All of Konan's injuries were external wounds, with the most fatal one being the hole in her abdomen caused by Obito's Wood Spear Technique.
She had the lightest injuries among the group, so her awakening now was within Shinji's expectations.
In contrast, Fugaku and Nagato not only suffered severe external wounds but also had their Chakra severely depleted.
Fugaku had overexerted a significant amount of Ocular Power from his Mangekyo Sharingan, while Nagato had a massive amount of Chakra drained by the Gedo Statue, making their recovery naturally much slower.
On the hospital bed, Konan sat up in a daze, raising her hand to rub her throbbing head. The physical and mental exhaustion made it difficult for her to grasp her current situation.
"What happened to me?" she murmured softly.
Konan scanned her surroundings and quickly recognized it as the Akatsuki's medical room.
Shinji was the only Medical Ninja present at the moment. Seeing Konan awake, he immediately approached with concern.
"Konan, you're finally awake too!" he said. "How are you feeling?"
Konan looked up, seeing Shinji's figure. She was momentarily stunned but quickly pieced things together. She only remembered the masked man trying to kill the person before her.
At the time, she had stepped forward to shield him, taking the fatal blow herself. The fact that she was still alive spoke for itself—Shinji had saved her.
"I'm okay," Konan replied weakly, then glanced around, searching for Nagato and Yahiko. However, she only saw Fugaku lying unconscious on the bed to her left.
Her expression tightened, but before she could speak, Shinji cut her off.
Seeing her like this, Shinji immediately understood what Konan wanted to ask. Nagato had also been deeply concerned about his companions when he first woke up, a testament to the strong bond among the three Akatsuki members.
Without beating around the bush, Shinji directly addressed what Konan was most worried about.
"Nagato is already awake and is outside with Yahiko. Once I finish checking your condition and confirm you're fine, you can go out to see them."
Hearing that the two were safe, Konan felt a surge of joy and excitedly grabbed Shinji's arm. "Really?"
Just as Shinji was about to nod in response, his eyes widened slightly.
As Konan raised her hand, the blanket covering her slowly slipped, exposing large areas of her fair skin.
Konan suddenly felt a chill on her upper body. Puzzled, she looked down and froze completely.
Her upper body was almost entirely exposed. The reason it was only "almost" was because a small piece of clothing remained, but it was practically useless at this point.
Konan was stunned. She remembered wearing a black mesh tank top underneath, but now only a small upper portion remained.
The lower half of the tank top was gone, revealing her delicate navel. Her upper abdomen was wrapped in several layers of hemostatic bandages, with faint traces of blood seeping through the edges.
She understood that someone had bandaged her wounds, and the bloodstains were from the gauze.
But the most critical issue was that the remaining half of the tank top provided almost no coverage, leaving certain key areas faintly visible and quite alluring.
Konan's mind went blank for a few seconds, her heart suddenly racing. She looked up and happened to catch Shinji's gaze—shifty yet unable to resist stealing glances.
"What did you do to me? Pervert!" Konan's cheeks flushed crimson in an instant. She hurriedly raised her arms to shield her front, blocking the barely concealed spring scenery, scolding him with a mix of embarrassment and anger.
"Pervert?"
Shinji wore an expression of utter helplessness, feeling both amused and exasperated. "I was treating your life-threatening injury. How could I handle the penetrating wound in your abdomen without cutting away the torn clothing?"
He explained seriously, yet his gaze remained uncontrollably drawn to the exposed skin on Konan's body.
He saw Konan's small, delicate navel, her fair and smooth skin, combined with her flustered, shy, and angry demeanor—it inexplicably carried a somewhat alluring charm.
Shinji muttered to himself inwardly that he had risked his life to save the three members of Akatsuki without asking for any reward. This little scene could be considered his hard-earned compensation.
Sensing his increasingly direct gaze, Konan realized that her arms alone couldn't cover everything. She hastily grabbed the blanket, wrapping her upper body tightly.
"Are you still looking?!" Konan's voice trembled slightly.
A flicker of regret passed through Shinji's eyes as he suddenly felt that Konan had exuded a unique allure just moments ago.
A joke suddenly came to his mind: if you accidentally expose yourself, the first thing you should cover isn't your private parts, but the other person's eyes.
Seeing Konan's panicked and flustered state, it was clear she had never experienced such a situation before and had no idea how to handle it. Should he share this "experience" with her?
Meeting Konan's nearly murderous glare, Shinji gave an awkward smile and decisively swallowed his words.
"Sorry."
He immediately turned around, facing away from the hospital bed.
When he had been treating Konan earlier, he had indeed cut open her clothes.
At the time, to stop her bleeding and treat the penetrating wound, the clothing had been too obstructive, so he had cut away the fabric around the critical area. It had all been purely instinctual as a medic.
He swore he hadn't harbored any indecent thoughts back then. After treating Konan's wounds, he had focused entirely on performing surgery on Fugaku. There had been no time to take advantage.
As for what just happened, it could only be called an accident.
Seeing Shinji turn away, Konan's tense nerves slowly relaxed. Freshly recovered from a serious illness and with her emotions in turmoil, an overwhelming fatigue suddenly washed over her. She felt her body go weak, and her head began to spin.
"Lie down and rest."
Shinji's voice came at just the right moment, as if he had already seen through her weakness.
Konan gritted her teeth but ultimately followed his advice, slowly lying back on the hospital bed. She yanked the blanket up high, covering her head as well.
The embarrassing scene replayed in her mind over and over, her cheeks still burning.
Her thoughts were filled with the image of Shinji seeing her exposed.
Logically, she knew Shinji had been saving her life, and his actions were justified. But emotionally, she simply couldn't accept the fact that a man had seen her body.
Moreover, he was the benefactor who had saved her and her companions. Konan had no idea how to face him right now.
Hearing movement from the hospital bed but not the expected continued reprimand, Shinji cautiously turned around.
No order to not look back?
He secretly breathed a sigh of relief and soon saw Konan hiding under the blanket like an ostrich. He couldn't help but feel amused.
He never expected this "rich lady" Konan to have such a charmingly naive and adorable side.
He walked slowly to the bedside. As soon as he stopped, he saw the blanket tremble slightly.
Shinji lowered his head, a faint smile curling at the corner of his mouth. "I need to give you a follow-up examination to make sure there aren't any lingering aftereffects."
Konan abruptly threw off the blanket and looked up at him, meeting the teasing glint in his eyes. Her embarrassment and annoyance flared even more intensely, and she shot Shinji a fierce glare, scolding:
"Pervert!"
But just then, the door to the medical room was gently pushed open.
Nagato sat in a slightly worn-out small wheelchair, being slowly pushed inside by Yahiko.
The two had heard faint voices coming from the medical room earlier and guessed that Konan must have woken up, so they hurried over eagerly.
As soon as they entered, they happened to hear Konan's embarrassed and annoyed exclamation of "Pervert!"
The words were clearly directed at Shinji.
In an instant, the looks they gave Shinji took on an indescribable, peculiar nuance.
--Enjoying the story? Want more chapters? Check out my Patreon and support me for 40+ advance chapters.
Just search for "LegendaryTL" on Patreon!"
Thanks!