Remembering It in His Mind

In the hospital room.

Yugito seemed to have slept for a very long time.

Scenes from her days in Kumogakure flashed before her eyes.

From being chosen as a Jinchuriki, to becoming one.

She had relied on her own abilities to communicate with Matatabi, fighting for Kumogakure for her entire life.

In the end, the Raikage chose Eight-Tails Killer Bee rather than her.

Though people naturally had those closer and farther from them, the Raikage's choice still made her feel betrayed.

The scene shifted to the first time she met Yōya in the Land of Water.

She had delivered ships to Hidden Light Village, encountered a storm at sea, and ended up stranded on the ocean with Yōya.

After that, Yōya often took missions escorting merchant ships from the Land of Water across the sea, all so he could fight her.

That time, Yōya said something easily misunderstood, making her so embarrassed and angry that she beat him until he was grievously wounded.

Yet when they met in the Land of Mud, Yōya suddenly confessed to her.

They had only just agreed to be together, but when they met again, they were fighting to the death in the Kumogakure arena.

She had been defeated, but that was not important. What mattered was that she had thought Yōya truly wanted to kill her.

The moment she woke up, she went to Yōya for confirmation, only to discover that she had misunderstood.

Yōya had even stabbed himself in the heart.

When Obito attacked, Yōya had specifically come to save her.

Facing the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path summoned by Obito, the Two-Tails Matatabi had been useless aside from trembling in fear.

Whether he faced meteors falling from the sky or the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Yōya had only wanted