Gathering at Kumogakure

"Asuka!"

A soft, adorable voice came from overhead. Then, a round Orange Cat head suddenly appeared in Asuka's field of vision.

It first glanced around. Seeing that the other ninjas were either focused on traveling or lost in thought, with no one paying attention here, it pressed close to Asuka's ear and whispered, "Did you really drug them?"

Asuka's body stiffened at those words. His gaze swiftly swept over the surroundings before he let out a long breath and lowered his voice. "I can't believe you held that in for so long. You actually waited two days before asking about it."

"Hey!" The Orange Cat scratched its head, a distinctly humanlike embarrassment appearing on its face.

It had wanted to ask long ago, but because of certain special circumstances, it had not dared to speak up in the village.

Whoosh! Asuka lightly tapped off a tree branch, instantly shooting more than ten meters ahead. At the same time, the sounds of air being torn apart rang out intermittently around him as countless dark figures darted through the forest like monkeys.

"This actually had nothing to do with me!" he explained as he traveled. "It was Uchiha Mikoto. Back then, she went to Yu Yan for advice about a psychological issue and told her she kept dreaming about someone. Yu Yan thought she wanted to remarry, so she gave her a different medicine."

Learning that Asuka had not drugged them himself, Fei Fei secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Then its fur bristled as it said indignantly, "Uchiha Mikoto didn't even come to see us off. That woman who pulls up her skirt and denies everything just vanished over the past two days."

Asuka fell silent for a moment, recalling the fleeting glimpse he had caught while passing the village entrance.