Outrageous Rumors

The thick, impenetrable night was like the work of a master painter, coating everything in mysterious colors. The pure white moonlight was like a stroke of white paint, assisting that master's hand as it painted the scene inside the room onto the window in real time for outsiders to admire. Thus, the pitch-black night acquired a thrilling sort of charm.

Ah~ Standing outside the courtyard, a Nara clanswoman stared at the scene unfolding inside the room. She cried out inwardly and quickly covered her mouth with both hands, then hid herself in the grass and secretly observed the Second Floor room where Nara Ryoko was.

She had never expected the clan's secret Shadow Imitation Technique could be used like this.

Watching the female black shadow sit on the male shadow's lap, the Nara clanswoman in the grass unconsciously licked her dry lips, her throat feeling slightly parched.

This was so exciting.

Ryoko sat in her chair and stared deeply at Uchiha Asuka across from her before speaking in a low voice.

"Logically speaking, all information about me should be highly classified. It wouldn't be surprising if you investigated my name and address, but where did you find out so many details?"

"Oh, someone sold you out."

Bang! At those words, a feeling of betrayal instantly surged into Ryoko's mind. She slammed her hands on the table and rose to her feet, then used the Body Flicker Technique to appear before Asuka. Grabbing him by the collar with both hands, she gritted her teeth and asked.

"Who was it?"

Seeing her nose nearly pressed against his face, Asuka leaned his head back and answered without hesitation.

"Ota."

"Hmph!"

Upon hearing Ota's name, Ryoko snorted coldly. She had vaguely suspected as much, but when she truly learned that her teammate had sold her out, it still hurt.

That bastard could sell her information now. Would he sell her to the enemy once they got to the battlefield?

"Actually, you don't need to be so angry. Just sell Ota's information to me, and wouldn't that make you even?"

"No."

Seeing her reject him, Asuka calmly pulled a scroll from his pants pocket. After toying with it in his hand for a moment, he said.

"You joined that place because you wanted to find a way to cure your son.

Bring him back from the hospital. I can cure that illness."

"Really?"

Hearing this, Ryoko stared at Asuka in disbelief.

Her two-year-old son had been lying in the hospital for more than a year because of an incurable illness.

Whenever she had spare time during that period, she would go to the hospital to keep him company. If not for the swelling in her cheeks being too difficult to explain, she would not have come home at all this time.

After a moment of silence, she placed her hand on the scroll Asuka offered, her voice trembling as she asked.

"R-Really?"

"More or less. If you can bring Tsunade here, she can cure him too."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Pass along some intelligence.

My dream is to know immediately whenever you adults change your underwear."

"Stop joking. There are seals in our mouths. How could we possibly reveal information about the higher-ups?"

"It's just a metaphor.

If you receive any missions concerning the Uchiha Clan in the future, you can secretly tell me."

Asuka rolled his eyes at her. Seeing Ryoko still staring at him with wariness, he could not help but say helplessly.

"Don't worry. I'm not interested in you, and I won't make you do anything dangerous. If you feel something I ask you to do is dangerous, just refuse.

And you don't need to worry about me using your son to threaten you.

Because I'll cure him first, so he can go to school, graduate, and take missions like a normal person."

Ryoko instantly fell silent at those words.

She had thought he would demand some harsh conditions, or perhaps harbor some improper thoughts toward her.

She had not expected him to place no restrictions on her at all. It even seemed as though he was deliberately helping her.

Looking into this Uchiha's clear eyes, Ryoko directly voiced the doubt in her heart.

"Why? Why are you helping me so much?"

Asuka shrugged. He picked up the tea on the table and took a sip before speaking casually.

"Because we live in the same village and have lived together for fifty-one years.

Without a conflict of interests, isn't it normal for people from the same village to help each other?

You know about the conflict between the Senju and the Uchiha. When Tsunade was still in Konoha, she cursed at the Uchiha and acted like she disliked us, but she also treated plenty of Uchiha patients.

A healer's heart is benevolent; with noble character, one practices the art of compassion.

No shame before heaven and earth, no shame before one's own heart."

Seeing the suspicion in her eyes, Asuka's mouth twitched, and he revealed his true purpose.

"Actually, my real reason for curing your son is to make sure that someday in the future, you remember this favor and pass along intelligence concerning the Uchiha Clan's future at a critical moment."

Was that really it?

Ryoko could not help doubting herself. She did not quite believe that an Uchiha would suddenly care about her just because she was a villager, but his stated purpose did not sound entirely genuine either.

Forget it.

As long as her son was cured, this guy would have no means of threatening her.

If he truly wanted her to do anything dangerous then, she could simply leave the shinobi ranks. She could repay the favor in her next life.

Meanwhile.

In the grass outside the room.

The Nara clanswoman was nearly dazzled by what she saw.

What had she just witnessed? Ryoko had actually controlled her shadow to violently grab another shadow by the collar, then press her face against the other shadow's and kiss it.

Hmm... After thinking it over, the Nara clanswoman roughly understood why Ryoko was angry.

Her husband had left behind a widow and orphan and gone alone to the Pure Land. She was probably feeling sad, and after suddenly creating her husband's shadow, she had lost control of herself for a moment.

Tsk, tsk!

Watching the two shadows pressed tightly together, the Nara clanswoman shook her head, rose to her feet, and prepared to leave.

She had never noticed before that Ryoko was such a devoted woman.

The clanswoman turned around and gave the two shadows in the room one last look. When she clearly saw the expression on the masculine shadow's face, the sentiment on her own face instantly froze.

She vigorously rubbed her eyes and stared at the scene inside in disbelief, muttering.

"Ryoko... Ryoko wants a 'happy life' that badly??

Creating a shadow was one thing, but she even created that.

Th-This..."

When she saw Ryoko's shadow, she fell completely silent.

The Nara clanswoman unconsciously reached out and grasped the air. Hmm. She felt nothing at all.

It seemed Ryoko was sick.

The next day, when the sky had only just brightened.

The Nara clanswoman who had crouched in the grass for half the night stepped out of her home with dark circles beneath her eyes. Looking at the red sun overhead, she muttered to herself.

"What does grasping the air even feel like? Why did I grasp it all night and feel nothing?"

"Naomi, what are you mumbling about so early in the morning?"

Hearing a familiar voice from behind, Naomi turned around. She weakly greeted the person behind her.

"Good morning, Sister."

"Naomi, what's wrong?"

"Sigh!"

After sighing, Naomi looked at the concern on her sister's face. She crooked a finger at her and whispered into her ear.

"Sister, I'll tell you a secret. Help me figure it out.

You can't go telling anyone else this secret. Only us sisters should know."

Seeing her younger sister's haggard face, she nodded, signaling for her to continue.

Naomi then described everything she had seen and heard the night before, as well as all her doubts, in complete detail.

"..."

After listening to Naomi's account, she unconsciously reached out and grasped the air too, a similarly bewildered expression appearing on her face.

This... there was no feeling. But seeing the curiosity in her sister's eyes, she patted Naomi on the shoulder and teased.

"You might understand that feeling once you find a boyfriend."

After saying that, she made an excuse and slipped away before Naomi could ask anything else.

Though she did not understand it either, her well-informed best friend surely would.

The sun hung high in the sky, and it was already noon.

Only then did Ryoko push open her door and take deep breaths of fresh air outside.

Last night had been the soundest sleep she had had in a year.

Her son's illness finally had hope.

"Good afternoon, Sister-in-law Yoshino."

After greeting the Clan Head's Wife passing by her door, Ryoko closed her eyes and began basking in the sunlight.

The last time she had sunbathed so leisurely and comfortably seemed to have been the year before last.

Nara Yoshino stood there blankly, her gaze turning complicated as she looked at Ryoko on the recliner.

She might not understand medicine, but she understood matters between men and women.

Ryoko's complexion was rosy and glowing, her mood seemed exceptionally pleasant, and she had no dark circles beneath her eyes. She must have slept extremely well last night. Moreover, that icy aura that kept everyone at arm's length had vanished from her body.

Could the rumor spreading through the clan this morning be true? Had the elegant widow's year of widowhood already come to an end?