Chapter 80

Ninja School.

Tsunade, who was organizing her lesson plans in her office, heard footsteps coming from the side. She didn’t need to guess who it was.

"Kid, you’re a bit late today... What’s wrong with your face? Why do you look so bad?"

Tsunade turned her head and saw the pale face of Shiro, who looked extremely weak, which made her jump in surprise. She quickly asked what had happened.

"I ate something bad yesterday."

Shiro didn’t even blink as he made up this lie.

"Eating something bad doesn’t look like this." Tsunade sighed, walked over, and patted Shiro’s shoulder, saying earnestly, "Living under the same roof, I can understand if things get out of hand, especially since you’re both teenagers. But as a medical ninja, you should know that the body has its limits. Try to be a bit more restrained."

"..."

"By the way, did you take any precautions? Don’t get a girl pregnant before you’re married."

Tsunade leaned in close to Shiro’s ear, whispering as if afraid someone might overhear.

But Shiro clearly saw the mischief in Tsunade’s eyes.

"Don’t worry, Tsunade-sensei, I’m always in good health."

"So, you did it, then?"

"…If you spread rumors, I’ll complain to the Hokage."

"You really have no sense of humor, kid."

"I don’t understand humor, but this isn’t about humor."

Seeing Shiro’s weak and exhausted look, Tsunade felt a bit bored.

"But, are you really okay like this? Do you want to rest here for a bit?"

To be honest, Shiro’s current state was quite worrying. He might faint on the job.

"Thank you for your concern, but it’s not a big problem. I’ll go to the classroom later."

Shiro thought about it and realized Tsunade’s concern was valid. After using the Spirit Transformation technique yesterday and encountering that Sharingan, he still felt the aftereffects of the genjutsu, which had left him weak since this morning.

"Rest here properly, and don’t push yourself."

Tsunade didn’t ask what Shiro did yesterday to end up like this. Everyone has secrets they don’t want to share, including herself.

After seeing Tsunade leave, Shiro was alone in the office.

Because of his weakness, Shiro lay down on the chair, closed his eyes, and cleared his mind.

After about half an hour, he felt much more comfortable and slowly got up from the chair, heading towards the experimental class for training medical ninjas.

— After the experimental class ended, Shiro said goodbye to Tsunade and walked out of the ninja school. At the school gate, he saw Ruri waiting there.

Wearing a black tight-fitting ninja outfit that showed off her good figure, she stood there, a pleasant sight. Shiro recognized her at a glance.

"Ruri, why are you here?"

Shiro walked over, a bit puzzled.

"Just passing by to check on you."

Ruri glanced at Shiro’s slightly pale face, her tone not showing much emotion.

"Does that mean you had to take a long detour? But, did you finish work early today?"

"I asked someone to cover for me."

As she spoke, Ruri took out a thermos and threw it to Shiro.

Shiro caught the thermos, unscrewed the cap, and, as expected, found clean, drinkable hot water inside.

"Thanks, I was feeling a bit thirsty."

"Don’t overthink it. I just brought it out from the guard team without much thought."

Hearing Ruri’s explanation, Shiro just smiled understandingly.

After taking a sip of the hot water, he asked Ruri:

"Are we going back together now?"

He knew Ruri was waiting for him at the school gate out of concern for his safety, which made him feel a warm, indescribable emotion.

However, it would be hard for Ruri to directly express her concern.

Sometimes she wasn’t very straightforward.

If it were Ayame, she would probably say something unexpectedly provocative with a serious, innocent tone.

"Sure."

Ruri didn’t object.

She was indeed worried about Shiro’s safety, as his current mental state wasn’t good.

Even in the village, it wasn’t always absolutely safe.

Two hours earlier, when Shiro came to the ninja school to work, she had been waiting there.

As they walked, Ruri suddenly remembered something and said softly:

"By the way, I went to the guard team today and rechecked the data of every clan member, but I couldn’t find anyone with a Sharingan that’s stronger than mine."

This wasn’t out of pride; Ruri’s understanding of the Sharingan indeed surpassed most Uchiha clan members.

Even without the Sharingan, her taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu were top-notch, especially her taijutsu and ninjutsu, while her genjutsu was slightly weaker.

Finding someone far superior to her in the Sharingan, even after a thorough investigation of the guard team members, left Ruri clueless.

"Finding no one is fine. I think the mastermind might not be hiding in the village."

Shiro shared his thoughts.

"Not in the village?"

Ruri didn’t quite understand what Shiro meant.

"What do you think of Shomatsu-sensei’s strength?"

Shiro asked a counter-question.

"Stronger than me."

"By how much?"

"If we fought to the death, I would probably die, and Shomatsu-sensei would be severely injured."

Ruri wasn’t being modest; her strength was indeed at this level.

Shomatsu’s strength lay in his sword techniques and his incredibly fast body flicker technique, which, when combined with his sword skills, made him almost invincible.

However, this also meant that Shomatsu, who specialized in sword techniques, lacked many other combat methods.

Ruri might be the type of opponent Shomatsu found most difficult to handle.

A perfect all-rounder in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, with no weaknesses.

Her taijutsu and body flicker, combined with her three-tomoe Sharingan, allowed her to keep up with Shomatsu’s speed and reflexes, but due to his sword skills, she felt at a disadvantage in close combat.

However, she also had advantages that Shomatsu lacked, such as large-scale fire techniques and mysterious genjutsu, which could be used to restrict Shomatsu’s movements.

After hearing this, Shiro nodded and shared his thoughts:

"The chakra and the immense pressure from that Sharingan were even stronger than Shomatsu-sensei’s. And this was just a contest of Sharingan abilities; in other areas, he is likely as strong or even stronger than you."

"Is that so? There’s no such expert among the Uchiha clan today, but isn’t it a bit hasty to conclude that this person isn’t in Konoha?"

"Think about it this way: if such an expert really existed among the Uchiha clan in the village, our secrets would have been exposed long ago. We wouldn’t have been able to keep them hidden, given the powerful infiltration capabilities of the person’s subordinates."

"..."

Ruri frowned.

"Since those white creatures can be sensed by natural energy, it means that before I discovered natural energy, the person wasn’t monitoring us. The first contact was unintentional, detected by Akatsuki. Then, these white creatures came to Konoha and infiltrated the Uchiha clan’s territory... The mastermind might be targeting Konoha to monitor the Uchiha clan, and this activity has only recently begun. As for Akatsuki..."

He sent the insect man to contact Akatsuki about a month ago.

When the mastermind started sending subordinates to monitor Akatsuki, Shiro had no way of knowing.

But these conclusions were enough.

An Uchiha ninja not in Konoha.

With abilities related to tailed beasts and wood release, and a Sharingan that surpasses Ruri’s, sending subordinates to gather information in the Uchiha clan’s territory.

These were the key pieces of information to interpret the situation correctly.

Ruri clearly understood this.

But even with so many key pieces of information, it was still difficult for Ruri to determine who the mastermind was among the Uchiha clan.

"Speaking of which, have any Uchiha ninjas defected or left Konoha in the past?"

"In the past thirty years, only Uchiha Madara."

Ruri gave this seemingly unbelievable answer.

"This answer is ridiculous. Uchiha Madara died in the hands of the First Hokage at the Valley of the End, a fact known to everyone..."

Shiro’s face showed a smile, and he shook his head.

But only he knew what he was thinking.

After all, it wasn’t impossible, right?

Wood release, tailed beasts, Sharingan.

These were either the jutsu Madara fought against, the beings he controlled, or the powers he possessed.

Aren’t all the conditions met?

Seeing Ruri also deep in thought, probably suspecting whether the Uchiha clan’s ancestor was really dead, Shiro opened the thermos and took a sip of hot water, smiling, "Well, don’t look so gloomy. Whether the person is alive or dead, as long as we don’t get involved, it’s fine. You said it yourself, instead of guessing useless things, it’s better to focus on becoming stronger, right?"

"No, I’m thinking that if he is really alive... I would like to see that legendary power that can create the world."

Ruri clenched her fist.

In the past, when people mentioned the Uchiha clan, the first thing that came to mind wasn’t the Sharingan, but Uchiha Madara’s name.

Because he was a symbol of pure power, even more so than the Sharingan.

Now, when people mention the Uchiha clan, they think of the Sharingan, not a specific Uchiha ninja.

Ruri saw this as a goal she wanted to surpass.

"True to your style. I guess I was worried for nothing."

"Are you looking down on me? And even if that old relic is still alive, he’s probably too old to move."

"I didn’t say that. Besides, this is just a guess and can’t be taken as definitive proof."

Seeing Ruri pouting, Shiro laughed and explained.

"Hmph."

Ruri turned her head, indicating she didn’t want to talk to him.

The sky was gradually darkening, and the beautiful sunset was slowly sinking into the forest in the west.

Shiro and Ruri walked along a path beside a river.

The weather in May was already warming up, and the breeze brought a sense of comfort, dispelling the irritability in their hearts.

The streetlights on both sides of the path were already on, and from there, they could see the center of the village, where the night market was just beginning to come alive, with lights turning on one after another.

On this path, only Shiro and Ruri were walking.

But on the riverbank, some children from the ninja school who hadn’t gone home were playing ninja games tirelessly.

Seeing this, Shiro stopped walking.

"What’s wrong?"

Ruri also stopped and turned to look at his face.

"Nothing, just seeing them reminds me of the past."

Shiro looked at the students playing ninja games on the riverbank, his face showing a nostalgic expression.

In a daze, Shiro remembered something.

"Speaking of which, when we used to leave the ninja school and go home together, it felt like we were back in our student days."

After Shiro said this, it also evoked Ruri’s memories of the past.

Because her parents were often away on business, she spent her childhood and teenage years with Shiro playing an irreplaceable role in her life.

In the past, when they were in the ninja school, they indeed went to school and went home together every day, almost inseparable.

"Why are you suddenly talking about this?"

"I was thinking... if we could always be like this, it would be great. Because we are the best partners."

Shiro looked up at the distant sunset, and in the sunset’s glow, his face looked even gentler than usual.

Hearing Shiro say this, Ruri suddenly felt a bit empty, as if something was missing.

Just partners?

"Let’s go back quickly, we still have to..."

Ruri was about to speed up her pace, but at that moment, her hand was suddenly enveloped by something.

She couldn’t move forward and stopped in place.

Ruri’s expression changed, and she turned her head, slightly lowering it.

It was a man’s broad hand.

Gently and tenderly holding her hand, making it impossible for her to break free.

"In many situations, I don’t know how to face such things. But after I said that, I thought about it again. If we were just partners, it might not fully describe our relationship. How about becoming a more intimate relationship than just partners?"

Shiro’s face showed a calm and composed smile as he asked for Ruri’s opinion.

"I don’t understand what you’re saying. Let’s go back."

Ruri’s face was already slightly red, and she turned her head away. Although she said to go back, her hand was already left in Shiro’s care.

"Let’s take a walk there. Since we finished work early today, we have enough time."

"Stop asking me. You’re the one who’s injured, so you decide. As long as you don’t catch a cold tomorrow."

Ruri turned her head away, but her demeanor showed that she was leaving the decision to him.

Shiro felt a bit strange, as in all the years he had known Ruri, this was the first time he had such an important decision to make.

He felt a bit like crying, moved.

"It’s already May, how can I catch a cold? It’s not a problem."

His body wasn’t that weak. Although the weather did get cooler at night, as long as he was careful, it wasn’t a big issue.

Holding Ruri’s hand, the warmth of their skin passed between them.

Shiro could clearly feel that Ruri’s body was very warm.

Holding Ruri’s hand, Shiro led her towards the center of the village, where the night market was about to come alive.

Shiro clearly saw the obvious happy smile on Ruri’s face.

At that moment, for some reason, he felt a sense of guilt.

In his mind, there might be another woman who was also an important "partner" to him.

But today, he should belong to Ruri, right?

Thinking this, the guilt in his heart eased somewhat with self-comfort.

— The next day.

Shiro caught a cold.

Because they came back late last night, when he woke up this morning, he found himself with a cold.

He was lying on a futon, covered with a blanket, feeling dizzy and cold.

"Really, you kept saying it was fine yesterday, but look at you now. Your physical condition has really declined."

Ruri was wearing casual clothes at home, not her black ninja outfit, and she was kneeling beside Shiro’s futon, scolding him with a tone of almost disgust.

"…I didn’t expect it to turn out like this… Come to think of it, this is my first cold…"

Shiro had to take this loss.

Indeed, he shouldn’t have pushed himself last night.

But in that situation, if he had come back without doing anything, he would have regretted it even more.

Seeing Ruri taking such good care of him, even skipping work today, Shiro felt a bit embarrassed but also thought that even if he had a severe cold today, it wasn’t