Chapter 24

I slowly made my way out of that shithole, killing everyone present there.

Although I have successfully escaped, I am still not in the clear.

I infused some chakra into my armbands, which I had recovered from one of the rooms in that place, and took out a three-pronged kunai. Minato-Sensei gave me this kunai as insurance to use in life-threatening situations.

I threw it on the ground in front of me and waited.

This is the best way to deal with my current situation. I could travel on my own and reach the leaf's borders, but I need to get this sealing undone.

Considering that he is one of the only two sealing grandmasters left in this world, he should be able to easily find a formula to unseal my chakra.

With a puff of smoke, he appeared in front of me. He had kunais in each of his hands, ready to jump at any enemy that might be present here.

"Shirou!" He rushed to me and bent down on his knee. Grabbing my shoulder, he asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. "I am fine, sensei."

"I wouldn't call two knives sticking out of your body as fine." We need to get you treated immediately! Let's go! "You can tell me what happened afterwards."

and we appeared somewhere else.

"Blegg--" I vomited as soon as we arrived. This was my first time experiencing teleportation, and it was way too sudden.

Luckily, Minato Semsei moved out of the way. Otherwise, I would have ended up vomiting on him.

"Ahaha That's my fault. Sorry." He said as he appeared behind me, scratching his cheek.

I dropped to my knees. I felt a hand on my chest, grabbing me to keep me from falling completely, and then I passed out.

***

I woke up to see a ceiling fan moving at an incredibly slow pace, so much so that it would have made no difference even if it was turned off.

Damn. How many times does this happen now? I feel like I am getting hospitalised after every mission. This has become more of a pattern now.

It's getting annoying now.

I was in a single-person room for a change. This explains the fan. I must be in one of the best rooms in the hospital.

I don't care what anyone says, but I am not going to pay the extra fees for the nice room.

"Ah! "You are already awake!" "Pretty nurse," she said as she entered my room.

"Yupp. "So how am I doing?" I asked

"Hmm? Oh..... You have four broken ribs, numerous fractures all over your body that haven't healed completely, and a kunai sticking out of your shoulder and sides. The kunai destroyed one of your kidneys, so you underwent an organ transplant while you were unconscious. Afterwards, we just let your body heal naturally."

What did she say? I went through organ transplant surgery! Who the fuck gave them the permission to—no, well, I guess I should be thankful to them since they saved me and all. But I don't have the money to pay for that! What should I do? Sell my kidney?

"I will come back after notifying Minato-sama that you have woken up."

"W-wait"

"Hmm?"

"How much is the hospital bill?" I said with a shaken voice. During the times of emergency or in front lines, no matter how much treatment you get you don't have to pay for it. But unfortunately that isn't the case inside the village.

"You don't have to worry about the cost. Minato-Sama is taking care of it."

Awww...That's so sweet

"Alright. Thank you for taking care of me." I relaxed and tried to cross my arms behind my head only to wince in pain, feeling the bones creaking.

Let's rest for now. I deserve a break.

***

5 minutes later, Minato Sensei appeared scaring the shit out of me.

"It is nice to see you finally awake." He said giving his characteristic smile.

"Yeah. It's nice to see you too sensei."

"Now then, tell me everything that transpired on the battlefield."

And so I began explaining him everything that happened since I left the village. How I fought at the battlefield and my experience as a war prisoner and how I escaped from them.

I didn't feel the need to hide the fact that I had a chakra core since he might have sensed it already. And it is a fact that I can't really hide even if I try to. Any Hyuga with even a week Byakugan will be able to clearly see that my chakra is concentrated in a small sphere close to my heart.

"Well you have certainly outdone yourself with this one Shirou. I am proud of you." He said as he tousled my hair.

Damn. What is this warm feeling? Like soup.

"Well where is everyone else? Don't tell me they don't know about my heroic deeds." I snickered

However, his face turned gloomy.

"The rest of the team is currently unable to see you."

'Hmm? What?'

"Kakashi and Rin are currently mentally exhausted because of the mission."

'Wait. Wait. Wait. Hold on!!'

"As for Obito.....well he....Obito died heroically in the mission to destroy the Kanabbi Bridge saving the life of both of his teammates."

'Fuck'

"But how!!" I yelled

"You guys shouldn't have been able to complete the mission already. I bought time for you guys. Why did you leave so early!!"

What was the point of me going through with that mission if the result was still the same. I promised him that I will save him. That I will not let such a tragedy fall on him. But now...now...

"Lord Hokage sent me to the the battlefield the day after you left as well. Therefore, the three of them had to infiltrate the borders themselves without my help. Even before getting close to the mission point, though small, all of three of them had sustained many injuries. And the team that was supposed to help them had already been wiped out."

After each sentence his voice kept getting weaker and weaker.

"I was too late to save him. He died because of me."

He clenched his hands so tight that they started to bleed. Sensei is genuinely a very nice person. He is kind to everyone and forms emotional connections very fast.

I can only imagine how much anguish, defeat and helplessness he must feel. He lost one of his students when he had the power to actually save him.

"I am sorry" I said

It is okay for grown men to cry, remorse and grieve. There is nothing wrong with that. Especially when they lose someone much too precious to them.

Obito held a much more important place in Sensei's heart than the rest of his students. His wife was very close to him as well so much so that she wanted her future son to be just like him. It is safe to say that their relationship was more than just a teacher-student one. They were much closer than that.

But still, the timeline still doesn't make sense to me. Even if he left the day after me and the rest of them left the day after him. There should still be atleast 2 days worth of time before they get into that fight.

On asking him this after he calmed down, Sensei's reply again gave me a shock.

"Uh..That--You were asleep for 2 days."

"...You gotta be shitting me."

Had I not been lying unconscious on this shitty hospital bed, I could have gone with them on this mission.

We did not speak more for a few minutes until he began speaking.

"...This was one of the reason why Rin and Kakashi couldn't come here to meet you."

"What? Then what is the other reason?"

"Before that, I want to ask you a question..... What do you truly think of this village. It's policies and it's leaders. What is your take on them?"

<quillbot-extension-portal></quillbot-extension-portal>