The Gap

After Ming Jing's group returned to Konoha, Mirai and Karin quietly brought Itachi and Izumi back to the Kurama Clan's grounds. Yakumo, whose mind had been traumatized earlier, returned home with Shikouin to rest after obtaining Uzuki Yugao's permission.

Only after Ming Jing and Hinata were the only ones left did Uzuki Yugao look at Ming Jing and say, "The person who was being treated in the carriage was a very important companion of yours, wasn't he?"

"I'm sorry." Ming Jing nodded, saying apologetically, "To prevent information from leaking, I could only do this."

"Are you going to erase my memories?" Uzuki Yugao frowned. After all, no one liked having their memories tampered with. Suddenly, she blinked, and when she looked at Ming Jing again, there was an extra trace of guilt in her eyes. Then, Uzuki Yugao lowered her head and said, "Sorry. I failed to protect Yakumo and let her get hurt."

"As a ninja, getting hurt is inevitable. I don't blame you." Ming Jing gently comforted Uzuki Yugao. After soothing the beautiful jonin and seeing her off, he turned to look at Hinata behind him and asked with a helpless smile, "Do you think I'm despicable? She clearly did nothing wrong, yet I altered her memories."

"S-so... Shino and Kiba had their memories reconstructed too?" Hinata looked at Ming Jing, her voice trembling slightly.

Ming Jing hesitated, then ultimately chose to admit it. "The same as Yugao-senpai."

Hinata's breathing caught. Her pure white eyes looked bravely at Ming Jing, as though she were waiting for something.

Ming Jing walked up to Hinata and gently pulled the girl into his arms. Rubbing his cheek against her soft, flowing hair, he said somewhat indistinctly, "There's a reason I did it. The information that Itachi might still be alive absolutely