Itachi's Interrogation, End of the Land of Snow, Return to Konoha

Itachi stood frozen in place.

He clenched the short blade in his hand again and again.

In the end, Itachi took a deep breath and did not go inside.

The hierarchy among ninja was clear.

Shimizu was now his jonin squad leader and had assigned him a mission.

Defying an order would be tantamount to betraying Konoha.

Unless the squad leader's order was unreasonable, but Shimizu's order was perfectly normal.

"He must be helping Izumi sort through her feelings."

Itachi came up with a reason he could more easily accept.

Otherwise, he could not explain why Shimizu was in Izumi's room in the middle of the night.

Doing that kind of thing?

Impossible.

Itachi ruled out that possibility.

There was a huge age gap between them; no matter how he thought about it, that could not be the case.

Besides, Itachi could tell that Izumi had feelings for him.

Thus, he could only suppress the many thoughts in his heart and go check on Princess Koyuki's condition.

The next day.

The distant horizon turned pale with dawn. The sun shone upon the icy, snowy land of the Land of Snow, yet it brought little warmth.

Shimizu carried out Fubuki Kakuyoku, who seemed to want to beg for mercy.

Shimizu stored the Chakra Armor inside the Sealing Scroll for later research.

Perhaps he could see whether it could be mass-produced in the future.

"You've worked hard, Itachi."

Seeing Itachi still standing ramrod straight at the door, Shimizu patted him on the shoulder to acknowledge his efforts.

Itachi instinctively wanted to rush inside and see what had happened to Izumi.

Shimizu stopped him and said, "Let Izumi rest for a while. Don't be so impatient."

Then Shimizu slung the Fubuki Kakuyoku he was carrying over his shoulder, intending to hand her