Akaseki entered Forest Street and quickly found the site of the memorial service.
He joined the mourners and lined up to offer incense.
No one found it strange.
Besides the residents of Forest Street, quite a few ninja had come to attend. At most, people gave the recently returned Akaseki a few extra glances.
Inside the main family residence, Akaseki spotted someone he knew—
Dan Katō!
When it came time to offer incense, Akaseki noticed that the deceased on the memorial tablet also bore the surname Katō—
So although this man had moved to Forest Street with his wife after marrying her, he was from the Katō family. That was not particularly strange. Though the Katō family had its inheritance, its numbers were dwindling. Whether it still counted as a "ninja clan" was debatable.
Therefore—
Though Akaseki did not know him, he was fairly certain the deceased was Dan Katō's biological brother. After all, the Katō family barely had any "clansmen" left.
Akaseki also saw Ranwu. She was accompanying a sorrowful pregnant woman, who was presumably the deceased's wife and Ranwu's peer on Forest Street. He just did not know which branch she belonged to—
In any case, not the First or Second branches.
Akaseki had heard Ranwu say that the descendants of the Third only looked to her, while the descendants of the First only looked to Tsunade and Nawaki.
The First and Second also had two younger brothers, but they had been claimed by the chaos of the era while still young and left no descendants. Akaseki had learned that from clan records; Ranwu naturally would not normally tell him such things.
After offering incense, Akaseki exchanged a glance with Ranwu from afar. Her eyes wavered slightly when she saw him, but she merely nodded at him from