Rain pattered outside.
The drainage system murmured with flowing water. After being filtered through the pipes, the excess rainwater flowed into the reservoir.
The living room was silent.
Yanbai was placing the sleeping Satsuki into a wicker cradle. Eleven cats huddled together, their purrs rising and falling.
Yanbai sat on a cushion beside it, gently rocking the cradle.
Not a glimmer of light shone in the living room. The oppressive atmosphere shrouded the entire space in a grayish darkness.
This world, beyond the reach of sunlight, felt as though it existed in perpetual night.
The damp air brought to mind the rain outside.
Yanbai stared motionlessly at the cats in the cradle.
From a dim corner came Tobirama Senju's hoarse voice.
"Yanbai..."
Yanbai did not answer. Perhaps age had caught up with him and he had fallen asleep sitting there, or perhaps he felt that Tobirama was not calling to him.
"I'm sorry for studying your genes without permission. I know you probably wouldn't like it. That's why you haven't accepted Madara's marriage proposal all this time."
Tobirama Senju's voice lingered in the darkness.
Yanbai still did not respond. He was using Wind Release to dry his long hair, which had grown heavy from absorbing moisture.
At some point, Tobirama Senju had come up behind Yanbai in his Impure World Reincarnation body, giving off a strong odor of decay.
Yanbai still gave no response.
Tobirama Senju felt as though his dead heart could still freeze within him. He sat down beside Yanbai and, like him, stared at the cats sleeping soundly in the cradle.
The rain outside had not eased at all. The sound of raindrops striking blades of grass remained loud.
Tobirama Senju had existed in darkness for far too long-so long that he had to think carefully before