"Yugao-sister, can you please stop doing this?" Kaguya rubbed her cheeks with a sullen expression, feeling like they were about to turn red. "I'm not a child anymore."
"Such a cute and beautiful face, it would be a pity not to pinch it," Yugao squinted her eyes and smiled. "Besides, to me, you're still a child."
"You're seriously talking nonsense," Kaguya glared at her.
"Oh my, are you angry? That's even cuter," Yugao laughed, holding her face.
Kaguya was speechless.
From Yugao, Kaguya learned that it had been three days since the Konoha Crush Plan, meaning she had been unconscious in the hospital for three days.
In these three days, many things had happened.
Orochimaru, along with the Sound Four, had retreated. The battle between Konoha and the Sand Village was also coming to an end, and Gaara, Temari, and other Sand ninjas had already left.
In the following days, it was discovered by the Sand Village that the Fourth Kazekage had been killed by Orochimaru, and the Kazekage afterward had always been Orochimaru in disguise, aiming to attack Konoha in the so-called Konoha Crush Plan. They had all been deceived.
Subsequently, the Sand Village officially submitted a surrender document to Konoha, acknowledging their mistake and promising to compensate Konoha for some of their losses. Konoha did not pursue the matter further, and peace was restored between the two nations.
With Kaguya's help, the Third Hokage did not die as in the original storyline, but the village of Konoha still suffered massive damage, with countless casualties and numerous buildings reduced to ruins.
Thus, under the leadership of the Third Hokage, Konoha began its reconstruction and cleanup efforts.
"It's said that you saved the Hokage and repelled Orochimaru, is that true?" Yugao asked curiously.
"How is that possible?" Kaguya waved her hand dismissively. "There's no way I'm that powerful. I just helped a bit. The rumors outside are exaggerated."
"That makes sense," Yugao nodded in agreement. "I was wondering how such a powerful person could be defeated by you."
Kaguya's mouth twitched. Why did that sound so unpleasant?
"Sorry, I didn't mean it that way." Noticing Kaguya's displeased expression, Yugao awkwardly smiled and handed her a peeled apple. "Here, have an apple."
Kaguya took a bite and nearly had her teeth sour.
"By the way," Yugao suddenly whispered, "recently, some Anbu have been investigating you."
"Investigating me?" Kaguya asked curiously, "Why would they investigate me? They're not asking me to pay for public property damage, are they?"
"Don't joke about it," Yugao rarely showed a serious expression, "These Anbu are not from our department. They're from Root."
"Root?" Kaguya was stunned and then thought of someone, "Danzo?"
"I didn't expect you to know about Danzo-sama," Yugao said. "Be careful with everything, Danzo is a rather shady person."
Shady is an understatement; that old guy is as cunning as they come. Although his methods were for the protection of Konoha, Kaguya could never agree with his unscrupulous ways.
And now, this old man investigating her was likely due to the power she had displayed, causing him to become wary and suspicious.
This was troublesome. While she wasn't afraid of Danzo, his penchant for underhanded tactics made her uneasy. Just thinking about having such a person watching her back made Kaguya feel like a thorn was in her side.
Originally, Yugao and the doctors didn't agree to discharge Kaguya, but she insisted and eventually left the hospital. Her condition wasn't due to injuries but rather her body's own issues, and staying in the hospital was just a waste of time.
Kaguya's main problem was overusing her chakra and the Tenseigan, and even after three days of rest, her body hadn't fully recovered. The aftermath of using that technique was significant, possibly because she had forced it with insufficient strength.
The village of Konoha, having been attacked, was now in the midst of recovery, with many tasks to be done. The Anbu had to strengthen patrols, inspect suspicious individuals, and enforce strict security.
However, Kaguya was temporarily excused from duty, thanks to Yugao, allowing her to rest properly for a while.
Walking down the street, Kaguya felt very hungry, perhaps from being in the hospital for so long without proper food, and particularly craved some rice dumplings. So she headed to the dumpling shop.
On both sides of the road, people were busy repairing their houses, most of which had been damaged during the battle a few days ago. Wooden boards, bricks, and paint were piled up everywhere. It was only by experiencing it firsthand that one could understand how fierce the battle had been.
However, compared to the destruction of Konoha by Nagato years later, this was just a minor incident. At that time, almost the entire Konoha was destroyed. If Nagato hadn't used the Rinne Rebirth technique to revive the dead, the casualties would have been catastrophic.
"Boss, three skewers of dumplings, red bean, no natto," Kaguya called out to the boss. Even after being here for so long, she still couldn't get used to the taste of natto.
"Got it, just a moment," came the boss's voice from the kitchen.
Kaguya found a seat and sat down.
Suddenly, her pupils contracted. She noticed two people sitting across from her, both wearing black cloaks with red clouds and conical hats, obscuring their faces.
But their appearance wasn't important. What mattered was that anyone wearing a black cloak with red clouds could only be from one organization—the Akatsuki.
And at this time, the ones visiting Konoha could only be Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame.
"Your dumplings, enjoy," the shop owner placed the dumplings and a dish of sauce in front of her.
"Thank you, boss," Kaguya replied, casually picking up a dumpling, dipping it in the sauce, and putting it in her mouth.
She wasn't overly worried, not because she was confident she could defeat them, but because she knew they wouldn't make a move here. Their purpose, more specifically Uchiha Itachi's purpose, was to warn Danzo not to have any nefarious intentions towards Sasuke.
This originally happened after the Third Hokage's death, when Uchiha Itachi came to ensure that the promise not to harm Sasuke would be upheld. But now that the Third Hokage was alive, why were they here?
Perhaps they thought the Third Hokage was as good as dead.