Kimimaro Kaguya

Snow Village. The Orphanage's outline gradually came into focus in Minamoto Takuya's field of vision.

He had been so absorbed in training that he had not set foot here for a long time.

As time passed, Jugo and Haku, who had once often been by his side here, were no longer children in need of protection.

Their paths in life had long since extended toward a wider world, and naturally, they could not remain in this small courtyard forever.

Yet the bond in their hearts had never been severed. The two often found time to return, visit Yakushi Nonō, and bring carefully chosen gifts that lit up the innocent smiles of the other children at the Orphanage.

When Yakushi Nonō saw that long-absent figure at the gate, she froze slightly.

Then, a warm smile slowly spread across her face.

The passage of time had washed away many things, including the bone-deep fear she had initially felt toward Minamoto Takuya.

It had now settled into a complicated but no longer panicked reverence.

More importantly, she had long abandoned any thought of sending intelligence to Konoha.

This hard-won peaceful life before her—the children's laughter, the stable daily life of the Orphanage—was a harbor she would protect with everything she had. She would never allow anyone or anything to destroy it.

"My lord? You're back?"

She greeted him softly, her voice carrying a trace of barely perceptible concern.

"Mm." Minamoto Takuya's response remained brief as his gaze swept across the courtyard. "I brought a child over."

He turned sideways and gently pulled forward a child of five or six who had been shrinking in the shadows behind him.

"His name is Kimimaro Kaguya."

Kimimaro looked exactly as he had when Minamoto Takuya had first brought him back.

Though time had left its marks