An Anchor

Watching Hyuga Yue's figure, Yei smiled and said, "Your Gentle Fist is becoming more and more refined. Looks like you've put in a lot of effort lately."

Seeing Yei arrive, Hyuga Yue stopped what she was doing. A delighted look flashed through her pale eyes. "You're back?"

Yei nodded slightly. "Yeah, I'm back."

Hyuga Yue activated her Byakugan and looked Yei over from head to toe. When she saw his injuries, distress flashed through her eyes. "How could you be so careless? You're hurt too? Come over, I'll treat you."

Because he had been in a hurry to return to the village, Yei's previous injuries had not fully healed. They were especially obvious under Hyuga Yue's Byakugan.

"Injuries are unavoidable. It's nothing serious." Yei shook his head, not paying much attention to them. With Super Regeneration, he would recover quickly as long as he had a little time.

"You can't be careless even with minor injuries. Otherwise, they could easily become chronic problems..." Hyuga Yue shot Yei a reproachful glare, then stepped forward and took his hand, guiding him to sit down. Pale green Chakra swirled around her fair hands and spread over Yei's body as she began treating him.

Yei did not resist and simply let Hyuga Yue do as she pleased. Blinking, he said, "Isn't that why I have you? With you here, I can fight without any worries holding me back!"

Feeling his injuries slowly heal under Hyuga Yue's hands, Yei could not help but sigh. Medical Ninjutsu really was useful.

Maybe I should study it... Yei thought as he activated Observation Haki and began examining it closely.

Although he now possessed the bug-like recovery ability of Super Regeneration, he was still somewhat interested in Medical Ninjutsu.

"I'm only an ordinary medical Genin. If your injuries were more serious, I wouldn't be able to treat them..." Hyuga Yue withdrew her hands and shook her head somewhat dejectedly. Her talent was not particularly strong. Most of her peers had already become Chunin, while she was still only a Genin.

Yei understood what she was thinking. He patted her little hand and said, "You've already helped me a great deal. If it weren't for you, I might have died on the battlefield when my state of mind was unstable back then."

"And every time I've been injured, you were the one who treated me. You and Aunt Yami are the most important people in my heart. If you weren't there, I wouldn't have been able to hold on until now."

Yei was not merely trying to comfort Hyuga Yue. It was the truth. In this world, Hyuga Yue and Aunt Yami were his most important family.

They were also an anchor for his soul!

"You're always so good at comforting people. But as your strength grows, I'll be able to help you less and less. I don't want that." Hyuga Yue's gaze became determined. She wanted to grow stronger. She was Yei's fiancée; she wanted to help him and stand at his side!

So, she had to work even harder. Even if her talent was lacking, as long as she trained diligently, one day she would become strong!

As if sensing Hyuga Yue's resolve, Yei froze for a moment. But he had long known that she was a strong girl. Then he smiled. "Don't worry, I won't leave you behind. If you want to become stronger, then I'll become stronger with you!"

"The war is almost over now, so I'll guide your training. But I won't go easy on you, so you'd better prepare yourself mentally!" Yei put on a stern face and spoke in a serious tone.

Hearing that, Hyuga Yue's expression also turned serious. "I won't give up!"

Yei nodded. "Good. During this time, I'll help you with special training. You still don't know Eight Trigrams Palm, right? We'll start there!"

"Okay!"

"Hm? Call me Teacher!"

"No!"

"No, you have to call me Teacher!"

"Hmph! Then I'm not learning!"

"Haha..."

The two began to playfully bicker.

Aunt Yami had originally been standing by the side door, intending to call them to eat. But after seeing this scene, she merely smiled. "Those two little ones really are close..."

After Yei and Hyuga Yue finished fooling around, they did not forget to eat. Only after finishing their meal in the kitchen did they begin training in the practice ground.

Elsewhere, in the Hokage's Office, the Fourth Hokage frowned slightly as he listened to Kakashi's report. "You're saying the Three-Tails has revived?"

The Fourth Hokage knew about Rin Nohara. He knew that her death was inseparably linked to the Three-Tails.

After Rin Nohara died, the Three-Tails that had been within her also died and dispersed. There had been no news of it afterward.

However, he knew that Mist had continued to monitor developments in this regard.

After all, ever since the Sengoku era, the Three-Tails had belonged to Mist.

Still, he had not expected Kakashi's mission this time to involve a tailed beast...

Kakashi nodded. "If the Three-Tails hadn't suddenly revived, Yei, who stayed behind to cover our retreat, might not have made it back."

Of course, that was only an excuse Yei had made. Even if the Three-Tails had not revived, Yei could have retreated unscathed.

But using the Three-Tails as an excuse made things seem more plausible. Yei also did not want to expose too much of his strength.

With Shisui, an Uchiha Clan member possessing the Mangekyo, setting such an impressive example by easily suppressing Biwa Juzo and Suikazan Fuguki, two of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, the mission might have been even easier if Shisui had not been so young and unable to bear the burden of the Mangekyo!

Therefore, even though Yei had performed well on this mission, killing several Mist Jonin as well as Biwa Juzo, he did not appear all that conspicuous!

At the very least, compared to Shisui, who possessed the Mangekyo and displayed overwhelming combat power, Yei still fell somewhat short!

The same was true for Kakashi and Asuma. During this mission, they had all been overshadowed by Shisui!

"You've only just returned. Go rest and recover first." The Fourth Hokage nodded to Kakashi, telling him to go recuperate properly.

He then picked up the dossier in his hand and began reading it.

"Yes, Teacher!" Kakashi gave a salute, then vanished in a flash and left the Hokage Administration Building.

"The Uchiha Clan's Mangekyo... Shisui Uchiha... I truly didn't expect another Mangekyo Sharingan to emerge from the Uchiha Clan..."

"And Hyuga Yei performed well this time too. Talents from the great ninja clans really do emerge one after another..."

"Mist will definitely make a move over the appearance of the Three-Tails. But the Three-Tails is universally acknowledged to belong to Mist, so Konoha cannot intervene easily. Besides, even if we rushed over now, we would already be too late. After all, Mist is the closest..."

"During this mission, Kakashi and the others killed quite a few Mist shinobi. The Fourth Mizukage may use this to make some demands. But there was a reason for it, so it should not cause much trouble—unless he intends to keep pressing the matter..."

The Fourth Hokage looked at the intelligence dossier in his hand and muttered to himself.