Moonlight Hayate's Death

It took only half an hour to get home from Shikkotsu Forest.

Su Yu had spent most of that time copying down Sealing Jutsu.

The Uzumaki Clan's sealing scrolls contained many Sealing Jutsu.

However, the most important one was Adamantine Sealing Chains.

The Adamantine Sealing Chains Su Yu had obtained before were incomplete, and the version recorded in Konoha was incomplete, too.

The most complete version was the one Kushina Uzumaki had used. It was the real reason the Uzumaki Clan had been wiped out.

The complete Adamantine Sealing Chains could drag a Tailed Beast directly into a seal. By binding it with chakra chains created from the user's own chakra, one person could complete the sealing!

In other words, if the Uzumaki Clan kept producing powerful shinobi, they could even collect all the Tailed Beasts.

Once the Adamantine Sealing Chains were complete, anyone who mastered a Tailed Beast's power could pass that power on to other members of the Uzumaki Clan.

If every member of the Uzumaki Clan knew Adamantine Sealing Chains, they would have the power to sweep across the entire Shinobi World.

Unfortunately, as soon as this plan came to light, disaster befell the Uzumaki Clan.

The clan leader had written a single line at the end of the sealing scroll: the complete Adamantine Sealing Chains must never be taught to anyone outside the Uzumaki Clan.

The Sealing Jutsu Su Yu copied were intended for Karin Uzumaki. The most important one, Adamantine Sealing Chains, was not among them.

He explained the matter to Sage Katsuyu and asked her to keep it secret.

Sage Katsuyu agreed, of course. The sealing scroll had also become a dangerous object in her eyes, and she would not let anyone but Su Yu see it.

As for Su Yu, she trusted him completely.

Incidentally, Sage Katsuyu possessed abilities similar to Space-Time Ninjutsu, and all of Shikkotsu Forest was under her control.

That was how she had been able to send Su Yu back.

Su Yu had his own theory about it.

If he wasn't mistaken, Shikkotsu Forest was a special space. Even Infinite Tsukuyomi wouldn't affect it.

Ever since Su Yu had signed a contract with Shikkotsu Forest,

he had been transferred from the Intelligence Division to the Hokage Direct Squad.

The Intelligence Division was responsible for gathering information and had originally planned to send Su Yu to the border.

As the name suggested, the Hokage Direct Squad was a force that belonged solely to the Hokage.

The transfer had effectively placed Su Yu by the Third Hokage's side.

Hyuga Hiashi was very pleased about it and gave Su Yu even more ninjutsu scrolls to study.

Su Yu accepted them all.

The scrolls covered Fire, Water, and Wind Release—the three types of ninjutsu he could learn.

In the world of the Hokage, ninjutsu ranks were determined by how difficult they were to learn.

The achievement list provided by the system, on the other hand, distinguished them by their power.

That undoubtedly made things easier.

Su Yu had already set his sights on several jutsu. Even if he trained nonstop every day, time was still tight.

Yakushi Kabuto had sent him word that Karin Uzumaki had been placed in Otogakure. Once the Chunin Ninja Exams were over, Su Yu could go to Otogakure and take her away.

As for why she wasn't staying in Otogakure,

Yakushi Kabuto hadn't said outright.

But Su Yu had already guessed the answer.

Orochimaru planned to kill the Third Hokage during the final matches of the Chunin Ninja Exams. Otogakure and Sunagakure would join forces, and Konoha would surely settle the score with Otogakure afterward.

By then, Otogakure would cease to exist.

All the shinobi from Otogakure would be sent to Orochimaru's various bases.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

Over that half month, Su Yu learned six new jutsu and completed six achievements.

Adding the Two-Tomoe Sharingan achievement, the achievement for learning genjutsu, and the one for learning the Summoning Technique,

he now had nine chances to draw an ability.

The last one required him to defeat a Special Jonin.

He had already chosen his target.

At a dango shop in Konoha,

Su Yu ate dango while keeping an eye on the entrance.

He had come every day for the past few days.

He was waiting for that Special Jonin to show up.

Unfortunately, she hadn't appeared for several days in a row.

Today, though, Su Yu was in luck.

She showed up.

That's right. It was Mitaraishi Anko.

Mitaraishi Anko had a sweet tooth, and this was the best dessert shop in Konoha. There was no way she wouldn't come.

Su Yu watched Mitaraishi Anko.

She noticed him right away, too.

When she saw Su Yu, she froze for a moment.

Then Mitaraishi Anko walked over and sat down in front of him.

"Do you know about Moonlight Hayate?"

Su Yu looked at her with a hint of confusion in his eyes.

"Moonlight Hayate was the Special Jonin who kept coughing during the Chunin Exams preliminaries. He was also Uzuki Yugao's boyfriend. A few days ago, someone found his body, and I'm investigating the culprit," Mitaraishi Anko explained slowly.

"Uzuki Yugao is my teacher," Su Yu said after a brief silence.

"This has hit her hard. She's left Anbu and shut herself in her room. I came here to buy her favorite sweets and visit her. I didn't expect to run into you." Mitaraishi Anko looked at Su Yu.

"I'll take them to her for you." Su Yu took out some money and handed it to Mitaraishi Anko.

"Sorry for the trouble. I can't even get into her room, actually." Mitaraishi Anko took the money without hesitation.

"I've been training a lot lately. I came here every day for the past few days to wait for you. I didn't expect something like this to happen..."

Mitaraishi Anko froze when she heard Su Yu's words.

A few seconds later,

her face turned red.

"You... why were you waiting for me?"

"What do you think?"

Seeing Mitaraishi Anko's expression, Su Yu replied meaningfully.

"I... I'm not interested in someone like you..."

"I want to beat you up." Su Yu cut Mitaraishi Anko off.

"???" Mitaraishi Anko looked utterly baffled.

"If I win, you'll agree to one condition." Su Yu reached out and placed his hand over Mitaraishi Anko's.

Mitaraishi Anko's face burned.

She was just about to pull her hand away

when Su Yu leaned down and kissed the back of it.

Mitaraishi Anko froze.

By the time she came to her senses, Su Yu had already walked out the door.

"Brat!" Mitaraishi Anko flushed and clenched her little fists.

As for Moonlight Hayate's death,

Su Yu already knew about it. No one had informed him, and Konoha had surely kept the news under wraps, so he had pretended he didn't know.

He had been racing against the clock all this time.

Now that he'd finally had a chance to relax, it was time to deal with Uzuki Yugao's situation.

Actually, it was simple.

Even if he left her alone, Uzuki Yugao could recover from the loss and start a new life on her own.

But it was also an opportunity for Su Yu.

Uzuki Yugao must be in a lot of pain right now, feeling lost and dejected.

If he seized this opportunity,

Su Yu could make Uzuki Yugao change.

Even if he couldn't persuade her to leave Konoha, he could still make her develop feelings for him.

In front of Uzuki Yugao's door,

Su Yu knocked.

A short while later,

the door opened.

Su Yu looked at Uzuki Yugao standing in front of him and frowned.