Naruto: I, Shikotsumyaku, Byakugan Princess

Chapter 119 Hospital Triple Room

late at night.

Konoha Hospital.

Moonlight streamed in through the window, casting regular white shadows on the pure white bedding.

Uchiha Sasuke lay hunched over on the hospital bed, his eyes, hidden in the darkness, staring blankly at the white windowsill, his dark pupils as dull and lifeless as unpolished pearls.

Family, brother, parents, thick blood and everything shattered.

He didn't even know what he was thinking.

Pain, sorrow, resentment, but mostly bewilderment.

Everyone was chatting and laughing that morning, but everything changed after school that evening.

Sasuke couldn't understand.

What exactly happened within the family in just one day? After resting in the hospital for so many days, he still couldn't understand why Itachi was so cruel and heartless.

stomping on...

The corridor outside the ward echoed with hurried footsteps and panting, accompanied by hushed voices.

Call ~
Sasuke exhaled a deep breath.

The hospital, which had been quiet just moments before, suddenly became noisy. Already suffering from a terrible headache, he was now so agitated that he couldn't fall asleep.

Tread...  

The footsteps grew closer.

The nurses' low, almost inaudible voices gradually became clearer.

"How come so many children are injured all at once? There aren't enough hospital beds!"

"I heard that the Ninja Academy organized a field exercise and happened to be attacked by ninjas from another village!"

"No wonder! Look how badly those two children are injured, especially the girl. I didn't dare to apply any pressure when I was bandaging her..."

"Tsk... Stop talking."

"Hey, I remember there were two empty beds in this room..."

Dang Dang Dang!
A soft knock came from outside.

Sasuke squinted and pretended to be asleep.

He didn't want to be in a room with a stranger.

Ever since the Uchiha clan was wiped out, every nurse and doctor he came into contact with would give him a strange look.

pity?

mercy?

He couldn't decipher what kind of look that was.

But the expressions on these people's faces constantly reminded him of the pain he had endured, pain he could neither escape nor forget.

dang dang...

Click!

The door was opened directly.

"There are exactly two empty beds."

"Is that child Uchiha's...?"

"Keep your voice down..."

The two of them kept their voices very low, but Sasuke only found it noisy.

rustle!

Cover your ears with the blanket.

The two paused mid-conversation and, sensing the situation, quickly left the room.

Just a moment.

The sound of a medical trolley could be heard outside.

There were many people this time. Sasuke heard that the footsteps of the newcomers were heavy, so they shouldn't be the two female nurses from before.

"This girl is a bit heavy, lend a hand!"

"1, 2, 3, go!"

thump! !

quack quack!
The heavy body creaked under the old bed, like a seven or eight hundred-pound fat man being carried onto a hospital bed.

woohoo...

Several male nurses were breathing heavily:

"Like a weight!"

"I hope you'll say the same thing to her when she wakes up."

What good would it do you if I died?

"What are you saying? As long as you hold on and don't die, you'll be Konoha's new elite Jonin!"

"Hey, what's this about being an elite Jonin? I'm not interested in that!"

Amidst their laughter and conversation, they lifted another person onto the hospital bed.

Click!

The door is closed.

The group walked away with busy footsteps.

Sasuke, covered by a thin blanket, could hear everyone's voices without any obstruction.

My curiosity was piqued by the conversation.

Sasuke quietly lifted the covers and turned over to look at the bed next to him:

Her long, translucent hair was spread out on the headboard, shimmering with a metallic matte luster under the moonlight.

The girl lay flat on the bed with her arms outstretched in a starfish shape. Her delicate eyebrows and eyes were completely exposed, and her profile was stained with speckled bloodstains. Her cherry blossom-like lips were slightly pursed, but a glaring scarlet color shone through the gaps between her lips and teeth.

Despite being severely injured and unconscious, he showed no signs of weakness or fatigue.

His bandaged chest rose and fell only once every seven seconds, his heavy breathing accompanied by a pounding heartbeat, like a beast that had fallen into a deep sleep, ready to devour its prey once it awoke.

"...Sunburst Gray Glass?"

Sasuke was stunned for three seconds before he came to his senses.

He had never seen the full picture of Gray Glass.

At school, the other person wore a large cloak and a large blindfold covering most of their face, making them look mysterious.

If it weren't for her unwavering strength that even her serious injuries couldn't conceal, and her signature silver-gray hair, he probably wouldn't have been able to confirm her identity for a moment.

I overheard the nurses talking in front of me.

Sasuke already had a vague idea of ​​what had happened.

An unexpected incident occurred during a wilderness survival exercise: ninjas from another village attacked the students. Based on the men's teasing descriptions, it's clear that the enemy's main force encountered Hai Li and was very likely to die at her hands.

Does surviving against Gray Li qualify one to become an elite Jonin?
Sasuke had no idea how much of their conversation was genuine, but for them to say something like that, Hai Li's achievements must be unimaginably outstanding.

He stared blankly at the beautiful girl who was sleeping like a lion.

If he remembered correctly, his father, who was the head of the Uchiha clan, and his brother, who was the number one genius of the Uchiha clan, seemed to be at the same level.

But the age difference between Hui Li and the two of them is a given.

This is true genius.

Compared to this man, the one who destroyed the Uchiha clan seems so mediocre!
As for myself...

Sasuke looked at his hands.

He was disciplined by his father from a young age and was ruthlessly crushed by Itachi, who was 'mediocre in talent'. Compared to Haili, perhaps only titles like 'trash' or 'loser' would be more suitable for him.

Inferiority complex and arrogance are two sides of the same coin.

After experiencing the massacre of his clan and the shock of genjutsu, the sensitive Sasuke once again faced the pressure of his peers' talents, causing his mentality to become unbalanced and to quietly tilt from one extreme to the other.

"Huh...huh..."

Sudden.

A loud snore came from the ward, waking the dejected Sasuke.

He turned to look at Hui Li.

His chest rose and fell slowly, his breathing steady and regular, like the heavy pendulum of a school building.

Not her.

Sasuke shook his head, got out of bed, and looked past Gray to Gray's left.

The blond-haired man, covered in blood, was lying on his back, his body in a U-shape, his mouth wide open, snoring loudly as he breathed in and out.

Ok……

The real bottom runner is here.

Sasuke suddenly felt less insecure.

No matter how bad he is, he's still better than Naruto! At least he can see the gap between himself and a true genius, while Naruto, that blockhead, probably doesn't even know how high Kairi has reached!
Thinking about it this way, he's still a bit far from being 'the worst student'.

With Naruto as a backup, Sasuke suddenly felt much better.

Even the brain, which has been unable to fall asleep for a long time, feels a little sleepy.

Sasuke's eyelids began to feel heavy. He slowly closed his eyes.

“eng~eng~”

The snoring in the ward grew louder and louder, until it sounded like elephants roaring in a zoo.

a long time.

The handsome young man, tossing and turning in bed, covered his ears and counted the stars in the sky in frustration.

His eyes were filled with deep despair.

Damn bottom of the class!

"eng~~~eng!!!"

Naruto, with his large mouth, was sleeping soundly.

……

The next day.

Room 203, Konoha Hospital.

At dawn, sunlight illuminated the ward, casting a warm, golden glow on the stark white walls. Three beds stood side by side, evenly spaced, dividing the room and the sunlight into three parts.

The black-haired, black-eyed boy, sporting large dark circles under his eyes, tilted his head to gaze at the still-sleeping silver-haired girl, his handsome cheeks flushed red.

His chest rose and fell slowly, mimicking the rhythm of Gray Glass's breathing, as if searching for the source of her power.

The other side.

The blond, blue-eyed boy gazed at the girl's delicate profile, pondering whether the bloody and terrifying battle of the previous night was real.

The invulnerable Lightning Armor, the indestructible Lightning Spear, the colossal fox as large as a mountain imprisoned in a cage, the pierced body of Gray Glass with its gaping fangs, and himself, whose terror was no less than that.

He stroked his forearm, which had been bitten through the night before.

The wounds on his body, along with the charred flesh all over his body, have healed completely, leaving not a single scar.

Yesterday was all too dreamlike.

Waking up in a hospital bed, even seeing Ash's bandaged chest, Naruto still couldn't distinguish between dream and reality.

He also saw Sasuke, who was in the bed opposite his.

He already knew about the massacre of the Uchiha clan. Naruto didn't know what it was like to lose a family member, but he figured it couldn't be any easier than seeing Hairi's body pierced through.

It's best not to bother the other person at this time.

Time passes slowly.

The sunlight inside the room became increasingly glaring.

Eyelashes fluttered.

Hui Li, who was the most seriously injured, finally woke up slowly with her eyes half-closed.

"Hmm~"

Hui Li barely managed to open her eyes.

A faint light appeared ahead.

The periosteum in front of the pupils blocked the light, making everything appear as a white blur. Having exhausted his chakra and lost consciousness, the Shikotsumyaku (Corpse Bone Pulse) nerve-shielding ability failed, causing a piercing pain in his chest.

Roll your eyes —

No, wait a minute!
Subconsciously wanting to mobilize chakra to activate the Byakugan, Hairi suddenly stopped.

He stroked the smooth eye socket with his fingers.

The wide cloth that used to cover my eyes has disappeared without me noticing.

Gray will disperse the chakra gathered in his eyes.

The bulging veins on the face when the Byakugan is activated are essentially due to the expansion effect caused by chakra filling the meridians.

This overt effect cannot be controlled by the physical body of the Corpse Bone Vein.

If you try to control it by force.

It's like trying to suck on a straw by biting it flat with your teeth and inserting it into a glass of water. No matter how hard you try, the water stream formed by chakra can't pass through the narrow outlet.

Therefore, before she could overthrow the Hyuga main family, a blindfold was indispensable if she wanted to use the Byakugan freely.

Open your crystal-like eyes.

Raise your hand.

He absentmindedly stroked the pillow and the headboard.

Gray Glass is a patient with severe myopia and is looking for her glasses.

Naruto and Sasuke, who had been keeping a close eye on Hairi, were awakened by her movements.

Sasuke turned his head to the other side, and to prevent Hairi from discovering his imitation, his guilty chest heaved twice.

He didn't know if Hui Li's unusual breathing rhythm was some kind of secret technique.

In battles between ninjas, intelligence is the most important thing.

Stealing or exploring other people's secret techniques is an absolute taboo. He and Hui Li are not close. If Hui Li were to use this as an excuse to attack him, it would be perfectly reasonable for her to cripple him with a single punch.

Even the Hokage couldn't say anything.

Compared to the complex and calculating Sasuke, Naruto is much simpler.

Seeing Hui Li awaken, Naruto, filled with doubt, jumped out of bed:
"Grey Glass, you're finally awake! Last night..."

"stop!"

Hui Li made a pause gesture, interrupting the massive, oppressive 'chakra mass' on the left.

then.

A murky confusion, an orange-colored joy... all sorts of emotions emerged from the 'chakra cluster' on the left, and then entered Gray Glass's mind through an unknown means.

This is?

The unexpected situation confused Hui Li, who turned her head to look at the chakra cluster on her right.

Although it's called a chakra cluster, it's much smaller than the one on the left; it's more like a tiny speck of light, the size of a sesame seed, yet it still carries a variety of emotions.

Deep yellow tension, green jealousy, and gray-blue pain...

The mood here is relatively bad, and the colors are much more complex than on the right, mostly messy mixed colors that are hard to distinguish.

Hui Li was certain that she had not activated the Byakugan, and that the Byakugan could not possibly have the ability to sense emotions.

That can only be the 'malicious perception' from the Nine-Tails.

So-called malice perception can actually distinguish other people's emotions?

Looking at the various emotions constantly emanating from the chakra clusters on both sides, Hui Li was somewhat surprised.

She originally thought that the Nine-Tails' perception ability would be rather general, but she didn't expect this skill to be so detailed. It could not only perceive goodwill or malice, but also every slight change in emotion.

No wonder Kurama likes Naruto so much.

Naruto is simple-minded, and even his emotions are pure and full of kindness.

Just looking at the bright and pure emotions seemed to improve Hui Li's mood.

In contrast, this 'chakra point' of unknown origin...

It's a mixed bag.

Although there is no extreme malice or murderous intent, the intertwining of various negative emotions can easily lead even non-villains to extremes if they are affected by these negative emotions for a long time.

Hui Li closed her eyes.

Immersed in the various emotional radiances of the two, it felt as if I had entered a completely new world.

The two of them had no secrets exposed to each other. She casually observed and spied, and gradually came to understand the colors corresponding to different emotions.

Naruto saw that Hairi had her eyes closed and seemed to be searching for something, as if she had lost her usual strange senses, and he immediately became very nervous.

Hui Li is blind. If she loses the ability to perceive the outside world due to injury, it will definitely be a major blow.

In Gray Glass's perception:

Gray and yellow lights appeared one by one on Naruto's body, eventually turning into an unfamiliar gray-green.

This feeling is...worry?
Blessing to the soul.

Hui Li quickly discerned this emotion.

"Don't worry I'm fine."

"Hehe, that's good! Eh... how did you know?"

Naruto's emotional light changed from gray-green to orange-yellow, and finally to blue-white in surprise. Gray Li had already deeply felt the cheesiness of the new skill.

Kurama truly deserves to be called the strongest of all the tailed beasts.

Even though it's just a seemingly insignificant ability in the original work, it's still incredibly powerful.

Simply applying the ability to perceive emotions to the perception of good and evil—this kind of behavior, possessing the ability but not studying it properly and recklessly squandering its power, is something only a uniquely gifted creature like a tailed beast could do.

Thinking of the Nine-Tails' terrifying chakra.

Gray glass can understand its simple usage.

Simply sense whether the person is benevolent or malevolent; if they are malicious, a single Tailed Beast Ball will solve the problem. It's simple, direct, and effective, much easier than analyzing the meaning of each emotional point bit by bit.

She felt that this ability was powerful precisely because she was not strong enough yet.

Wow…

Just as Hui Li was intently observing Naruto's emotions, the sound of a cart being pushed suddenly came from outside the ward.

(End of this chapter)