Chapter 64: Noma’s Mischief

Chapter 64: Noma's Mischief

It was unclear whether it was due to wearing too little and losing too much heat, but the female ninja did not refuse the meat that Yuuji offered her. In fact, she was about to finish the entire plate.

Staring at the few remaining pieces of Non-Fish meat in the bowl, Yuuji felt a pang of heartache.

However, seeing the soft blush on the female ninja's face, he found his heart being stirred even more.

But when he reminded himself that she was the assassin who had tried to kill the mayor, he quickly shook off any stray thoughts.

That said, he still had no idea how to interrogate her.

There were many methods of interrogation, but like war strategies, "winning without fighting" was the highest form of skill, while brute force was the lowest.

Yuuji had witnessed plenty of interrogations before—though he had never performed them himself.

Most of the time, the targets were filthy, disgusting men, and the method was usually a knife pressed against their skin. If that didn't work, they would stab them a few times.

The methods he had seen were crude and direct, but for most ordinary people, that was enough.

After all, in the dangerous world of shinobi, most non-ninja civilians didn't have the luxury of undying loyalty—they just wanted to survive.

With this thought in mind, Yuuji watched as the female ninja finished the last piece of meat and set down the empty bowl.

She had remained completely silent the entire time.

Even though she had submitted to the power of good food, she still hadn't said a single word.

This meant she had likely undergone professional training, which meant conventional interrogation methods wouldn't work.

Yuuji tried to convince himself—this wasn't about softening his heart, it was about using the most effective strategy.

Thus, he sat down on his bed, took out a scroll from his ninja pouch, and began writing a message.

Once he was done, he rolled it up and bit his finger, channeling chakra for a summoning jutsu.

"Boom!"

A plume of smoke appeared, revealing a gentle-looking hawk perched on the table.

This was one of Konoha's messenger hawks—it would take only a day to deliver the message from the border to the village.

Yuuji glanced at the female ninja, whose face showed mild curiosity, before tucking the message into the hawk's leg pouch.

Then, he gently picked up the hawk, carried it outside, and released it into the sky.

When he returned, he suddenly felt out of place.

It was strange having another person in his room.

For a moment, he hesitated, unsure of what to do.

As he struggled to recall his usual habits, he noticed the female ninja pulling the blanket around herself, shrinking into it.

"Are you cold? I can take you somewhere warmer."

The female ninja looked at him strangely before quickly averting her gaze.

"Why?"

Her voice was pleasant—not too soft, not too hard. It suited someone living in this harsh world.

Hearing her finally speak, Yuuji smiled slightly.

"The kids said you were an assassin sent to kill the mayor. Originally, they wanted me to interrogate you. But I don't think I'm suited for that, so I decided to let the village handle it instead. Is that a good enough reason?"

For some reason, the way he spoke seemed oddly cautious.

The female ninja did not believe his explanation at all, but she simply shook her head blankly in response.

Seeing her continued wariness, Yuuji sighed helplessly.

"You saw me use the messenger hawk, right? I just sent a message to Konoha asking them to take you back. Until then, I won't let you suffer too much. But… if you want to starve or freeze, I won't stop you either."

The female ninja seemed to accept this reasoning begrudgingly.

She lowered her head, looking sleepy, as if she wanted to drift off.

"Are you really not going to reconsider? If you want an easier life, I can make that happen."

"…Why?"

The female ninja mumbled drowsily, her focus slipping.

But her second "why" left Yuuji at a loss for words.

Seeing no point in continuing, he picked up the empty plate and left the room.

What he didn't know was that as soon as he left, the female ninja's eyes brimmed with tears.

She buried her face in the blanket, sobbing silently.

Time passed.

Genma, Kurenai, and Raido occasionally returned to check in.

Each time, they would see Yuuji personally feeding the female ninja—and their gossip instincts burned stronger each day.

When the time finally came to send her away, Yuuji hesitated before asking for her name.

The female ninja bit her lip, glanced at him complicatedly, and then simply said "Hanako" before leaving with Konoha's agents.

After Hanako left, Yuuji zoned out more times than they could count.

The three Genin exchanged knowing smirks, thoroughly entertained by their usually dignified sensei's romantic woes.

After all, Genma and Kurenai had already gone through the awkward, fumbling stages of young love, so seeing Yuuji in the same predicament was highly amusing.

That said, they were also a bit worried.

After all, Hanako was a spy. If Yuuji and Hanako actually ended up together, their relationship would be doomed from the start.

Especially considering how dark the ninja world was.

Compared to other villages, Kumo (Cloud Village) had the least "hidden darkness," but the rest were completely rotten to the core.

Konoha, under Hiruzen Sarutobi's leadership, was practically split in two—a village with both extreme light and extreme shadow.

And the problem was that these two sides were NOT in harmony.

The darker forces of Konoha had grown too powerful, even to the point of operating outside the Hokage's control.

What did this mean?

It meant that the dark side had ambitions—and if left unchecked, it could swallow the light entirely.

Some might argue that this competition could drive the village to evolve, but in reality, it only led to endless internal strife.

And if Yuuji pursued Hanako, a spy, their fate would be tragic no matter what.

After Hanako was sent away, Yuuji returned to his usual laid-back life.

And with no more gossip to discuss, the Genin focused back on the mayor's surveillance.

The mayor had become much more cautious, probably traumatized by recent events.

For the rest of the mission, he behaved perfectly, and the month passed uneventfully.

By the time their task ended, Genma had mastered octopus healing and created simple antidotes.

They left Non-Fish Town, traveled for a day, and rested in a mountain cave.

For dinner, Genma cooked octopus stew, along with grilled octopus.

As they ate, Raido teased Yuuji mercilessly.

"Sensei, why are we rushing so much? Is there something… urgent? Like, I don't know, your little lover?"

Yuuji calmly bit into a burnt octopus head and replied:

"I like burnt food. What, you kids don't? If we're really desperate, even bugs are edible, you know."

The Genin scoffed in unison.

But as they kept pestering him, Yuuji suddenly felt an ominous sense of mischief.

They were acting exactly like Noma.

Elsewhere, Noma, on another mission, suddenly sneezed.

"Ugh… someone must be talking about me."

Beside him, Guy beamed.

"Sensei! I have the perfect way to prevent colds! Here, try my youthful green jumpsuit!"

Noma: "..."

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