At the moment Kaito kneeled, Haruki appeared by his side, checking his wounds.
"Kaito, are you alright?" Upon hearing someone call, Kaito raised his head, realizing it was his father, and he smiled faintly.
"I'm fine, a little dizzy and very weak. I can even see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I'm fine," Kaito said.
Haruki was surprised that even in this situation, Kaito was talking nonsense; at least, it didn't seem to be too serious.
He looked around and saw that Hikari had freed herself from the situation she was in, and with Ryuji's help, they defeated the last ninja.
Ryuji and Hikari restrained the enemy ninjas and approached Kaito.
"Kaito, how are you?" Ryuji asked as soon as he arrived.
"Let's quickly return to the village to use medical ninjutsu," Hikari was more desperate.
Kaito felt his heart warm a little with his friend's concern.
"Don't worry so much. I didn't run towards the light at the end of the tunnel," Kaito smiled as he struggled to get up.
'I was lucky he attacked my belly and not my heart or my head, but damn, I don't want to go through this again. I was too careless,' kaito's mind was in turmoil. Earlier, he had been very confident for having come to the Naruto world, possessing various future knowledge and having a Kekkei Genkai; this had taken his confidence to another level. But after this injury, he was fiercely thinking about how unpredictable this world was.
At this point, Kaito had already gotten up, while looking at all that ice around him and sighed, his Kekkei Genkai was certainly very strong.
With a wave of his hand, all the ice melted, wetting the surrounding area and cleaning the traces of his kekkei genkai.
After that, Haruki put Kaito's arms around his shoulders, while Ryuji and Hikari took the last ones who were unconscious and started to return to the village.
"Son, after you pass at the hospital, they will heal you in an instant. I just need you not to tell mother about this," Haruki hesitated to speak, and even his voice became weak at the end.
"You don't need to worry, Dad, and I believe she wouldn't complain much to you. I'm alive after all, and the ninja world is always full of danger," Kaito reassured him, releasing a faint smile.
But in his mind, he was thinking, 'Hahaha, where's your badass pose now? Before, always with that arrogant air, and now you're there, scared, hahaha.'
After Team 11 left, three more people appeared in the same battle location. They looked around and saw no one, only some traces of the battle.
"We can't tell who won, but they surely fought here. Let's go back to our mission and stay alert. Any sign that we've been discovered, we retreat," the ninja said to the others with him, and they nodded in agreement, leaving immediately.
...
Team 11 had already arrived in Konoha and went directly to the hospital.
As soon as they entered the hospital, the nurses saw the state of Kaito's injury and urgently took him. At this point, Kaito had already released the ice from his wound, so it was bleeding heavily.
It didn't take long for the doctor to check his wounds and use medical ninjutsu to heal them. After a few more minutes, they were done, and Kaito had been directed to a resting room. Haruki was informed and went straight to the room.
Upon entering the room, the doctor was leaving.
"How is he, Doctor?" Haruki asked the doctor.
"He's fine. The wound wasn't as severe as it seemed, but he'll have to rest for a while as there was a lot of blood loss. Well, he was quite lucky in a way, as his stomach was barely spared from being pierced. But after a day of rest, he'll be better," the doctor left after finishing speaking.
Haruki was very happy to hear that with a day of rest, he would be fine; after all, it could have been much worse. Haruki turned to Kaito, who was resting, then turned and left.
After leaving the hospital, he bumped into Hikari and Ryuji.
"How is he?"
"Is he okay?"
Hikari and Ryuji immediately asked without giving Haruki a chance to speak.
"He's fine, just weak from the blood loss," Haruki said, sighing.
Both of them were clearly relieved to hear this, becoming more cheerful.
"Sensei, what was that ice that Kaito was using? It was so strong," Ryuji's eyes were shining as he remembered the displayed power.
Hikari was also curious to know. She didn't know what it was, as she was aware of the existence of Kekkei Genkai out there, but she was curious about Kaito having this power. She was looking at Haruki, waiting for his response.
"Well, I think you should ask him that later, but what I can say is that he has a Kekkei Genkai. Anyway, I hope you keep it a secret," Haruki said, paying attention around to make sure no one was watching.
Ryuji didn't know what Kekkei Genkai was, while for Hikari, it was just a confirmation. They were somewhat disappointed with the lack of information, but they didn't ask any more questions because they knew that was all their sensei would say.
As they were about to bid farewell to Haruki, they noticed that he had already vanished.
"Damn, same old thing," Ryuji complained upon seeing this.
"He even took longer this time," Hikari comforted Ryuji.
The two walked to the room where Kaito was. When they arrived, they saw that he was still sleeping, so they didn't wake him and left soon after.
...
Hokage's office.
Haruki was handing in the mission report.
"Lord Hokage, the ninjas we captured this time were quite strong. The first team we captured isn't even worth mentioning; there was only one chunin, and he was quite weak. However, the second group had three chunin, and the last one was much stronger; he would have been highly ranked in the chunin rankings."
Haruki began giving details of the mission, even the part where Kaito was injured, not withholding anything.
Hiruzen was surprised, but upon hearing that Kaito indeed possessed Hyouton, his expression changed to happiness, as it would be an added strength for Konoha, provided he grew well. He could even form another powerful clan in Konoha in the future.
"That's great that he's okay. Protect him well, especially since you insisted on becoming the leader of the team he was in," Hiruzen finished speaking as he stroked his beard.
"I'll have the Yamanaka clan ninjas find out who they are and what their objectives are for being near Konoha. You can return to things as usual. The Chunin Exams are approaching; if you see that they're ready, you can recommend them to participate."
"Of course, Lord Hokage. I'll protect and teach him well, and I'll decide if they are truly ready," Haruki nodded.
"Very well, you're dismissed," Hiruzen dismissed him.
Haruki went directly to the hospital again.
Some time had passed, and Kaito was probably ready to go home.
When he arrived, Kaito was indeed much better and awake, ready to go home.
"Shall we?" Upon hearing that, Haruki nodded and replied, "Yes, let's go." The two left the hospital, walking calmly through the bustling streets of Konoha.
"Son, today you suffered because of your own mistake. Understand that there are various powers that can put you in dangerous situations. You have to always be alert, even when you think you've killed the enemy. It doesn't hurt to confirm and attack again just to make sure," Haruki began correcting the mistake Kaito had made to some extent.
Kaito listened attentively, even though he had already realized his mistake and knew about the various bizarre powers.
"Right, Dad, I'll try to improve. I'll never be hit in that way again," Kaito was really speaking the truth. He intended never to suffer injuries in that manner again. He was already thinking of a defense against unforeseen attacks, and as soon as he could, he would develop such a technique.
He was very afraid of dying from an unforeseen attack in the same way he was caught today.
Haruki, upon seeing the determination in his son's eyes, smiled. "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. You always have to seek improvement, and the best way to do that is by fighting. In a fight, we know where our weaknesses lie, and if we survive, we can train and become more powerful."
Kaito completely understood what Haruki was saying, agreeing with his logic. After all, as long as a person has a chance to survive and realize where the fault lies, they have a chance to fix it in some way, perfecting their technique.
While they were talking, they had already arrived in front of their residence.
"Remember what I asked of you, right?" Kaito looked at Haruki, who was beginning to sweat.
"Yes, I remember, Dad, don't worry," Kaito chuckled.
Haruki sighed after his son spoke, then straightened up and entered the house accompanied by Kaito.
"We're home," he announced.
Hana entered the room and smiled. "I'm glad you're back. Lunch is ready," she said affectionately as she embraced Kaito and her husband.
"You look much paler today, my son. You seem very weak. Come, eat something to regain strength," Hana dragged Kaito to the kitchen, while Haruki felt a chill as he realized that she had noticed Kaito's paleness.
He joined them at the table, but seeing that everything seemed normal, he felt more at ease.
Hana served their food and sat down to talk. It was a beautiful and cozy scene of a united family.