Chapter 834 : Mental Trauma!

[A/N: Thanks for the wishes everyone. Doing much better today. Cold still hasn't gone away completely, but is under control and no more watery eyes :)]

“Hmm…”
Yoshi stared thoughtfully at Sasuke, who became a bit concerned. He asked, “Why are you looking at me like this?”

Yoshi answered, “Well, your body is alright. There are no physical injuries. However, you seem extremely tense, showing signs of several types of mental traumas…”

He thought, ‘He was subject to more intense Genjutsu torture than Kakashi. And, it was done by none other than his older brother, the person who slaughtered every ninja in the Uchiha clan along with his parents. So, this is inevitable. Even though Lady Tsunade healed him, she can't treat something like this in a short time…’

Sasuke got off the bed and said, “I told you nothing's wrong with me. I can handle myself…”

Before he could leave the room, Yoshi shook his head and said, “You're wrong. Though it is often overlooked, the mental health of a ninja is critical considering what we have to go through on a daily basis. If you aren't in the right state of mind, you may make foolish decisions which would not only hurt you but also your close ones.”

He let out a sigh and his following words stopped Sasuke in his tracks! Yoshi continued, “Unfortunately, many ninjas ignore it and end up doing something very foolish. Perhaps that may be a reason why your older brother did something as drastic as he did. If his mental state had been checked, he may not have done what he did.”

Sasuke turned around and shouted, “You don't know anything about Itachi! He’s not some victim of his own mind, but a monster! A cold-blooded murderer who slaughtered my clan without a second thought! Don’t try to make excuses for him, he’s beyond saving!”

Sasuke completely lost his cool. However, Yoshi wasn't bothered. On the contrary, he understood Sasuke. He nodded and said, “Perhaps that might be the truth. However, I can't take a risk in you doing something like what he did. While I believe you won't do anything to your remaining clanmates, I can't say for sure that you won't do something that'll harm you.”

His tone became strict as he stated, “Until I approve your discharge, you'll stay admitted to the hospital. If you try to escape, I'll make a few Anbu ninjas watch over you.”

Sasuke was stunned. He never predicted his trip to Fujin's house would somehow end up in him being admitted again. Before he could burst out again, Yoshi smiled and said, “You don't need to look at this like a chore. I can feel a burning desire from you to get stronger and get your revenge. Once you improve your state of mind and become calm, your strength will improve rapidly. Let me tell you a secret.”

He got closer to Sasuke and asked in a soft voice, “You know Konoha's Sword, Suzuki Fujin, correct?”

Confused, Sasuke nodded. Yoshi said, “He visits me every month to get a complete medical check-up, get rid of any hidden stress forming inside his body and ensure that his mental state is always at its peak.”

Sasuke was surprised and wondered, ‘Fujin also visits him?’

Yoshi chuckled internally, ‘Well, he no longer visits every month and has never talked about his state of mind, but Sasuke doesn't need to know that.’

To strike when the iron was hot, Yoshi quickly added softly, “He also has his students get a similar checkup every month. Your teammate, Naruto also comes along with them. I'm sure you must have noticed how rapidly his strength has been growing.”

Sasuke's eyes widened and he thought, ‘Naruto also comes here? Why didn't he ever mention it? And, why didn't Kakashi arrange the same for us?’

Yoshi continued, “I don't know if you know how strong Fujin's students are. I'm not entirely sure myself. However, from what I heard, despite not even being official ninjas yet, they're stronger than every Genin who participated in the Chunin exams. So, don't worry about wasting time here. It'll absolutely be worth it.”

Finally, Sasuke relented. Yoshi made the necessary arrangements for him while thinking, ‘Young ones. It's so easy to convince them. The only one who was a pain in the ass was Fujin! That brat not only fooled me but made me beg him for years. Even when he accepted my offer, he made me regret that I ever offered to teach him!’

Yoshi had no idea how strong Fujin's students were. While he knew Naruto's strength grew at an insane rate, it had nothing to do with him. In fact, he was completely amazed by his progress. He just said those things to convince Sasuke to stay voluntarily.

Fujin had no idea that his random act ended up causing Sasuke to be admitted once again. If he did, he'd be amazed at how accurate Yoshi's actions were. After all, this was the time when Sasuke was supposed to betray Konoha and go to Orochimaru, the one who had killed their leader in the original story.

While Fujin went to work with Tsunade, the entire village was talking about Flying ninjas. Unlike Naruto and the kids, who were sent flying through the outskirts of the Konoha to another training ground, Sasuke flew right through the most crowded areas. Too many people had seen him and gossip spread like wildfire.

Several ninjas had seen Sasuke flying as well. And, they weren't capable enough to connect dots like Jiraiya. So, they believed that Sasuke had the ability to fly. The news spread so much that it reached Danzo's ears too!

In the root headquarters, Danzo read a report with a puzzled expression. He thought, ‘Uchiha Sasuke learnt how to fly? And, he flew across the village to the hospital?’

Danzo recalled everything he knew about Sasuke. He couldn't remember anything related to him working on a technique to fly. So, Danzo couldn't understand how he learnt something so complicated.

Danzo analyzed, ‘The ability to fly isn't very rare. Quite a few have succeeded in doing so, most notably the Second and Third Tsuchikage. However, no one has been able to make a technique that allows hundreds of ninjas to fly, other than those buffoons. If Uchiha Sasuke's technique can be used by others, Konoha's strength will increase by a huge degree…’

Danzo was tempted to find Sasuke and get the technique from him. However, recalling Itachi's recent visit to Konoha, he dropped any ideas he had. Not to mention, Sasuke was Kakashi's student, someone who was famous for copying jutsus. If the technique could be used liberally, then Kakashi would coordinate with Tsunade to spread the technique among other Konoha ninjas. It was difficult for Danzo to make a political comeback using this matter without making some shady moves, a path cut off by Itachi.

Danzo decided, ‘I'll ignore it. Something about this feels off. There's no need to attract negative light at this time. As long as I stay patient, I'll have my chance to turn things around.’

——

Unaware of such happenings, Fujin spent the entire day with Tsunade again, improving his understanding of the soul further. Tsunade succeeded in healing the prisoner's soul to the state she wanted. She handed him to a couple of medical ninjas to be kept under observation. Fujin slashed the soul of another prisoner and she started healing it.

The next day, before he and Tsunade could start their experiments, they were called by Shikaku. A team had arrived from Sunagakure, led by Tenma Arisa and Yura. They were welcomed by a team led by none other than Hatake Kakashi, unnerving them a bit. Yura thought, ‘To send Kakashi to receive us, they must be on guard against us pulling off a strange move.’

As they walked to the Hokage Building, they attracted hateful gazes from Konoha ninjas and citizens, increasing the pressure on them further. The gazes finally stopped once they entered the Hokage Building. The remaining members stayed behind as Kakashi led Yura and Arisa to the Hokage's office.

As she followed Kakashi, Arisa thought, ‘Truly mending ties with Konoha will take a lot of time and effort. Their people still hate us due to our attack. That said, I'm not sure if the council truly is interested in it. As long as Konoha doesn't attack us until we recover our strength, it'll be good enou…’

Her thoughts froze as she stepped into the Hokage's office. In the office were the two elders of Konoha, Homura and Koharu, along with 3 Clan Leaders, Shikaku, Hiashi and Shibi. However, they weren't the ones who terrified her.

Sitting in the Hokage's seat was Tsunade, the Slug Princess, her eyes staring at the two Suna Elite Jounins. Standing behind her was Jiraiya the Gallant, with a smile on his face. And, standing on one side of the room with his back leaning against the wall was the Sand Slayer, Suzuki Fujin, his eyes watching their every move closely. If either of them made one false move, they didn't doubt that their heads would roll in the blink of an eye!