Yakushi Nonō stared at the scene reflected on the water.
The painful and familiar eyes behind the young man's lenses, and his own hollow, numb face, as if wearing a stiff mask!
An indescribable pain that could tear apart the soul exploded from the deepest part of the heart!
It's a hundred times more painful than being penetrated by Chakra Scalpel in a dream! A thousand times more painful!
That is not physical pain, it is the severe pain of the soul being stripped of its most precious part!
"Kabuto-.-·Kabuto-.-??
A broken, incredibly trembling and desperate call was forced out from the depths of her throat.
Tears were like a flood bursting out of a dam, gushing out in an instant and washing over her face, which was as pale as paper and covered with wrinkles.
She suddenly raised her skinny hands and covered her mouth tightly, trying to block the heart-rending scream that was about to break through her throat.
It was as if all the bones had been removed from the body and could no longer be supported.
Her knees softened and she knelt down heavily on the cold and smooth Starry Water Surface.
In the reflection, the figure of the prisoner with tears streaming down his face, the "stand-in" boy who watched tenderly in the photo provided by Danzo in her memory, and the "Kabuto" figure in her dream whose heart was pierced by her own hands, overlapped, twisted, and shattered crazily in the blur of tears...
Cold tears fell on the mirror-like water, creating ripples of despair that spread silently, as if they were going to swallow this piece of Starry Domain together.
"You are very lucky." Asura's voice was vague and gradually dissipated.
The illusion space was shattered, and Yakushi Nonō fell back into the dark cell of 7th Detention District.
The dampness of the stone wall, the dullness of despair, and the sharp pain of her soul being extinguished from those empty eyes were gnawing at her all the time.
The cruel truth about Starry Water Surface, like a red-hot iron, opened an unbridgeable hole in her chaotic memory barrier. Danzo's conspiracy, the substitute's lies, and -
She was so far away that she could not recognize her child!
The huge self-blame and the hope that was lost and recovered, mixed with fear, set off turbulent waves in her depleted inner lake, causing her to huddle on the cold stone bed and spend a sleepless night.
In the early morning, the cold air that smelled of mold and disinfectant, unique to the prison area, did not arrive as expected.
The heavy iron door was slowly opened with a creaking sound, and there was no harsh scolding from the guard.
The light is not the dim oil lamp in the corridor, but the cool, natural morning light.
Uchiha Hikari stood at the door.
She was still wearing the simple blue turtleneck uniform, outlining a slender but powerful figure.
Her long, crow-feather-like hair falls down, making her complexion fairer and fairer.
She just stood there quietly, but her whole body exuded an invisible and palpitating sense of oppression, as if even the thick atmosphere of despair in the prison area was isolated from her.
"Come out." Her voice was cold and concise, like ice beads falling on a jade plate, without any command, but with undoubted power.
Yakushi Nonō trembled all over and raised his head blankly.
Her withered face still had traces of tears and the exhaustion of a sleepless night, and her once empty brown eyes seemed to have been thrown into stagnant water with stones, filled with surprise, fear and a faint hope.
She subconsciously clutched the thin and worn-out prison uniform on her body, her body stiffened, and she didn't know how to react for a moment.
Uchiha Hikari didn't urge her, just waited quietly, his dark jade-like eyes looking at her calmly.
After a few breaths, Yakushi Nonō moved out of bed stiffly and slowly like a puppet on strings.
When your feet touch the cold ground, you feel a sense of emptiness.
She lowered her head, not daring to look into those black eyes.
Because she knew that the person opposite was Uchiha Clan, but she didn't know why Uchiha Clan appeared here.
Yakushi Nonō followed Uchiha Hikari obediently, without using the lock, and just followed her out of the prison.
I didn't see any guards along the way.
Uchiha Hikari took her, as if passing through an invisible barrier, and walked directly on a passage leading to the ground, where the light gradually became brighter.
The sun is getting more and more dazzling, bringing with it a long-lost warmth,
Yakushi Nonō subconsciously raised his hand to cover himself, and followed Uchiha Hikari in a somewhat kneeling step.
When she finally adapted to the light and put down her hands, she found herself standing in a small and quiet courtyard.
The courtyard is small, paved with bluestone slabs, and a few green bamboo clumps are planted in the corners, making a soft rustling sound in the morning breeze.
The air is filled with the fresh smell of soil and vegetation, which is completely different from the filthy despair of the prison area.
The sun shines through the gaps in the bamboo leaves, casting mottled and swaying light and shadow on the corridor.
A short figure was facing away from her, sitting on the verandah, seeming to be fiddling with something.
He has short black spiky hair, wears a black shirt and dark shorts, and his back has the unique childishness of a child.
Yakushi Nonō's heart skipped a beat, and an indescribable sadness instantly surged to the tip of his nose.
Why is this back so familiar? "Menma." Uchiha Hikari's cold voice broke the tranquility of the courtyard.
The little figure turned its head upon hearing the sound.
It is the original body of Uzumaki Menma.
The face of a five-year-old child has a depth and calmness that is completely inconsistent with his age.
He looked at Yakushi Nonō, his eyes were complex, probing, scrutinizing, and also had a hint of gentleness that was not easy to detect.
"Sister Guang." Menma's voice was clear and childish, but her tone was unusually calm.
He stood up and turned his gaze to Yakushi Nonō. There was no surprise in those black eyes, as if he had anticipated her arrival. Yakushi Nonō's breathing stopped instantly.
She looked at Menma, then suddenly looked at Uchiha Hikari, her eyes filled with incredible shock and confusion.
Menma?
Why is the child she is most worried about here?
And he looks so familiar with Uchiha Hikari?
This is the hinterland of Land of Stars, surrounded by Hoshinin. The house here must belong to the high-rise Hoshinin. Why does Menma-
What the hell is going on?
Uchiha Hikari doesn't seem to intend to explain.
She just nodded slightly at Yakushi Nonō, and her voice was still cold. "The people are here."
After saying that, she turned around, and her figure disappeared silently into the courtyard like a shadow blending into the sunlight, as if she had never appeared before.
Only the cool air in the courtyard and the faint feeling of alienation belonging to Uchiha were left.
There were only two people left in the courtyard, Yakushi Nonō and Menma.
The sun is warm and the bamboo shadows are swaying, but they cannot dispel the turbulent waves in Yakushi Nonō's heart.
She looked at the little boy in front of her happily, her memory of Menma still lingering on before she left Orphanage and went to Land of Earth to perform her mission two years ago.
The child in her memory overlapped and conflicted crazily with the child in front of her, making her almost unable to think.
"Dean, come here and have something to eat." Menma motioned to Yakushi Nonō to come over and sit down together. Opposite him was a simple food box.
He opened the lid and found simple rice balls, sushi and a pot of tea inside.
Yakushi Nonō walked over slowly.
"I know you have a lot of questions, but Kabuto will be here soon." Menma pushed the food box in the direction of Yakushi Nonō. His little face showed no expression, but his tone was calm.
"He has agreed to join the organization. His loyalty has been exchanged for the dean's safety."
"Kabuto--?" Yakushi Nonō murmured the name repeatedly, as if his heart was tightly squeezed by an invisible hand.
The scene on Starry Water Surface last night, where the severe pain hidden in the boy's eyes while distributing food, clearly hurt her again.
Join an organization?
Allegiance to Asura?
In exchange for her life?
The huge sorrow and self-blame instantly overwhelmed her, and tears filled her eyes uncontrollably again.
At this moment, the door to the courtyard entrance was pushed open.
A figure rushed in hurriedly.
It's Yakushi Kabuto.
He was still wearing the Hoshigakure dark blue Genin uniform and round-rimmed glasses, but his face no longer had the gentleness and calmness he deliberately maintained on weekdays.
His hair was a little messy, his breathing was rapid, and his eyes behind the lenses were bloodshot, filled with unconcealable eagerness and fear.
Like a searchlight, his gaze instantly locked onto the figure sitting on the verandah with Menma in the center of the courtyard.
Time seems to have frozen.
Kabuto's steps suddenly stopped, as if he was nailed to the spot.
He stared at Yakushi Nonō, his chest heaving violently, and his lips moving silently, as if he wanted to call for something, but no sound came out.
The look in his eyes was filled with the great joy of regaining something, the guilt deep in his bones, and a child-like fragile fear that what he saw before him was just an phantom.
Yakushi Nonō also looked at him with assurance.
A few steps away, and through Kabuto's pair of round glasses, she looked directly into those eyes so clearly and unimpeded for the first time.
Those eyes that always had a gentle smile and a hint of timidity were filled with pain and hope at this moment, but they were still the same eyes in her memory that she had raised countless times while studying hard under the Orphanage light, and when she gently touched the top of her head!
He is no longer the cheerful young man in the stand-in photo, and he is no longer the numb and empty "stranger" in the reflection of Starry Water Surface.
It's her pocket!
"House-·Dean-" Kabuto's voice finally came out of his throat, dry and hoarse, with an uncontrollable tremor, like a traveler who has traveled through the desert for a thousand years and finally saw an oasis.
This call completely defeated the last line of defense in Yakushi Nonō's heart.
"Kabuto one!"
A tearful, heart-rending call came from Yakushi Nonō's mouth.
She no longer cared about any reservations or doubts, and ran forward!
His steps were shaky and his body was shaky.
Kabuto rushed forward suddenly and opened his arms.
The two of them collided fiercely in the center of the courtyard, under the warm sunshine and swaying bamboo shadows!
Yakushi Nonō's skinny arms used all their strength to hug Kabuto's waist, as if they wanted to integrate themselves into his flesh and blood.
Kabuto hugged her back tightly, his arms tightly wrapped around her, as if he was afraid that if he let go, the person in his arms would disappear again.
Both of their bodies were shaking violently, and the tears that had been suppressed for too long surged out like a flood that burst a dam, instantly soaking each other's shoulders.
Yakushi Kabuto buried his face deeply into Yakushi Nonō's chest, letting out a suppressed cry like a wounded animal.
Yakushi Nonō raised his head, closed his eyes tightly, tears slid silently down his cheeks, and his Adam's apple rolled violently, enduring the huge impact of losing and regaining and the overwhelming self-blame and regret in his heart.
The sun shone quietly, shrouding the mother and son who finally reunited under the cruel twists of fate in a warm halo.
Only the two people's uncontrollable cries were left in the courtyard. It was the cry and catharsis of finding each other's anchor point again in the ruins after their souls were torn apart.
After a long time, the two people's emotions calmed down slightly, but they still hugged each other tightly, as if they wanted to make up for this long missed time.
Menma, who had been sitting quietly on the corridor, watched this scene, an extremely weak wave, almost a sigh, passed through the depths of his black eyes.
"Konoha Root's behavior, you know better than anyone else." He softly broke the warmth of the rest of his life.
Menma's voice is calm, with insight beyond his years.
"Danzo will not give up any chess piece easily, but the dean can fake death and escape, remain anonymous and stay here at Star City.
It's the only place that can isolate Root's tentacles."
Hearing this, Yakushi Kabuto stiffened slightly, raised his head from Yakushi Nonō's arms, and looked at Menma with tearful eyes, and then looked at the dean, his eyes full of worries about the future.
Yakushi Nonō gently patted Kabuto's back and wiped away the tears on his face.
Yakushi Kabuto Take a deep breath and force yourself to calm down.
Although the eyes behind the lenses were still red and moist, they had regained the sharpness and determination that belonged to a ninja.
"Suspended death takes time to operate and it needs to be foolproof, but before that - I can't disappear for too long." Yakushi Kabuto looked at Menma, his voice was still a little hoarse, but it was extremely clear.
He paused, and his eyes became complicated and firm. "Danzo is suspicious by nature. If there is no news about the identity "Kumamoto Kabuto" for a long time, or if he "dies" rashly, it will definitely arouse his vigilance and thorough investigation."
"If the dean and I disappear or die together in a short period of time, he will definitely become suspicious and will use all his strength to find us. It may even affect other children of Orphanage."
His eyes fell on Yakushi Nonō's haggard face, and his meaning was self-evident.
Yakushi Nonō opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but in the end he failed.
"What's more important is" Kabuto's eyes refocused on Menma's calm little face that didn't match his age.
His voice deepened, with a sense of determination.
"I can't let you walk alone in the shadow of Konoha."
There was a brief silence in the courtyard.
The rustling sound of bamboo leaves is particularly clear.
The sun shines through the gap, illuminating the firm, even pleading eyes behind the glasses.
He is not for the mission, not for Danzo, or even for the so-called organization.
He just couldn't let the "brother" in front of him who pulled him back from the edge of the abyss and gave him and his mother a glimmer of hope to face the bottomless darkness of Konoha alone.
Menma looked back at Kabuto quietly, his face still expressionless.
Those black eyes were like the surface of a windless lake, reflecting the burning determination in Kabuto's eyes.
After a moment, he nodded, slightly, but it contained a kind of silent recognition.