Kurotsuchi Forces a Marriage, the Tsuchikage's Granddaughter Insists on Having a Little Genius with Me!

By the time Yoru returned to Iwagakure, it was already the latter half of the night.

The air carried the damp chill unique to early winter. The snow along the roadside had yet to fully melt, crunching beneath his feet and leaving a trail of dark, muddy footprints.

He had just inserted the key from his pocket into the lock of that upscale stone building when a series of clatters came from inside.

It sounded like someone was tearing the house apart, or like some unevolved monkey was wreaking havoc in there.

The moment the door opened, a stench of cheap perfume mixed with unwashed sweat hit him in the face.

Yoru frowned, fanning the air before his nose with his sleeve, his face full of disgust.

"What are you messing around with in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"

He shut the door behind him and tossed his trench coat onto the hook by the entryway.

He used too much force, shaking loose a whole cloud of dust from the hook and scattering it all over his polished leather shoes.

"You... you actually remembered to come back!"

A crisp, slightly angry voice came from the sofa.

Kurotsuchi was sitting there cross-legged in a wrinkled training outfit meant for lounging around the house.

The feet that usually wore leather boots were bare at the moment, and her toes still had some black grime on them that she had failed to wash off after leaving the training ground.

Her hair was a complete mess, like a bird's nest, with two hairpins still caught at the ends after falling loose in her excitement. She looked utterly disheveled.

"You little brat, you came barging into my house in the middle of the night and tracked so much mud onto my carpet?"