Naruto Uzumaki looked at Chino and asked.
"Mm."
"At the Arena, Fūshin once found a scroll that was something like a genealogy of the Chinoike Clan."
"It said... Oyashiro En had a daughter."
"I didn't think much of it at the time, but once I learned the whole truth, it was easy to figure out."
Chino spoke softly.
"Do you hate him?"
Sasuke Uchiha suddenly asked, curious.
"Mm... a little."
"But not because he killed the other clan members. It's because..."
"I'm his daughter, but he raised me like an orphan. He put me through the same suffering as all the other children."
Chino pouted.
After learning who she was, she felt little connection to the Chinoike Clan members she had never met.
She certainly wasn't going to hate her father for their sake.
But
Chino couldn't let go of what she had endured as a child.
Her father had trained her as a tool since she was little. No matter what, she didn't want to reconcile with him.
"Maybe Oyashiro En thought my birth was what killed my mother."
Chino sounded dejected.
"I don't think so."
Naruto Uzumaki shook his head.
"After Oyashiro En killed the entire clan, he might have regretted it."
"So..."
"He hid the fact that you were father and daughter and treated you like a tool."
"Maybe he wanted you to have no hesitation if the day came when you killed him."
"After all... however you look at it, Oyashiro En wouldn't hate the daughter he couldn't bring himself to kill, even after killing the rest of the clan."
Chino froze at Naruto Uzumaki's explanation.
A moment later,
she gave Naruto Uzumaki a grateful smile. "Lord Naruto, thank you."
His words lifted some of the weight from her heart.
"You're welcome. It's the least I