Convincing Nonō to Become a Rogue Ninja

Hearing the name Yakushi Kabuto.

Nonō's pupils slowly widened as she stared at Ingetsu in disbelief.

She was shocked that Ingetsu had killed Danzo, shocked that he knew her true identity, and even more shocked that he knew about Yakushi Kabuto!

This man...

He's far too terrifying!

Nonō's mind raced as she considered her situation.

These Uchiha had killed Shimura Danzō, destroyed the Root Organization, and killed the Hokage's son. After traveling with them this far, she definitely couldn't return to Leaf Village.

It seemed she had no choice.

She could only agree.

"Fine... I agree to join you, but how... how did you know my identity? And how did you know about that child?"

At that moment, Nonō felt as if she were standing before Ingetsu without her nun's habit. Aside from her thoughts, everything about her was exposed to his gaze.

At this point, Tamao snorted softly:

"Why does Big Brother know all this?

Before rebelling, we Uchiha naturally gathered all kinds of intelligence about the inside of the ninja village.

We can't access that information.

But Big Brother definitely can!"

"..." Ingetsu.

"..." Mikoto.

The Uchiha gathered detailed intelligence about the inside of the village before rebelling?

Why didn't I, the clan leader's wife, know about it?

"Rebellion?"

Nonō's expression froze. She immediately understood that the Uchiha Clan had fled Leaf Village after rebelling, which was why so few of them remained.

That explained everything!

She had never expected that, during the time she was away from Leaf Village, such a world-shaking event would occur in the village.

The Uchiha had rebelled!

The Ninja World would probably be thrown into fresh turmoil because of it.

When Nonō thought of turmoil,

she thought of war and remembered the innocent children who had been affected by the flames of war, left homeless and helpless.

Seeing that Tamao's words had shocked Nonō so badly that she had nearly lost the ability to speak,

Ingetsu didn't say anything else.

Having someone else speak for him and patch things up was quite convenient.

Nonō agreed on the surface,

but the reward did not appear.

Ingetsu understood that Nonō was still hesitating and had not truly made up her mind.

Following Tamao's words, Ingetsu continued, "I also know the truth behind the assassination mission Danzo assigned you."

Nonō stared blankly at Ingetsu.

Ingetsu spoke calmly:

"Your mission this time was to go to Iwagakure and assassinate a spy.

That spy was actually Yakushi Kabuto, who had been lying low in Iwagakure for Leaf Village—the child you had personally raised.

As you were both multiple-sided spies for Leaf Village, you knew too many of the village's secrets.

So Danzo staged this good show,

making you kill each other.

If you carried out this mission, there was an extremely high chance you would die at Kabuto's hands.

His strength is greater than yours now.

But regardless of which of you lived or died,

the survivor would be relentlessly hunted and assassinated by Root Organization pursuers until death."

Hearing this, the Uchiha wore solemn expressions, feeling chills run down their backs. A mission that forced something resembling a mother and son to slaughter each other—so cruel and inhumane—seemed like something only Root Organization could issue.

Nonō's entire body went limp. Her eyes were vacant. Tonight, one earth-shattering piece of news after another had bombarded her, completely overturning everything she believed.

What kind of ninja village had I been serving?

I had shed blood and sweat for Leaf Village, only to receive such a tragic ending?

Nonō stammered out her final feeble question:

"But... I, I know Kabuto. If we met, how could I possibly attack him?"

Ingetsu suddenly reached out, turned his palm over, and held it before Nonō's beautiful, nearly shattered face. He calmly said, "Photographs."

At that moment, Nonō's scalp went numb. Her beautiful eyes trembled as she looked at Ingetsu.

She looked at him as if he were a monster. Before him, she truly seemed completely naked!

Nonō froze for a moment, then reached into her nun's habit, pulled out a stack of photographs, and handed them to Ingetsu.

Swish, swish—

Ingetsu lowered his head and flipped through the photographs of the orphans, quickly found the photograph of the fake Kabuto, and threw it into the campfire right in front of Nonō.

Hiss—the flames surged high.

"Ah!!"

Nonō's pupils trembled. She cried out in alarm and reached for it, but the roaring flames stopped her.

Ingetsu stuffed the remaining photographs into her hands and explained, "I also know Yakushi Kabuto. The person in the photograph isn't Yakushi Kabuto. Danzo has been giving you fake photographs of Kabuto all these years."

"..."

Nonō stood dazed beside the campfire, absentmindedly clutching the photographs of the children she cherished as she watched the fake photograph of Kabuto burn to ashes.

No one knew what she was thinking at that moment.

The Uchiha only felt that the woman's back looked lonely and helpless, as if she stood at the edge of the world.

She seemed...

to be homeless too.

The Uchiha were moved by the woman's solitary back. They immediately stopped paying attention to the bathing tub, lying back down one after another to rest.

Side Mission: Recruit a Medical Ninja

Options:

1. Convince a Medical Ninja to join the team.

Mission complete!

Reward: Green Medicine.

After receiving the mission-completion notification,

Ingetsu's eyes lit up. He immediately opened the Storage Space, which he had not checked for several days.

Upon looking inside,

Ingetsu's brows furrowed tightly. To his surprise, there were two green potions in the space.

They lay side by side in the corner.

Ingetsu turned his palm over. The space trembled slightly, and two bottles of Green Medicine appeared neatly in his palm.

There really were two bottles!

Ingetsu thought of one possibility: perhaps this Green Medicine refreshed itself every day!

Even if he smashed or lost the bottle, it could refresh again.

Otherwise, there was no way to explain the existence of two doses of Green Medicine.

He had to verify this guess.

Thinking this, Ingetsu put one bottle away, opened the stopper of the remaining bottle, and drank it before its rich life force could disperse.

He raised his head and downed the Green Medicine in one gulp.

Gulp—

A cool, refreshing sensation flowed smoothly down his throat, while an exceptionally fresh flavor filled his mouth and taste buds.

The vigorous vitality contained in the Green Medicine seeped into every cell in his body, gently nourishing and tempering them.

Green eyeshadow appeared around Ingetsu's eyes once more, but quickly vanished. He sensed the subtle changes within his body.

After drinking the Green Medicine,

his spirit recovered.

His fatigue faded away.

The strength in his body increased slightly once again. What surprised him most was that the range of his Wood Release had expanded by another meter from its previous radius of five hundred meters.

Ingetsu put the empty vial into the Storage Space.

He immediately understood the correct way to use this potion. He needed to take Green Medicine orally every day, which would increase his strength and enhance the power of his Wood Release.

It was truly a simple way to grow stronger.

On the grass, most of the Uchiha were already asleep. Even the few responsible for keeping watch felt incredibly reassured because Ingetsu was still awake, sitting in place and nodding off.

Nonō caught the scent of Green Medicine permeating the air. Her eyes lit up, and she quietly turned around, slowly approaching Ingetsu under his watchful gaze.

After being sorrowful for so long,

as a ninja and a former Wandering Miko, a woman with tremendous mental fortitude, Nonō gradually accepted the arrangements of fate.

She was now a rogue ninja too!

With nothing left to tie her down!

If Leaf Village wanted her dead, then she absolutely couldn't die.

Her show of misery just now

had been because she was thinking about something.

In the end, Nonō couldn't think of a better solution and admitted defeat. Blushing, she came to Ingetsu's side and lay down beside him.

Seeing Ingetsu stare at her impassively, Nonō bashfully pleaded in a soft voice:

"C-Captain, please, help me keep it for the time being. Put... put it away for me!"

As she spoke, Nonō awkwardly glanced at the large bathing tub.