Chapter 592: Itachi Uchiha's Terminal Illness?
"For something like that... wouldn't it be enough to let him die and then resurrect him?"
Kenichi looked at Sasuke with a strange expression.
He genuinely had not expected Sasuke to come rushing over and plead with him to save Itachi's life.
When Sasuke had arrived with red eyes and an anxious expression, Kenichi had assumed something serious had happened to him.
Instead, it turned out to be about Itachi's illness.
If Sasuke had not brought it up, Kenichi might not even have remembered that Itachi was still sick.
And not just sick.
Terminally ill.
The ninja of the Naruto world were strange creatures.
Their physical fitness was absurdly strong, to the point that ordinary illnesses rarely affected them.
Even when they did become sick, minor diseases often healed naturally without treatment.
More serious conditions could frequently be dealt with through medical ninjutsu, provided the patient could afford the treatment.
But the Shinobi World still possessed terminal diseases that even medical ninjutsu could not cure.
Kenichi had once researched several of them.
Eventually, however, he abandoned that line of study.
Their mortality rates and speed of onset were simply too low.
If the goal was killing someone, ninjutsu was far cleaner and more efficient.
Still, Itachi's condition now made Kenichi curious.
Itachi was a genuine powerhouse.
Even relatively early in the original story, his combat strength had been extremely high.
Combined with the Mangekyo Sharingan, he had been an exceptionally troublesome opponent.
Yet someone that powerful had ultimately died from disease.
What kind of illness could reduce a ninja like Itachi to that state?
Kenichi had simply been too busy with other matters to think about investigating it.
Now Sasuke had reminded him.
Kishimoto had never clearly explained Itachi's exact disease in the manga.
It was only described as an incurable illness.
What specific illness it actually was, Kenichi had never been able to determine.
Now, however, he finally had an opportunity to examine it himself.
"Right..."
Sasuke stared blankly at Kenichi.
Only now did he remember something obvious.
Fugaku and Mikoto had been dead too.
Kenichi had resurrected both of them.
Without him, Sasuke's parents would still be in the Pure Land.
So if Itachi's body really became impossible to save...
Couldn't they simply resurrect him afterward?
The realization immediately relieved much of the pressure in Sasuke's chest.
Thinking about how frantic he had been only moments ago left him slightly embarrassed.
Naruto, standing beside him, also breathed a sigh of relief.
Sasuke had been so desperate earlier that Naruto had thought something terrible had happened to him personally.
Fortunately, Sasuke himself was fine.
And the problem troubling him already had a possible solution.
"Still, I'm interested in your brother."
Kenichi clapped his hands.
"Take me to him."
"I want to see exactly what kind of illness he has."
Kenichi still wanted to examine Itachi's body and determine whether targeted treatment was possible.
If he could cure the disease directly, that would be much more convenient.
Otherwise, after Itachi died, Kenichi would still need a sacrifice with strength comparable to his in order to resurrect him properly.
That would be somewhat costly.
Fortunately, Black Zetsu had provided them with White Zetsu that could serve as sacrifices.
Because of that, resurrecting people was no longer particularly troublesome.
Otherwise, Minato had originally been rather reluctant about being brought back through such a method.
Sasuke nodded immediately.
Then he led Kenichi and Naruto to find Itachi.
They eventually discovered him sitting by a river outside Konoha, quietly fishing.
Kenichi's Rinnegan immediately began analyzing Itachi's physical condition.
Itachi seemed to notice Kenichi's gaze.
He turned his head, glanced at Kenichi, then looked toward Sasuke.
A trace of understanding appeared in his eyes.
"This illness of yours..."
By now, Kenichi had already analyzed Itachi's body.
And he finally understood what was killing him.
Abnormal cells had gathered together inside his body.
They were reproducing uncontrollably.
Growing without order.
Constantly stealing nutrients from the surrounding tissues.
The abnormal cells competed with normal tissue for resources, expanding rapidly before spreading elsewhere.
Metastasis.
Once they reached other organs, they began reproducing again, consuming more nutrients and forming new growths.
Cancer cells.
Kenichi almost found it amusing.
He had studied cancer before.
But because tumors developed too slowly and were far less efficient than ninjutsu if one wanted to kill someone, Kenichi had eventually abandoned the research.
He never imagined that he would encounter cancer again inside Itachi's body.
It was strangely fitting in the most unexpected way.
Kenichi scratched his head.
Cancer?
He knew this field.
More importantly, he knew how to remove it.
For the current Kenichi, eliminating cancer cells was not particularly difficult.
All he needed to do was analyze the structure of the malignant cells and then...
"Deconstruct."
Kenichi spoke calmly.
The next instant, Itachi suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
He collapsed onto the ground in pain.
Sasuke immediately panicked.
"Brother!"
"Don't make such a fuss."
Kenichi remained completely calm.
"This is normal."
"He'll be fine in a moment."
Itachi was still useful.
His strength was considerable.
When the battle against Isshiki began, someone of Itachi's level should still be able to contribute.
That was another reason Kenichi had decided to cure him instead of simply waiting for him to die.
Hearing Kenichi's reassurance, Sasuke finally relaxed.
He trusted Kenichi's words.
As far as Sasuke was concerned, Kenichi had never lied to him.
Kenichi glanced toward Sasuke.
The boy's training was clearly producing results.
His muscles had become much more defined, making him look noticeably sturdier than before.
Then another thought suddenly occurred to Kenichi.
His gaze shifted toward Naruto.
An interesting idea appeared in his mind.
Naruto might be usable for a certain experiment.
But after considering it for a moment, Kenichi rejected the idea.
Naruto was male.
For the particular experiment Kenichi had in mind, he might not meet the necessary conditions.
It would be better to use someone else.
Kenichi's gaze shifted again.
This time, it landed on Hinata.
He studied her for a moment.
Then nodded.
Hinata should work.
"Hinata."
Kenichi called her name.
Hinata instinctively turned toward him.
The next thing she saw was Kenichi's Rinnegan.
Her consciousness immediately sank into darkness.
...
"W-Where am I?"
Hinata slowly opened her eyes.
She looked around in confusion, her head feeling slightly dizzy.
She remembered...
She had been working in the village.
Or had she?
Something felt missing.
Hinata frowned.
It was as though part of her memory had disappeared.
Then, little by little, everything returned.
She was an ordinary sales clerk living in Konoha.
Today had been another exhausting workday.
She had worked until late at night before finally returning to her small, warm home.
"So tired..."
Once the memory settled into place, exhaustion washed over her.
Hinata could barely keep her eyes open.
She collapsed onto the bed and quickly drifted toward sleep.
She needed to rest.
Tomorrow morning, she had work again.
If she arrived exhausted and could not perform properly, someone would scold her.
Thinking about it only made her sleepier.
Hinata soon fell into a deep sleep.
Then...
A strange sound woke her.
Hinata's eyes snapped open.
The entire room was shrouded in darkness.
She rubbed her eyes and waited until her vision gradually adjusted.
Then she instinctively looked toward the bedside table.
The alarm clock read:
2:13 AM.
"It's already past two...?"
Hinata yawned.
"So annoying."
She lay back down.
But the instant her head touched the pillow...
Creak.
Hinata froze.
Her sleepiness vanished slightly.
That sound...
It sounded exactly like her front door opening.
Hinata immediately scrambled out of bed.
She hurried into the hallway and stared toward the entrance.
The door was closed.
Perfectly normal.
Nothing had moved.
Hinata let out a breath she had not realized she was holding and pressed one hand against her pounding chest.
For a moment, she had truly thought someone had opened her door.
But if it had not been her door...
Then whose was it?
A new set of memories surfaced.
Hinata suddenly remembered that the room beside hers belonged to a small hotel that rented rooms to travelers.
The walls were thin.
Whenever someone opened the neighboring room's door, the sound often passed directly through the wall and made Hinata feel as though someone had opened her own.
Realizing that, Hinata relaxed.
If it was just someone next door, then it had nothing to do with her.
Still...
It was already after two in the morning.
Why were they constantly opening and closing the door?
It was irritating.
Hinata muttered under her breath and turned back toward her bedroom.
Then...
Creak.
The sound came again.
Hinata stopped.
"Someone else is arriving this late?"
Now she was curious.
She slowly slipped off her shoes.
Barefoot, she stepped across the cold floor and quietly approached the front door.
Then Hinata leaned toward the peephole.
She looked outside.
The hallway was empty.
Nothing.
Only dim lights.
Closed doors.
Silence.
Hinata relaxed again.
Maybe she really was overthinking things.
A hotel received guests at all hours.
Someone entering or leaving late at night was hardly strange.
She turned away.
She was already exhausted and wanted nothing more than to sleep.
Then loud voices suddenly erupted from the room next door.
A man.
A woman.
They were arguing violently.
Their voices rose through the walls as they cursed and shouted at one another over something Hinata could not clearly understand.
Hinata frowned.
How irritating.
Next time, she really needed to find somewhere with better soundproofing.
She was just about to return to bed when the argument suddenly stopped.
Completely.
The abrupt silence was strange.
But Hinata did not pay much attention to it.
She returned to her bedroom, crawled under the blanket, and closed her eyes.
Creak.
The door next door opened again.
Bang!
It slammed shut.
A little while passed.
Then...
Creak.
It opened again.
Hinata's irritation finally overcame her fatigue.
She had work tomorrow.
What were these people doing in the middle of the night?
"So annoying..."
Hinata climbed out of bed and hurried toward her front door.
She reached for the handle, intending to go outside and complain.
Then she heard the neighboring door open again.
Hinata stopped.
Instead of opening her own door, she leaned toward the peephole once more.
She wanted to see exactly what was happening.
This time...
Someone was outside.
A man dressed in white was crouching near the corner of the hallway.
He was smoking.
Hinata stared at him.
Behind the man, the neighboring room's door had been left slightly open.
Through the narrow gap...
Hinata saw a pair of pale feet.
They were lying on the bed inside the room.
She could not see the person's upper body.
Only the feet.
Whoever was inside appeared to be sleeping.
The man took several deep drags from his cigarette.
He said nothing.
He did not close the door.
He simply remained there, smoking in silence.
Then, for some reason...
He suddenly looked directly toward Hinata's peephole.
Hinata's heart jumped.
The man immediately stood, entered the room, and shut the door.
Hinata remained frozen behind the peephole.
"What is wrong with that guy...?"
An inexplicable feeling of unease began spreading through her.
The neighboring door had opened several times tonight.
And those pale feet...
Now that Hinata thought carefully about it...
They had not moved.
Not even once.
Earlier, a man and woman had been violently arguing in that room.
If the woman was now lying on the bed, surely she would have moved at least slightly.
Shifted her legs.
Turned over.
Anything.
But the entire time Hinata had been watching...
Those feet had remained completely still.
Even when the man came back inside and closed the door, the feet had remained exactly where they were.
A disturbing thought suddenly appeared in Hinata's mind.
Could the person lying on that bed be dead?
Hinata swallowed.
Her throat suddenly felt dry.
Part of her wanted to walk away immediately.
But another part of her was afraid she might miss something important.
Curiosity won.
Hinata continued watching through the peephole.
Time passed.
Five minutes?
Ten?
She could not tell.
Darkness had a strange way of distorting the passage of time.
Eventually...
The neighboring door opened again.
The pale feet were gone.
The man emerged instead.
This time, he was carrying a large suitcase.
Without looking around, he slowly walked away.
The door shut behind him.
Hinata's unease intensified.
That suitcase...
It was very large.
Large enough to hold a person.
"Could it really...?"
Hinata swallowed nervously.
Then she heard something again.
Scrape.
Scrape.
Scrape.
The sound of suitcase wheels rolling across the hallway floor.
Hinata froze.
The sound was getting closer.
Closer to her room.
In her mind, she could almost picture the man walking down the hallway.
Dragging that enormous suitcase behind him.
Straight toward her.
....
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