Chapter 117: The Duties of the Anbu
Midnight.
Soft breathing echoed through the room.
Moonlight spilled through the window, illuminating Mabui as she lay on her side in bed, her hands folded behind her head and a blissful smile on her face.
This had been the happiest day she had experienced in six months.
Before coming to Konoha, she had never imagined that she could grow a clingy and incredibly obedient little chick from a flowerpot.
Konoha really was a strange and magical village.
Not only were its people strange—even its flowerpots were extraordinary.
Tap.
A faint sound of footsteps suddenly came from inside the room.
He glanced at the sleeping Mabui, who was completely off guard, then looked down at the little chick sleeping on the floor.
Just as the system's reward had promised, even its sleeping posture was strange.
Looking at the chick lying on its back, Jonin Asuka's heart ached.
Two months.
Two whole months!
He had left it to fend for itself for two entire months, never expecting it to disappear before it even hatched.
Asuka crouched down and poked the chick's head with his finger.
"Cluck~"
The chick irritably shook its head, changed positions, and continued sleeping.
Poke. Poke.
Realizing that something was poking it again, the chick suddenly opened its eyes, jumped up from the floor, turned around, and stared at the tall black silhouette before it—and the pair of scarlet eyes behind him.
"Cluck~ Woof~"
Seeing that the chick was about to cry out, Asuka moved as fast as lightning and immediately pinched its beak shut.
"Woof~"
Looking at the struggling chick in his palm, Jonin Asuka sat cross-legged on the floor, a red glint flashing through his eyes.
Should I just stew it and eat it?
I heard stewing it has benefits too.
The chick blinked.
When it saw the killing intent flashing in Asuka's eyes and the way he kept licking his lips, it struggled even harder.
I'm definitely going to explode with anger.
"You—"
At that moment, Jonin Asuka heard a slightly startled voice from beside the bed.
Without saying a word, he reached out with his other hand and covered Mabui's mouth, while pressing his knee directly against the arm in which she was gripping a kunai.
"Shh. Don't be afraid. It's me!"
Under the moonlight, Mabui finally saw the dark figure in her room clearly.
It was the owner of the fried chicken shop, a medical ninja, and a member of the Uchiha clan.
Her gaze shifted slightly.
First, she glanced at the clock on the wall.
Then her eyes fell upon Jonin Asuka's Sharingan.
Tears immediately welled up in her eyes.
How could she not be frightened when something like this happened in the middle of the night?
"Don't scream. I'm here because I'm looking for a chicken."
"???"
Mabui's body stiffened.
Looking at Jonin Asuka's serious expression, she became even more frightened.
Looking for a chicken in my room?
Are you calling me a coward?
She refused to believe that a Jonin could get lost.
This guy must have come to rescue her.
Knock! Knock!
Seeing her suddenly start crying, Jonin Asuka shook the little chick in his other hand and said impatiently,
"I'm here for it, not you."
"Oh~"
The moment she learned that he wasn't going to do anything to her, Mabui's tears stopped instantly.
Haa…
Jonin Asuka tentatively released his hand from her mouth.
When he saw that she had no intention of screaming, he sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed.
"So…"
Mabui pulled the blanket over herself and looked cautiously at the struggling chick in Asuka's hand.
"I raised this."
"Heh~"
The corner of Jonin Asuka's mouth twitched.
Since when could chickens be raised in flowerpots in the ninja world?
This thing was given to me by the system.
"Uh…"
Seeing that the other party did not seem to intend to harm her, Mabui became a little bolder.
She cautiously extended an arm from beneath the blanket and pointed at the chick.
"If Jonin Asuka doesn't believe me, I can call it. It'll respond to me."
Smack!
Jonin Asuka slapped her hand away and said impatiently,
"It'll follow the first person it sees."
"If Yugao hadn't given it to you, I would've been the first person it saw."
"???"
A while later.
Mabui also realized that the chick she had "raised" seemed to have quite a connection with him.
Yugao probably didn't know anything about it and had simply given her the flowerpot.
After hesitating for a moment, she looked at Jonin Asuka sitting on the edge of the bed and asked,
"What are you planning to do, Jonin Asuka?"
"Eat it."
"No, woof…"
"Shh!"
Seeing that she was about to scream again, Jonin Asuka quickly covered her mouth, made a shushing gesture, then slowly released her and said helplessly,
"Then what do you think we should do? You turned my property into your property."
Mabui thought for a moment before answering seriously,
"I'll pay you."
"How much are you planning to pay?"
"1,000 ryo?"
"Idiot."
Hearing her tentative offer, Asuka looked at Mabui's tear-filled eyes, then at the struggling chick in his hand.
He immediately stuffed it into Mabui's arms and said impatiently,
"Once you've experienced what it can do, you'll understand its true value. This thing is practically priceless."
Mabui.
The moment he finished speaking, she watched Jonin Asuka's figure disappear from the room.
Everything felt like a dream.
No.
It wasn't a dream.
She lowered her head and looked at the chick in her arms, which had already had quite a few of its feathers plucked out.
The corner of her cheek twitched.
If I didn't hear him wrong…
Before leaving, he seemed to say that once he figured out this chick's value, he would come looking for me.
Have I become a target of the Uchiha clan?
Jonin?
Two days later.
Jonin Asuka sat cross-legged on the tatami, a steaming cup of tea sitting before him.
He picked up the cup, took a small sip, and gazed out the window at the drifting clouds.
He felt extremely comfortable.
Although the chick had gone missing, perhaps it had actually been a blessing in disguise.
If one day he couldn't resist eating that chick and was affected by its essence, becoming unusually fertile, what would he do?
Hmm.
Two children were already enough to give him a headache.
Bang!
Jonin Asuka slammed his teacup onto the table.
No matter how he looked at the matter, he was still angry.
Mabui.
"Caw~"
At that moment, an unfamiliar birdcall suddenly came from outside the window.
Following the sound, Jonin Asuka saw a large black bird land on his windowsill.
A bamboo tube was tied to its leg.
Oh?
An Anbu messenger bird.
This was the first time he had seen one.
He had been in the Anbu for so long, yet aside from that mission in Sunagakure—which could hardly even be considered a mission—he hadn't completed a single assignment.
If his contemporary, Kurenai Yuhi, hadn't also been teaching at the Ninja Academy, he might genuinely have thought he had been deliberately isolated.
He untied the bamboo tube and poured out the letter inside.
After glancing at the writing, he raised an eyebrow.
"Konoha Hospital. Assemble. Mission."
After reading it, the corner of Jonin Asuka's mouth twitched.
"What the hell?"
"Why are we assembling at Konoha Hospital?"
Then Jonin Asuka thought about it for a moment.
His eyes suddenly narrowed.
"That woman definitely doesn't want me to give her a medical examination, right?"
Thinking about the captain who hadn't taken any action for several months, Jonin Asuka stood up and walked out.
Sometimes, the inability to become pregnant couldn't always be blamed on the man.
Not long afterward.
Jonin Asuka, dressed in full Anbu gear, appeared on the rooftop of Konoha's Medical Department.
Although the message had not explicitly stated why he was supposed to come, he had still put on his Anbu uniform and mask, tucked his Konoha forehead protector into his pocket, and stood there eating a lollipop while watching the streets below.
"Oh?"
"You came pretty quickly."
A woman's voice suddenly came from behind him.
Asuka bit down on the candy, turned around, and glanced back.
He saw a person with short silver hair and slightly dark skin wearing a cat-shaped mask.
She pushed open the rooftop door of the medical department and slowly walked toward him.
Jonin Asuka narrowed his eyes.
"Captain!"
"Mm."
The silver-haired woman nodded and said coldly,
"Today, the village elders issued an arrest warrant for Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin of the former Konoha Hidden Village in the Land of Fire and a disciple of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, as well as Jiraiya and Tsunade."
"Once the negotiations are over, the village will announce to the entire ninja world that Orochimaru has become a missing-nin."
"Our mission is to capture or eliminate Orochimaru before the village makes that announcement."