Iwagakure, the ninja hospital.
The room smelled of disinfectant. Sunlight streamed through the blinds, cutting alternating bands of light and shadow across the floor. It was a VIP ward, reserved specifically for important figures in the village.
At that moment, Kurotsuchi, the granddaughter of the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, was lying there.
She had suddenly fainted during training yesterday and been rushed to the hospital.
At first, it had seemed like nothing. But the moment they ran the tests, all of Iwagakure nearly exploded.
Now, Kurotsuchi was leaning against the headboard, both hands resting lightly on her lower abdomen. It was still flat, with no visible change at all.
But she knew.
There was already a new life there.
A life that belonged to her.
And to that bastard.
"This child can't stay!"
Onoki stood at the bedside, beard bristling and eyes blazing. His whole body was shaking with rage. His wrinkled face was flushed red, and the veins on his forehead were throbbing.
"That damned bastard... Teizawa, was it? I'll make him pay for this!"
His voice echoed through the ward, making the window glass tremble faintly.
He was over eighty years old. He had seen all kinds of things in his life. He had been schemed against, betrayed, even beaten to the brink of death.
But never had he felt this humiliated.
His granddaughter, the heir he had personally raised, the Kurotsuchi in whom he had placed such high hopes...
She was carrying that Kazekage's child.
That bastard who had wiped out a thousand of his elite in the canyon.
That beast who had imprisoned his granddaughter and toyed with her however he pleased.
It was like the man had climbed onto his head and shat and pissed all over his pride.
He had nearly keeled over on the spot.
"Huff... huff..."
Onoki panted heavily, his chest rising and falling violently. If Kitsuchi had not been there to stop him, he would have already charged to Sunagakure and blasted that bastard into dust with Jinton (Dust Release).
Kurotsuchi said nothing.
She merely lowered her head and looked at her stomach. Her hands covered it gently, tenderly stroking it.
There was no expression on her face.
But complicated emotions churned in her eyes.
Kitsuchi stood to one side, ignoring Onoki's furious shouting. His gaze rested on his daughter, on the hands covering her abdomen, on the complicated look on her face.
A faint, unreadable smile appeared on his honest, weathered face.
Silence.
A long silence.
Long enough for Onoki's breathing to finally calm a little.
Then Kurotsuchi spoke.
Her voice was soft, but clear.
"Grandpa. Dad."
She lifted her head and looked at the two pairs of eyes fixed on her.
"This child... I'm keeping her."
"What?"
Onoki exploded all over again.
He lunged a step forward, practically in her face as he roared.
"Have you lost your mind? That's the enemy's child! Why would you keep her?"
His voice was sharp and urgent, spittle nearly flying onto Kurotsuchi's face.
"You're Iwagakure's heir! The next Tsuchikage I raised with my own hands!"
"How can you bear a child for the enemy... for that bastard...!"
Kurotsuchi still said nothing.
She simply met his gaze and calmly endured every word he hurled at her.
But there was not the slightest wavering in her eyes.
Faced with that calm stare, even Onoki's fury faltered a little.
"You..."
His voice dropped, tinged with disbelief.
"You don't mean... you've actually fallen for that bastard...?"
He didn't finish the sentence.
He didn't need to.
Kurotsuchi lowered her head and stroked her lower abdomen.
The hands resting there tightened slightly.
In her mind, those scenes suddenly resurfaced.
The dim candlelight in that hidden room.
That man's half-smiling eyes.
Those touches that made her blush.
And that last sentence:
"Bye-bye, my little queen. We'll see each other again very soon."
Very soon.
Back then, she hadn't understood.
Now she did.
"I really have gone crazy."
Kurotsuchi suddenly let out a quiet, self-mocking laugh.
Then she raised her head and looked straight at Onoki.
This time, there was no hesitation left in her eyes.
"Grandpa."
Her voice was firm as iron, each word falling with absolute certainty.
"She is my child."
After a pause, she added:
"Your great-grandchild."
Onoki froze.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something.
But in the end, he realized he couldn't say a word.
The anger was still there in those clouded old eyes.
But now there was something else mixed into it.
Shock. Confusion.
And a trace of something harder to name.
He looked at Kurotsuchi, at those unwavering eyes, at that face that plainly said, I will not change my mind...
And suddenly he felt that this girl had truly grown up.
Not in strength.
But in the kind of resolve that came from finally having something she wanted to protect.
Onoki fell silent.
Kitsuchi was still standing off to the side. The smile on his honest face deepened.
He said nothing. He just walked to Kurotsuchi's bedside and stretched out a rough, callused hand.
Then he gently patted her head.
It was the exact same motion he had used when she was little.
Kurotsuchi looked up at her father.
Kitsuchi grinned.
"I'll go with whatever my girl decides."
Kurotsuchi suddenly felt her eyes sting.
But she held it back, pressing her lips together and biting down hard.
Onoki looked at the scene before him, opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again.
In the end, he said nothing.
He only let out a heavy snort and turned around, giving them his back.
But he didn't leave.
And he didn't object again.
Sunlight spilled in through the window, falling across the three of them.
Kurotsuchi lowered her head once more and looked at her stomach.
Her eyes were full of motherly warmth now.
And there was something else in them too.
Expectation.
"Boom..."
Suddenly, an explosion rang out in the distance without warning, making the ward windows buzz violently.
Onoki reacted first.
His small body rose into the air at once, like a dried leaf caught by the wind.
In the blink of an eye, he shot through the window and stopped in midair.
His clouded eyes narrowed into slits as he looked toward the source of the explosion.
Far away, at the village's northwest corner, a plume of smoke was slowly rising.
That direction...
A bad feeling abruptly surged in Onoki's chest.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
Several figures rushed in from different directions and landed behind him.
The Anbu ninja at their head dropped to one knee, voice urgent.
"Lord Tsuchikage! Roshi... Lord Roshi has left the village!"
"What?"
Onoki spun around sharply, disbelief written all over his wrinkled face.
"That bastard Roshi... how dare he!"
His voice cracked with fury, and his whole body trembled slightly.
"Wasn't he locked up?"
(End of Chapter)
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