A Rainy Night of Confession

The night rain fell in sheets, and the autumn wind carried a faint chill.

In the stillness of the night, Sarutobi Hiruzen's grave instructions in the Hokage's Office made Namikaze Minato's expression turn solemn.

"After fighting the major nations one after another, Konoha no longer has the strength to stretch the front lines any farther. The key to victory or defeat between Konoha and Iwagakure lies with you two, Minato and Huayue."

Namikaze Minato nodded slightly. Uchiha Huayue fell silent for a moment, then turned and left.

"Huayue, you..."

"Leave him be. When the time comes, Uchiha Huayue will be notified by Orochimaru. Master and disciple are cut from the same cloth. At least this time, he didn't openly do anything immoral. Is that considered progress?"

Clearly, Sarutobi Hiruzen was very pleased that Huayue had not spat everywhere this time.

"Minato, you may have to work quite hard next..."

The voices gradually drowned beneath the rain. Walking through the autumn rain, Huayue returned to the long-unvisited entrance of his home, where a figure hurried toward him through the downpour.

"Huayue, you were really hard to find! Haven't you been home at all these past few days?"

"Obito-senpai? Sorry, Orochimaru-sensei dragged me off somewhere to train these past few days, so I never came back. Come in."

After steaming the rainwater off himself and casually tossing his cloak aside, Huayue lay down on the sofa and smiled at Obito's deeply conflicted face.

"What's wrong? Why did you come out in the rain, Obito-senpai?"

"Actually, I want to confess to Rin, but I've never been able to make up my mind. I didn't know what to do. Ebisu said you're very experienced with romance, Huayue, so..."

Huayue's smile froze on his face. What exactly had that lecherous Ebisu said? How could he slander someone's innocence for no reason?

After thinking for a moment, Huayue narrowed his eyes and offered a suggestion.

"What's there to hesitate about? This is wartime. We could be sent to the battlefield by the village tomorrow, and we might not even know where we'll die."

"What's a man hesitating for? If you die without even conveying your deepest feelings to the person you like, wouldn't you regret it even after death?"

His expression shifted, from hesitation to conflict, from uncertainty to resolve...

In just a few moments, an expression called determination appeared on Uchiha Obito's face.

"You're right. Even though I'm scared of dying, and I'm the dead last, and I still can't catch up to that Kakashi guy for now, if I don't say it, I might be heading to the battlefield tomorrow. If I die, I won't get another chance..."

"Thank you so much, Huayue. I'm leaving!"

Obito rushed into the rain, his back gradually fading from view, filled with determination as he departed.

"How will this turn out? Heads means a merciless rejection, tails means a gentle, indirect rejection, and if it lands standing up, it means an encouraging rejection..."

Huayue only smiled without speaking. A coin flew into the air, landed on the ground, and spun continuously.

Nohara Rin's gentle yet strong personality, along with her kindness and liveliness toward others, did not mean she would not admire the strong. Especially when someone spent every day at her side and was called a genius by their peers, it was more than enough to stir a young girl's heart.

By comparison, a companion's care and affection could often cause a similarly youthful and immature boy to develop unnecessary misunderstandings.

That was not necessarily a bad thing, but if she did not reject him plainly, the boy harboring those feelings would likely carry his regrets until the end of his life.

Besides, in wartime, a profession like that of a ninja—where one might be alive today and dead tomorrow—left no time for hesitation, especially in an era where no one knew whether tomorrow or an accident would arrive first.

The night rain pattered softly as the pages in his hand fluttered in the wind. Huayue, who had been dozing with his eyes closed, quietly opened them and looked at the goggles already brimming with tears, a guess forming in his heart.

"As expected, was it an encouraging rejection?"

His feelings having been exposed, Uchiha Obito flopped onto the sofa like a salted fish, completely failing to notice the stiffness at the corner of Huayue's mouth. His sofa—he had worked so hard to clean it!

"Damn it! Why does everyone like that Kakashi guy? Every single one of them, even Rin! Is it just because that Kakashi guy is a genius?"

"Come to think of it, you're a genius too, Huayue. Ebisu said three girls are really fond of you. Do girls like geniuses?"

Obito looked utterly dejected, constantly shaking rainwater off himself, even splashing the book in Huayue's hands.

"You're a genius too! And a lucky one at that. Your eyes—Uchiha eyes—hold the potential to become a jonin, even to surpass the Hokage."

"As long as you awaken the Sharingan, then develop an even higher level of eye technique from its foundation, you'll gain power above the vast majority of the Ninja World."

Huayue clasped his hands together and casually set the book on the coffee table. Obito subconsciously turned his gaze, meeting Huayue's eyes, which seemed to contain an unusual power. He felt the sincerity and anticipation within them.

After a long silence, Obito burst into laughter, then spoke earnestly.

"Huayue, if you were a girl, you'd definitely be even more popular than Rin. And you'd definitely hurt people even more than Rin does. I'm going, I'm going. We still have a mission in a few days."

"One day, I'll surpass that Kakashi guy and make Rin change her mind. I have to awaken my Sharingan as soon as possible. Yeah!"

He was a teenager, after all, and quickly emerged from the shadow of heartbreak. Though Huayue felt that "refusing to give up" was a more fitting description.

Looking at the mess and rainwater all over the floor, the smile on Huayue's lips turned helpless. The night rain continued, as though the ancient darkness had never ceased.

Iwa-nin had broken through the Land of Grass Border. War was coming again. Would this endless war finally be nearing its end?

In the lonely night rain, he let the breeze drift in, carrying scattered raindrops to ease the loneliness in his heart.

"Lonely? Those eyes hidden beneath your talent, longing for care and love... they truly are lonely, aren't they?"

"Then let me ease that loneliness. Tell me all your troubles, and let me fill the emptiness in your heart..."

His body went numb for no apparent reason. The woman before him had long hair draped over her shoulders, red lips and white teeth, and lively, alluring eyes like silken threads, as if they could see through anyone's weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

After a moment of silence, Huayue's Black and white eyes were filled with nothing but speechlessness and disgust as he quietly watched the alluring figure perform alone.

After a long while, the two met each other's gaze. Compared to the calmness in Huayue's eyes, the alluring figure stood frozen in place, unable to move.

"I never thought I would be bound by a paralysis Genjutsu. Your growth truly delights me. Such astonishing progress..."

"You're so long-winded it's annoying. Please don't just climb onto other people, and stop dressing up as a woman, Orochimaru-sensei."