Don't Let Me Forget You, Okay?

"Haku really is suspicious!"

Shinji, hidden in the shadows, tensed.

What surprised him even more was that this ANBU ninja pursuing Haku had originally been assigned to monitor him.

Inside the training ground.

Bang!

Another firework blossomed in the night sky.

The ANBU ninja glanced up at the sky and smiled. "You arranged to meet tonight? You really knew how to pick your timing. You nearly pulled it off."

Haku said nothing and slowly backed away.

"The village is far too merciful. You and that brat next door should be completely eradicated like pests!"

The ANBU ninja's tone was ice-cold.

Haku hesitated no longer. With a whoosh, he darted into the woods beside the training ground and fled into the distance.

"Hmph!"

The ANBU ninja snorted and prepared to give chase.

But just as he was about to move, he suddenly turned and looked toward a patch of grass nearby.

A figure wearing a fox mask slowly emerged from the grass.

"Who are you?!"

The ANBU ninja drew a kunai, his face full of vigilance.

Without a doubt.

The fox-masked figure was Shinji, who had been hiding in the shadows.

He first glanced at Haku's retreating figure, then shifted his gaze to the ANBU ninja before him.

He had been getting close to Haku lately. If Haku was exposed, he would likely be implicated as well.

Moreover, from the ANBU ninja's words just now, he could sense undisguised malice. The man was probably from Danzo's Root. The purpose of monitoring him was likely to find an excuse to cause him trouble.

Under such circumstances, if he allowed the other party to capture Haku, Danzo wouldn't care about reason. He would definitely take the opportunity to drag Shinji into it too.

Bang!

Fireworks continued to burst in the sky from time to time.

Beneath the dazzling light of the fireworks, Shinji and the Root ninja faced each other in an eerie standoff within the secluded training ground.

Rustle, rustle.

Just then, a sound suddenly came from the nearby grass.

Both men in the tense standoff noticed it at once. The vigilant Root ninja immediately threw the kunai in his hand at the grass.

At nearly the same moment, a small head poked out from the grass, an apple still clamped in its mouth. A pair of large eyes curiously looked toward the two people in the training ground.

"Shion!?"

Shinji's heart skipped a beat.

At that moment, the kunai thrown by the Root ninja was already inches away from the bewildered Shion. Perhaps in the blink of an eye, she would be struck by it and die on the spot!

With no time to think, he instinctively reached out his left hand toward Shion.

In an instant.

A yellow phantom shot violently out of his body. Like an extension of his outstretched left hand, it instantly transformed into a massive skeletal arm and seized Shion from the grass.

Clang.

Immediately afterward, with a harsh collision, the kunai was knocked away by the skeletal arm protecting Shion.

The training ground fell silent for a moment.

The three people present, including Shinji himself, were all stunned by the scene!

Shion froze for a moment, as if she had broken free of something. Then she looked at Shinji with delight. "Big brother, is that you? You saved me again!"

The Root ninja, meanwhile, stared at the imposing giant skeletal arm projected from Shinji's body, his expression changing drastically. "Who exactly are you?!"

Behind the fox mask, Shinji was equally dumbfounded. Do I have some kind of brain disease? Why did I use Susanoo? Shion clearly has that bell artifact!

He deeply regretted instinctively using Susanoo.

After the brief shock, all three moved at once.

Shion crawled out of the grass. She didn't even spare a glance for the apple that had fallen to the ground as she rushed toward Shinji.

The Root ninja instinctively tried to flee.

But Shinji's scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan had already fixed its gaze on the Root ninja first.

In an instant, the ANBU ninja's motion of crouching down to leap was abruptly interrupted. His body straightened, and he stood frozen in place.

As if he had crashed.

"Hah..."

After temporarily trapping the other party in a genjutsu, Shinji let out a breath of relief.

Shion rushed over and grabbed Shinji's arm. "Big brother, last time, I didn't even get the chance to thank you before you left!"

Shinji, having dismissed Susanoo, looked helpless.

It seemed that after witnessing him use Susanoo, the mental suggestion he had previously planted in Shion with his Mangekyō Sharingan had failed.

Shion fired off question after question. "Big brother, what's your name? Are you a Konoha ninja? Can we be friends?"

Shinji pulled his hand free from Shion's grasp. "I..."

Before Shinji could finish, Shion cut in. "I know! You don't want to reveal your identity, right? I promise I won't tell anyone about you. This will be our little secret!"

"A little secret..."

Shinji was speechless.

Shion pouted and looked at Shinji pitifully. "So this time, don't let me forget you, okay?"

"All right!"

After hesitating for a long time, Shinji finally nodded with difficulty.

Shion immediately beamed. "Really?"

"Really!" Shinji removed the fox mask from his face, revealing his sincere expression. "If you don't believe me, look into my eyes!"

Obediently, Shion looked into Shinji's eyes.

They were a pair of pupils radiating an eerie light. With just one glance, one couldn't pull away, instinctively wanting to probe deeper.

Shinji's gaze sharpened. Taking the opportunity, he silently activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and once again planted a mental suggestion in Shion. You didn't meet anyone here.

Shion's eyes first turned hazy, then gradually blank. She repeated, "I didn't meet anyone. I didn't meet anyone."

Once the genjutsu was complete, Shinji gently patted Shion's shoulder. "Sleep."

Thud.

Shion went limp and collapsed onto the ground.

Looking at the unconscious Shion on the ground and the Root ninja not far away, temporarily trapped in a genjutsu, Shinji began to think.

He wasn't surprised at all that Haku had a problem.

After all, he knew that Haku came from a Kirigakure bloodline family with Ice Release. It was strange enough for him to be attending Konoha's Ninja Academy.

Still, even if Haku really was suspicious, Shinji had to help conceal it given his current situation.

That was why he had decisively revealed himself and covered Haku's escape.

He needed time to grow stronger.

During that time, he couldn't give Danzo any excuse to make a move against him.

"It looks like Haku is a spy planted in Konoha by another village. I wonder how they managed it."

Recalling what the Root ninja had said, Shinji reached a rough conclusion about Haku's identity.

Suddenly.

An idea flashed through his mind!

He recalled that the Root ninja had mentioned Haku and his contact choosing an extremely clever time to meet this time. They had nearly succeeded without anyone noticing.

That made him realize that tonight, right now, was when the village was most short-handed!

Abruptly, he turned toward the ANBU headquarters. Should I take a risk?

It seems I can't post book reviews anymore. It should be fine again in a few days.