Chapter 327: Fourth Stage
"What happened?" Fugaku asked from the seat.
"Fugaku-sama, there is nothing to be worried about. He is not at the stage where it becomes incurable; we can still treat him," one of the chief medical ninjas said.
"I can see you guys are worried about something. Tell me the truth, what happened?" Fugaku asked once again. Mitsuru stopped another doctor who was about to say something.
"Fugaku-sama, there are many stages of this disease, and from stage 5 and forward, it becomes incurable and deadly. Luckily, he is still not at those stages.
"The stages from 1 to 3 are safe and could be treated easily with just medicines and some other techniques. It is the stage 4 that lies in the gray zone. It is still curable, but the disease has spread enough that no medicine will be enough to cure it fully. So, we would need to operate on the infected area, remove the infected part, and stitch it back. If done perfectly, nothing will happen to the patient. But even the slightest mistake may become a big obstacle for his future. His chakra pathway will become damaged; the patient will be able to use chakra, but not with the same ease as before," Mitsuru said.
"And let me guess, Itachi is at the 4th stage?" Fugaku asked.
"Yes, sir," Mitsuru said.
"How much time do we have for the operation?" Fugaku asked.
"That is actually a good thing. We have all the time in the world. The disease will not spread until he doesn't use chakra, so we can take our time. First, we have to put him on medication. After 6 months of medication, he will be fit enough for us to operate, and the chance of a successful operation will also increase.
"Though the medicine will be a little expensive," Mitsuru said.
"And you think I will care?" Fugaku asked.
"I am talking from your perspective, sir. Nobody makes medicine for this disease in Konoha. You know about the Village of the Howling Wolf, right?" Mitsuru asked.
"Yes, the one at the end of the Land of Lightning. I have heard about it quite a few times," Fugaku said.
Mitsuru nodded and then continued.
"There is a clan in that village known as the Kodon Clan. Only they make medicine for this disease, and from what I know, they somehow use their lifeforce for it.
"That's why the price of this medicine is not going to be cheap, especially considering how long he has to take it," Mitsuru said.
"Ma'am, can you give me an estimate about the cost?" Itachi asked.
"You don't have to worry about that. Go back to our home. I will come back after some time," Fugaku said, with his strict tone leaving no room for discussion.
It was true that the Uchiha Clan was rich, very rich. But the Uchiha Clan and Fugaku's family were two different things. He could use clan funds for his personal use, and there was not actually a need for that as well. With his strength along with Itachi's missions across the years, and the wealth his family had accumulated till now, he was among the richest people of the village.
So there was no actual need for him to worry about anything. At most, he would just need to sell some of his properties.
"But dad—"
"No buts, young man. Go and rest. Also, don't even think about using any chakra," Fugaku said.
"Let's go, son. You can leave these things to your father," Mitsuru said with a smile and took Itachi back.
"So, do you know about the price of the medicine?" Fugaku asked as soon as Itachi left.
"Yes, around 4-5 million Ryo per month. So for six months' worth of medicine, you would need around 25-26 million Ryo," Mitsuru said.
"That is doable. Can I count on the hospital to get those medicines?" Fugaku asked.
"Yes, we would arrange it. And if you want, you can send someone to verify the price as well…" one of the elders was speaking when—
"There is no need for that. I trust you guys. I will send the price of the first batch tomorrow. Please arrange the medicines as fast as you guys can," Fugaku said, getting a nod in reply. He left the room followed by Kaida.
"Uncle, if you have some problem in getting the liquid funds, please don't think twice about informing us. I am sure Aunt Hae will be more hurt if you don't do that," Kaida said.
"I know, Kaida. But don't worry. The price is actually not that high and could be arranged. But I will ask for some help if needed," Fugaku said with a smile while patting Kaida's head like he was his own son.
After that, Fugaku left, though there was one more thing he had to do. So instead of going toward the Uchiha Clan, he flickered toward the Hokage building.
…
"So, Fugaku, what was the need for this sudden meeting?" Hiruzen asked, a little intrigued by the urgency of Fugaku.
"Itachi is suffering from Chakritis and will need to have an operation to get back to perfect health," Fugaku presented the whole scenario completely, not wasting a second of either his or Hiruzen's time.
Hiruzen understood the gravity of the situation.
"What stage?" Hiruzen asked, a little worried. For both the Uchiha Clan and the village, losing someone of Itachi's talent would be a big loss.
"He is at stage 4," Fugaku said.
Hiruzen sighed, then looked toward Fugaku, who was just staring back, not saying anything further. After 10 minutes of a staring contest, Hiruzen sighed.
"You know I can't call her back. Her hemophobia is too much now. She can't treat anyone in such a case," Hiruzen said.
"I will put her in a genjutsu myself. She will not see a single drop of red blood for the whole operation. And all said and done, I don't even want her to do anything. She could just guide others during the operation. And if she doesn't want to come back to the village, I will take everyone to her.
"Can you just ask her for that?" Fugaku asked, though his tone was still normal. Hiruzen could still find a little desperation in that.
He sighed and asked, "When will the operation take place?"
"In 6 months," Fugaku said.
"That will be expensive."
"I know."
"Fine. I will talk to Tsunade, and even though I will try my best to call her back, I can't guarantee anything," Hiruzen said.
"That much is fine, Lord Third," Fugaku said and stood up.
"After this, the Uchiha Clan will be an ally of the Sarutobi Clan," Fugaku said and left. The implications were clear. The request he had made was from Hiruzen Sarutobi and not from the Third Hokage because no Hokage could order Tsunade, but her sensei can. So his payment was also for him.
"Ally, huh!" Hiruzen said, taking out his smoking pipe from his desk as he called one ANBU ninja and told him to get a full report about this from the hospital.
…
(After one week…)
A lot of things happened in this one week. Kaida and his family hired many architects who discussed many things with the family along with the Nara ninjas to make the best design possible, along with increasing the functionality of every part of the stadium to the max.
After which they hired various construction companies according to the suggestions of Nara ninjas once again, to increase the construction speed by dividing the tasks and working hours.
Aside from this, the condition of the Fire Country also became normal once again. Many rogue ninjas left the country since the support from the major villages stopped all of a sudden. And facing Konoha without that was just pure suicide. With them gone, culling out bandits was just time-consuming but easy for Konoha.
And then there was the case of Itachi, who was living the most boring phase of his life. Aside from eating various medicines and taking many medicinal baths, he was only reading books. Not a single exercise, even though doctors said that some physical exercise was fine. Mitsuru strictly forbade him from doing anything, at least not until she got confirmation from doctors that he was improving.
Kaida had visited Itachi once, and aside from the thanks, he also got: 'Nice plan. Since I can't train now, you can now try to catch up to me now' from Itachi.
Man, he really is improving. No longer the usual strict Itachi, he was trying to make some jokes now. Though it may have been his personality with those who were close to him from the start anyway. Aside from all this, one more thing started.
Mission Board
Kaida was standing in front of his, a completed mission report in his hand. He was taking bandit extermination missions now, and the direction—toward the Land of Lightning or Land of Sand. In two days, he had completed 3 missions, each with an estimated time of 3-4 days, just showing how much he had strained his chakra to complete them this early. And the reason for this…