Read ahead of public release on P atreon at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley
Check out Chapter illustrations on Pixiv at unhinged_uchiha
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Somewhere in the Land of Fire
'This jutsu… Earth Grudge Fear… it really is impressive,' Kanzou thought.
Defeating Kakuzu and recruiting him as a subordinate had earned Kanzou a reward from the system. He hadn't received any Evil Points, which disappointed him slightly, but he did obtain the Scroll of Earth Grudge Fear, now displayed on his system panel.
Earth Grudge Fear was the very Kinjutsu Kakuzu used. It was an extremely versatile technique that allowed the user to manipulate black threads for a wide range of purposes: stitching wounds, reattaching severed limbs, detaching body parts, and controlling them independently, and more.
Those, however, were only secondary functions.
The true core of Earth Grudge Fear lay in the immortality it granted.
'It's a shame that this immortality is only pseudo-immortality,' Kanzou thought, mildly disappointed.
Rather than true eternal life, the jutsu granted a form of extended existence. It allowed the user to replace failing or destroyed organs with those of properly functioning ones taken from other living people, forcibly transplanting them to keep the body functioning. When these transplantations are carried out with Earth Grudge Fear, blood type, compatibility, rejection, none of that mattered. The jutsu simply overwrote those limitations. Even hearts could be replaced without issue and with ease.
Kakuzu had taken this ability even further. By storing multiple hearts within his body, each aligned with a different chakra nature, he not only prolonged his life but also gained access to all five chakra natures that he wasn't born with, effectively granting himself multiple lives.
'If I didn't already have the System to back me up… I would've been tempted to learn this jutsu,' Kanzou thought.
Even if the immortality granted by Earth Grudge Fear was only pseudo, flawed, incomplete, and imperfect, it was still a form of immortality. And that alone made it incredibly tempting. Who wouldn't want to live forever?
Maybe others wouldn't. But he wasn't one of them.
He wanted to live for thousands, no, tens of thousands, of years. As for the consequences of such immortality and the problems that may come with such a long existence? Those were problems for later. What did consequences matter to someone who wasn't immortal yet?
After all, only the rich could say money isn't everything; it doesn't buy everything. When those words came from the poor, they rang hollow.
He'd worry about the downsides of a long and eternal life after achieving immortality.
Even though he desired immortality, Kanzou had no intention of using Earth Grudge Fear to achieve it.
That wasn't to say the jutsu lacked value. Even as mere pseudo-immortality, an extended, imperfect lifespan, it still offered a form of long existence. If he didn't have the System, he would have absolutely tried to master Earth Grudge Fear to prolong his life.
'But I have the System…' he thought, shaking his head. 'I don't need it.'
With the System's support, true immortality might actually be within reach. The shinobi world offered many paths to eternal life, and Kanzou saw no reason to walk the same imperfect road Kakuzu had chosen.
Moreover, unlike Kakuzu, he didn't need to harvest other people's hearts to access all five chakra natures. Kanzou had already mastered the Five Basic Chakra Natures, and even the two supplementary ones, on his own. In that regard, Earth Grudge Fear was completely useless to him.
Thus, despite holding the scroll in his hand, Kanzou had no intention of ever learning Earth Grudge Fear.
'I also have no desire to turn myself into a stitched ragdoll,' he thought dryly. 'Yeah… definitely not. I don't want to end up looking like that.'
Appearance mattered to him. Kanzou had no interest in becoming ugly or grotesque.
With that in mind, the idea of mastering Earth Grudge Fear was discarded completely.
After closing the system panel, Kanzou turned his attention to Mikoto walking beside him. Ever since they'd left Sora-ku, she had remained silent, head lowered, fingers clutching the edge of his cloak as they walked. It was obvious something was bothering her. She clearly had something she wanted to say, yet lacked the courage to bring it up.
Since she hesitated, Kanzou called out, "Mikoto."
"Hm?" She lifted her head and looked up at him.
Kanzou took the hand gripping his cloak and held it in his own, interlocking his fingers with hers. "What's on your mind?"
She hesitated, then shook her head. "N-nothing…"
Kanzou's lips tightened. "Have you forgotten that you are my canary?" he said calmly. "You're not allowed to hide your thoughts from me. I don't grant you that freedom. If I ask what you're thinking, you answer honestly. Do you understand?"
"That's unfair, Kanzou-sama," she said, dissatisfied. "Am I not even allowed to keep any of my thoughts to myself?"
"Not while you're my canary," Kanzou replied flatly.
"Then… will I be allowed to when I become your Black Swan?" she asked.
"We'll talk about that when you evolve," he said. "For now, you're still a canary in a cage. So speak. What is it you're thinking about but too hesitant to say?"
Mikoto hesitated again, unsure of whether she really wanted to talk about it. 'No… I really have to talk about it,' she thought, but didn't know how to say it. But she had to say it, so she did, haltingly. "When I was with Misaki-san… she told me… a-about the nature of your r-relationship with h-her… that y-you—"
"That I fuck her?" Kanzou finished for her.
Hearing the words spoken so plainly, Mikoto's grip on his hand tightened. She nodded, eyes lowered. "Y-yes…" Then she raised her head to look at him and asked quietly, "Is it… is it true?"
Kanzou shrugged and nodded without hiding the matter. "Yeah. It's true. I do… fuck her."
"S-so it is…" The confirmation made her chest ache, and for a moment, she didn't know what to say. But the questions kept pressing at her, and she needed to know more about him and his relationship with Misaki.
"H-how long?" she asked softly. "How long have you two been…?"
Kanzou thought for a moment. "Probably around three years or so." He shrugged. "Maybe a little less. I'm not entirely sure about the exact dates."
"Th-three years…?" Mikoto repeated, stunned. The weight of it was hard to swallow; three years was not a short time at all.
"Yeah," he nodded, then added, "But it wasn't a daily or regular thing. I only fucked with her when I visited Sora-ku, and I didn't come that often. Maybe once a month… sometimes once every two months or something. So it wasn't frequent."
"E-even so… three years…" Mikoto murmured. No matter how infrequent, the length of time still gnawed at her. Gathering her courage, she looked up at him and asked again, "Kanzou-sama… d-do you have feelings for her? Do you love Misaki-san?"
She found the thought hard to accept. If he truly had feelings for Misaki, if he loved her, then he likely wouldn't have forced himself upon her. After all, a man in love with a woman will not eye another woman… much less force himself upon her. At least, that's what she'd like to believe.
Still, she couldn't ignore the fact that his relationship with Misaki had lasted three years. Feelings should have developed over that span, or so she believed. The idea made what he'd done harder to accept and swallow. And yet, she also had to consider the circumstances surrounding it all.
At the time, she was Fugaku's fiancée, a woman on the opposing faction, and his actions might have been driven by political necessity, by his need to remove Fugaku, and he might have targeted her for that.
During her five years in the capital, Mikoto had witnessed countless dark dealings. Political cruelty wasn't uncommon, and it could appear in many ways. And in the end, his actions had succeeded: Fugaku was exiled, and Kanzou became the clan's patriarch. From that perspective, it all could have been calculated, deliberate, and coldly political.
'No… it definitely wasn't entirely political,' she thought. She wanted to believe she wasn't just a political conquest for him, and that she meant more to him than just the fiancée of a political rival… that he took her because he desired her, not because she was a means to an end… this is the belief to which she'd clung to all this time.
But now, learning about Kanzou's relationship with Misaki, doubt crept in. She couldn't ignore it, and she needed to know what he truly felt about Misaki.
He had promised to marry her if she evolved into his Black Swan, and she had held onto that promise, believing him that he'd definitely fulfill it once she did evolve into a Black Swan, but after learning about Misaki, doubt began to creep in. She started to wonder if her Sofu-sama had been right all along, if Kanzou was merely keeping her around with no real intention of marrying her, if he truly had feelings for Misaki instead, and if she was nothing more than someone standing between them.
She didn't want to be that.
She didn't know what she would do to herself if that turned out to be the truth, if Kanzou really did have feelings for Misaki; the thought terrified her, and for a moment, she didn't want to know… yet she still wanted to know the truth… Even if… even if she'd end up killing herself after learning about it.
"Do I love her?" Kanzou blinked, a bit caught off guard by the question. Then he scoffed, almost laughing, as if the idea itself were absurd. "Don't be ridiculous. How could that be? I don't have feelings like that for Misaki. She isn't worthy of being loved by me." Then he paused, and added while looking ahead, "Although… she probably does have feelings for me… or maybe… she doesn't, and it's just attachment she has developed towards me because I have fucked her many times already. Either way, what she feels about me, it doesn't matter to me. From my side, it's just lust. I had only cared about fucking her, nothing more."
His tone remained blunt. "And Misaki is already aware of this. She knows she won't get real emotions from me, that I'd only fuck her for my own pleasure. That's it. I had made sure to let her know beforehand. She understood what she was getting into when she came to me in heat, wanting to be tamed by me… which is also why she has never really expressed what she feels towards me."
'Tamed?' Mikoto blinked, a wave of revulsion washing over her at the way he referred to Misaki. It sounded less like he was talking about a woman and more like a pet. The wording felt deeply disrespectful and degrading, and for a moment, she wanted to protest, to say it was hard to believe Misaki would ever agree to being 'tamed.' In Mikoto's opinion, Misaki wasn't that kind of woman, shouldn't be that kind of woman.
But then Mikoto thought of herself. Of how she had willingly stepped into a cage as his canary.
And suddenly, the idea didn't seem quite so unbelievable anymore.
And there was something else that troubled her, "But this was in the past, right?"
"In the past? You mean to ask me whether I would stop fucking her?" he asked.
Mikoto nodded, "Y-yes… Y-you'd stop, right?"
She knew Kanzou had been involved with other women before her; that was something she couldn't change. Still, she hoped that now that she was with him, those relationships would remain in the past, and that he wouldn't continue them.
When he hadn't responded to Misaki's attempt to invite him earlier, she'd taken it as a sign. Maybe he no longer intended to continue that relationship. Maybe he planned to end it.
However, Kanzou shook his head. "Nah… I'll still fuck her in the future."
His words crushed her hopes, pouring cold water over everything she'd been clinging to. She trembled as she looked up at him, her voice shaking. "W-why?"
"What do you mean, why?" He looked at her as if the question itself were foolish. "Because I like fucking women. And because I can. That's all."
"I-if that's the reason… then… then aren't I here?" she asked, her voice tight. "Why do you still need other women?"
It wasn't as if she ever refused him. She gave in to him completely, indulged even his most shameless desires just to satisfy him. And yet, despite all that, he still spoke so casually about involving himself with other women, about fucking other women!
She didn't know how she was supposed to accept that.
"Pfft…" Kanzou scoffed and came to a stop, forcing her to halt with him. He turned her to face him, looked down, and lifted her chin with his fingers.
"Mikoto," he said calmly, "tell me, what's your favorite food?"
"My favorite food?" she asked, startled. "W-what does that have to do with this…?" She avoided his eyes.
"It does," Kanzou replied, tightening his grip, as his tone darkened. "And don't answer my questions with questions. Understand?"
She nodded. "I-I understand…" After a moment, she answered softly, "G-grilled river fish with salt."
"Hmm. Grilled river fish with salt," he repeated, nodding. "Plain, but fitting. It suits your austere elegance."
The comparison made her flush. She'd never thought about it that way, and though it seemed oddly accurate, she still didn't understand what her favorite food had to do with his infidelity.
Kanzou continued, "So, grilled river fish with salt is your favorite. But do you eat it every day? All the time?"
She fell silent and then understood where he was going with this conversation.
"Do you?" he pressed.
"N-no…" Mikoto shook her head, biting her lip.
"Exactly," he said. "You don't eat the same thing every single day. Why?"
"Why?" she murmured, unsure how to answer.
"It's because you have other options," Kanzou explained. "You can eat sushi, onigiri, rice, corn, ramen, Udon, steak, any number of things. Because those choices exist, you don't eat grilled river fish with salt every day, even though it's your favorite. Isn't that right?"
"I-I could still eat it… Every day," she insisted, her eyes beginning to glisten as she tried to resist the direction he was steering the conversation.
"Hm. Maybe," he replied with a shake of his head. "But you'd only do that if you had no other choice. If you did have options, you wouldn't keep eating the same dish every day, no matter how much you liked it."
Mikoto shook her head. "I can. I really can. I wouldn't touch any other options. No matter how many options there are for me, I can stick to just one."
"Is that so?" Kanzou said, lifting her chin. "Then look me in the eye and say it again."
"…" She fell silent, unable to repeat the words, unable to force them out.
"Hmph. Thought so," Kanzou snorted, his tone even. "If you can't eat your favorite food every day without eventually growing tired of it, why do you think I'd be content with fucking only you, every day, forever? Just as you need different dishes, different flavors, different ingredients to satisfy your taste buds… I need other women. Other desires. Other experiences to satisfy my lust and desire. And just like you have different options for dishes… I have many different options for the women I fuck or want to fuck…" He held her gaze. "Does that make sense to you?"
It did; his explanation made sense. She understood where Kanzou was coming from and what he was trying to say. And yet… even though it all made sense, even though she understood it intellectually, she couldn't bring herself to accept it. After all, food and women are not the same.
Seeing the tears in her eyes and her clear resistance, Kanzou spoke again. "Mikoto, you worked in the capital for so many years. This kind of thing shouldn't surprise you."
After all, this wasn't modern Earth; it was a feudal world governed by old customs and traditions. In this era, polygamy and relationships involving multiple partners weren't strange at all; they were common, almost expected among the nobility as well as high-ranking or wealthy people.
In the capital, nobles and wealthy merchants often kept multiple women, wives, concubines, and lovers, and had many children for the continuation of the families, Clans, and dynasties. It was common, almost expected. Especially considering how high the mortality rate is because of wars, diseases, and so on.
Because of that, Kanzou found it hard to believe she was struggling to accept it. This should have been familiar territory to her.
"E-even if that's true…" she replied softly, feeling helpless.
Seeing other men live that way was one thing. Seeing the man she wanted to marry expressing his intention of living that way was something else entirely; after all, it would impact her.
"What woman would want to be one among many?" she asked softly. "Wouldn't it be better to be the only one?"
Kanzou shrugged, his voice cold. "Unfortunately for you… This is how things will be. You'll be one of many women I would be involved with, and you don't get a say in it."
"Kanzou-sama… please, no…" Mikoto tried to protest. She didn't want to be one among many; she wanted to be the only one.
He didn't give her the chance to continue. Kanzou clamped a hand over her mouth and glared down at her coldly, making it clear that her opinion didn't matter and that she wasn't allowed to interrupt him.
The intensity of his gaze made her tremble, and she fell silent as he continued evenly, "Earlier, you said you could survive eating only your favorite food, that you wouldn't touch other options even if they were available. Good, very good. That's exactly how it will be for you. For you, there will be only me. No other men. I won't allow that. You belong to me and me alone, and I'm the only one who will ever touch you."
She nodded as tears spilled from her eyes.
The tears were not for being restricted to only him. She had never wanted a relationship with more than one man, so it didn't matter to her that he restricted her in that sense.
All she wants is to be with Kanzou, and in return, for him to be only with her.
Kanzou made his stance clear once more.
"I'm going to once again make this absolutely clear to you," he said flatly. "For me, you will always be one of many. It would be better for you to accept that reality, Mikoto, and prepare yourself for it. Because if you can't accept it, then you can't be my wife."
Her eyes widened in disbelief. She wanted to protest, to say something, anything, but his hand clamped firmly over her mouth, silencing her completely.
Kanzou continued, his gaze steady and unyielding. "Instead of you, I can simply choose someone else. Another woman, one who is more understanding, more accepting, more adaptable. There are plenty of women who would accept this. Hell, Misaki would accept it easily." He paused briefly, then added dismissively, "Not that I consider her worthy of being my wife, but that's beside the point."
His voice remained calm, almost casual, as he delivered the final blow. "The point is this: you don't have a choice. If you want to marry me, you must accept this reality. And if you can't…" His eyes hardened. "Then I'll simply discard you."
Her breathing quickened as panic and fear surged through her. The words discard you echoed relentlessly in her mind, over and over, until her thoughts spiraled.
Discard? Kanzou-sama would discard me if I don't accept this? H-how could that be? I… I don't want to be thrown away… no… please… please don't…
Seeing the panic spiral through her mind, Kanzou smirked inwardly. He removed the hand covering her mouth and spoke calmly, almost gently.
"Do you wish to remain, someone I might choose as my wife," he asked, "or do you wish to be discarded? The decision is yours. So, what will it be?"
Faced with the ultimatum, tears streamed down her cheeks. She shook her head and clutched him tightly, burying her face against his chest as her voice broke. "D-don't… don't discard me, Kanzou-sama… please… don't. I-I'll accept it… I will…"
"Really?" he murmured near her ear.
She looked up at him and nodded frantically, her voice trembling. "R-really… I swear. I swear I'll accept your involvement with other women. I'll accept that I won't be the only woman by your side… just please don't throw me away… please…"
"Fufu~" Kanzou chuckled darkly, clearly satisfied, before leaning down and kissing her.
…
Around the same time, in Sora-ku—
"Hey… Kakuzu Ojii-san where are you going?" Misaki called out when she saw him heading toward the exit.
It had only been about an hour since Kanzou and Mikoto had left, yet Kakuzu already looked like he was preparing to leave. That alone made Misaki dissatisfied and uneasy.
"Don't call me 'Ojii-san,'" Kakuzu grunted. He didn't bother explaining and kept walking.
"Are you trying to run away?" Misaki called after him. "Aren't you afraid of making Kanzou-sama angry? You do know that making Kanzou-sama angry is a very bad idea, right?"
Kakuzu paused at her words. The mention of Kanzou made his body tense for a brief moment, but he merely snorted and continued walking.
Seeing that he had no intention of stopping, Misaki turned to Chiaki. "Okaa-san… aren't you going to stop him?"
Chiaki exhaled a thin stream of smoke and replied calmly, "He's not running away. He has some business to take care of."
"What business?" Misaki asked, frowning.
Chiaki shrugged. "I don't know. He didn't tell me. He only said Kanzou boy wouldn't be opposed to it."
"He's probably lying," Misaki said suspiciously. "I bet he's trying to escape."
"Even if that were the case, I can't stop him," Chiaki replied, sounding resigned. Still, she didn't truly believe Kakuzu was trying to run.
Misaki, however, wasn't convinced. "I'll follow him and make sure he doesn't run away." Without waiting for a response, she dashed after Kakuzu.
"H-hey, Misaki—don't—!" Chiaki called out, but Misaki was already gone. She clicked her tongue in irritation. "Tch… what am I supposed to do with that girl?"
Turning to the strongest of her neko-nin, she ordered, "Yoru, go after her. Make sure nothing happens to her."
"Hm… nya. Leave it to me, baa-san," Yoru replied with a nod before swiftly following after Misaki.
…
Outside the building, Misaki ran after Kakuzu.
"Wait a minute, Ojii-san! I'll come with you!"
Kakuzu stopped and turned back with a scowl. "Didn't I tell you not to call me 'Ojii-san'?"
Misaki snorted. "That's what Kanzou-sama calls you. And since I'm his woman, of course, I'll call you Ojii-san too. If you've got a problem with it, go complain to him. Don't tell me to stop."
Kakuzu fell silent. Complain to Kanzou? That was practically an invitation to torture. He had no intention of doing that. He clicked his tongue and turned away. "Whatever…"
Misaki followed right behind him. "So, where are you going anyway? Okaa-san said you had some business to take care of. What kind of business?"
"That has nothing to do with you, girl," Kakuzu replied curtly.
"Of course it does," Misaki shot back. "Since I'm coming with you."
Kakuzu halted again. "I never agreed to that."
"And I don't need your permission to go where I want," Misaki said calmly. "I'm coming along to keep an eye on you, to make sure you don't betray Kanzou-sama by leaking information to Fugaku or Konoha, or get too afraid and run away."
Kakuzu snorted. "If I wanted to run, do you really think you could stop me? I could kill you before you even realized it."
"Sure, go ahead," Misaki replied without fear. "But if you kill me, Kanzou-sama will be furious. And I don't think that'll end well for you."
"Tch…" Kakuzu clicked his tongue. Helpless, he could only accept her presence and continue walking.
"I'm glad you understand," Misaki said cheerfully as she fell into step beside him. "So… where are we going, Ojii-san?"
"Don't ask questions," Kakuzu replied flatly. Letting her follow was one thing; answering her was another.
"Are you sure?" Misaki tilted her head. "Because I could always tell Kanzou-sama that you're bullying me and refusing to cooperate. If I put in a bad word for you, that could get really ugly."
Kakuzu's lips twitched. She was blackmailing him, blatantly. He wasn't scared enough to snap at her, but the constant pestering grated on his nerves.
After enduring it for a while, he finally growled, "I'm going out in search of a heart."
"A heart?" Misaki blinked, then grinned. "Oooh~ Ojii-san, is it some kind of search for love? Are you trying to find yourself a women or something?"
Kakuzu stopped and stared at her like she was hopeless. Without answering, he turned and resumed walking.
"Hey! What's with that look?" Misaki pouted and hurried after him. "If you're looking for a woman, why go so far? My Okaa-san is a woman too, and she's single. Well… not exactly a widow. My Otou-san went out to buy milk and never came back, but whatever, who cares about him." She waved it off and continued brightly, "Anyway, my Okaa-san isn't bad, you know. I'm sure if you flirted with her a little, she'd give in. She's been without a man for a long time. Sure, you're probably too old for her, but I wouldn't mind getting a stepfather. Ah—but don't expect me to call you 'Daddy.' That title's already taken by someone else. Still, I'd allow you to be my stepfather if you courted my Okaa-san."
"Shut up already… geez," Kakuzu snapped, clearly at his limit.
…
Sometime later, at the entrance of Konohagakure—
The sun had long since set, and the moon hung high in the night sky.
The captain overseeing the village gate glanced at the hour and spoke calmly, "It's almost time. Close the gate."
"Yes, Captain," his subordinates replied, moving into position.
The main gate of Konoha was massive, wide enough for many people to pass through at once, and required several shinobi to push it open or shut. Following orders, two ninjas took their places on either side and began closing it.
Soon, the doors nearly met, but before they could be locked shut, they suddenly stopped.
"Huh?" The captain frowned. "What's going on? Close it."
"It's not moving, Captain," one of the subordinates said, straining. "Something seems to be blocking it."
"That's impossible," the captain muttered, though he stepped forward to check anyway.
As he drew closer, his eyes widened.
A hand was wedged between the gates, stopping them cold.
"Someone's here, stop pushing!" he barked at once.
The pressure ceased, and the massive doors slowly slid open again, just enough for several people to pass through. Two figures emerged first, walking in hand in hand, their silhouettes illuminated by moonlight.
"W-who goes there?" the captain asked, lifting a lamp and stepping closer.
The light fell on their faces.
"Y-you are—Uchiha Kanzou?!"
Slap!
The captain's head snapped to the side as Kanzou struck him across the face, still holding Mikoto's hand as he stepped forward.
"Don't you know how to address someone far above your station?" Kanzou said coldly. "Show some respect."
Thud!
The captain crashed into the stone, stunned and sprawled on the ground. He looked up in disbelief, pointing at Kanzou with a trembling hand. "Y-you—!"
"What, me?" Kanzou snorted, glaring down at him coldly while subjecting the man… only the man under the pressure of Conqueror's Haki.
Feeling the pressure, the man froze. Fear seized him, and whatever words he had died in his throat. Saying anything more would only earn him another beating. "…Nothing," he muttered.
After all, the Uchiha Police Force had become a source of terror these days. Any opposition led straight to imprisonment. And standing before him was not only the Uchiha Patriarch, but also the Captain of the Military Police, the man behind every recent order and crackdown. The captain knew that if he spoke out now, he would be dragged to a cell by morning.
"Nothing?" Kanzou raised an eyebrow, his foot lifting slightly from the ground.
"N-nothing, Uchiha Kanzou-sama!" the captain blurted out hastily, correcting himself at once.
"Hm." Kanzou hummed in satisfaction and lowered his foot. Ignoring the man entirely, he turned away and tugged Mikoto along by the hand.
Mikoto cast a brief glance back at the fallen captain. She couldn't help feeling that the slap had been excessive, but what could she possibly say?
Kanzou noticed her expression and spoke calmly. "There was a reason I slapped him, and it wasn't just his lack of respect, though he did deserve that. There was another reason as well."
"There was?" she asked, surprised.
Kanzou's voice remained even. "Yes, I needed him to go complain about this to Sarutobi Hiruzen. After all, the Hokage should know that Uchiha Kanzou and Uchiha Mikoto, who were absent from the village for an unspecified time, have returned."
This was precisely why, unlike his departure, when he slipped out unnoticed through a secret route, Kanzou chose to return openly, entering the village through the main gate.
"I see…" Mikoto nodded, understanding his intent. She no longer felt it was excessive; it was politics, and in politics, nothing was excessive.
"Anyway, let's go eat something… I'm hungry after being out for so long," he said, changing the subject.
"Then let's go home…" she said.
"That'll take time, and I want to eat now," he replied, shaking his head. "Besides, wasn't today supposed to be a date or something? Let's eat at one of the eateries."
"I-if that's what you want…" she said softly, accepting it. Her opinion didn't matter anyway, so she simply nodded and let Kanzou lead her onward.
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The Power Stone Goal is 120 within the next 24 hrs. So, hurry up and drop your Power Stones!
Read ahead of public release on P atreon at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley
Check out Chapter illustrations on Pixiv: unhinged_uchiha