“Brother?!”
Uchiha Obito and Hatake Kakashi both looked shocked and could not help crying out.
They had known Rin for a long time, but they had never heard that she had an older brother.
Nohara Haruto walked up to Namikaze Minato and smiled.
“Their mission for today is finished, right?
Then I’ll be taking Rin home.”
Namikaze Minato had heard a little about this genius youth who had recently risen to fame in the Medical Department.
Now that he was seeing him in person, Minato could sense the extraordinary bearing around him.
His evaluation of Haruto rose another level in his heart.
“Mm.
Rin’s performance has always been very good.
She’s a child worth trusting,” Minato said with a smile.
“Then I’ll trouble you to look after her in the future.”
Haruto found the scene somewhat amusing.
The way he and Minato were talking felt oddly like a teacher speaking to a student’s guardian.
With Namikaze Minato as Rin’s jōnin instructor, Haruto was quite reassured most of the time.
Except, of course, during the Third Shinobi World War.
“Minato-sensei, Obito, Kakashi, I’ll be leaving with my brother first.”
Rin turned and smiled as she said goodbye to her teammates.
“See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.”
After saying their goodbyes, Nohara Haruto took Nohara Rin and walked along the road home.
It was as if Rin never ran out of things to say to him.
Along the way, she chattered happily, telling him about the interesting things that had happened during their mission today, how Uchiha Obito had been late again for morning assembly, and how Kakashi was still as sharp-tongued as ever.
A smile appeared on Haruto’s face before he knew it.
Every time he saw Rin, he felt warmth spread through his heart.
With this younger sister by his side, his life in this world felt completely different from his previous life.
He was no longer just a madman who only knew how to bury himself in medical research.
Now, he had something he truly wanted to protect.
This girl, as fresh and pure as a lily.
Unfortunately, there were always blind fools who appeared at moments like this to ruin the atmosphere.
A loud, noisy shout suddenly rang out, sharp and unpleasant enough to make Haruto frown.
“Hey!
Where did you come from, brat?
How dare you walk beside Rin?
Don’t you know I’m her boyfriend?”
A boy around Rin’s age stood in front of them, blocking the road.
There were red inverted-triangle markings on his cheeks, unique to the Inuzuka Clan.
This should be the Inuzuka Hirono whom Rin had mentioned, the one who had been pestering her.
A small black dog lay across his shoulder.
No surprise there.
That was probably the ninja hound raised alongside him since childhood by the Inuzuka Clan.
Before Nohara Haruto could speak, Nohara Rin beside him was already furious.
Her face shifted between pale and flushed.
“Inuzuka Hirono!
Stop talking nonsense!
I’m not your girlfriend!”
Rin’s almond-shaped eyes widened, fire burning in them.
“Heh.
I’m away from you for only a little while, and you already start hooking up with another guy?”
A mocking, vulgar smile tugged at Inuzuka Hirono’s lips.
“Looks like that pure, innocent image you always show in front of me was all an act.
Who knows how many men you’ve been seducing behind my back?”
“You—!”
Even Rin, who was usually good-tempered, nearly cursed aloud.
Nohara Haruto’s face, however, had turned completely dark.
He pulled Rin behind him with one hand.
He did not even want her wasting another word on this brainless trash.
This boy would pay for what he had just said.
Making Rin unhappy naturally meant making him unhappy.
And making him unhappy…
The result would be terrifying.
“Heh.
You’re Rin’s boyfriend?”
Nohara Haruto could not help letting out a dark, cold laugh.
His tone carried a trace of mockery.
“How come I’ve never heard of that before?”
Unfortunately, the Inuzuka Hirono standing opposite him was clearly an idiot with low emotional intelligence.
He did not hear the gloom or mockery in Haruto’s tone at all.
He had never seen Nohara Haruto before, nor had he heard of him.
Although Haruto wore a forehead protector proving his identity as a shinobi, he never wore Konoha’s forgiving-green flak jacket.
Because of that, people who did not know him might easily assume he was merely a genin.
For example, this Inuzuka Hirono in front of him.
Hearing Haruto’s question, Hirono became even more smug.
He simply thought the person standing beside Rin was a coward who had begun backing down after hearing that he was Rin’s boyfriend.
Among the new generation, Hirono’s strength was fairly good.
Even among genin, he counted as one of the better ones.
As long as the opponent was not some heaven-defying monster like Kakashi, he did not take most people seriously.
And this man in a white trench coat looked like nothing more than a genin.
Naturally, there was nothing worth worrying about.
The disdain in his eyes grew stronger, and his words became even more direct.
“You didn’t know before because you were ignorant.
Now that you know, why aren’t you hurrying up and getting away from Rin?”
“Besides, as her proper boyfriend, I won’t allow just anyone to wander around beside her.
Put away those thoughts you shouldn’t have and get lost.”
“Otherwise, don’t blame me for being ruthless.
I’m not someone you can afford to provoke!”
“Oh?
Quite the temper.”
Nohara Haruto smiled teasingly, but his eyes gradually turned cold, reflecting a metallic chill.
“With that level of intelligence… I’d find you too stupid even to carry Rin’s shoes.”
He continued coldly,
“And I really don’t know why you think you’re someone I can’t afford to provoke.”
“Since you’re also a Konoha ninja, once you hear my name is Inuzuka, shouldn’t you understand?”
Hirono’s tone was full of arrogant pride.
“Our clan has no small amount of influence in Konoha.
You don’t have any clan emblem on you, so you’re probably just a civilian shinobi.”
“So when I tell you to do something, you do it.
You don’t have the right to resist.
You don’t have the right to bargain.”
“If you don’t obey, I’ll make sure you suffer for it!”
“Done showing off?”
Nohara Haruto’s voice turned cold.
His patience had already been completely exhausted.
“Give you a little sunlight and you think you can shine.
Give you a little river water and you start flooding everywhere.”
“You’re just a country bumpkin who’s never seen the world, yet you actually dare drag out your backwater clan and brag shamelessly?”
“If you don’t understand anything, read more books.
Otherwise, when you go outside, people will laugh themselves to death.”
“Since you’re done talking, then—”
Haruto’s eyes narrowed.
“Stand firm.
I’m about to show off.”
Inuzuka Hirono froze.
“You…”
Then Nohara Haruto drew the sword at his waist.
The blade left its sheath.
The fiery light of sunset burst overhead, reflecting across the frost-white edge of the sword.
The blade in his hand traced a bright silver arc through the air, like a wild goose spreading its wings.
In an instant, it transformed into more than a dozen sword shadows and thrust forward.