Kuyashi!

The moment Yukie stepped through the door, Sahara Mizu noticed the faint white star point that had appeared above her head.

However, it wasn't until he stared at it for a while that the corresponding text appeared on the blank panel before him.

Clearly, this was the channel for obtaining "Heart Points"!

When he focused his consciousness on it, the detailed content immediately unfolded.

"Sahara's Book of Friends"

"Sahara Yukie's Heart Knot (Shallow Layer)"

"Details: Lately, Mizu seems to be hiding something from me.?"

The instant he saw those details, Sahara Mizu, who had been floating on the high of finally discovering a way to use the cheat, suddenly tensed up all over.

His smile, which had looked fairly natural a moment ago, slowly and imperceptibly fell under the instinct of his undercover agent training, the muscles in his face going slightly slack.

Years of experience in deep cover drove his thoughts straight to the most dangerous possibility.

'Has she gotten suspicious?'

In that moment, a fierce survival instinct and his undercover reflexes spurred him into rapid thinking, frantically digging through recent events to find where he had slipped up—enough for even a rookie like Yukie to notice something off about him.

But no matter how hard he searched, he couldn't find a single flaw.

The more he failed, the less he could calm down, cold sweat breaking out on his back.

How could this be?

Had I really been that careless lately?

Had others noticed something too?

Was the Anbu already onto me?

Sahara Mizu's heartbeat slowed more and more, various contingency plans flashing through his mind at lightning speed as he traced every possibility and escape route from the village.

Until Yukie called out in confusion:

"Onii-san?"

He snapped back to reality.

Before he could speak, Sahara Yukie had already stood on tiptoe, reaching up to press her hand against his forehead, puzzled. "Were you overdoing it with chakra refinement just now?"

"Your face is as pale as snow right now, and your temperature is ice-cold."

"Mmm, you're not catching a cold, are you?"

The girl grew increasingly worried about his condition.

Sahara Mizu quickly steadied himself, letting her small hands grope around his face as usual, while speaking casually: "Don't worry, it's nothing."

"I'll be fine after a good night's sleep."

"Perfect timing then." Yukie smiled at that. "Since you can't practice anyway, come down and eat dinner!"

"The sukiyaki was almost going to waste."

"Speaking of which—"

Sahara Mizu paused slightly, his blue eyes fixed straight on the girl before him, and said calmly: "Yukie-chan, there's something you should be telling me, isn't there?"

"Huh?"

Sahara Yukie blinked in surprise.

Watching his 'little sister's' dazed expression, Sahara Mizu softened his tone as much as possible, blurring all specific references in his words to guide the conversation: "Actually, I noticed it a while ago."

"Even Yukie, knowing something like this, must be pretty troubled, right?"

"Or maybe, at a loss?"

"..."

Hearing this, Sahara Yukie was taken aback.

She looked up to see Sahara Mizu staring at her intently with those sharp, glinting eyes, and couldn't help but avert her gaze slightly.

Noticing the girl's small movement, Sahara Mizu couldn't help but brace his heart inwardly, letting out a silent sigh.

No one is a saint.

Even if you raised a dog, after a few years together, you'd grow attached—let alone a living person.

Even though Sahara Mizu had rehearsed countless scenarios of exposure in his ten years of living in fear, now that the day had truly come, he still felt a sense of unpreparedness.

Anyway, first try to turn her.

If that fails, subdue her quickly, tie her up at home to buy time.

If escape isn't possible...

In a flash, his mind involuntarily conjured up the gruesome scene of himself enduring thirty-six lashes, seventy-two tortures, and a hundred and eight interrogation methods.

Gulp.

Just as Sahara Mizu had braced himself for the worst, Sahara Yukie, lips pressed together, suddenly spoke in a low voice:

"Mizu must have his own reasons, right?"

"Was it for money? Or was he forced?"

"."

"Actually, I found out by accident too."

"When Mizu was meeting that person."

Sahara Yukie's voice grew quieter and quieter, but the tone still carried a barely suppressed tremor, a painful effort to hold back.

Sahara Mizu's mind abruptly flashed to the scene of his Shadow Clone meeting Karatachi Yagura on the rooftop during the day.

Damn it, that shouldn't be possible?

He'd checked carefully.

Even forcing himself to stay calm, his heartbeat raced faster and faster, his speech slowed, yet his whole body was like a coiled spring, ready to snap at any moment.

"That person?"

"That's right!"

Sahara Yukie suddenly lifted her head, her voice almost grief-stricken:

"That Uchiha Woman who looked really rich!"

Sahara Mizu, waiting as if for a verdict, felt his old waist suddenly wobble the moment the girl spoke.

"Huh?"

"You're still pretending, I saw it all!" Sahara Yukie pressed on relentlessly, her small face tense like a housewife who'd caught her husband cheating, furious and flustered, "Mizu, when you got off work the night before last, you met a long-haired, really pretty Uchiha Woman, didn't you!"

"That awful Cheating Cat!"

"And Mizu! Secretly finding a girlfriend, even though we promised when we were little that we'd get married when we grew up."

"Although I know Mizu is about that age now, but."

"."

Sahara Mizu quietly listened to Miss Yukie's nonstop chatter, his mind gradually going blank.

He abruptly shifted from extreme tension to complete relaxation, his whole body like a balloon pricked by a needle.

Pfft, all the air leaked out everywhere.

As for which Uchiha Woman Yukie was talking about, he couldn't recall at all, but there was no need to remember.

At that moment, he suddenly felt a deep sense of relief from the bottom of his heart.

It was such a good thing Sahara Yukie had a love-obsessed brain.

But besides his hopping-mad little sister, his newly activated System Sister also started spouting nonsense.

"Kuyashi~! (How frustrating)"

"The big brother who once promised to live together forever now has another woman outside. If this is tolerable, what isn't?"

"As the little sister who's both childhood friend, sudden arrival, and wife, Sahara Yukie has a battle she absolutely cannot lose!"

"Yah! That woman knocked her big brother to his knees, she must be forcing him back home!"

"Mizu is something that belongs to Yukie alone~"

System Sister was thoroughly enjoying herself, her tone getting unhinged, spouting one lewd line after another, as if all her processing power was being wasted on weird directions, with zero sense of boundaries.

Sahara Mizu gradually regained his composure, facing the fuming Miss Yukie with a helpless tone:

"That's not true."

Sahara Yukie still kept her small face stern, wary: "I don't believe you! A few days ago, Mizu came home so late and still insisted on going to the training ground to practice Ninjutsu—that was obviously a date!"

Sahara Mizu's expression froze.

To take down that last good boss who'd forced him to work, he'd spent quite a bit of time, and it was expected that someone close would notice.

He just hadn't expected it to be pointed out from this angle.

Still, it wasn't without a solution.

With his cheat, he could finally be a bit more reckless in many things than before.

"Since Yukie says that, let me show you a little of your big brother's training results!" Sahara Mizu put his hands on his hips, suddenly putting on a rather proud look.

"Huh?" Sahara Yukie looked skeptical, "Did Mizu learn other Ninjutsu besides the family's few Water Release techniques?"

"Exactly that."

Sahara Mizu said, raising one hand toward Yukie.

"Heeey~!"

Originally, Sahara Yukie thought her big brother was just blowing a small boast to save face.

But before she could look away, she saw a sudden brilliance flicker in Sahara Mizu's eyes, gleaming like starlight.

The next moment.

"Hmm—"

A spiral of Chakra burst forth from the center of the young man's palm, spinning at high speed as it converged inward, wavering until finally forming a perfect sphere of Chakra.

The air stirred by the surging Chakra created a wind current in the cramped room, ruffling the girl's temple hair and the hem of her light skirt.

Everything in the room seemed to resonate with the rotation of that tiny sphere.

The curtains swayed.

Yet the girl appeared completely oblivious to all of this, her blue eyes locked onto the Chakra sphere in Sahara Mizu's palm, utterly unable to look away.

Even as a freshly graduated Genin, Sahara Yukie could immediately recognize the difficulty of developing this Hand Seal-less Ninjutsu and the terrifying destructive power contained within that mass of Chakra.

An unprecedented high-level jutsu?!

Almost instinctively, Sahara Yukie asked eagerly:

"Mizu!"

"What's the name of this jutsu?"

Sahara Mizu mimicked the tone of most ordinary young people in Konoha, speaking lightly with a hint of pride, a smile on his face:

"This jutsu is called the Rasengan."

"It's a powerful technique developed by a super genius."

Sahara Yukie stared at this never-before-seen jutsu and finally believed everything Mizu had said before.

As everyone knew, the development cycle for a jutsu was measured in years at the very least.

If that was the case, then all her previous doubts were naturally baseless.

It was only at this moment that the girl fully relaxed, her blue eyes brimming with uncontrollable excitement as she looked up at her older brother and exclaimed in delight:

"Mizu! I want this!"

Sahara Mizu's smile remained gentle:

"Want to learn?"

"I'll teach you."

The moment his words fell.

On the previously blank panel, a corresponding prompt appeared.

"Sahara Yukie's Shallow Heart Knot (Completed)"
"Heart Points +1"
"Sahara's Book of Friends: Character 'Sahara Yukie' Collected"
"Bond Level Increased ↑"
"Sahara Yukie Bond Level: Three → Four"

At the sight of that prompt, the worry that had been weighing on Sahara Mizu's heart finally settled.

For a transmigrator, as long as there was a cheat, what was there to fear?

After fifteen whole years in this world, he finally had a thread of reliance.

As the system panel automatically closed.

Sahara Mizu didn't notice—or rather, couldn't notice—that on the fully closed panel, different path options silently appeared, scrolling past like a waterfall of data streams.

"Ultimate Bond Path 1: Battle at the Entrance"
"Mizu, you said you'd love me forever, right? Because Onii-san is a treasure that belongs only to me. So I'll give you everything too."

"Ultimate Bond Path 2: Rooftop"
"Hey, Onii-san. You saw it all, didn't you? This weird guy, out of nowhere, suddenly said something about already having a child. Look! Her belly, isn't it completely empty?"
"Mizu? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Ultimate Bond Path 3: Corpse and Snake"
"If from today onward, you turn into a snake, spreading poison and devouring people, luring mortal hearts with sweet words until they willingly become nourishment. But then, as you turn away, still with that blood-soaked maw, you roar out 'Love me'—then can I truly answer your voice? Is this heavy love real enough?"
"When? Why did you become an Undercover Agent? Why. Of all people, Mizu?"
"Enough. With my brother dead, I have no heart to distinguish right from wrong anymore. Someone has to pay. Don't walk too fast. Wait for me down below, Mizu."

"Ultimate Bond Path 4: ."
"Worldline Undetermined"
"Bond Calculation Continuing ing"

I submitted the contract yesterday. The status should change in a day or two. After signing, I'll start updating two chapters a day, 4-5k words. Remember to bookmark and vote~