Chapter 64
The results of the medical examination on Naruto and the others at Konoha Hospital came out quickly.
The conclusion: all seven children and one dog (including Akamaru) were perfectly normal.
No mental interference from genjutsu, no signs of physical injury, no identifiable cause—only judged to be collective fainting due to extreme fatigue.
This outcome left the examining medical ninja feeling somewhat incredulous—how could there be such perfectly synchronized fainting?
But after repeated checks, no abnormalities were found at all. They confirmed the children were truly just asleep and would definitely wake up if shaken hard enough.
The Anbu who had carried and protected them back had clearly been too gentle.
After receiving the report, Sarutobi Hiruzen remained silent for a moment.
It couldn't really be that the children—constantly worrying about being pursued by Anbu, hearts filled with fear—finally saw their friend who had protected them along the way disappear.
The combination of tension and grief, under double emotional strain, caused them to faint?
Fortunately, aside from being asleep, their bodies were completely fine. So that same day, the parents were notified to come pick up the children.
They were told the children had interfered with an Anbu mission but were unharmed—only affected by a technique that caused fainting—and to take them home.
They did not inform Nara Shikaku, Hyūga Hiashi, and the other parents about the children's "glorious achievements."
After all, the children hadn't really done anything wrong—at most they had been too trusting and made contact with a suspicious individual.
Later clashing with Anbu was indeed somewhat reckless, but in the end no damage was caused to the village.
There was no need for punishment—this matter could be considered closed.
Strengthening the search for Orochimaru would be another issue entirely.
…
The next day.
Morning light in Konoha Hospital filtered through the gaps in the bed curtains and spilled onto the bed.
Naruto's eyelids twitched. He awoke from deep sleep and looked around the pure white hospital room.
"Strange… why am I here?"
He rubbed his messy hair.
The last thing he vaguely remembered was training and practicing in the forest behind the village with Shikamaru, Hinata, and the others.
Was it a dream? It felt like he had learned something…
Right—sensing natural energy!
It seems… I can already sense natural energy now.
As soon as this thought arose, Naruto instantly became fully awake. He didn't bother wondering why he was in the hospital.
He flipped out of bed, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes.
His mind gradually calmed. Consciousness began to spread outward, the process feeling as familiar as though he had practiced it many times before.
In just a short while, the world around him changed in his perception.
The natural energy he had previously been completely unable to sense now came rushing toward him like cats smelling fish.
Cool and lively energy surged eagerly into his body with every breath.
Naruto instinctively restrained himself—not absorbing it all at once, only taking in a small amount to test.
He opened his small palm. With a thought, he mentally guided the natural energy to release outward.
A wisp of breeze appeared out of thin air, swirling lightly in his palm and blowing toward his face. His hair immediately fluttered left and right.
He focused again.
The air above his palm grew slightly damp. Several crystal-clear raindrops condensed from nothing.
Plop—they fell into his hand, bringing a trace of coolness.
"Success! I really did it!"
Naruto's face was filled with irrepressible pride and excitement as he cheered for his newly mastered ability.
"As expected of me! Fox Sage, did you see that? I really am a genius too!"
He forcefully suppressed his inner excitement and, following his long-established habit, regulated his breathing to calm his mind.
Once his mood settled, he looked at the small cloud-mist he had summoned, and a strange sense of déjà vu spread from the bottom of his heart.
He felt… like he had forgotten something.
Like in the back mountains, besides Hinata and Shikamaru and the others, there was something else…
Something very important… what was it?
The harder he tried to recall, the blanker that part of his memory became. When people forget something, even racking their brains they can't realize what's missing.
"Fox Sage!"
Naruto stopped thinking about it and called out to Xuanming.
The golden-haired, red-robed figure appeared beside him, nine fox tails swaying gently behind him, as transcendent and calm as ever.
"I think… I've mastered how to use natural energy! Look!"
Naruto proudly extended his palm like showing off a treasure.
A small clump of grayish cloud-mist condensed in his hand.
Within the cloud-mist, a gentle breeze swirled, rain threads fell, and even tiny arcs of electricity flickered.
Small as a sparrow, yet complete in every organ.
"Not bad." Xuanming gave a faint compliment, his gaze carrying approval.
Yuta's technique had erased the children's memories of him.
The brain, for the sake of logical consistency, automatically fills in reasonable blanks.
In his memory, the past few days had simply been ordinary back-mountain training in natural energy, along with encountering Shikamaru and the others.
But Naruto's current comprehension was indeed impressive. In just the few days he spent with Yuta, he had already grasped the trick to triggering weather-type natural energy.
Though he was still far from balancing natural energy and harmonizing sage chakra.
While Naruto was reveling in his success, his gaze suddenly fell on the Fox Sage's body.
At some point, a more natural, more solid ring of cloud-mist had appeared around him.
It accentuated his even more otherworldly aura.
That cloud-mist was like a living ribbon, with scenes of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning slowly flowing within—clear and visible.
As though an entire real weather system had been compressed beside him.
The little tricks Naruto had just learned looked, in front of the Fox Sage, like rivers facing the ocean, fireflies before the bright moon.
"Wow!" Naruto's eyes widened in amazement: "Fox Sage, you can do this trick too? Why haven't I seen it before?"
Xuanming glanced at him, the corners of his mouth curving into a faint, almost imperceptible arc.
He could indeed now absorb the weather-type natural energy around Yuta and perform similar feats.
But he wouldn't be much better than Naruto—at most he could absorb without limit.
And this ribbon was actually Yuta's current body—only Naruto had misunderstood.
Yuta wasn't ready to reveal his identity yet, so Xuanming simply went along with the misunderstanding.
"What you can do, I can naturally do as well—and better."
This statement was true, though not in the way Naruto currently misunderstood.
"As expected of Fox Sage!" Naruto's eyes were full of admiration.
Soon, he remembered the earlier sense of déjà vu.
Looking at Xuanming, he hesitated before speaking: "Fox Sage… I keep feeling like I've forgotten something very important…"
Xuanming gazed quietly at Naruto.
Of course he knew what Naruto had forgotten.
"When the heart has obstructions, all things become obstacles!"
Xuanming's voice was gentle, carrying a soothing power that guided Naruto.
"The Dao follows nature. Seeking deliberately only leads to failure."
"Let it happen naturally. When the time comes, it will become clear."
Naruto nodded half-understandingly.
He could tell the Fox Sage was telling him not to force it.
"Oh…"
Since the Fox Sage said so, then he'd stop thinking about it for now!
After leaving the ward, Naruto ran into the on-duty medical ninja outside.
He was stopped and asked if he felt any discomfort or anything unusual.
Naruto naturally felt perfectly fine all over. After quickly brushing off the questions, he left the hospital directly.
…
Naruto's life returned to its normal routine.
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