into those three brats.
Because honestly…
Right now, he really had zero interest in dealing with them.