Beauty Guards the Boudoir!

Uchiha Itachi drew three pairs of shuriken with a backhand motion, flinging them as he rapidly closed in on Ming Jing. After all, the Kurama Clan's weakness was obvious—their physical abilities were even worse than those of ordinary ninjutsu-type ninja!

Six shuriken came flying from different angles. Ming Jing calmly swung his longsword, parrying and thrusting to knock every one of them down. Uchiha Itachi had also reached him, gripping a kunai in each hand as he attacked from tricky angles.

"Illusion Technique: Beauty Guards the Boudoir!" Facing the kunai mere inches away, Ming Jing calmly uttered a few words. Uchiha Itachi suddenly felt his movements slow, and then his eyelids grew heavier and heavier...

At last, Uchiha Itachi could no longer hold on. His vision blurred as he asked with difficulty, "What... kind of illusion... is this...?"

Seeing Uchiha Itachi about to collapse, Ming Jing wrapped an arm around his slender waist to keep the little boy from falling to the ground.

"Young Master really is best at illusion techniques!" Tsukishiro Yuexi and Qing Yan walked over, Yuexi saying with a smile.

"This is a nice place, with mountains and water. Yuexi, let's have a picnic here!" Ming Jing smiled. Defeating six-year-old Uchiha Itachi was hardly anything remarkable. Before meeting Shisui, this child had merely been an unpolished gem. Only after Shisui's careful... ahem... polishing... no, that still sounded wrong... careful instruction did he become the nearly omnipotent Uchiha Itachi of the future!

"Okay." Tsukishiro Yuexi chose a level patch of ground and spread out the picnic cloth. Then she took out a scroll and released its seal. With a poof!, a huge pile of food appeared. Qing Yan took out another scroll, and with another poof!, a pile of exquisite tableware and delicate tea sets appeared as well!

"Ah... the ninja world is so convenient." Ming Jing sat on the cloth and said leisurely. He laid Uchiha Itachi flat beside him. The autumn sunlight shone over the little boy, seemingly coating him in gold.

After an unknown amount of time, Uchiha Itachi awoke from a pleasant sleep. He rubbed his eyes groggily, then abruptly remembered that he had been sparring with Ming Jing. Just as he was about to leap up, a hand caught him.

"Relax, we're having a picnic. Come try Qing Yan's grilled meat—it's great." Ming Jing held Uchiha Itachi's hand and spoke lazily. Only then did Uchiha Itachi realize that the secret training ground he had painstakingly chosen was now full of people. There was Izumi Uchiha, whose name he knew, as well as classmates and passersby whose names he did not. Even more outrageous, Ming Jing had set up dozens of tables here. Every table was laden with all kinds of delicious food, fruit, drinks, pastries, snacks, flour, and more—a dazzling variety of everything imaginable!

"Aha, Itachi, you're awake!" Izumi Uchiha noticed that Itachi had woken up and ran over with a plate in her hands. Smiling brightly, she said, "Ming Jing invited everyone to a gathering today. I never expected him to bring so much delicious food. Itachi, try this. It's called Red Bean Cake!" As she spoke, the little girl held out the plate. Several red pastries decorated with exquisite patterns rested on it, looking more like artworks than food.

Itachi hesitated for a moment, then picked one up and put it in his mouth. Before long, a pleased expression appeared on his face. He nodded to Izumi Uchiha. "Thank you. This is very good."

"Hehehe..." Izumi Uchiha smiled shyly. Somewhat nervous, she said, "There's even more delicious food over there. I'll get you some!" Without waiting for Itachi to refuse, she ran off to make her selection.

"What was that illusion called?" Itachi turned back and asked Ming Jing.

Ming Jing replied lazily, "With such a nice atmosphere, let's not ruin it by talking about fighting and killing!" But Itachi did not give up. He continued staring at Ming Jing with a stubborn look that said, I won't let this go until you answer me. Ming Jing rolled his eyes and said helplessly, "It's an illusion technique I developed to help me sleep better at night. It only has one effect: relieving fatigue and promoting sleep. It's called 'Beauty Guards the Boudoir.'"

"Beauty Guards the Boudoir..." Itachi murmured. Recalling the peaceful, warm sleep he had experienced earlier, he found that the name unexpectedly suited the technique!

Then he could not help shooting Ming Jing a skeptical look.

Could such a good name really have been coined by this fool? Yuexi must have revised it, right?

"You bastard! Just how useless do you think I am? I'm amazing at naming things, okay?!" Ming Jing was immediately enraged by Itachi's look. Naming things was what he had been proudest of in both his lives! Though the name "Beauty Guards the Boudoir" had come built into The Goose Illusionary Book...

"Mm, in a certain sense, that's true..." Itachi's expression turned slightly awkward as bad memories flooded back. "Dead Tsundere," "Super Brother-Con," "Uchiha Sasuke"—all those names had been coined by this bastard in front of him! Thinking that Sasuke might one day live in this world with the nickname "Uchiha Sasuke," Itachi actually felt a tiny bit happy! What was going on here?! He must have been infected by this fool in front of him, right? That had to be it!

At that moment, Qing Yan approached carrying several skewers of grilled meat. Ming Jing took them, sniffed them, and said with an intoxicated look, "This aroma is irresistible! Thanks, Qing Yan." He glanced at Itachi beside him and reluctantly separated out three skewers to hand over. "I can only give you three, no more. This is the most tender cut from a Leiman Barbarian Bull in the Land of Lightning! A Leiman Barbarian Bull only has around five pounds of meat like this, and with Qing Yan's skilled cooking... this is priceless and impossible to buy!"

"Sorry. I don't like grilled meat." Itachi shook his head.

Ming Jing immediately pulled them back with a delighted expression, though he said, "You should've said so earlier! I struggled over that in my heart for so long."

"Oh, really?! Then I'll make an exception this time!" Without another word, Itachi snatched the skewers from Ming Jing's hand and stuffed them into his mouth. Chewing, he said unclearly, "Mm... it really is delicious!"

"Ah!!! Damn Itachi! You're dead! You're really dead this time! I'll never coexist under the same sky as you!"

"Hmph!"

After dining with his classmates, a long-lost smile appeared on Uchiha Itachi's face. But when he returned home, his father, Fugaku Uchiha, was sitting in the hall with a stern expression.

"Father." Uchiha Itachi put away his smile and called out from the doorway.

"Come in." Fugaku Uchiha called coldly. Itachi entered and sat on his knees before Fugaku Uchiha.

"From now on, you are not allowed to associate with the Kurama Clan." After saying that, Fugaku Uchiha rose and left, never intending to give Itachi a chance to speak. Itachi remained kneeling in the hall, head lowered so that no one could see his expression.

Mikoto Uchiha stood outside holding Uchiha Sasuke, watching her eldest son with concern. Unfortunately, this was the Uchiha Clan. She had no right to speak.

"Waaahhh..." Just then, Uchiha Sasuke in Mikoto Uchiha's arms suddenly began to cry. Mikoto Uchiha hurriedly patted Uchiha Sasuke gently while soothing him in a soft voice.

"Mother." While Mikoto Uchiha was flustered, Itachi came over. He extended one finger and waved it before Sasuke's eyes. Uchiha Sasuke was immediately drawn to Itachi's finger and stopped crying.

Seeing this, Mikoto Uchiha immediately handed Sasuke to Itachi and said helplessly, "You two brothers really are close! As soon as Itachi comes over, Sasuke stops fussing."

"Sasuke is very well-behaved." Itachi looked at Sasuke, his gaze filled with tenderness and affection.

"Itachi, don't blame your father. He must have his reasons for doing this." Seeing Itachi amusing Sasuke, Mikoto Uchiha thought for a moment before speaking.

Itachi's movements paused, and Sasuke seized his finger. Uchiha Sasuke immediately beamed with delight. Itachi was infected by Sasuke's smile as well, and he nodded. "Don't worry, Mother. I understand."

"Ha... it's wonderful that Itachi understands. I've decided—we'll make a lavish dinner tonight!" Mikoto Uchiha revealed a gentle smile and clenched her fist, as though encouraging herself.

"Lavish! Lavish!" Sasuke, who understood nothing, joined in the cheering.

"No matter how lavish it is, you won't be able to eat much." Mikoto Uchiha pinched Sasuke's soft little cheek and said with a smile.