Night rain fell in a steady drizzle, and the autumn wind carried a chill.
Under the quiet night sky, Sarutobi Hiruzen's earnest instructions in the Hokage's office made Namikaze Minato's expression turn solemn.
"After fighting one great nation after another, Konoha can't afford to stretch the front lines any further. You two are the key to victory in the conflict between Konoha and Iwagakure, Minato, Hua Yue."
Namikaze Minato gave a slight nod. Uchiha Hanazuki remained silent for a moment, then turned to leave.
"Hanazuki, you..."
"Don't mind him. When the time comes, Orochimaru will notify Uchiha Hanazuki. The master and his student are cut from the same cloth. At least this time he didn't openly do anything immoral. That's progress, isn't it?"
Clearly, Sarutobi Hiruzen was quite pleased that Hua Yue hadn't spat on the ground this time.
"Minato, things may get rough for you from here on..."
His voice gradually faded beneath the sound of the rain. As Hua Yue strolled through the autumn downpour and reached his long-neglected front door, a figure hurried over through the rain.
"Hua Yue, I've been looking everywhere for you! Have you really not been home at all these past few days?"
"Obito, senpai? Sorry. Teacher Orochimaru caught me and took me somewhere to train these past few days, so I haven't been home. Come in."
After drying off the rainwater, Hua Yue casually tossed his cloak aside and sprawled on the sofa, smiling at Obito's conflicted expression.
"What's wrong? Why come all this way in the rain, Obito, senpai?"
"Actually, I want to confess my feelings to Rin, but I haven't been able to work up the courage. I don't know what to do. Ebisu said you were really experienced when it came to romance, Hua Yue, so..."
The smile froze on Hua Yue's face. What exactly had that lecherous, tight-lipped Ebisu been saying? Why was he slandering Hua Yue's good name out of nowhere?
After thinking it over, Hua Yue narrowed his eyes and offered a suggestion.
"What's there to hesitate about? It's wartime. The village could send us to the battlefield tomorrow, and we might not even know where we'll die."
"You're a man, so what's there to hesitate about? If you die without ever telling the person you love what's in your heart, won't you regret it even after you're gone?"
Obito's expression shifted from hesitation to conflict, then from uncertainty to determination...
In just a moment, a look of resolve appeared on Uchiha Obito's face.
"You're right. I may be scared of dying, and I may be a dead-last who still can't catch up to Kakashi, but if I don't tell her, we might be sent to the battlefield tomorrow. If I die, I won't get another chance..."
"Thank you so much, Hua Yue. I'm off!"
Obito dashed into the rain. His figure gradually vanished from sight, his departing silhouette full of resolve.
"How will this play out? Heads, she'll turn him down without mercy. Tails, she'll let him down gently. If it lands on its edge, she'll give him an encouraging rejection..."
Hua Yue smiled without a word. A coin flipped into the air and landed on the ground, spinning round and round.
Nohara Rin was gentle and strong, kind and lively, but that didn't mean she couldn't be attracted to someone powerful. Especially when she spent every day with a person her peers called a genius—someone more than capable of making a young girl's heart flutter.
By comparison, the care and concern friends showed one another could easily cause a similarly young, lovestruck boy to get the wrong idea.
That wasn't a bad thing. But if she didn't turn him down clearly, a boy who'd fallen for her might carry that regret with him until the end of his life.
Besides, they were at war. A shinobi's was a profession where every day could be their last, leaving no time to hesitate—especially in a time when no one knew whether tomorrow or disaster would arrive first.
The night rain pattered on. The pages of the book in Hua Yue's hand fluttered in the wind. He quietly opened his eyes from his feigned doze and looked at the goggles already brimming with tears. He could guess what had happened.
"As expected, it was an encouraging rejection?"
Uchiha Obito lay on the sofa like a fish out of water, so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice Hua Yue's stiff smile. The sofa he'd painstakingly cleaned!
"Damn it! Why does everyone like Kakashi? One after another—even Rin! Is it just because that guy Kakashi is a genius?"
"Come to think of it, you're a genius too, Hua Yue. Ebisu said three girls have a crush on you. Does being a genius make girls like you?"
Obito looked utterly dejected as he shook the raindrops off himself, even getting Hua Yue's book wet.
"You're a genius too! A lucky one, at that. Your eyes—the Uchiha's eyes—hold the potential to make you a jonin, or even surpass the Hokage."
"Once you awaken the Sharingan, you can build on it and awaken an even higher-level dojutsu. Then you'll have the power to rise above the vast majority of people in the entire Ninja World."
Hua Yue brought his hands together and casually set the book on the coffee table. Obito turned to look at him without thinking, meeting Hua Yue's strangely powerful gaze and sensing the sincerity and hope in it.
After a long silence, Obito burst out laughing, then spoke with heartfelt sincerity.
"Hua Yue, if you were a girl, you'd be even more popular than Rin—and you'd break even more hearts. I'm off, I'm off. We've got another mission in a few days."
"One day, I'm going to surpass that guy Kakashi and make Rin change her mind. I have to awaken the Sharingan as soon as possible. Yeah!"
He was still a boy, after all, and soon emerged from the shadow of his heartbreak. Though Hua Yue thought "refusing to give up" might be a more fitting description.
Looking at the mess and puddles across the floor, Hua Yue's smile turned helpless. The night rain continued, as if the darkness that had existed since time immemorial would never end.
The Iwagakure Ninja had crossed the border into the Land of Grass. The flames of war would soon return. Would the endless war finally reach its end?
In the lonely night rain, a breeze drifted in, carrying scattered raindrops and easing the solitude in his heart.
"Lonely? Those eyes, hidden beneath all that talent, yearning for care and love... You must be so lonely."
"Then let me ease that loneliness. Tell me all your worries, and let me fill that emptiness in your heart..."
His body inexplicably went numb. The woman before him had long hair cascading over her shoulders, red lips and white teeth, and lively eyes brimming with allure, as if they could see through anyone's weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
After a long silence, Hua Yue's clear black-and-white eyes held nothing but speechless disgust as he watched the alluring figure perform alone.
At last, their eyes met. While Hua Yue remained composed, the alluring figure froze in place, unable to move.
"I can't believe I've been restrained by an Immobilization Genjutsu. The pace of your growth really delights me. What astonishing progress..."
"Enough with the endless chatter. It's annoying. Don't just climb all over people and dress up like a woman, Teacher Orochimaru."
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