Under the current circumstances, becoming friends with Kushina would definitely bring him more trouble.
Of course.
He felt he could keep some of it under control in the short term.
For instance, their earlier agreement still stood. In other words, when they were outside, the two of them still had to keep their distance and act as though they did not know each other very well.
That way.
For a certain period of time, people would not associate them with each other.
More importantly...
Konoha would not let people know so early that Kushina was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. This was a major village secret.
That meant that even if he became good friends with Kushina, there would still be enough of a buffer for Araki to take his time training.
After all, Konoha had not restricted Kushina from making friends. She could have plenty of friends, and not every friend would be bound to her.
Araki did not feel that much pressure. It was simply that, as someone who acknowledged their friendship, he did not want Kushina to let that helplessness spread through her at this vulnerable moment and keep forcing herself into a dark corner.
In truth.
Araki believed in fate, but not entirely.
He believed in the parts of fate that he was willing to believe.
Just as he had transmigrated here, he believed fate had played a part in it. Otherwise, he would not have been given the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai, much less become Kushina's roommate.
So he felt that his bond with Kushina was a kind of fate too!
But he did not put quite so much faith in the eventual outcomes of many things. He believed more strongly that things depended on human effort, that many problems were not set in stone and could be changed.
After Araki left.
Kushina stared blankly toward the doorway.
An unknown amount of time passed.
Only then did Kushina raise a hand to wipe the tears from her face, only to discover that they had already dried. She could not help smiling.
But this time, her smile was not entirely helpless. There was some joy in it too.
"Araki, thank you. I was supposed to help you, but you ended up comforting me."
Kushina braced her hands against the floor and rose from her curled-up position. As though she had figured something out, she immediately rallied.
She remembered her task.
She still had to counsel Araki and help him resolve his psychological problems.
Instead, to her surprise, Araki had comforted her.
At that thought, Kushina smiled. Though there was still plenty of bitterness in that smile, what showed through more was contented happiness.
Being acknowledged by someone she cared about was enough!
Other people did not matter!
Once Kushina had worked through it, she relaxed considerably. A wave of exhaustion instantly washed over her, and she returned to her room to get ready to rest.
Araki trained in the woods as usual. At that moment, he was doing push-ups beneath a tree.
The Ninja Academy textbooks had little to say about physical conditioning, and the vast majority of what they did cover was the most basic material.
On top of that, he recalled Might Guy's and Rock Lee's training from when he had watched the Naruto anime. That had also consisted of the most basic exercises, such as running, push-ups, and squats, so he had incorporated all of them into his daily training, only increasing the repetitions. After all, sheer quantity could work miracles.
"Hmm?!"
Just as Araki was methodically performing proper push-ups, he once again sensed the movement of air in the woods.
The sensation was extremely faint, like a breeze brushing against his skin. Without deliberate training in wilderness survival, it would have been difficult to distinguish it accurately.
Someone's coming!
And there are three of them!
Araki's brows furrowed slightly. He did not think anyone would run into the woods at this hour for no reason. Even without thinking, he could tell it had something to do with Sora Hyuga.
At that thought.
Araki suddenly exerted force through his legs.
His thighs drove his lower legs as he sprang upward.
With a powerful force striking the ground, Araki launched himself into the air, landed lightly on a branch at the treetop, and deftly concealed himself among the dense leaves.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three minutes after Araki jumped up, three figures darted through the woods, stopping on a few trees that happened to be within his view.
Two boys who looked fifteen or sixteen, accompanied by a girl of about twelve, appeared in Araki's field of vision. Judging by their clothes, all three came from distinguished backgrounds.
Whether in military strength or wealth, Konoha ranked among the best of the Five Great Shinobi Villages in the shinobi world.
But...
Konoha merely had a strong economy overall.
The gap between rich and poor was still quite large.
Those differences were reflected above all in the clans!
Konoha had originally been pieced together from individual clans. Those clans stood at different levels, with larger clans being stronger and smaller clans relatively weaker.
Besides them, there were many individual households affiliated with these clans, making up Konoha's ordinary civilian population.
Even though the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, had advocated as much as possible for people from different clans to come together, form new bonds, and strengthen their connections, the disparity between rich and poor was not so easily resolved.
From an initial assessment of the fabric of their clothes, Araki could confirm that none of the three came from poor backgrounds.
"This is..."
Araki's pupils contracted slightly. Upon closer observation, he discovered that all three had a red-and-white design on their clothes, shaped overall like a fan. The two older boys also wore ninja Forehead Protectors.
The Uchiha Clan's crest!
Araki had not expected to encounter members of the Uchiha Clan here. His vigilance rose again, but he was also puzzled. What were these three doing running into the woods in the middle of the night?
Especially that girl without a ninja Forehead Protector. Judging by her age, she was not much older than him and should still have been a Ninja Academy student.
Running into the woods instead of sleeping in the middle of the night...
Or were they planning to sleep in the woods?
But...
There are three of them!
Two boys and one girl clearly didn't divide evenly, or did this combination make the work less tiring?
Many questions surfaced in Araki's mind, but just then, he heard the three below speaking.
"Can we really find anything searching like this?"
It was the girl's voice, her tone quite gentle. Her beautiful black hair spilled down her back like a waterfall, adding to her charm.
"I don't know either!"
The boy who was clearly the leader of the three shook his head, then said firmly, "But if our Junior Detective League finds him first, we'll have grounds to join the Konoha Military Police Force!"
Chapter 29: I'm going to disappoint you...
Standing at the treetop, Araki looked down at the three young members of the Uchiha Clan, listening to their conversation while quickly assessing the situation.
These three seemed to be searching for something!
Taking their Uchiha Clan identities and their mention of the Konoha Military Police Force into account...
Araki had reason to believe that the person they were looking for might be the already "missing" Sora Hyuga. After all, when he left the Ninja Academy, he had seen a trace of panic on Ibuki's face.
Sora Hyuga had missed three consecutive days of class, so a thorough search was certainly in order. But they had already missed the best window for an investigation. By now, even the smell of pepper was probably gone.
Still...
What did surprise Araki somewhat was...
The first people to come here to investigate were actually just three youngsters, and they even called themselves the "Junior Detective League." That did pique his interest.
On a branch.
After hearing the words "Military Police Force," the girl with neatly combed, long, straight black hair suddenly brightened, an innocent yearning appearing in her dark eyes.
"Big Brother Fugaku, can we really join the Konoha Military Police Force?!"
Excitement and exhilaration filled the girl's voice, as though she could see the moment her dream came true. She had even begun looking forward to it.
"As long as we can find Sora Hyuga!"
The boy leading them nodded, his equally dark eyes filled with resolve. His medium-length black hair tapered into choppy ends, looking somewhat unconventional. On closer inspection, he did bear some resemblance to Sasuke as a child.
Is this...
Uchiha Fugaku?!
Then...
That girl just now...
Could she be Uchiha Mikoto?
Standing at the treetop, Araki immediately deduced their identities after hearing this exchange. He could not help feeling shaken. He had never expected to meet these two here.
Then who's the third person?
Araki looked toward the third member of the Junior Detective League. Having confirmed that he had no recollection of him whatsoever, he simply kept that question to himself. There would naturally be opportunities to meet again in the future.
The three exchanged a few more words, then leaped away one after another, continuing deeper into the dark forest while carefully searching for any sign of Sora Hyuga along the way.
Even now, they did not know whether Sora Hyuga was alive or dead.
"I'm going to disappoint you..."
Araki watched the direction in which the three had departed. No one knew better than he did exactly what had happened to Sora Hyuga. There was no way these three would find him!