As soon as Yahiko finished speaking, three options appeared in Hyuga Bin's mind.
[Option A: Refuse Yahiko's request and say to Yahiko: "Don't worry, you won't die." Completion reward: Shinra Tensei (S-rank reward).] [Option B: Say to Yahiko: "Don't overthink it. You're being too negative. Just let many things take their natural course." Completion reward: Fire Release—Great Fireball Technique (C-rank reward).] [Option C: Say to Yahiko: "If that day really comes, I'll take good care of Konan and Nagato for you." Completion reward: Random Attribute Points +0.1.]
"If that day really comes, I'll take good care of Konan and Nagato for you." Hyuga Bin spoke to Yahiko solemnly.
[Option mission complete. Energy +0.1.]
He did not say that merely to complete the mission. It was also a promise to Yahiko.
He was a Konoha ninja. He could not stay by Yahiko and the other two's side forever just because they were good friends.
He had his own life, things he had to do, and a home of his own.
All he could do now was remind Yahiko to be more careful in the future.
Then, while carrying out missions as a Konoha ninja, he could see whether the butterfly effect of certain events might alter the original plot to some extent and prevent Yahiko's tragic death.
According to the original plot's progression, Madara Uchiha would make his move against Uchiha Obito in a few months.
He had to protect Uchiha Obito on the battlefield and give it everything he had.
And protecting Uchiha Obito had a high chance of affecting the fates of Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato.
As long as Uchiha Obito was not captured by Madara Uchiha, he would not impersonate Madara Uchiha, nor would he encounter Yahiko and the other two.
Under the butterfly effect of all this, the future would very likely become vastly different.
Following the original plot out of fear that changing it would make the later events unpredictable was not something a true transmigrator should do.
"Bin-kun, thank you." Yahiko bowed to Hyuga Bin.
He knew that, just like the words Hyuga Bin had spoken four years ago, once he promised something, he would definitely do it.
"Yahiko-kun, although I agreed to this, I hope I never get the chance to take care of them for you."
"Yeah."
Three in the afternoon.
Yahiko, already an hour past his lunch break, threw himself back into his tense work.
Nagato Uzumaki was still moving bricks...
Hyuga Bin could only go find Konan.
After circling the settlement, he finally spotted Konan's back in a small room behind the kitchen.
"Minister Konan." Hyuga Bin greeted Konan's back.
Konan turned around, looking at Hyuga Bin with some confusion. "Bin-kun, why are you calling me that?"
"Isn't Konan-kun the minister in charge of logistics? There's nothing wrong with calling you Minister Konan." Hyuga Bin explained with a smile.
Hyuga Bin had once watched a movie called <Two Days and One Night on a Business Trip with the Minister, I Was... All Night>, and he had liked it very much.
Konan already had a cool, aloof look, stood at 1.7 meters tall, and had a pair of long legs.
With a little dressing up and a suit, she could absolutely be called a top-tier female minister, the kind who could ** all night.
"But I'm not your minister." Konan smiled as she rejected the title.
Although Hyuga Bin's explanation was reasonable, she still felt that something about it was strange.
"Minister is an honorific. It doesn't necessarily have to be used for a superior."
"If it's an honorific, then you'd be better off calling me Konan Onee-chan." Konan tried to bait Hyuga Bin instead.
Though she was a few years older than Hyuga Bin, he would not lose out by calling her big sister.
"No." Hyuga Bin immediately refused with righteous indignation. "Who would've thought, Konan-kun? I treat you as a friend, but you want to be my big sister?"
"Hahaha... Bin-kun, where did you learn all these strange things?" Konan burst into laughter at Hyuga Bin's words and the tone he used.
"Of course, I was just speaking from the heart." Hyuga Bin walked over to Konan's side. "But are you busy right now?"
"I'm calculating last month's income and expenses."
As the logistics minister, Konan managed the entire organization's finances. This also laid the groundwork for her later use of Six Hundred Billion Explosive Tags to blow up Uchiha Obito.
"Do you need my help?" Hyuga Bin was quite confident in his math.
"No, I'm almost done." Konan shook her head. "I know Yahiko and Nagato don't have time to keep you company. Sit and wait for me a bit, then I'll take you out for a walk."
"Is there anywhere around here worth visiting?" Hyuga Bin was a little puzzled.
He had just seen that the surroundings were nothing but mountains and books, pure "nature," with not much worth seeing.
"I'll take you to see the place where we used to live. Then we'll catch a couple of fish in the little river nearby, and I'll make grilled fish for you. How does that sound?" Konan had already arranged the next steps of their barbecue.
"Then I'll be looking forward to Konan-kun's grilled fish."
Hyuga Bin was naturally happy to accept. He sat quietly beside Konan and waited for her to finish.
Ten minutes later, Konan stopped working. "All right, let's go."
"Okay." Hyuga Bin followed behind Konan. After leaving the settlement and walking for nearly an hour, they finally arrived outside a dilapidated little wooden house.
"We haven't come back here even once since we left." Looking at the little wooden house that was about to collapse, Konan suddenly felt an inexplicable sadness.
Besides accompanying Hyuga Bin for fun today, she also wanted to look again at those beautiful memories from the past.
She had barely finished speaking when she saw Hyuga Bin raise his hand and punch through a tree.
She did not know why Hyuga Bin had done that and asked, "Bin-kun, what are you doing?"
"Reinforcing the house, so it doesn't collapse in a couple of years. Maybe one day in the future, you'll want to come back and see it together." Hyuga Bin smiled at Konan.
He understood the feeling of beautiful memories, because he also had such memories.
The land he deeply loved, the motherland he deeply loved, and the girl he had once deeply loved.
But he could not go back.
(I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, but sometimes I recall the wonderful times from childhood—lying in a field of grass, feeling the breeze, basking in the sun... Now that I'm already sixteen, I really feel that life is so exhausting.)
Before you continue