What Happened to the Assassination?

"Yūto, are you all right...?"

Yūto stood before the dead spy with a vacant look in his eyes, and Shisui could not help feeling a surge of shock.

Just how much love did it take for Yūto to give everything he had, heedless of his own life, to kill a spy prying into the village?

He had even exhausted himself after the fight, all to kill the spy with his own hands.

Shisui could not help feeling ashamed. He had once shamelessly believed he loved the village more than any other Uchiha, but compared to Yūto, his own love for the village now seemed laughable.

Yūto snapped out of his dejection over losing his compensation and forced a smile. "I'm fine..."

Only then did Shisui relax.

"By the way, Shisui, don't you have any other missions?"

Yūto recalled his earlier guess about Shisui's behavior. Shisui should still have a mission to assassinate him.

He had just finished fighting and was weak-the perfect time for an assassination. He had to remind Shisui not to forget the assassination mission Fugaku had given him.

As long as Shisui killed him, he still had a chance to get the compensation!

Hearing the excitement in Yūto's voice, then looking at the wounds covering his body, Shisui let out a long sigh.

Lord Fugaku had been right. Yūto ended up covered in wounds every time, all to protect the village.

It was all his fault for hesitating earlier. Why had he questioned Yūto's reason for knocking his kunai away?

His doubts about Yūto's intentions had made him a step too slow, leaving Yūto covered in wounds!

Filled with regret, Shisui patted Yūto on the shoulder and said earnestly:

"Yūto, leave the rest to me!"

"Just get your wounds bandaged... the village needs you!"

With that, Shisui hoisted the spy's body onto his shoulder and left with the Body Flicker Technique.

Yūto stood there, speechless. That was it?

What happened to the assassination?

What a jerk!

It took him a long time to recover from the disappointment of his umpteenth failed attempt to get himself killed before he reluctantly headed to Konoha Hospital.

Konoha Hospital was Yūto's regular respawn point.

Almost no one knew the procedure for getting treatment here better than he did.

Ever since transmigrating, Yūto had come here once a day on average. Sometimes, when he took on more missions, he could end up in the hospital several times a day.

It was precisely because Yūto took on missions with such disregard for his life that his two teammates had advanced beyond the rank of Genin so quickly.

His teammates had initially complained about him accepting so many missions, but his willingness to protect them whenever danger struck had inadvertently earned their respect.

Walking through the hospital entrance, Yūto registered, lined up, and waited to have his wounds bandaged with practiced ease.

The doctor bandaging Yūto was another familiar face: the Wandering Miko, Yakushi Nonō.

At the sight of Yūto's face, she sighed softly and deftly took a large bundle of bandages from the very bottom of her medical kit.

"Yūto, you've been fighting without a thought for your life again!"

"Honestly, haven't you already joined the Konoha Military Police Force? Why are you still pushing yourself so hard?"

Yakushi Nonō had confronted him with similar questions countless times, and Yūto had long since prepared a set of answers.

He briefly recalled how he had brushed her off last time before speaking:

"Nonō, you know me. I've never held back against an enemy, just like my father..."

Halfway through, Yūto lowered his head and put on a sorrowful expression.

This was entry seventy-two in Yūto's collection of lines for dealing with Nonō. He had compiled eighty-one in total, and he was almost out. It looked like he would have to hurry back and make up a whole new set.

In truth, Yūto had no memories of his parents at all. The original owner of his body had lost both parents in battle before he was old enough to remember.

So everything he had just said about his father was entirely made up to fool her.

Sure enough, Yakushi Nonō fell for it. She pressed her lips together and stopped asking questions.

Tying the bandage into a bow, Nonō clapped her hands and mustered a small smile. "All done, Yūto. Keep your wounds dry for the next two days, and they'll heal in no time."

Yūto nodded. "Thank you."

With that, he turned to leave.

The door was shoved open, and Shisui came in, panting. He had clearly rushed over as soon as he had dealt with the prisoner's corpse.

"Yūto, have your wounds been treated?"

Seeing his haste, Yūto's gaze sharpened.

Had a large number of spies appeared in the village, requiring his help to capture them as soon as possible?

That was wonderful! Where there was fighting, there was a chance of dying in battle. Yūto loved nothing more than being beaten to death!

An excited smile immediately appeared on his face, and he hurriedly asked:

"Where's the enemy? Come on, let's go right now!"

Shisui had no idea what he meant and was utterly baffled by the question.

"There isn't any enemy. Yūto, did you receive a request for help from another patrol?"

The excited expression froze on his face. After all that, he had simply been overthinking things. There were no enemies at all.

He asked irritably, "Then what's the hurry?"

Shisui scratched his head. "I was worried about you, so I came straight to the hospital to see you after dealing with the spy's body."

Nonō looked at Shisui's unfamiliar face. She did not seem to have seen him at the hospital before, so she asked Yūto curiously:

"Yūto, who's this?"

Before Yūto could answer, Shisui spoke first:

"Hello, I'm Yūto's new teammate. Today was our first mission together."

"Hmph!" Nonō frowned deeply. "You're a terrible teammate. Why is Yūto covered in injuries while you're completely unharmed?"

"Yūto really has had terrible luck with people. His previous teammates were just the same. Every mission, he was the only one who got hurt, while the others didn't even have dust on them!"

At Nonō's scolding, Shisui lowered his head in shame.

At the same time, remembering all the times he had doubted Yūto earlier made him even more ashamed.

Not only had Clan Head Fugaku called Yūto a good young man who cherished his comrades, but even the doctor before him said the same. And with what he had just witnessed himself...

Sure enough, compared to Yūto, he was the clown who did nothing but talk about protecting others all day.

Shisui took a deep breath, his gaze becoming utterly resolute.

"Doctor, from now on, I'll make sure to protect Yūto. I swear it on my life!"

Yūto was dumbstruck by Shisui's declaration.

You bastard, what are you trying to protect?! Who needs your protection?! You're so strong-how am I supposed to get myself killed with you protecting me?!

Go away, you curly-haired idiot!

Yūto still wanted to put up a fight. He said earnestly:

"Well, Shisui, aren't we only temporary teammates? Why don't you go protect someone else...?"

"No!" Shisui took Yūto's hand, his eyes overflowing with affection. "Yūto, I'll protect you for the rest of my life!"

"Get lost! I don't want a man protecting me for the rest of my life!"

Watching their back-and-forth, Nonō smiled in relief.

I'll make a house call tonight and change that boy Yūto's bandages.