When she heard the name Kabuto Yakushi—
Nonoyu's pupils widened gradually as she stared at Yu in disbelief.
She was already stunned that Yu had killed Danzo.
She was even more shocked that he knew her real identity.
But what truly shook her—was that he knew about Kabuto Yakushi too!
This man…
Was terrifying.
Nonoyu's mind was racing as she assessed her situation.
These Uchiha had killed Shimura Danzo, destroyed Root, and even killed the Hokage's son.
She had been traveling with them the whole time—there was no way Konoha would ever take her back now.
It seemed she had no choice.
She could only agree.
"Fine… I agree to join you. But—how… how do you know who I really am? And how do you know about that child?"
At that moment, Nonoyu felt like standing in front of Yu was no different than standing naked.
Her nun's robes meant nothing—everything about her, except her thoughts, felt utterly exposed under his gaze.
Just then, Tamao snorted and said:
"Why does big bro know all this?
Come on, we Uchiha were planning a rebellion—of course we gathered intel from inside the village ahead of time.
We couldn't access a lot of it…
But big bro? He definitely could!"
"…" Yu.
"…" Mikoto.
They'd collected detailed internal intel on the village before the Uchiha rebellion?
How come the clan leader's wife didn't know about that?
"Rebellion??"
Nonoyu froze.
In an instant, she understood—
So it was because of a rebellion that the Uchiha clan was now reduced to a handful of fugitives?
Now it all made sense.
She never expected that while she'd been away from Konoha…
Such a cataclysmic event had occurred.
The Uchiha had rebelled!
This could easily throw the entire Shinobi world into fresh chaos.
And with the thought of chaos—came the image of war.
She pictured the countless innocent children, left homeless and suffering in its wake.
Yu noticed how Tamao's words had nearly shocked Nonoyu speechless.
But he didn't say much else.
Having someone else do the talking—and patch things up—was just fine.
Although Nonoyu had agreed on the surface,
No reward appeared.
Yu understood—Nonoyu was still hesitating.
She hadn't truly made her decision yet.
Yu picked up where Tamao left off and continued,
"I also know the truth behind the assassination mission Danzo assigned you."
Nonoyu stared blankly at Yu.
His tone remained calm:
"Danzo's mission was to send you to Iwagakure to assassinate a spy.
But that spy… was actually Kabuto Yakushi—the child you personally raised, who had been working undercover for Konoha all along."
"Both of you are multi-faced spies for Konoha, with access to far too many secrets.
So Danzo staged this entire act—
to make you kill each other."
"Once you accepted the mission, you would almost certainly die at Kabuto's hands.
He's stronger than you now.
But no matter which one of you survived—
the other would still be hunted down by Root's assassins until they died."
The Uchiha clan members' faces turned grim. A chill crept down their spines.
A mission like this—twisting a mother and child against one another—
Only Root could come up with something so inhuman.
Nonoyu's whole body felt drained. Her eyes stared ahead, unfocused.
Tonight, she had been bombarded with earth-shattering revelations that overturned everything she thought she knew.
What kind of village had she been loyal to?
She had shed blood and sweat for Konoha—
only to be repaid with this twisted fate?
She hesitated, then stammered out one last, weak question:
"But… I… I know Kabuto. If we met again, how could I possibly raise a hand against him?"
Suddenly, Yu raised his hand, palm turned upward, and held it calmly in front of her shaken face.
"Photos."
At that moment, Nonoyu's scalp tingled.
Her beautiful eyes trembled as she looked at Yu, as if staring at a monster.
In front of him, she truly felt stripped bare.
After a brief pause, she reached into her nun's robes and pulled out a stack of photos, handing them to him.
Rustle, rustle—
Yu looked down, flipped through the pictures of orphans, quickly picked out the fake Kabuto's photo, and—
threw it straight into the campfire.
Hiss—
The flames surged high.
"Ah!!"
Nonoyu's pupils quaked as she cried out.
She instinctively reached for the photo, but the flames stopped her.
Yu handed the rest of the photos back to her and explained: "I know Kabuto too.
The boy in that photo isn't him.
Danzo has been giving you fake photos of Kabuto for years."
"…"
Nonoyu stood frozen by the fire, clutching the photos of the children she cherished.
She watched in silence as the fake Kabuto's photo burned to ash.
No one could guess what she was thinking at that moment.
To the Uchiha watching nearby, her silhouette looked utterly alone—
like someone stranded on the edge of the world.
She too…
had no home left to return to.
The Uchiha clan members were silently moved by the lonely figure of the woman, and for a while, no one paid attention to the matter of the bathing barrel. One by one, they lay back down and resumed resting.
> [Side Quest]: Recruit a Medical Ninja
[Objective]: Convince a medical ninja to join the team.
Task Complete!
[Reward]: Green Elixir.
The moment the task completion prompt appeared, Yu's eyes lit up.
He immediately opened his storage space, which he hadn't checked for several days.
Upon inspection—
Yu's brows furrowed in surprise.
There were two vials of green potion inside, lying side by side in a corner.
He flipped his palm. The air shimmered, and both vials of green elixir appeared in his hand at once.
Two bottles!
A possibility came to Yu's mind—
Could this green potion replenish daily?
Even if one were smashed or lost, it might refresh again.
That was the only explanation he could think of for the presence of two vials.
He had to test this theory.
Yu pocketed one vial and opened the cap of the remaining green potion.
Before its rich life energy could dissipate—
He tilted his head back and drank it in one gulp.
Gulp—
A cool, smooth sensation flowed down his throat, and a fresh, invigorating taste filled his mouth.
The potent vitality within the green elixir spread throughout his body, nourishing every cell with gentle energy.
A brief flash of green shadow flickered in his eyes—then vanished.
Yu focused on sensing the subtle changes within himself.
After drinking the potion—
His mental fatigue faded.
Exhaustion vanished.
His physical strength increased slightly.
But what shocked him most was this:
His Wood Release—previously extending in a radius of five hundred meters—
had grown by an extra meter.
Yu placed the empty vial back into storage.
He instantly grasped the correct way to use the potion: He needed to drink it daily.
Doing so would steadily enhance his strength and improve his control over Wood Release.
Such a simple, effective method to grow stronger.
Out on the grass, the Uchiha members were mostly asleep.
Those on watch duty felt utterly at ease with Yu still awake, and sat dozing at their posts.
Nonoyu caught the faint scent of the green potion in the air.
Her eyes lit up slightly as she quietly turned around and slowly approached Yu under his steady gaze.
After a long wave of sorrow—
As a seasoned kunoichi, a former wandering priestess, and a woman with a powerful sense of resilience,
Nonoyu had begun to accept what fate had dealt her.
She was now…
A missing-nin.
No longer tied down.
No longer bound.
Konoha wanted her dead—
Then she must survive.
Just now, the sorrowful image she projected—
Had been masking a different thought.
In the end, Nonoyu couldn't come up with a better solution.
She blushed, conceded her dignity, and crawled beside Yu.
Seeing him stare at her expressionlessly, she lowered her voice, embarrassed, and murmured:
"C-Captain… Please, could you… hold onto it for me? P-Put it away, please…"
As she spoke, she awkwardly glanced toward the large bathing barrel.
°°°
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