Wingman: Izuna?!

Meanwhile, Mina rushed into Kosuke's tent just as anxiously.

At that moment, her brother's safety was the only thing on her mind. She paid no attention whatsoever to the black-haired girl seated beside Kosuke's bed.

She swiftly activated her sensory ability, sending invisible ripples through the air.

Blue Chakra gathered at her trembling fingertips, spreading like a web over Kosuke's bandage-wrapped body—gentle, yet swift.

The boy who always wore a carefree, cynical smile now lay silently on the bed like a statue.

Deprived of his usual vitality, he made Mina's heart clench sharply.

"How is he...?" Mina's voice tightened with a faint tremor. "How is he doing right now?"

"He's recovering fairly well for the moment," Uzumaki Mito said softly. Her green-glowing palm hovered over Kosuke's wrist, Chakra threads slipping into his arm as they carefully mended his damaged meridians.

A teal ribbon hanging from her hair swayed gently with her movements, lending her an air of quiet serenity.

"However, if you keep interfering with me, you may delay his treatment."

"Are you a new medical ninja in the clan?" Mina promptly shifted aside, her gaze briefly sweeping over the other girl's black hair. "Thank you for treating my younger brother."

Then her eyes returned to Kosuke.

The deep-blue Chakra at her fingertips did not diminish. She desperately wanted to know the specifics of Kosuke's condition.

Noticing the look the woman had given her earlier, Mito's Chakra threads trembled slightly.

She suddenly recalled Kosuke's earlier warning not to reveal her hair color, and her heart could not help but quiver.

"Yes." Suppressing her discomfort, Mito gently placed Kosuke's wrist back onto the blanket. "The berserk Lightning Release Chakra in his arm damaged part of his meridians. They need to be slowly repaired using Natural Energy. This will be a long process."

Seeing that Kosuke's breathing was steady, Mina, seated on the other side, finally felt some of the weight lift from her heart.

Her gaze turned back to the girl before her, studying her anew.

Only then did she realize that this supposedly new girl in the clan exuded an innate air of nobility in every movement.

Moreover, the tenderness on her face when she had set down her brother's wrist moments ago was startling.

As Mito withdrew the Chakra she had secretly unsealed, Uchiha Mina suddenly smiled meaningfully.

"I'm Kosuke's older sister, Mina." She shifted closer to sit beside Mito and took the other girl's wrist of her own accord. "What should I call you?"

"Uchiha Mizu." Mito's expression did not change. Not even her breathing rhythm shifted, and her Chakra continued to flow as steadily as before, as though her heart was utterly calm. "Everyone calls me Mizu."

"Mizu? A lovely name." While sensing the stable state of her brother's body, Mina continued chatting with the girl before her.

"Is that so? Kosuke thinks so too." Mito turned her hand over and pressed Mina's wrist, green Medical Ninjutsu light blooming at her fingertips. "Like this burn on your wrist—only when it has completely disappeared can we consider it beautiful."

A fierce gust suddenly threw open the tent flap. Out of the corner of her eye, Mina caught sight of the neatly folded bedding in the corner, and a question rose in her heart. "Kosuke thinks so too?"

The teal ribbon danced behind Mito along with her red hair.

Both women froze at once.

At the base of the teal ribbon was unmistakably embroidered the Vortex Clan Emblem. Its red Three Tomoe looked exceptionally bewitching within the tent.

"What an exquisite ribbon." Mina hooked the ribbon with a fingertip, her Sharingan glimmering beneath her lashes. "Since when has the Uchiha clan had a ninja who could afford such an expensive ribbon...?"

"How I can afford it is not something you need to worry about, Sister." Mito's body suddenly tensed, and the noble air in her beautiful eyes became somewhat unnatural. "Sister, it's already dark outside. Shouldn't you return to your own tent? After all, an older sister and younger brother should maintain some propriety, don't you think?"

Before her words had even faded, Mito shook free of Mina's hand and rose to her feet, walking toward the corner.

She picked up the bedding Kosuke usually used and slowly spread it out on the floor. Its meaning could not have been more obvious.

At the sight of this, Mina's expression instantly froze. Her nerves, which had already been taut from discovering the Vortex Clan Emblem on the ribbon, went numb with shock as she blurted out, "You... you live with my brother?!"

"Is there anything wrong with that?" Mito continued arranging the bedding without looking up. "I've been living here for some time. If you have nothing else to do, Sister, please leave for now. You can visit Kosuke again tomorrow. I'll take good care of him tonight."

"Uh..."

Mina stood outside her younger brother's tent with a face full of confusion.

Even now, she had no idea how she, his older sister, had somehow ended up outside.

The next morning, before the mist over the Uchiha camp had dispersed, Izuna and Mina's footsteps crunched softly over the gravel.

The two of them had gone around camp asking about the identity of the woman in Kosuke's tent, only for word of it to reach Clan Head Uchiha Tajima.

"Fools!" Tajima slammed his palm heavily onto the desk, startling the sparrows outside the tent into fluttering away.

Under Tajima's reprimand, the two withdrew with their heads bowed in embarrassment.

As they left the Clan Head's tent, sunlight slanted across Mina's tightly pressed lips.

Izuna suddenly thought of Madara and Kosuke's teammates. Perhaps they knew something about the situation.

He immediately took Mina's hand and quickly turned toward Maki and the others' quarters.

Half an hour later, the two slipped back outside Kosuke's tent like cats that had stolen cream, their eyes gleaming brightly.

Mina leaned close to Izuna's ear, her warm breath tinged with excitement. "What if we move Madara's tent next door?"

"C-Can we do that?" Izuna's ears instantly turned crimson, while his heart pounded wildly against his will. "Th-That... is that really okay?"

Mina's delicate brows shot up, the upward sweep at the corners of her eyes making her look as though she were about to lose her temper. "What? You're questioning my decision now?"

"N-No! Absolutely not! I swear!" Izuna hurriedly waved his arms in panic, his wooden armor plates clattering. "I mean... shouldn't we ask our younger brother's wife? After all, as an Uzumaki, she's the best at this sort of treatment."

"Little sister-in-law?" Mina's expression brightened instantly. She poked Izuna's flushed cheek with a fingertip. "Little Izuna, I never knew you had such good taste! No wonder she called me big sister last night."

"Hehe, I should go ask my little sister-in-law what she thinks. It would be rude otherwise."

Hoo~

Izuna let out a huge sigh of relief. Thank heavens Mina was completely absorbed in the term "little sister-in-law," or she would have been watching over his training at the practice grounds again.

Having made up her mind, Mina straightened her combat uniform slightly outside the tent, then lifted the flap and stepped inside.