Sister-in-law is Mikoto?

Uchiha Izumi wore a purple dress with her pant legs rolled up, her fair bare feet standing in the clear stream.

Her tender toes rubbed against the pebbles beneath them.

Her large, limpid eyes, as though they could speak, glanced sidelong at the stream's surface, revealing her nervousness and unease. She was afraid Ingetsu would ignore her.

"Do you remember the suggestion you made when we first carried out a mission and faced the same choice of roads?" Ingetsu asked calmly.

As he spoke, he watched Izumi's eyes.

Izumi turned her face aside to avoid his gaze. Memories flashed through her mind, reliving that embarrassing incident, and her little face instantly reddened.

She had been injured during her first mission because of a choice of roads. Back then, she had confidently patted her chest and offered Ingetsu a suggestion, only to lead the team into an ambush.

Ever since then, Izumi seemed to have fallen under some kind of curse. Whenever she encountered a multiple-choice question, she would invariably choose wrong.

"B-but... weren't we able to escape the ninja village this time precisely because I chose to follow you?"

Izumi lowered her head, looking utterly embarrassed. Her gaze wandered as she held her hands behind her back, while her toes kept scraping at a large rock beneath her feet until it became smooth and shiny.

"I made that choice for you."

Without any pretense, Ingetsu said, "We'll take the mountain road, cut through Kikyo City, and look for a Medical Ninja while we're at it. Tell everyone to rest for another five minutes, eat something, and prepare to depart."

His tone was even, yet left no room for doubt.

"Yes!"

Izumi answered firmly, her face flushed red. She instinctively stood at attention, but her foot suddenly slipped, and she fell backward.

"Ah!"

Panic flashed through Izumi's eyes as she cried out. She hurriedly tried to save herself. Before falling into the icy stream, she tossed aside her ninja shoes and tightly grabbed Ingetsu's right hand, steadying herself.

"Haa—"

Izumi let out a breath, her beautiful eyes showing lingering fear. Her willow-like brows knitted slightly, making her look pitifully delicate.

Lowering her head, she saw the large pebble her toes had scraped smooth and gleaming, and her heart still trembled with fear.

Ingetsu glanced at Izumi. She looked like a startled fawn, completely at a loss. Without thinking much of it, he let her hold his hand and led her ashore.

The two hands holding his were soft and smooth as jade.

Ingetsu thought they felt pretty good.

Once her feet stepped onto the dry pebbles along the riverbank, feeling the dry grit beneath her soles, Izumi came back to her senses and abruptly released his hands. Her cheeks turned as red as sunset clouds.

At that moment, the other Uchiha were drawn by Izumi's cry and looked toward the stream bank.

Izumi's face was red as an apple as she hurriedly went to pick up her shoes.

Ingetsu paid it no mind.

Izumi felt uneasy inside, yet she also felt that while she had held Ingetsu's hand, even the air around her had transformed into a sense of safety.

For some reason, she suddenly felt guilty.

She had once favored Itachi, but what Itachi had done to the clan's civilians was truly difficult for her to accept.

Comparing Itachi with Ingetsu, she recalled what Tamao had said: Captain Ingetsu had done that to grant the clansmen release, using the lives of those destined to die in exchange for the survival of people like them.

Yet Itachi had turned his butcher's blade upon innocent civilians!

A sorrowful look appeared on Izumi's face. She shook her little head, composed her emotions, temporarily set aside this question of choice, and quickly followed after Ingetsu.

The temporary camp was beside the stream.

The other Uchiha gathered around a small bonfire. Two wild rabbits roasted on a rack over the flames, their aroma filling the air as dripping fat sizzled in the fire.

These were prey Nanfeng and his two teammates had hunted nearby.

Ninja had stronger wilderness survival skills than ordinary people. Even if a genin were thrown into the wilderness, they would not starve to death for lack of food.

"Captain Ingetsu, this rabbit is done. Please eat first!"

Nanfeng handed the entire rabbit to Ingetsu.

It was the fattest rabbit, plump and meaty, with oil dripping from its roasted fat and golden, crisp skin.

Ingetsu nodded to Nanfeng and accepted the rabbit.

Nanfeng obediently returned to his seat.

Seeing this, the other eight Uchiha finally divided the remaining wild rabbit among themselves. In the blink of an eye, not even a rabbit skeleton remained on the rack.

Everyone's lips were stained with grease.

They devoured the meat in huge bites.

After going hungry for so long, a few bites of roasted rabbit seemed enough to make them temporarily forget the pain of their clan's destruction.

"Hey, aside from Big Brother Ingetsu. Look at the way you're eating, like you've never seen food before. Uh, why did I only get a rabbit head and rabbit butt? Uchiha Nanpu, save some for me..."

Tamao said anxiously.

He lay flat on the ground, wrapped in fresh bandages. He was still weak, but awake.

No one paid Tamao any attention.

Only Tamao's two Subordinates prepared to feed their captain some meat.

In a corner by the fire.

Uchiha Mikoto watched this scene blankly, with no Emotional Change on her face.

She had not been given any food. The other Uchiha had deliberately excluded her.

The Uchiha clan had been annihilated.

Mikoto herself had done nothing wrong. Ever since marrying Fugaku, she had been a housewife.

She was only responsible for the family's meals and daily life, unable to interfere in clan affairs.

But in the eyes of these Uchiha.

Mikoto's crime was that she was the wife of a weak clan leader, and the mother of the murderer!

Over the past two days, Mikoto had neither eaten nor drunk even a drop of water. During their escape, she had not uttered a word, her face haggard.

"You're all busy eating yourselves—give some food and water to my sister-in-law!" Tamao suddenly howled while gnawing on rabbit meat.

The two Subordinates feeding him exchanged glances, their faces full of surprise.

They did not understand who their captain meant by sister-in-law.

"Who's your sister-in-law?"

Uchiha Nanpu frowned slightly. Being an honest and straightforward person, he began to ponder it, but could not make sense of it.

The other Uchiha were quick-witted, however, and immediately turned their gazes toward Uchiha Izumi.

They all knew that Tamao had only one Big Brother: Captain Ingetsu.

But what was this about a sister-in-law?

There were only two women in the group.

Uchiha Izumi was the same age as Itachi and still young. Besides, she already had rabbit meat in her hands, so she definitely could not be the sister-in-law!

Izumi felt all her companions' eyes on her, as though she stood at the center of a stage beneath a spotlight.

Her cheeks flushed red again. She lowered her head without a word and slowly chewed her rabbit meat.

But in the next instant.

Other than the slow-witted Uchiha Nanpu.

The Uchiha all looked toward Uchiha Mikoto. As realization dawned on them, the rabbit meat in their mouths nearly fell to the ground in shock.

Everyone carefully examined Uchiha Mikoto.

To their surprise, they discovered that the Clan Leader's Wife, who usually remained secluded within the clan leader's residence, truly was breathtakingly beautiful.

Compared to the youthful, budding Izumi, Mikoto possessed a natural advantage—the air of a mature, beautiful woman.

She wore a dark house dress. Her black hair flowed smoothly like a waterfall, and her face was cool and beautiful. Even without makeup, she retained an elegant and refined grace.

The pale, smooth arm exposed beneath her sleeve was flawless.

Her hands were slender and delicate.

Her fingers were like jade shoots.

The curves of her feet, concealed beneath the hem of her dress, were graceful.

Facing the blunt stares of these younger clan members, Mikoto remained expressionless, maintaining the innate elegance of the Clan Leader's Wife.

Everyone hurriedly withdrew their gazes.

They did not dare disrespect her.

They could sense Mikoto's almost tangible presence. Each of them felt somewhat intimidated inside, not quite daring to look directly at this noble figure who had once stood high above the clan before its destruction.

Uchiha Nanpu asked blankly:

"Who's your sister-in-law?"

Though Tamao was weak, it did not stop him from shouting at the top of his lungs. "Uchiha Mikoto!"