Something's Wrong * Crow

Takuma sensed something was wrong.

Izuna had never shown such an expression before.

He stared at the tiny Netsuke, as if something had been ripped from his eyes, leaving only emptiness.

At that moment, Takuma felt a chill run down his spine. He instinctively felt that Izuna's current state was not right and that he had to interrupt him immediately.

He suddenly reached out to snatch the Netsuke.

He thought he could easily snatch it from him, but to his surprise, Izuna dodged it.

With a flick of his wrist, he tucked the Netsuke into his palm, and with his other hand, he flicked Takuma's forehead. "What are you doing? You're that eager for special training?"

Izuna's evasive maneuvers were as fluid and effortless as ever, as if the emptiness he had just experienced was Takuma's illusion.

But Takuma knew he hadn't misread it.

Izuna's condition just now was definitely not right!

Takuma stepped forward and grabbed Izuna's wrists with both hands. "Lord Izuna, throw that thing away!"

Izuna looked down at him.

Takuma's fingers gripped Izuna's wrist tightly, his knuckles turning white, but Izuna was much stronger than Takuma, and no matter how hard the child tried, he couldn't budge him an inch.

And he looked puzzled, "Why?"

"Throw it away!" Takuma's voice rose, carrying an urgency he himself wasn't even aware of. "That thing makes you look really strange! There's definitely something wrong with it!"

Izuna looked down at the Netsuke in his hand.

He turned it over and over, spinning it twice in the afternoon sunlight. "It's quite pretty. I wonder who lost it; it's such a waste to throw it away..."

"Lord Izuna!"

"I just suddenly remembered something I needed to do, that's why I let you go back first." Izuna tucked Netsuke into his sleeve. "What? You want to get beaten up?"

Takuma stood still, still holding onto Izuna.

Izuna's demeanor was very natural, his tone and movements were as usual, with a touch of leisure, as if he had just suddenly thought of something and his expression had gone blank.

Even Takuma was starting to doubt whether he had just seen things correctly.

But his mind kept reminding him that what he had just experienced was definitely not an illusion.

"Alright, stop wasting time here." Izuna turned around and waved at him. "I'm leaving now. Go do what you need to do."

He strode away.

After watching Izuna's figure disappear into the alley, Takuma immediately turned around and ran towards the Hokage Building.

The Hokage Building is always open.

Tasks are issued and accepted from here. Both the client and the client will meet with the service staff at the task acceptance point set up at the entrance.

Occasionally, Hashirama or Madara would also be present to oversee the situation, ensuring that no one was assigned tasks beyond their capabilities.

Upon learning of this, Izuna immediately remarked, "Isn't this just an adventurer's guild?"

Although Hashirama felt that the term "adventurer" was not quite right, he liked the concept of a guild, so this place became known as the Guild Hall.

At that very moment, Ban happened to be sitting behind the service desk, approving S-level missions.

"Your information has been confirmed. You are authorized to carry out this S-rank mission." Madara handed a document to the Ninja opposite him, then took out a scroll. "This contains the intelligence we have for this mission, as well as the deposit. After the mission is completed, return with the document and proof of completion to collect the remaining payment."

"Thank you." The leading Ninja awkwardly accepted the scroll.

Just as his companions were pulling him away, Madara called out to them, "Hey, Kurama Clan kid."

The leader was so startled that he immediately stood at attention. "Yes, sir! Is there anything else you need?"

This made Ban laugh, and he said with a smile, "It's nothing, I just hope I can see the three of you again next time."

The three members of the team were all taken aback for a moment, then responded loudly in unison, "Yes!"

The leader, Ninja belonging to the Kurama Clan, said, "We will definitely come back alive!"

"Very well, then go ahead." After saying that, Ban lowered his head to tidy up the documents that he had messed up while checking them.

Encouraged, the three left full of confidence.

Takuma darted past them and came to a sudden stop in front of Madara's desk.

Madara looked at the panting boy in front of him and asked in confusion, "Takuma? What's wrong?"

Takuma have time to offer greetings. He took a breath and said, "Lord Madara — Lord Izuna— "

Upon hearing his younger brother's name, Madara's face immediately darkened. He led Takuma to an empty corridor and said, "Speak."

Takuma took a deep breath and quietly recounted what had just happened from beginning to end.

"He didn't realize something was wrong," Takuma said. "He put that thing in his sleeve, Lord Madara..."

Takuma looked somewhat sad. "I was powerless to stop Lord Izuna, so I had no choice but to come to you."

"It affects one's mind..." Madara patted Takuma's shoulder, "Thank you for telling me this."

Ban walked back to the service counter, leaned over, and rested one hand on the counter.

A Chunin with a ponytail sat behind the counter, engrossed in checking the morning's mission registration form.

Madara's shadow loomed over her. She looked up, pen still clutched in her hand, and paused for a moment, then asked, "Lord Madara?"

"I have something urgent to attend to and need to leave early." Ban gathered the documents on the table into a stack and pushed them behind the counter. "You can arrange the remaining approvals. Whether you let Hashirama handle it or postpone it to tomorrow, it's up to you."

The receptionist instinctively took the documents, hugged them to her chest, and opened her mouth to speak, "But these are S-level documents—when will you... be back...?"

Before the receptionist could even ask, Madara had already stepped out of the Hokage Building.

The receptionist watched Madara vanish in a Body Flicker Technique, couldn't help but sigh, and got up to go fetch Hashirama.

After Izuna sent Takuma away with an excuse about having something important to do, he actually remembered that there was something he needed to do.

There are still a few steps in the Amusement Park's opening ceremony that haven't been finalized.

The actors' rehearsals were rehearsed a few days ago, but a new program was added yesterday, so there might still be oversights in the scheduling. We need to confirm everything before we can feel at ease.

He mentally rehearsed the Dispatch Schedule and pushed open the door to the Production Crew's Rehearsal Ground.

There weren't many people in the Rehearsal Ground.

Several Ninjas were talking in a corner, seemingly practicing how to greet guests.

The Props Team was loading boxes onto a cart, with the words "Opening Special - Act One" written in charcoal on the box lids.

Akari sat on a bench, holding the final version of the stage design, verifying each step of the process.

Izuna walked around the Rehearsal Ground and asked a few questions.

The Amusement Park's project flow, staffing arrangements, and contingency plans for unforeseen weather conditions were confirmed one by one.

After going through all the steps, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on a bench in the corner of the Rehearsal Ground.

He reached into his sleeve and took out the Netsuke.

He lifted the Black Peach Wood Crow, its ruby eyes gleaming beautifully in the sunlight.

He held it up to his eyes and slowly turned it around.

The knife work is very fine; the texture of each feather is clearly carved.

The bird tilted its head, its beak slightly open, as if preening its feathers or listening intently to something.

He was momentarily stunned when he saw the Netsuke.

Time was so short that by the time Takuma reached out to grab it, he had already come to his senses.

But that blank space did exist; that moment of distraction was so abrupt that even he felt something was wrong.

But afterwards, this Netsuke showed itself to be just an ordinary Netsuke.

The crow tilted its head, its Red Eyes sparkling; it looked like just a pretty ornament, nothing out of the ordinary.

And for some reason, he genuinely liked this little gadget.

The Black Peach Wood is warm and smooth, and it fits perfectly in the palm of your hand. The crow with its head tilted is very cool, and the ruby eyes are beautiful.

He liked it more and more the more he looked at it.

Although the origin of this thing is unknown, and it caused him to experience a strange state for a moment, he should have carefully investigated its origin, or simply discarded it if necessary.

But he just wanted to keep it.

I want to stay no matter what.

This attraction was quite unusual for me. As a college student living in a modern society where souvenirs are everywhere, he shouldn't have been interested in such ancient objects.

But now I find it hard to let go.

Something's not right.

Izuna recalled the strange occurrences that had happened to him before, the familiar words, the amnesia, and now, his obsession with this object...

Damn it! What am I doing?! Don't you know curiosity killed the cat?!

This thing is clearly a time bomb! What if it does something unpredictable?

Send it out quickly!

As Izuna watched Madara approach, he eagerly stepped forward and shoved the Netsuke into Madara's hand.

"Izuna, you..."

"Brother Ban! This is for you!"

Ban was stunned.

Madara looked down at the Netsuke that had been forcibly stuffed into his palm, then looked up at Izuna.

Takuma said that Izuna was not in a good state, that the Netsuke made him look blank, and that Izuna did not realize that something was wrong with him.

He was prepared to face resistance from Izuna, and even for Izuna to hate him because of it.

Then Izuna saw him, walked over quickly, and shoved the Netsuke into his hand with the same swiftness as if he were throwing away a hot potato.

"Brother Ban! This is for you!"

Madara was extremely confused. Didn't Takuma say that Izuna was acting strangely and that he didn't want him to take the keychain? Why did he just give it to me so readily?

"Izuna." He smiled and accepted it, intending to take it back for further study.

He stopped.

It didn't budge.

Izuna gripped Madara's hand tightly.

The Black Peach Wood Crow was placed between the two people's palms, their palms slightly concave due to the pressure.

Madara looked down at the hand that had been gripping so tightly that the knuckles had turned white, then looked up at Izuna's face.

The expression on his face looked like he was constipated.

His brows were furrowed, his lips were pressed together and turned pale, and his eyelashes trembled slightly.

Ban felt that hand try to loosen its grip several times, each time tightening its grip again just as the fingertips were about to slip from the back of his hand.

Wavering and reluctance were already evident on that wrinkled face.

Do you really want to stay?

Meanwhile, Izuna's mind was in turmoil.

There's something wrong with this!

But I like it.

Don't be curious! Curiosity killed the cat!

But I like it!

What's so great about this? It's just wood!

It's so beautiful and exquisite, I love it!

And he also has rubies... no!!

Stop! Don't even think about it! But! He! Is! A! Crow! Eh!

Giao!

Why can't I let go of it?!

His face scrunched up.

Madara was worried about Izuna's appearance, but he was also charmed by her cuteness.

He chuckled and grasped Izuna's hand in return, gently pressing his thumb against the inside of Izuna's wrist. "If you couldn't bear to part with it, why did you give it to me in the first place?"

Izuna frowned, his voice barely audible as he said through clenched teeth, "Because I have a feeling something might happen if I keep it. Anyway, Madara-nii, you can take it."

Even so, Izuna still didn't give up.

Madara didn't want to hurt Izuna, so he could only slowly withdraw his hand little by little.

Izuna did not stop him, but the moment Madara's hand, or rather, the moment Netsuke completely left his palm, a tear fell without warning.

Then two or three drops.

Ban froze.

Izuna's eyes widened slightly. "Eh?"