The wind howled, and heavy snow drifted down from the sky.
Uzumaki Kuming had bought a secluded little house outside the capital of the Land of Flowers for everyone to stay in. It was already deep winter, and the weather was unpredictable—not suitable for long-distance travel. Kuming planned to leave the Land of Flowers and visit other places once spring arrived.
In the courtyard, Uchiha Itachi swung the Heavenly Feather Blade with all his might under Kuming's guidance. Snowflakes drifted down onto him, quickly melting from the heat of his body.
The snow had only been falling for a short while, but Itachi's clothes were already soaked. The once-clear sky was now shrouded in dark clouds, and it looked as though the snowfall wouldn't let up anytime soon.
Itachi seemed not to notice the changing weather as he practiced his swordsmanship with unwavering focus. Kuming had already put away his lounge chair and joined Kakashi and the others on the veranda.
"Lord Kuming, there's something I've been meaning to ask. Was it really all right to let those two Mist Ninja attackers go?"
Obito Uchiha sat not far from Kuming. When he saw Kuming sit down, he couldn't help asking. It had only taken them two or three days to travel from the front lines in the Land of Rivers to the Land of Flowers, and just last night, Kuming had let Kisame Hoshigaki and Mei Terumi go. Obito found this baffling.
They were enemy assassins. Not taking them back to Konoha was strange enough, but letting them go made even less sense to Obito.
The question had been bothering him all night. Only now did he finally have the chance to ask.
"Those two? There's no use keeping them around for now, so I let them go."
Kuming's answer