Two days later,
Jiraiya came to Naruto's hospital room to pick him up and leave Konoha.
Before leaving,
Naruto asked to see Neji and Chōji.
After getting permission, Naruto ran all the way to the intensive care unit and saw Chōji.
Chōji at this time was different from usual.
He was much thinner than before, and had become more handsome and mature, so much so that Naruto almost didn't recognize him.
However,
His body was wrapped in bandages with printed text and various instrument probes attached to him, and he was clearly seriously injured.
Naruto felt guilty and said seriously, "Chōji, when you're better, I'll treat you to all-you-can-eat ramen!"
Then,
Naruto went to another intensive treatment room. When he looked through the glass, he was shocked and took two steps back.
At this time, Neji had a hole through his left chest. He lay unconscious in the middle of a huge Eight Trigrams Formation. Around the formation, four medical-nin were sitting on the ground, transmitting their chakra to Neji.
Neji's injury made Naruto deeply blame himself. Everyone had sacrificed so much for Sasuke!
He clenched his fists hard, determined to follow the Pervy Sage to bring back the greatest medical-nin in the ninja world.
"Neji, I have to help you change the unfair treatment of the Main and Branch Houses, no matter the cost, even my own life!"
Having finished,
Naruto turned his head and left; he couldn't keep wasting time.
...
At the village entrance,
Jiraiya was leaning against a tree, having waited for him for a long time.
...
At the same time,
The Konoha elders held a meeting concerning Danzō.
Meeting room,
Shimura Danzō was escorted by Anbu, completely lacking his former prestige.
Hiruzen Sarutobi said, regretting that he couldn't teach an old dog new tricks:
"Danzō, you took Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan, which led to the failure of the plan at the time and ultimately caused his death. Not only that, you also used Uchiha Itachi to massacre the Uchiha clan and took their Sharingan for yourself. Your various actions have aroused public outrage."
"Now I intend to remove you from all your positions and disband Root."
"As for your Sharingan and Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan, they will all be collected and sealed. Do you have any objections?"
Danzō looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was standing above him, but he sneered disdainfully, "None!"
What he had done was indeed wrong,
But did you, Sarutobi, truly not think much about it?
Didn't you want to use me to get rid of the Uchiha clan?
Didn't you know about or choose to ignore the dirty work I did?
After all,
You are the Hokage of Konoha Village!!
Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a long sigh of relief. What he feared most was that Danzō would expose his own scandals, which would truly harm both of them.
"Very well. From now on, Anbu will monitor Danzō twenty-four hours a day, and he is not to leave the village."
Then,
Danzō was escorted out, leaving only Sarutobi and the other clan heads to continue discussing Konoha's future.
...
...
In the Land of Rice ,Orochimaru's base,
At this time, Uchiha Sasuke was yelling at Kabuto at Orochimaru's base, just like he owned the place.
If Sakura or Naruto saw him, they would definitely think that Sasuke wasn't in the enemy's lair, but in his own home.
"Kabuto, tell Orochimaru to give me power!"
Although Kabuto was unhappy, in order for Orochimaru-sama to obtain a stronger body, he had to take Sasuke to the place where ninja were imprisoned.
There, there were ninja from all over the world, possessing all sorts of strange ninjutsu, which was most suitable for fledglings like Sasuke to improve their fighting ability.
In another room,
Orochimaru was bandaged all over, with only one eye visible, leaning on the bed and recalling what had happened the day before yesterday.
But,
He truly couldn't remember what happened in that short half an hour.
He asked Kabuto, but Kabuto also said he didn't know.
And for some reason,
Now his idea of taking over Sasuke's body had completely disappeared. He just wanted to help Sasuke become stronger and make him a ninja who could stand on his own.
Although he found this idea incredible, his will was set on it.
...
In the Village Hidden in the Rain, at the entrance of the Akatsuki's base,
Kisame carried Samehada and followed Uchiha Itachi, contemplating whether to report his private trip to Orochimaru's base to Leader Pain.
But after thinking it over, he gave up.
Having partnered with Uchiha Itachi for so many years, if the leader kicked Itachi out of the organization because of his big mouth, he would have to adapt to a new partner again, which was too much trouble for him.
Moreover, he always felt that it was easier when he was with Itachi, as if they were old friends who knew each other's inner secrets.
Looking at Itachi's back, he remembered their first meeting.
He remembered Itachi taunting him, saying that he was just trash wandering in the mist and couldn't even decide his own direction.
Although that sentence felt unacceptable to him, it truly described his situation at the time.
And Itachi also said something mockingly at the end:
People who have hurt their companions are not allowed to die, so be mentally prepared.
"This time, I'll be going blind for a while," Kisame said to himself as he caught up with Itachi.