A Life Treading on Thin Ice

Mount Kikyo, halfway up the mountain, a hunter's mountain stronghold.

The wooden house was simple.

The lamplight was dim.

Before long, the hall was crowded with more than a dozen people. Beside the round table lay an injured man wrapped up like a "mummy."

"Hahaha, Captain Ingetsu, please, take a seat! It's been five years since you saved us. Time really flies!"

Yager beamed excitedly as he held a teapot, turned over the cups, poured tea for the Uchihas seated at the table, and invited Ingetsu to sit in the main seat.

Ingetsu sat down. Beside him, Mikoto studied his profile with an unusual look in her eyes.

Mikoto assessed Ingetsu inwardly.

Back in the woods.

The Uchiha squad could have dealt with those five rogue ninjas, but Ingetsu had not struck because he knew them.

While fleeing, exposing one's whereabouts basically meant inviting enormous trouble.

The best solution.

Would have been to kill them all, dispose of the bodies, and leave without a sound.

"He's at least a man with a bottom line."

When Mikoto noticed Ingetsu suddenly turn to look at her, she calmly withdrew her gaze. Maintaining the poise of a noblewoman, she picked up her teacup and took a sip.

"Hiss... hot!"

The moment her jade-like fingers touched the cup, Mikoto quickly pulled them back. In Ingetsu's eyes, more than half of her noblewomanly aura vanished.

Ever since Ingetsu had forcibly fed her.

The little dignity she had left had been trampled underfoot.

Mikoto seemed to have returned to that innocent youth after graduating from the Ninja Academy. She did not know what state of mind or attitude she should adopt when dealing with a member of the opposite sex who ignored her pride and even stood above her cold, arrogant nature.

He was clearly younger than her.

Yet under the misunderstandings and strange treatment of the other Uchihas, Mikoto could not help but pay attention to this man.

Fugaku had only just died.

Mikoto lowered her willow-like brows, her expression dim. Her slender hand tugged at the hem of her skirt, and she fell into confusion once more.

Ingetsu withdrew his gaze, only then realizing that the other Uchihas were all staring at him.

The Uchihas promptly looked away. They were all curious about what sort of story Captain Ingetsu had with the Clan Leader's Wife... and with these rogue ninjas from Kirigakure.

"Hehehe!"

Yager grinned foolishly.

Ingetsu looked calmly at Yager.

Memories surfaced.

This group of "rogue ninjas" were actually ordinary refugees who had fled from the Land of Frost during the Third Shinobi World War.

Their homeland had been destroyed by the war between the Five Great Nations. Their food had been forcibly requisitioned by the Konoha Ninja Village, which had occupied the Land of Frost.

Their farmland had been trampled over and over by ninja squads from the major ninja villages. After autumn, not a single grain had been harvested. Of Yager's family of five, only Yager survived.

Five winters ago.

He drifted to the Land of Fire Border.

He gathered more than a dozen people.

With Yager at their head, these people could no longer survive because of the war and wanted to band together to rob other refugees.

That year, rogue ninjas were so numerous along the Land of Fire Border that even the captain of the Police Force had been sent there by Konoha's higher-ups to eliminate them.

Unfortunately.

That was also the first time Yager had led ordinary refugees in posing as "rogue ninjas" to commit a crime, and they ran into Ingetsu, who was dressed in plain clothes but was actually the captain of the Police Force.

Ingetsu did not kill them. Instead, he patiently listened to the stories of what these people had endured.

Take Yager, for example.

When this guy first fled, he had money on him. But as soon as he left home, the guy next door tricked him into investing in financial products issued by a Kirigakure bank. He had hoped to profit from the war, only to discover it was a financial scam in the shinobi world.

The guy ran off with the money.

Yager, meanwhile, was completely reduced to a refugee. Back then, filled with resentment toward the rich, he had wanted to rob wealthy merchants and become a bandit.

But when he truly hardened his heart and rushed into a shop with a kitchen knife, he saw a filthy, frail mother breastfeeding a baby no bigger than a monkey.

Gritting his teeth, Yager carried the kitchen knife away, painfully caught a rat, cooked a pot of rat meat soup for the mother and child, and left with a hardened heart.

After that.

Yager fled to the Land of Fire Border. Thinking he would have no psychological burden as long as he preyed on people from other countries, he had just been about to make a name for himself when he ran into Ingetsu and his group.

"Are you all still the same as before?"

After a long silence, Ingetsu finally asked.

Yager placed the Kirigakure Rogue Ninja Headband from his forehead on the table and laughed heartily.

"How could that be, Captain Ingetsu!

"Ever since you reformed us.

"We did as you said and came to these mountains, becoming hunters and living off the game we caught every day.

"This place is incredibly fertile.

"There are lots of animals in the mountains.

"So we're living quite comfortably now!

"It's all thanks to your guidance.

"You saved us!"

"Wait, Mr. Yager, you should tell us what happened back then first. We don't understand what you're talking about!" Izumi hesitated, seeming as though she wanted to say more but held herself back.

The other Uchiha also nodded.

First there was a Kirigakure Rogue Ninja Headband.

Then there were hunters living in the mountains.

It was all far too convoluted.

Izumi did not dare ask Ingetsu, but she knew he would not mind her asking Yager.

"Alright, then I'll start from the beginning!"

Yager became interested. After reminiscing for a moment, he came up with an opening and began telling everyone his story.

During this time, Ingetsu instructed Nanfeng to take two team members into Kikyo City and, before it got too late, "invite" a doctor over.

He also had them purchase medicine, easily stored food, necessities needed for the escape route, and a map of the mountain range along the Land of Fire Border.

Nanfeng had wanted to keep listening to the story, but with a mission at hand, he could only leave reluctantly with the team members.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea.

Yager finished his story, looking smug as he felt he had quite the talent for directing films and writing scripts.

Only then did the Uchiha learn about Yager's poverty-stricken, difficult, precarious, miserable, and unlucky life.

Mikoto glanced at Ingetsu's profile from the corner of her eye, adding another assessment of him in her heart:

Kind?

The other Uchiha also felt that Yager had truly been fortunate to meet Ingetsu.

If it had been them or any other Konoha ninja, they would not have cared about Yager's past. They would have long since treated them as rogue ninja and killed them.

Completing the mission would earn them a reward.

Therefore.

Captain Ingetsu was truly gentle and kind.

"So your Kirigakure headbands were all picked up from the battlefield?

"No, you've already been this unlucky, so what are you so proud of?"

Izumi raised her delicate brows, feeling that this guy was on par with her when it came to getting multiple-choice questions wrong!

He could always make the worst possible choice.

At the most critical moment.

Until he met Ingetsu.

"Captain Ingetsu, are you leaving later?" Yager looked at Ingetsu, his expression turning solemn as he said sincerely, "It's already so dark. Stay here tonight. I'll make dinner for you all, and you can continue on your journey tomorrow morning!"

Ingetsu swept his gaze over everyone around the table.

The Uchiha were travel-worn. Having fled for nearly three days without sleep or rest, fatigue showed in all their eyes. They seemed eager to rest here for the night.

"Thanks, but we need to leave immediately."

Ingetsu looked at Yager, his tone calm.

The longing in the Uchiha's eyes immediately faded, but not one of them said anything.

They were fleeing.

Not out on a picnic.

If they did not leave, trouble would come here and implicate these displaced hunters.

Besides, they were already unlucky enough!

Ingetsu also hated bringing trouble to others. Originally, in the forest, he had planned to part ways with Yager and Led the Team directly.

But Yager's enthusiastic invitation was hard to refuse.

Besides.

They really did need somewhere to rest.

"Make the most of the time and get some rest. Once Nanfeng and the others return, we'll continue on our way!"

Ingetsu said calmly.

"Alright, then I'll prepare some food for everyone."

Yager smiled in relief and headed for the kitchen deeper inside the wooden house.

Izumi suddenly asked, "Mr. Yager, why do you wear the forehead protectors of Kirigakure rogue ninja when you go out hunting?"

At that moment, Tamio, lying on the ground, said weakly, "What else could it be for? It's obviously to intimidate enemies!"

Hearing this, the Uchiha all turned their heads and looked in unison at Tamio, who was lying on the ground ignored by everyone. They had nearly forgotten about this guy.

Yager laughed heartily. "This lord is right. There are still many vicious war refugees nearby. If we don't disguise ourselves as rogue ninja, we won't be able to intimidate them if we run into them on the road."

After saying that, Yager entered the inner room.

"Waaah, waaah, waaah—"

Suddenly, a loud and piercing baby's cry shattered the quiet of the night, echoing through the wooden house.

The Uchiha were startled.

When Mikoto heard the baby crying, it was as though a switch had flipped on within her memories. She suddenly raised her head toward the bedroom. In her daze, the sorrow on her face deepened. She missed Sasuke.

Izumi frowned tightly.

Ingetsu remained as still as a mountain, quietly drinking tea. From the moment he entered, he had deduced from the shoes, their styles, the furniture, and the baby seat inside the wooden house that it was home to a family of three.

"Sorry, sorry."

Afraid of frightening his guests, Yager immediately led a woman out of the bedroom and into the hall.

The woman had delicate features and wore a red scarf. Her waist-length black hair covered part of her fair cheeks as she anxiously soothed the swaddled infant in her arms.

"Captain Ingetsu, this is Sanli, the wife I married last year. We haven't chosen a name for the child yet. It's a boy!"

Yager introduced his family with a blissful expression.

Ingetsu returned the family's smile.

"Heh... Even someone as unlucky and miserable as you managed to get a wife and have a child.

"At Konoha Hospital, I proposed to a nurse from the Hyuga clan. Not only did she ignore me, she even told me to get lost.

"Is it just because I'm mentally ill?

"Who's she looking down on?!"

Uchiha Tamio grumbled and cursed.