1novels Chapter 106 Companionship and Commitment
Chapter 106 Companionship and Commitment
Why are these people so gossipy...?
Finally, after escorting Sasuke to the vicinity of the entrance to the Uchiha clan's territory, Naruto secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Along the way, the undisguised pointing and whispering from all directions had been truly unpleasant.
Of course, this time, the focus of those gazes and discussions was not on him, the "fox demon," but rather on Zuo Yue, who was standing beside him with her head down.
However, this focus is not malicious, but rather a profound expression of pity.
"Look... isn't that the child? I heard that last night the entire Uchiha clan... was..."
"What a tragedy... to experience something like this at such a young age..."
"Shh! Keep your voice down! Don't let her hear! But I heard... it was her older sister, how could she do that..."
"I heard that because of this incident, that terrible organization was attracted here, and it almost caused another major disaster..."
The hushed discussions came thick and fast. Every pitying glance, every sigh of "how pitiful," was like repeatedly tearing open Zuo Yue's bloody wounds, making her already bowed head even deeper.
Naruto could clearly feel the stiffness in the girl's body beside him, which made him feel inexplicably irritated, yet he couldn't stop everyone from talking.
In Konoha today, two bombshell news items have swept through every corner like a hurricane, causing an unprecedented shock.
First, there was the massacre of the Uchiha clan. As the undisputed number one powerful ninja clan in Konoha, they were almost completely wiped out overnight, with only a handful of survivors remaining. The shock of this news was undoubtedly earthquake-like.
However, despite the horrific tragedy, it could only rank second in the storm of public opinion.
What truly topped the trending topics and sparked widespread condemnation was the revelation of the heinous crimes committed by a deceased high-ranking official—Shimura Danzo.
He desecrated the body of the First Hokage, stole his cells for forbidden research, and during the Third Shinobi World War, in order to seize the Sharingan, he secretly attacked his fellow Uchiha clan members who fought alongside him, creating a large number of "disappearance" cases.
They maintained a secret collaboration with Orochimaru, the notorious S-rank rogue ninja who had already defected, and continued to conduct inhumane human experiments, even kidnapping innocent villagers and lone ninjas to serve as test subjects for his insane research...
These crimes, one after another, that were made public, were so appalling that they completely overturned people's understanding of the "Konoha leadership" and aroused public outrage and condemnation.
In contrast, the truth about the Uchiha clan massacre was temporarily obscured, which instead focused people's anger more on the already deceased Danzo.
Although Naruto, in his Menma identity, made the condition that Danzo's numerous misdeeds be made public, he currently had no interest in paying attention to the uproar and condemnation from the outside world.
All his attention was focused on the girl beside him; he absolutely did not want Zuo Yue to walk that lonely path alone like in the original work.
Stepping into the streets of the Uchiha clan, a deathly silence overwhelms you. The clan's territory, which was never particularly bustling but was always full of life, is now completely deserted, leaving only a chilling silence.
On the street, the human-shaped outlines drawn with white chalk to represent the locations of "corpses" were shocking, with large patches of blood that had long since dried and turned black remaining next to them.
Naruto stared silently at the marks, his mind a jumble of emotions. He couldn't distinguish which were genuine bloodstains and which were the convincing forgeries left behind when [Gold Experience] created those creature imitations... Perhaps, it was both.
He said nothing, made no attempt to comfort her with pale words, but simply stayed by Zuo Yue's side, walking alongside her step by step into the depths of the clan's territory.
There is still a long distance from the entrance to the patriarch's residence.
Then, without warning, the sky darkened, and fine rain began to fall, quickly forming lines that pattered down. The rain that, in the original work, was meant to highlight loneliness, arrived as expected.
Rain pelted her face and body. Satsuki seemed to be so shocked that she didn't even react at first, and just continued walking blankly.
She was only awakened from her sleepwalking state when the rain soaked her hair and clothes, bringing a cold touch.
She instinctively stopped in her tracks, then abruptly turned her head, looking at Naruto beside her with an almost panicked, helpless, and pleading gaze...
She wasn't worried about the rain, nor was she afraid of the empty streets. She was afraid—afraid that Naruto would leave because of this sudden rain, that he would find it troublesome, that accompanying her on this final journey would be a burden, and that he would abandon her alone.
She didn't know what to do. If Naruto really left, would she have the courage to walk alone down the road to that broken "home"?
She didn't want to be alone.
Absolutely not.
Naruto looked at Satsuki's pale profile, wet with rain, and his slightly trembling shoulders. He hesitated for a moment, then reached out and touched Satsuki's wet hair.
To be honest, he had wanted to do this for a long time, but he wasn't sure if the proud Sōgetsu would dodge it.
But now... Zuo Yue was only slightly taken aback, without any resistance or evasion. Instead, as if seeking comfort, she still looked at him with those tearful eyes filled with vulnerability and dependence.
"You..." Naruto sighed, "Can't you have a little more faith in me?"
After saying that, he took Zuoyue's hand and quickly ran to the eaves of a nearby house to take shelter from the increasingly heavy rain. Their hair and clothes were already slightly wet from the rain, clinging to their bodies and bringing a chill.
After regaining his footing, Naruto quickly formed a simple hand seal.
Bang!
With a soft sound, another identical shadow clone appeared beside the two.
"Go," Naruto himself succinctly instructed.
The shadow clone nodded, and the next second, his chakra exploded beneath his feet, and with the speed of a ninja traveling, he instantly rushed into the rain. His figure disappeared at the end of the street in a few leaps.
"Wait here for a moment," Naruto explained to Satsuki beside him. "He'll bring the umbrella over soon. I said I'd stay by your side, and I mean it."
Upon hearing this, Zuo Yue lowered her head deeply, making it impossible to see her expression. She only nodded slightly, indicating that she had heard.
However, her body unconsciously moved a little closer to Naruto.
Naruto sensed her subtle dependence and sighed inwardly again. He didn't say much, but gently stroked Satsuki's rain-soaked hair.
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Meanwhile, the shadow clone that rushed into the rain stopped again after running a long enough distance to make sure it was completely out of Satsuki's sight, and its hands formed hand seals once more.
Bang!
Another puff of white smoke flashed by, and another clone appeared.
One of the clones didn't stop and continued running towards the nearest general store.
The aura of the newly created clone suddenly changed! A phantom figure faintly emitting blue-pink light appeared behind him.
Immediately, the clone rushed towards Konoha Hospital at full speed.
His mission is to use that power to heal everything and fulfill his promise to Satsuki that she will be "100% cured".
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(One more update today)