章節 16: The Aftermath

(Hika's POV)

I felt my chakra returning as I slashed his neck with the Kunai; which meant that Voidne's conscious also returned!

The legs of the Uchiha lost power, launching him head first into the boulder, dropping me on the ground just inches away from the boulder... Being hit against the ground did hurt, but it left way less damage than what I would have suffered if I was smashed against the boulder.

I tried to perceive Voidne's conscious, as I tried calling him over and over again, but I was met with no reply. I was very worried! I won't forgive myself if Voidne died!

I started hurriedly searching if Voidne's soul is still around, and just as I began searching, a huge burst of Yang energy exploded inside Voidne's body. It was very hot that it felt like if Voidne's body is melting. I started rushing toward the Yamanaka Compound while at the same time searching for Voidne's soul...

After minutes of searching, I sensed his soul, it was weakened very badly to the point of almost dying. I shouldn't have let him control a huge amount of Yin Chakra without a proper soul training...

I started feeling miserable as the guilt started to whisper "You are the reason" into my ears, but I wasn't about to give up! Voidne still can be saved!

Voidne's body was burning from the inside, and I had to rush to the Yamanaka's compound so they can take care of his body.

In around 5 minutes, I left the Forest of Death, and it took me 10 more minutes to arrive to an area where civilians could see me. Thankfully I could sense the chakra of the Yamanaka's clansmen, so I stopped controlling Voidne's body which led it to fall on the ground.

I knew I had to take responsibility to what happened to Voidne, and that is what I did. To heal his injured soul, I started nourishing it with my Chakra... I never thought I will go to this extent to help a human before, but Voidne is currently, the most important person for me!

Using my Chakra to nourish his soul is like me cutting parts of myself and feeding it to his soul... The Chakra I use to heal him will never return back to me, therefore lowering my maximum chakra reserves and weakening my soul... But it is all worth if it could heal Voidne!

I entered a big slumber as my chakra started healing Voidne's soul.

(End of Hika's POV)

(Yamanaka's Clansman POV)

I saw Voidne run with blood covering his face and his clothes... My heart was torn apart by the view. I rushed toward him with the fastest speed I had, but he collapsed on the ground before I could reach him.

I tried to apply first aid the moment I reached him, I checked if he had any injury, if his breathing was stable. Thankfully he wasn't injured, but his body temperature was very high! I held him between my hands and rushed toward Konoha's hospital. It is my responsibility to arrive there as fast as possible, I shouldn't stop no matter what!

On the way to the hospital I met Inoichi-Sama who asked me "What happened? How is Voidne?" I kept on jumping on top of buildings while saying "He is not injured, but his body temperature is very high! We need to send him to the hospital as fast as possible!". Inoichi nodded at me and said "Hand him over to me, I am way faster than you". I handed Voidne over to Inoichi and then he said as he rushed forward "Go report to the clan and make them stop the investigation". Despite really wanting to make sure that Voidne is fine, I couldn't disobey Iniochi's orders, so I went back to the compound and reported as fast as possible.

The once happy clansmen are now in a low spirit. If only Ino told us at the time that both her and Voidne were outside, maybe we could have started searching half an hour earlier! Damn it!

I was in a really bad mood too... I couldn't do anything to protect Voidne... I can just hope that he will be alright. Meanwhile, the elders of the family were handling the party, saying that Voidne went to sleep because he was exhausted from the long birthday party. The elders hid the news of Voidne's disappearance because, while most of the guests that attended the party are our allies, there are some that are not. Those who aren't really our allies could spread rumors about the abduction of our genius, under our nose without us knowing, making a major blow to our clan's reputation and esteem.

(End of Yamanaka's Clansman POV)

(Inoichi's POV)

I reached the hospital in no time, and I rushed inside and called for the most qualified doctors in the hospital. Between my arms laid Voidne who's body was burning hot! I was really worried, if anything were to happen to Voidne, how could I call myself a father?

The doctors came and started diagnosing Voidne. They started using ice to cool down his heat, but the ice kept melting very fast. It didn't take minutes until the Hokage arrived to check on Voidne. The investigation will now take place... There must be a culprit, and we have to find and punish the culprit who did that to my son, no matter what!

The ice treatment continued for about an hour. The doctors reported with shock written all over their face "Voidne's body has strengthened! It is way stronger than what a one years old kid body... despite his body isn't big and filled with muscles, his muscles are as thick as a kid who almost graduated from the ninja academy!".

The Hokage nodded with a smile appearing on his face, but just moments later, a black chilling smoke started coming out from his ears, mouth, and nose. I became very worried, it seemed like something very bad is happening to Voidne! The air got cold suddenly, as I asked "What is happening?"

The Hokage replied "His body is releasing a tremendous amount of Yin Chakra... He must have used a forbidden technique and is suffering from the consequences!"

I got very angry hearing the Hokage... Voidne was pushed to an edge and had to use a forbidden technique, all while I was hanging in the party doing nothing but trying to cover up for his disappearance! I bite my teeth very hard, that the sounds of cracking could be heard. The Hokage who saw me in such a condition tried to calm me down "Don't worry, it looks harmless to him, nothing is happening to his body, his breathing is stable, he is most likely have absorbed too much Yin Chakra while he was using a forbidden technique, and is now most likely just releasing that Yin naturally"

I nodded and replied "We must find the culprit no matter that!". The Hokage used his smoking pipe and said "Yes, the Anbu are currently working at it".

We kept waiting as the black smoke continued to be released from Voidne's body. In 2 hours, the Hokage's expression seemed to darken a little bit. The air was chilling cold, the black smoke didn't even slow down, but continued coming out at the same speed creating a black fog that surrounded Voidne as if it was a coffin.

Just as I was about to curse and go on a frenzy, an Anbu appeared on the tree next to the window and reported "Report!", the Hokage replied with anger on his face "Proceed!", the Anbu was taken aback but then reported "We found the culprit. The culprit is believed to be Fuji Uchiha, 30 years old Chunin. The location of death is the Forest of Death. Cause of death is severe head and neck injuries... There is also parts in his body witch withered and were rendered useless. We found withered animals all over the Forest of Death"

The Hokage ordered "Lead the way", the Anbu nodded to the order and both me and the Hokage followed. We needed to verify with our own eyes.

It didn't take us long to arrive... Fuji's neck was cut, and his head was smashed against a boulder, his right arm was withered to the point that it could be considered as a foul liquid container, while his left arm was disgusting but way less than his right arm. At that moment I remembered the bruises on Voidne's neck... He must have tried to suffocate Voidne or something like that.

Before this day, I always believed that the Uchiha could live in harmony in the village... But after what happened, I swore on my honor, to never ever do anything that benefit the Uchiha!

The Hokage and I rushed to the Uchiha compound to ask for an explanation from Fugaku, who acted shocked and claimed that he knew nothing about it. I should give him an award in pretending since he looked like if he really didn't know anything about it, but his mask fell apart with I asked him to read his memory and he refused. His refusal means that he must have known something. The Hokage was also infuriated with Fugaku's refusal.

After seeing the faces of both me and the Hokage he agreed on the term that I only check his memory of the things that occurred in this month, since they only got the invite this month. I wanted to object but the Hokage accepted Fugaku's condition.

I searched through Fugaku's memories intensively leaving not even the smallest detail, but I couldn't find anything. I finally gave up with searching Fugaku's memories, and didn't know how to feel. I apologized to Fugaku, and went back to the Yamanaka Compound to stabilize my clansmen and stop them from doing anything stupid. I just hope that Voidne will get well soon...

(End of Inoichi's POV)