Yet this peace did not last long. Nalong's finger, which had been guiding Haku through an arithmetic problem, paused slightly. His keen senses caught an extremely subtle, chilling chakra fluctuation that had almost blended into the natural environment. He was all too familiar with this fluctuation—it was Black Zetsu.
His expression unchanged, he set down his teacup and said gently to Haku, "Haku, that's enough arithmetic for today. Go practice the chakra tree-climbing I taught you yesterday. Pay attention to controlling your chakra output evenly. Climb to the top of the tree, then come back down. Repeat it ten times. Once you're done, you can rest."
"Yes! Teacher!" Haku immediately stood and ran toward the tall zelkova tree in the courtyard, full of energy.
Nalong then looked at Pakura, his tone casual. "I'm going inside to take care of something."
The needle and thread in Pakura's hands paused for a moment. She lifted her eyes to glance at him, nodded, and did not ask further. She only said softly, "Mm. What do you want to eat later? I'll prepare it."
"Anything you make is good." Nalong smiled at her, then rose and walked into the house.
Pakura watched his back disappear behind the door, her gaze flickering slightly. Of course she could sense that fleeting, extremely faint abnormal chakra. Over the past half a year or so, that strange creature, half black and half white, shaped like an aloe leaf, would occasionally appear near the residence without a sound like this. At first, she had been very wary, but after several times, she noticed that Nalong seemed used to it, and even tacitly allowed its presence, so she understood that this was likely one of Nalong's "intelligence channels." Nalong had not deliberately hidden it from her, which gave her a