Moonlight Bath?

Beside the campfire, Tamao said excitedly:

"Ha ha, I never thought Big Brother had already figured out the correct way to use Izumi!

Think about it.

Whenever we run into this kind of multiple-choice problem in the future, we can just ask Izumi.

Then we'll do the opposite of whatever she suggests. I figure that should help us avoid most of the risks!"

The Uchiha's eyes lit up when they heard this. They felt that it made perfect sense.

The way they looked at Izumi immediately changed. They were delighted to have turned a useless item into a treasure.

Izumi suddenly felt the fickleness of the world.

"Everyone, get some rest!"

Ingetsu said.

At his words, the Uchiha quieted down. They gathered around the campfire, divided themselves into groups, and took turns resting.

At the rear of the group, Yakushi Nonō, dressed in a nun's habit and with a full figure, rose from beside Mikoto. She tiptoed over to Ingetsu.

The two exchanged a glance.

Through her round spectacles, Ingetsu needed only one look to know what the woman was thinking.

Nonō wore a smile as she adjusted the skirt around the well-packed part of her bundle. Her nun's robe outlined her rounded curves as she crouched gracefully and knelt on the grass.

Nonō felt that she had behaved herself and worked diligently throughout the journey. It was time to discuss her payment and the conditions for traveling with the group.

"Once we reach the Land of Grass, I'll have to leave the group to carry out a mission." Nonō tried to keep her voice as calm as possible.

As soon as she said this, the Uchiha nearby, along with Kurenai Yuhi and the others, were roused. No one spoke as they silently watched Ingetsu and Nonō.

After spending so many days together, everyone recognized the blonde nun's professionalism and abilities.

She was a reliable Medical Ninja.

And she was leaving the group.

What a pity.

After saying this, Nonō's gaze gradually softened. Suppressing her various emotions, she chose to meet Ingetsu's eyes and try appealing to their feelings.

The Uchiha youth's face before her helped calm some of her unease.

However, Nonō had not spent much time with Ingetsu and could not judge how far she should take the conversation.

In her eyes, he had killed the Hokage's son and the monks of the Fire Temple without even blinking. His strength and boldness surpassed hers by far, far too much.

Facing someone like this face-to-face...

It was like staring directly at an iceberg.

Nonō forced herself to maintain her nun's composure, wearing a pure and holy smile. She wanted to use her familiar way of treating people to lessen the pressure brought by his presence.

Ingetsu tossed a dry branch into the campfire and said calmly, "Just say it."

Nonō's eyes lit up. She nodded. "You previously... mentioned... payment."

"Oh."

Ingetsu's expression remained calm. He suddenly raised his right hand toward the side of the round-spectacled nun and spread his fingers. The air suddenly trembled.

The next instant.

Crash—

A wooden bathtub appeared out of thin air and slammed heavily onto the grass. Water splashed out of the tub, while the flower petals inside had long since sunk to the bottom.

"Uh..."

The Uchiha were roused by the commotion and stared blankly at the enormous bathtub beside the campfire.

No one understood. What did Yinyue Captain want to do by bringing this thing out?

Even Tamao, who usually had the most outrageous ideas, was stunned.

The sight left the gentle and virtuous Uchiha Mikoto, Kurenai Yuhi, Uchiha Izumi, and the others dumbfounded.

A bathtub...

Could it be that the payment the captain had promised her was an invitation to bathe beneath the moon?

There were even red rose petals at the bottom of the tub.

Was he really that romantic?

There were so many people beside the campfire... Mikoto, Kurenai, and Izumi were filled with complicated emotions.

"Ah, this... this... this!"

Nonō stared in utter shock, frozen in place. She had never imagined that her discussion of payment with him would begin this way.

Tamao suddenly rushed over and leaned against the bathtub, using the campfire to see the red rose petals inside. His eyes widened, and only after a long while did he sigh:

"That's so lewd!"

Nonō's neck turned stiffly, as if it had jammed. Her eyes fixed on the familiar bathtub and the petals she had scattered inside one by one with her own hands.

After hearing Tamao's comment,

Nonō silently lowered her hood to conceal her face. She bit her lip tightly, her entire body trembling as her toes dug hard into the ground beneath her skirt.

That was her bathtub!

And her bathwater!

Embarrassment, embarrassment, and even more embarrassment until her scalp went numb.

Having her personal belongings exposed to a crowd of strangers caused an overwhelming sense of shame to explode in Nonō's mind, leaving it completely blank.

At that moment, she felt as though she were undergoing some kind of cruel execution.

Under those sharp, scrutinizing gazes,

Nonō suddenly felt that there was nowhere in the Ninja World that could contain her.

Looking as though nothing had happened, Ingetsu said calmly, "Oh, this is the interest on your payment."

You even brought my bathtub with you while fleeing!

Thank you so much.

Yinyue Captain!!

Nonō was dying of embarrassment inside and felt like killing someone. But since she could not defeat this group of Uchiha, she abandoned the thought.

No wonder such a large new bathtub had disappeared without a trace.

Throughout the journey,

Nonō had known that Ingetsu might possess some kind of space ninjutsu, but she had never once thought in that direction!

After a long silence,

Everyone stared at the silent Ingetsu and Nonō. They only felt that the atmosphere had suddenly become unbearably awkward, with no idea what had happened.

They were completely lost.

At first, Nonō had gone over to discuss payment, and the captain had responded by tossing out a bathtub.

Could it be that... this bathtub was the payment?

Then wouldn't the negotiation fall through?

Nanfeng and the others knew the truth, but at this moment, the three of them did not know whether they should say anything.

After a long while,

Nonō suppressed her explosive embarrassment and said with a helpless laugh, "Ha ha ha, Yinyue Captain, please don't joke around. You... you didn't say that the payment was related to my mission? How did you know that Danzo had personally assigned the mission to me?"

Finally, they had reached the main topic.

Ingetsu nodded and said frankly, "Mm. Tell me what your mission is first."

The nun, whose mind had just been bombarded by shame, now had large portions of it completely blank.

Nonō said instinctively:

"My mission is to assassinate someone. I originally planned to lie in wait at Kikyo Mountain, along his inevitable route..."

Before she could finish,

she froze.

Her eyes lowered slightly toward her lips, and she realized in shock that the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal had not activated.

"Your mission has been canceled!"

Tamao suddenly moved away from the bathtub.

"Canceled?"

Nonō looked at Tamao in surprise, raised a hand to adjust her glasses, then turned to Ingetsu. Her face was blank and confused.

Ingetsu gave a slight nod, indicating that Tamao was telling the truth.

Tamao snickered mockingly.

"The Root Organization is gone. Before we escaped the ninja village, Shimura Danzō was personally killed by Big Brother Ingetsu!"

As soon as these words came out,

Nonō's eyes trembled. She stared blankly with her mouth open, her body rigid.

To her, this news was even more shocking than the embarrassment that had just exploded in her mind.

Uchiha Mikoto also trembled all over. Turbulent waves surged through her heart as she lifted her head and stared intently at Ingetsu with her beautiful, dark eyes.

She seemed to understand.

The reason these clansmen followed Ingetsu so steadfastly.

The Night of the Uchiha Massacre.

Before their escape.

So Uchiha Ingetsu had led these clansmen in launching such a mad retaliation against Leaf Village's higher-ups.

"You also felt the abnormality in your body. If Danzo were still alive, you wouldn't be able to reveal the details of a mission issued by the Root Organization."

Ingetsu stared directly into Nonō's trembling eyes and said calmly, "Join us!"

Nonō fell into thought.

A long time ago,

she had no longer wanted to serve the Root Organization. For the rest of her life, she only wanted to peacefully run the orphanage. Before carrying out the mission, she had feared that she might not return, so she had arranged everything concerning the orphanage.

But now...

Someone was telling her

that the powerful and high-ranking figure from Leaf Village's upper echelons—the cruel man who had constantly threatened her and forced her to work—was dead, killed by the Uchiha youth before her.

The organization she had once belonged to had been destroyed!

Danzo...

was truly dead. Otherwise, Nonō knew that the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal would not have been lifted on its own.

Seeing that Nonō was still lost in confusion, Ingetsu immediately produced his trump card and said evenly, "Agree. For that child, Yakushi Kabuto!"