Anbu Arrives and the Village's Attitude

Near the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass, Sousuke stopped.

He gave Yue some instructions and advice with great reluctance.

With their parting imminent, a touch of sadness was unavoidable.

Yue, however, didn't waste much time; after a brief exchange, he intended to leave.

But before he went, he asked Sousuke a question, "If I reveal some unimportant information about you all to the village, that should be fine, right?"

"Hahaha... still worried about things on the Rain Village side?"

Sousuke chuckled, "Don't worry, as long as you don't reveal everyone's abilities and information, you can say whatever you want."

"After being away for so long, the village will definitely investigate... I need to fabricate some believable lies."

"Given the personalities of those in Grass Village, information is indeed very valuable to them," Yue added.

"Not just information, but anything that can benefit them, they won't let go of," Yue chimed in.

"Mhm."

Sousuke nodded, indicating his understanding.

"Aren't you afraid I'll expose your secrets?"

"If it were anyone else, I'd certainly be worried, but if it's you, Yue, there's no need to be wary."

"I'm leaving."

Yue uttered two words.

Finally, under Sousuke's gaze, he disappeared over the distant horizon.

He successfully returned to the Land of Grass.

Not long after stepping into the border area, he was stopped by two Grass Village shinobi.

They were likely hidden in a nearby outpost.

The two were stunned when they saw the forehead protector on Yue's arm. How could a kid from their village have come this far?

Subsequently, the two parties engaged in some negotiation.

"Fuma Yue, you're Fuma Yue?" one of the Chunin exclaimed upon hearing Yue's name.

"Indeed."

"So you're Ryoma's son." The man looked enlightened.

"Your father is nearby, come back with us."

Yue was also surprised. He hadn't seen his father, Fuma Ryoma, in about half a year. The last time he left his father was to undertake a secret mission assigned by the village. Fuma Ryoma hadn't disclosed the specific details of the mission, but Yue knew it wasn't just guarding an outpost or patrolling the border.

Then, one of the two stayed to patrol and observe the border area, while the other took Yue back to the tent they had set up in the woods.

"Hey, Ryoma, look who I brought?"

After a while, the two appeared at a hidden camp.

The guide, named Kirishima, said with a smile.

On the way, Yue had learned from Kirishima that the village was aware of his disappearance in the Rain Village. Since this matter involved some factions within the Rain Village, it couldn't be treated as a trivial issue, to avoid causing trouble for the village.

And more than two months ago, Shishiro had already returned to the village with Ryuga and Yoshitaka to report the situation.

Fuma Ryoma, after completing his previous mission, had coincidentally returned to Grass Village. Upon hearing about this, he had wanted to go to the Land of Rain alone to search for Yue. However, the village's stance was for him to accept his fate, as they mostly believed Yue, having been involved with Akatsuki, was likely dead.

This was a common occurrence in the ninja world.

Yue was not the only young life cut short.

Moreover, without knowing the truth, they only knew that Akatsuki was a 'sinister' rebel organization in the Land of Rain.

The village only offered a perfunctory expression of regret for Yue's death.

And they prevented Fuma Ryoma's intentions.

Fuma Ryoma, being a member of Grass Village, would cause trouble for the village if he stirred up anything in the Land of Rain.

So, in the end, to 'appease' Fuma Ryoma, they assigned him to guard the border, stationing him in the area closest to the Land of Rain, which was considered a form of solace.

"Father."

Yue immediately spotted Fuma Ryoma, who looked thin, with dark circles under his eyes, and appeared quite dispirited.

He called out.

"Yue?"

Fuma Ryoma was also stunned, "It really is you!"

Fuma Ryoma was just an ordinary Chunin in the village. The only special thing about him, perhaps, was bearing the name of the Fuma Clan.

He wasn't tall, his hair was messy, and he had lost weight, likely due to worrying about Yue.

After rubbing his eyes, Fuma Ryoma confirmed it was indeed Yue and immediately stepped forward to embrace him tightly.

Although, according to the memories of his previous life, his father was usually stoic and very quiet.

However, the father and son's relationship was still very good.

"But..."

Pulled into Fuma Ryoma's embrace, Yue blinked his eyes.

In his memories, for this previous body, his father was an insurmountable 'mountain'.

This referred to strength.

But now, Fuma Ryoma's feeling to him... was just two words: too weak.

Although it felt a bit unfilial to evaluate his father like this, it was indeed the case.

The others in the outpost also gathered around, offering their congratulations.

They had all heard about the Fuma family's affairs, more or less.

No one had expected Yue to still be alive...

The entire outpost was a seven-person squad, and there were several more outposts like this along the border.

The daily responsibility of the people at each outpost was to patrol a vast border area.

But due to Grass Village's foreign policy, there were no enemies to guard against, so it was relatively safe... If anything major happened, the village's first choice was to avoid conflict and notify them promptly. Excluding some of the unstable factors in the ninja world, this mission wasn't that difficult.

Yue stayed at the outpost, preparing to return to the village with Fuma Ryoma after he completed this mission cycle.

Naturally, Yue also recounted his experiences in the Land of Rain to the outpost captain.

The captain also sent word of his story back to the village via messenger.

These border outposts received supplies and maintained contact with people from the village at regular intervals.

Yue's return had revitalized Fuma Ryoma.

In the following days, Yue accompanied his father on border patrols. The daily patrols were always conducted in pairs. Although Yue was just a Genin kid, given their reunion after a long separation, the captain didn't object. Normally, while patrols wouldn't involve any accidents, for a kid who had only recently graduated, it was still too difficult... mainly due to the physical exertion. After all, if something happened somewhere and Yue couldn't rendezvous with his partner in time, it would delay progress and even cause significant repercussions.

Border security involved greater responsibility and was no child's play.

Little did he know that in Yue's eyes, this entire outpost, except for the captain whose strength was barely passable, everyone else... was truly terrible compared to the members of Akatsuki.

His disguise was also perfect, and he hadn't exposed his strength.

Even his father, who ran through the patrol areas with him daily, only praised his excellent physical development.

He also taught him some things to be careful about when carrying out missions outside the village.

In reality, these things held little value for Yue, but he still put on a show of humbly accepting them.

After some time, people arrived from the village.

It was the Anbu.

This time, it wasn't just the people delivering supplies.

"Who is Fuma Yue?"

Two Anbu scanned the few people remaining at the camp and asked coldly.

"I am."

Yue's heart stirred, and he slowly stood up.

Beside him, Fuma Ryoma's expression also turned grave.

"We need to ask you some things privately... Come with us."

The two Anbu said in a commanding tone.

Seeing his father Fuma Ryoma about to speak, Yue gave him a reassuring look, then stepped forward on his own and followed the two into an empty tent.