Ninja Academy.
Mori Yasuko had noticed the tone Yakumo used when talking about the girl he liked.
Her hostility toward Kurenai Yuhi eased slightly, but she still mentally labeled the other girl as an enemy.
After school, the little group returned to Training Ground Fourteen for their usual practice.
Rin Nohara focused primarily on chakra control.
Kakashi practiced swordsmanship, while Obito Uchiha trained the Fire Style: Fireball Technique nearby.
The result?
Two solid hours of nothing but black smoke.
However, this time, Yakumo and Yasuko announced their departure before the sky had completely darkened.
They still needed to discuss a few details about the previous night’s incident.
The setting sun stretched their shadows across the ground.
Obito wore a mischievous, gossipy smile.
“Those two are already together, aren’t they?”
“I think it’s only a matter of time,” Rin replied, lifting her head.
Because she had become distracted, the flow of chakra in her hands suddenly grew chaotic.
“What do you think, Kakashi?”
“Yakumo’s heart is occupied by his desire to become stronger.”
Kakashi’s answer seemed rather cryptic, but it reflected his opinion clearly enough: at present, Yakumo wasn’t likely to develop romantic feelings for anyone.
The two of them pushed open the wooden gate and entered Yakumo’s courtyard, one after the other.
Yakumo turned around and carefully closed the gate behind them.
“This courtyard has become so desolate,” Yasuko remarked.
She still remembered how, before Uncle Iori had left for the battlefield, the courtyard had been filled with beautiful flowers in delicate colors.
Now, only hardy weeds and a few flowers of monotonous colors remained.
Summer no longer brought the intoxicating fragrance of blossoms.
Instead, the courtyard felt disorderly and desolate.
“I don’t like growing flowers,” Yakumo replied calmly.
“No matter how many you plant, they won’t survive on a battlefield.”
For Yakumo, only personal strength could provide a reliable foundation for survival in this world.
“All right, let’s not talk about such sad things anymore,” Yasuko said hurriedly, assuming he was referring to Uncle Iori’s death on the battlefield.
“Didn’t you say you had a ninjutsu scroll for me?”
“Come with me.”
Yakumo stepped forward, inserted his key into the door, and unlocked it.
An inconspicuous strand of hair slipped to the ground.
Yakumo quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Nobody had broken in during the day.
That meant everything was still safe.
“Come in.”
Yasuko stepped inside.
The living room was nothing like she had imagined.
There were no dirty clothes or smelly socks lying around, and the air was fresh.
Although the furnishings were simple, everything was neat and orderly.
“I thought I’d have to help you wash your stinky socks,” Yasuko teased as she looked around before casually sitting down on the sofa.
“Here you go…”
Yakumo retrieved an old-looking scroll from between the sofa cushions.
It contained instructions for learning the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet Technique.
To Yakumo, however, it was practically a hot potato he desperately wanted to get rid of.
“This thing is too sensitive to keep around.
Once you’ve finished learning the technique, burn the scroll.”
“Then I’ll take it!” Yasuko accepted it without hesitation.
Yakumo was momentarily stunned.
It seemed she hadn’t heard the second half of his sentence at all.
“Once you’ve finished learning it…
burn it,” he repeated, emphasizing every word.
“All right, all right.
I understand!”
Yasuko answered with a suppressed smile and carefully placed the scroll in her ninja pouch.
It seemed this was the first time she had sat on this sofa since Uncle Iori’s death.
Yakumo had grown stronger and more independent.
Perhaps that was a good thing.
If Uncle Iori and Auntie could see him now from beyond the grave, they would probably feel much more at ease.
“If anyone asks about what happened yesterday, we’ll say that we did take that shortcut home, but we didn’t encounter anyone,” Yakumo explained.
“Of course, there’s little chance anyone will ask.
That rain yesterday came at exactly the right time…”
“Want to spar?”
Yasuko suddenly interrupted him, her eyes shining with eager anticipation.
“Are you even listening to me?!
I’m telling you something important!”
Yakumo emphasized his point again.
He was beginning to suspect that his childhood friend wasn’t quite as reliable as he’d thought.
Was being unreasonable a special trait of the Senju clan?
“Of course I’m listening,” Yasuko replied.
“Yesterday, we took that shortcut because we wanted to get home earlier, but we didn’t encounter anyone.”
She repeated his explanation word for word.
“So…
want to spar?”
“I can’t beat you.”
Yakumo surrendered immediately.
Sparring didn’t grant him any proficiency points.
If he had the time, he’d much rather practice his swordsmanship.
It was the equivalent of fighting enemies in a video game without receiving any experience points.
What kind of ridiculous game mechanic was that?!
“Don’t hide your strength.
Let’s have a spar,” Yasuko insisted.
She was genuinely curious about just how strong Yakumo had become.
“No, no.
If there’s nothing else, please leave.
I need to practice my swordsmanship…”
Yakumo’s expression turned cold as he unhesitatingly began showing her the door.
Using the Concealment Technique cost him 100 gold coins every time he needed to reapply it.
Every use effectively meant throwing away an entire day’s worth of mission rewards.
And now this woman wanted him to waste his hard-earned progress on a sparring match!
He was busy, all right?
Five thousand words of reading reflections.
Two thousand words of daily insights.
Five hundred words for his diary.
He genuinely didn’t have the time!
“Please, pretty please, Big Brother Yakumo~”
Yasuko suddenly wrapped both arms around his and spoke in an irresistibly sweet, pleading voice.
“No.”
Yakumo’s response remained firm and unyielding.
He would not be swayed by beauty.
Then he lowered his head.
What entered his field of vision was not the ordinary face he had considered, at most, an eight out of ten.
Instead, he was confronted with a face of breathtaking beauty.
Before this moment, Yakumo hadn’t believed that someone’s appearance alone could make him fall in love at first sight.
Now, he did.
That fleeting glimpse from the previous night hadn’t been a trick of the light.
This was Yasuko’s true appearance, hidden beneath the Concealment Technique she normally used to disguise herself.
Her bright eyes seemed to contain an entire river of stars.
The faint red glimmer deep within them added an alluring quality to her gaze.
Her straight nose was perfectly proportioned, while the corners of her lips curved into a smile that held seventy percent amusement and thirty percent grievance.
Beautiful.
Truly beautiful.
So breathtaking that it was almost shocking.
“Big Brother Yakumo, please?”
She was calling him Big Brother…
And she was gorgeous…
Perhaps he could agree just this once?
Yakumo’s normally unyielding resolve began to waver.
Click!
The door shut.
Yasuko found herself standing outside.
Her face was filled with frustration and confusion.
She had clearly felt Yakumo’s heartbeat quicken.
It had seemed as though he would agree to spar with her at any moment.
Yet this was how things had ended?
Her temporary defeat didn’t make her give up.
Instead, a blazing determination ignited in her eyes.
Yasuko was incredibly curious about Yakumo’s true strength.
She was the kind of girl who, like a cat, possessed an intense curiosity about practically everything in the world.
Inside the house, Yakumo gripped his ninja blade and gradually calmed himself down.
He began repeating a series of affirmations to himself.
“Women will only slow down the speed at which I draw my sword.”
“I’ve been grinding missions in games for more than a decade.
My heart has long been as cold as the mouse in my hand.”
“But…
why is my heart beating so fast?”
Ten minutes later, Yakumo’s heartbeat finally returned to normal.
He gripped his ninja blade and began his daily training.
Over and over.
Without beginning or end, his sword movements flowed into one another, forming an endless cycle.
This was the effect of the Hatake Secret Art, which was on the verge of advancing beyond Beginner proficiency and into the Proficient stage.
At that moment, Yakumo’s sword dance was breathtakingly beautiful, yet every movement concealed a chilling killing intent.