A Difficult Question to Answer

The stars twinkled in the darkness, and a crescent moon shyly hid behind the clouds. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves outside the window before disappearing into the silent night.

The chirping of summer insects is like a natural orchestra playing in the night, its beautiful sounds echoing in the air for a long time.

Through the light from outside the window, in the living room, Yemo was eating heartily, while Kushina barely touched her chopsticks, simply watching quietly with occasional smiles on her face.

While eating, Yemo suddenly remembered something, looked up and asked, "Sis, why did you suddenly come back? Weren't you attending Sister Mikoto's wedding?"

"How did you know?" Yemo asked, Kushina. Yemo had just returned; how could he know such things?

While eating, Yemo mumbled incoherently, "When I returned to the village, I saw that the guards at the village entrance weren't the security forces, so I asked around. Then I got home and didn't see you, so I knew you had gone to a wedding."

"I see," Kushina nodded, suddenly understanding, and then said, "The wedding lasted all day, I'm exhausted, but Mikoto's wedding was so grand and magnificent, Mikoto is truly happy."

As she spoke, Kushina's face unconsciously revealed envy, and her eyes sparkled with anticipation. As a woman, who wouldn't want a grand and magnificent wedding?

Seeing the envy on his older sister's face, Yemo shook his chopsticks and said with a smile, "Then you'll have to ask Minato about that. It's so grand and solemn, it's quite a challenge."

Upon hearing this, Kushina's face immediately turned red, two blushes creeping onto her fair cheeks. Shyly, she picked up a chicken leg from the plate and stuffed it into Yemo's mouth, saying with a mix of embarrassment and anger, "Little brat, what do you know? All this delicious food can't shut you up."

Yemo chuckled and quickly devoured the chicken leg in his mouth. However, he didn't continue teasing his older sister. This was called knowing when to stop. If he really angered his sister, he would definitely get a beating.

"Oh, right," Kushina suddenly remembered something, pointed at Yemo with a pair of chopsticks, and asked seriously, "On the way back, I ran into Minato. I asked Minato about the details of this mission, but he was evasive. Honestly, what are you two hiding from me?"

My older sister looked very serious, her face seemingly saying, "If you don't explain yourself clearly today, things won't go so smoothly."

It seems that Minato remembered his instructions and didn't tell his older sister about the Uzumaki Clan. This relieved Yemo. Minato was very wise when it came to serious matters, but he was usually a bit absent-minded. He was really afraid that Minato would forget and tell his older sister everything.

Yemo hesitated, wondering whether he should tell his older sister about the Uzumaki Clan. He knew he couldn't hide it from her; such a big thing had probably already spread throughout the entire Shinobi World.

Seeing Yemo hesitate, Kushina became even more certain of her suspicions that her younger brother was hiding something from her, and asked, "Yemo, what exactly are you and Minato hiding from me?"

Faced with his older sister's persistent questioning, Yemo sighed and decided to answer honestly. Since he couldn't hide it from her anyway, he might as well tell her directly. So he said, "Actually, Minato and I don't have anything to hide from you. We were on a mission related to the Uzumaki Clan this time."

"The Uzumaki Clan?"

Kushina was taken aback, then quite surprised. Although she had been away from the Uzumaki Clan for a long time, she still cared about her family and always wanted to go back to visit. However, due to her status as Jinchūriki, it was impossible for her to go back.

"Yemo, you're back in the village! How's the village?" Kushina asked excitedly. Unlike Yemo, she still had a very important feeling for the village.

Seeing his older sister so excited, Yemo was even more at a loss for words. After thinking for a while, Yemo pursed his lips and said.

"The village was burned to the ground, the Uzumaki Clan was wiped out, and only a few clansmen are left alive."

Yemo tried his best to speak in a calm tone, but for Kushina, it was like being struck by lightning. She sat there stunned, her mind completely blank, and it took her a long time to react.

Kushina forced a smile and said, "Yemo, tell me, are you lying to me? How could the Uzumaki Clan be wiped out?"

Shaking his head, Yemo pursed his lips and said, "Although I really want to say it's fake, it's true. A few days ago, the Lord Third received a letter from the clan asking for help. After discussions among the higher-ups, they dispatched a four-person team consisting of me and Minato to the Land of Whirlpools to investigate the matter. Just the day before yesterday, the clan was destroyed under the siege of several major Kekkei Genkai clans, and less than one in ten clan members survived."

After listening to Yemo's explanation, Kushina remained silent for more than a minute. Just as Yemo was about to speak, Kushina suddenly choked up and cried, tears streaming down her face and dripping onto the table.

Seeing his older sister cry, Yemo was stunned for a moment. It was the first time he had ever seen his older sister cry. In the past, no matter what problems she encountered, his older sister would always face difficulties with a smile and would never cry. Today, his older sister actually cried, Yemo was at a loss.

Pulling out two tissues, Yemo handed them to his older sister, comforting her, "Sister, no one expected the family to be wiped out. This time, the family's opponent was far too powerful. Now that the entire family and village have been destroyed, we must live even better. There aren't many members left in the Uzumaki Clan."

Whether it was Yemo's persuasion that worked or she had finished crying, the older sister looked up at Yemo, tears streaming down her face, and said, "Yemo, please tell me, what exactly happened? Why would those Kekkei Genkai families join forces against our family, even at the cost of destroying Uzushiogakure?"

Yemo replied, "There's a person named Black Zetsu behind all this, orchestrating everything. He instigated those Kekkei Genkai families to attack our family, aiming to obtain something from us. I don't know the specific reasons, but the higher-ups should investigate."

After saying this, Yemo silently apologized to his older sister. He hadn't intentionally deceived her; what's done is done, and dwelling on the past and its causes was pointless. Moreover, Yemo didn't want his sister to know too much; it would only cause her unnecessary trouble. Did he want her to seek revenge against Black Zetsu, or to know that all the clan members were actually killed by the Great Elder to fulfill his own ambitions, or to tell her that he ultimately obtained the bloodline power extracted from the clan members' lives and became the patriarch of the Uzumaki Clan?

There's no need to talk about these things. It's not a good choice for too many people to know some things. Let the truth remain hidden in the river of time.

After learning of her family's destruction, Kushina lost her appetite. She forced a smile and told Yemo Kushina to finish the food before running upstairs. She needed to be alone and needed time to process everything.

Watching his older sister go upstairs, Yemo felt a terrible headache coming on. He should have known better than to mention Black Zetsu. With a sigh, Yemo lost his appetite and finished the rest of the food. After tidying up the kitchen, Yemo dragged his tired body to the bed and fell asleep instantly.

I haven't had a good night's sleep in the past few days while on duty. As soon as I get to my comfortable little bed, I fall asleep almost immediately.