Chapter 47: Yūgao's Gratitude?
In the intensive care unit, Gekkō Hayate's body was wrapped in bandages; his breathing was still weak, but much more stable than last night.
Yūgao Uzuki sat by the bedside, holding Hayate's pale hand. She had removed her mask, and her usually heroic face was now filled only with exhaustion and inner conflict.
Since last night, her mind had been a complete mess.
That voice. The voice that not only predicted the crisis but also gave her miraculous power at the critical moment.
"A widow is nice and all, but we can't let her live like one while her man is still alive..."
The tips of Yūgao's ears turned red again. She should have been grateful to the benefactor who saved Hayate, but whenever she thought about those words regarding mourning clothes and private photos, she felt like drawing her blade and hacking something.
Just who was it? To possess such prophetic ability, yet have a heart that was... so openly lecherous?
"It seems you haven't snapped out of it yet, Yūgao."
A sigh suddenly drifted from the shadows in the corner of the room.
Yūgao's muscles tensed instantly, her hand instinctively reaching for the ninja blade at her waist, only to find that the newcomer wasn't hiding their presence.
Kurenai Yuhi leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed, her red eyes appearing deep in the night. Her bandage-wrapped outfit didn't look out of place in a hospital.
"Senior Kurenai?" Yūgao relaxed her guard slightly. "Why are you here?"
"To see Hayate, and also..." Kurenai stepped into the ward, her gaze sweeping over the unconscious man on the bed before stopping on Yūgao's face, a smile curling at the corners of her mouth. "To welcome you to our World Truth Club."
"What do you mean?"
"That voice—you heard it too, didn't you?" Kurenai pointed it out directly.
Yūgao's pupils constricted sharply. "You know who the owner of that voice is? Don't tell me you also..."
"Don't be nervous." Kurenai raised a finger to her lips. "This is a big secret in Konoha... though it was discovered passively. We call it the ninja world sky screen. As for the owner of that voice..."
She paused deliberately, gesturing for Yūgao to look downstairs.
Confused, Yūgao stood up and walked to the window.
In the small garden below the hospital, a Blonde Youth in an orange tracksuit was wandering around with his hands behind his back beneath the ward building.
Uzumaki Naruto. The dead last that everyone in the village knew.
"It's him?" Yūgao almost cried out in shock before covering her mouth. "The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki? How is that possible... His Chakra is clearly so chaotic, and that voice sounds like..."
"Sounds like a mature and lecherous rogue?" Kurenai finished with a smile. "That's his inner persona. You don't need to understand it, just accept it. The fact is, the Body Flicker Techniqueyou got last night was a reward for becoming the object of his fantasy."
Yūgao felt a crack form in her worldview.
She had fought desperately to save her boyfriend, and the source of her power was actually because a twelve-year-old kid didn't want to see her wearing mourning clothes?
At that moment, Naruto downstairs seemed to stop in his tracks and looked up toward them.
Even from several floors away, his "I'm here to inspect my territory" expression was still very clear.
[Yo, this is the ward, right? Looks like brother Hayate is holding on quite well. It's good he didn't kick the bucket.]
That voice that made Yūgao's scalp tingle exploded in her mind again. This time, she finally confirmed the source, and her body stiffened.
Kurenai raised an eyebrow nearby; she had clearly heard it too, and an amused expression appeared on her face.
[Aya, it's good he's not dead.]
Naruto leaned against the hospital's flower bed, stroking his chin as his thoughts began to race.
[Since she's Anbu, the uniform is the soul! It's such a waste to see her wearing that thick flak jacket normally. If she could privately, just for me, wear a modified version once...]
[Remove that hard breastplate and replace it with black tight-fitting fishnet clothing, but keep the mask on. She definitely has to wear that cat-face mask!]
[Retaining the mystery of the Anbu on one hand, while blushing and kneeling on a tatami on the other—that sense of contrast...]
[*Slurp—*]
[Then I could walk over, lift her mask, and watch her long purple hair fall down... That moment of bashfulness would be more exciting than a hundred S-rank Ninjutsu!]
[This is the motivation for doing good deeds! Brother Hayate, for the sake of this little hobby of mine, you must live a long life and create plenty of opportunities for your girlfriend to repay me!]
*Pfft!*
Inside the ward, the air froze instantly.
Yūgao looked like a cooked shrimp, her hands gripping the edge of the windowsill so hard that she left fingerprints in the iron frame.
Tight-fitting fishnet clothing?!
And kneeling while wearing a mask and calling him master?!
This kid... this twelve-year-old kid... Is his head filled with nothing but this kind of stuff?!
"He... he actually..." Yūgao was so ashamed and indignant that she couldn't even finish her sentence, her usually cool image completely shattered.
Kurenai, however, was laughing so hard she was shaking, even patting Yūgao's shoulder with a bit of schadenfreude. "It seems our Naruto-kun has a unique obsession with the Anbu series. Welcome to the Cash Cow Victims Alliance, Yūgao."
"Who wants to join an alliance like that!" Yūgaoroared in a hushed voice.
[Ding!]
Reality was cruel. The cold notification sound ignored her indignation and rang out.
[Detected that the host "Yūgao Uzuki" has experienced intense shame and emotional upheaval due to hearing about the "Uniform Play conceived for her to repay the favor."]
[Your favorability toward your savior has increased from 0 to 50 (this is a complicated beginning).]
[Reward issued: Konoha-Style Swordsmanship: Secret Technique: Dance of the Crescent Moon(Perfect Version). The corrected muscle memory will ensure that each of your slashes possesses the physical attack power of a Shadow Clone without overtaxing your body.]
A massive stream of information poured into Yūgao's brain, and a warm current surged through her limbs. She could feel that those once obscure sword secrets were now etched into her bones as if she had practiced them thousands of times.
She even instinctively formed a blade with her fingers and made a light swipe; three afterimages faintly appeared in the air.
Is this... the price of power?
Yūgao stared blankly at her hand, then looked at the unconscious Hayate on the bed, her heart filled with a mix of emotions. To protect him, did she really have to endure this... or even cater to those shameful fantasies?
Downstairs, Naruto had no idea that he had planted another inner demon in a mature older sister type.
[Hehe, inspection complete. Time to go home and sleep. I'll come back in a few days to check the results.]
Naruto hummed an out-of-tune tune and walked away with a swaggering gait.
[Ding!]
Simultaneously, a voice rang out in Naruto's mind.
[Congratulations to the host, "Yūgao Uzuki" has officially joined the conquest list (Current status: A complex mix of gratitude and the urge to hit someone).]
[Because of your "good deed," her future growth limit has been unlocked.]
[Received feedback reward: Swordsmanship Basics: Reaction Reinforcement (When facing slashing attacks, your body will move to evade before your brain does, as skillfully as if you've been hunted by beautiful women many times).]
"Hmm? Swordsmanship reaction?"
Naruto, walking on the street, rubbed the back of his head. "That's random, but better than nothing. Maybe Hayate's life force is so strong it moved the heavens?"
Of course, he didn't know that this reaction speed might be used in the near future to dodge an actual assassination attempt by a certain Anbu lady.
In the ward, Kurenai finally suppressed her laughter, her expression turning more serious.
"Do you feel it? This sensation of breaking through a bottleneck without any training."
Yūgao remained silent for a long time, finally sighing and turning to look at Kurenai. Though her gaze was helpless, it held a trace of determination.
"...Who else knows about this ability of his?"
"Currently, only me, Anko, and a few little girls you know." Kurenai walked to her side, looking out the window toward where Naruto had disappeared. "But this is just the beginning. Our ability to grasp a glimmer of hope in this chaotic world depends entirely on that little guy."
"Yūgao, the peace in Konoha won't last much longer. Orochimaru's movements are just the beginning." Kurenai lowered her voice. "If you want to protect this man who can only cough in the coming chaos, you might... really need to consider that bodysuit thing."
Yūgao's face turned red again as she said through gritted teeth, "...Don't even think about such a thing!"
But her hand gripping the sword hilt didn't loosen in the slightest. Between power and dignity, the scales had already tilted because of the man still in a coma.