"Etc!"
Mikoto quickly waved her hand in front of Araki to get Araki attention, and said, "I didn't finish. If you can only save one..."
"I'm an excellent swimmer, with perfect form, and I can do all the different strokes. I've also Taijutsu under Might Duy, so I'm incredibly fit and strong. I can easily rescue both of you. Don't worry, no one will be in danger," Araki said seriously.
"How can you be so stupid!" Mikoto rolled her eyes at him, annoyed.
"No, it's clearly you who's stupid, can't you understand what I mean?" Araki's lips curled into a mocking smile as he said, "I've clearly been giving you face!"
"What do you mean?" Mikoto was taken aback.
"If I were to say I'd save Kushina but not you, wouldn't you be shooting yourself in the foot with that question?" Araki said calmly.
"You..."
Mikoto's face flushed even redder, but this time it wasn't a blush of shyness, but a blush of shame.
She hadn't expected Araki to be so blunt at this moment.
When she asked this question, she hadn't thought it through clearly; she just had the thought and asked it anyway.
Thinking about it now...
That was a rather hasty question!
Faced with this Araki, Araki clearly chose Kushina, with whom he had spent more time. Why would she possibly come to his rescue?
" Mikoto!"
Kushina blinked her curious eyes, completely unaware of the seriousness of the question she had just asked; instead, she found it quite interesting.
"If I fell into the water with Araki, who would you save?"
"I'll save you!" Mikoto said immediately.
"Why?" Kushina's eyes sparkled with surprise. Both of her best friends in the village would choose to save her, which filled her with a sense of security.
" Araki himself just said that he knows so many positions, that little river probably isn't enough for him to swim in. I'd better save you!" Mikoto said helplessly.
"Huh, can you swim?" Kushina suddenly asked curiously.
"Of course I can't!" Mikoto said casually, then paused, burst out laughing, "Oh yeah, I can't swim either. What are we going to do? We'll just flounder around in the water with you and wait for Araki to come and rescue us. He just said he's an amazing swimmer."
"..."
Araki was speechless when he heard the two girls' conversation. He felt that the topic was very childish, but the two girls in front of him were just at a young age, and it was normal for them to occasionally show their childlike side.
"Next round!"
In the woods.
While Araki others were playing games.
Uchiha Fugaku was completely bewildered, staring blankly at the still enthusiastic ninjas in front of him. They were actively cooperating, waiting to solve the case, and spontaneously keeping an eye on those around them.
"Are you sure there's absolutely no problem?" Fugaku asked one of the Konoha Military Police Force.
"No, they are all ninjas from the village, their identities are not a problem." The man shook his head.
"Without any disguise?" Fugaku asked again, pursing his lips.
"No, really." The man continued to shake his head.
"That shouldn't be!"
Uchiha Fugaku raised his hand to rub his temples. Based on his assessment of the situation, there must be Kumogakure ninja disguised among these people to see what was going on.
and...
More than one!
It's very likely that all four of them are here!
After all, finding four Forehead Protector belonging to ninjas from Kumogakure) on the four corpses is equivalent to taking four Forehead Protector from Konoha ( the Konoha), so they should at least use them.
If that's the case...
Does that mean they didn't even come to see us?
Or rather...
They didn't observe from such close range!
"Could it be that I went in the wrong direction from the very beginning?" Fugaku began to doubt himself. After thinking for a while, he suddenly shook his head, clearing his mind of these distracting thoughts, and muttered to himself, "It can't all be wrong. There must have been a problem with some step. The culprit probably just glanced at it from afar, or perhaps left immediately the moment they heard the Forehead Protector of Kumogakure ninja!"
"That's right!"
"That must be it!"
"I just missed them!"
"I'm still a step too late!"
Uchiha Fugaku's expression was extremely solemn. He felt that he had missed a lot, and that this might even have led the case in a completely different direction.
"What do we do now?" the Konoha Military Police Force asked, staring at Fugaku. "Should we release them?"
"Has everyone's identity information been registered?" Fugaku asked, taking a deep breath.
"It's all recorded." The man nodded.
"Release them." Fugaku was very decisive.
"Yes." The man immediately prepared to leave.
"Wait!" Fugaku immediately stopped them, and after a moment's thought, instructed, "After releasing them, don't rush to leave. Search the surrounding area as much as possible to see if any passersby have appeared, or if any of the firefighters have left; they could all be the culprits."
"Yes," the man replied again, and then left.
Uchiha Fugaku stared blankly as the Konoha Military Police Force personnel dispersed the ninjas who had gathered there.
Those people still had hope in their eyes.
They looked like they were waiting for him to solve the case.
but...
He failed to meet their expectations.
Such a moment.
He suddenly felt an indescribable sense of loss.
I will definitely catch you!
Fugaku clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turning pale from the force, but this did not affect his resolve.
The game quickly switched to Kushina's side, and it was Mikoto's turn to give the punishment. This time, Kushina chose a dare.
Those bright, piercing eyes seemed to speak volumes, conveying to Mikoto that she would do whatever was asked, even if it meant drinking vinegar, she would never drink alcohol.
"Snort!"
Mikoto's dark eyes darted back and forth, constantly thinking about how to knock out Kushina in one move.
It's absolutely impossible for Kushina to interact with Araki!
In the end, you'll be the one who suffers...
Mikoto wasn't clear about her own feelings; she didn't know whether she liked Fugaku or Araki, but at this moment, she felt Araki was quite nice and hoped that this last night could be spent alone with him.
"I've got it!"
"The adventure involves..."
"Drink three glasses of wine in a row!"
Mikoto blinked at Kushina, a smug smile playing on her lips—a result of a sudden, brilliant idea.
"?"
Kushina was stunned and didn't react for a long time.
Araki, on the other hand, looked utterly helpless.
Goodness!
You're just leaving it there.
So you finally found the bug, huh!
but...
This is also a dead end that cannot be solved.
You either drink three drinks as part of the dare, or you accept the punishment and drink one drink. No matter how you look at it, the latter option seems more worthwhile, but you can't escape the fate of drinking.
Wow!
Kushina held her head, pouted, and said unhappily, " Mikoto, you're so mean!"
Immediately afterwards.
She picked up the glass filled with wine.
He drank it all in one gulp.
It has to be said that Kushina drinks much more smoothly now than at the beginning. After all, the environment and mood for drinking are different now, and once you've reached a certain level of drinking, you gradually lose the ability to feel anything.
This is why people are more likely to get drunk when they are in a good mood.
People who try to drown their sorrows in alcohol often become more sober the more they drink, and the more aware they become of their inner turmoil.
" Araki, it's your turn..."
After finishing her drink, Kushina felt dizzy before she could even speak, swayed, and collapsed with a thud.
" Kushina, what's wrong?" Mikoto panicked immediately. She was just a child herself and certainly didn't want anything to happen to Kushina.
"She's alright." Araki shook her head, her palm moving towards Kushina's forehead. A hazy green aura, brimming with life-giving Chakra, appeared as she used the Healing Mystical Palm Technique. She then said, "She was drunk and needs rest. She'll be fine after a good night's sleep."
"I see!" Mikoto also felt dizzy, but she was quite resilient. She just felt her cheeks burning and asked, "Should we take her inside?"
"Okay, I'll take her into the bedroom."