Chapter 112: The Reason for the Simulation Failure is Found
Looking at Anko's energetic appearance, Kurenai suddenly didn't want to deal with this anymore. She knew Anko's past very well and had personally witnessed her listless psychological state. But now, because of Akiyama Makoto, she had fighting spirit—
Forget it. I should just manage my own affairs. But how was she supposed to handle her own affairs?
Kurenai suddenly felt a little lost. The only reason she could lecture him was because she was older than him and had experienced more. But when she faced her own difficulties in life, who was she supposed to learn from?
He was absolutely right about that. The three of them couldn't even scrape together a single family member. How could they possibly speak of happiness?
She suddenly began to drink heavily. This startled Anko, who tried to stop her several times, only to be met with a single sentence from Kurenai: "You're taking me home later, how about it?"
"This is a rare sight. You want to get blackout drunk? Fine. This time, I'll take care of you." Anko confidently accepted the task.
Makoto suddenly felt that Kurenai trusting Anko like this was probably going to lead to trouble. But he wasn't qualified to speak right now, especially since it seemed he was the one who had made her angry. He just continued to pour the drinks, watching until Kurenai had drunk herself into a stupor at dawn. Only then did their three-person drinking party come to an end.
"Little brother, you head back to the bathhouse first. I'll take Kurenai home."
Anko helped Kurenai up. She had drunk less than half a bottle. With her alcohol tolerance and the low proof of sake, she was barely intoxicated.
He finally nodded and walked alone through the streets of Konoha in the early hours of the New Year. The bathhouse owner had left the door open for him. Even if she hadn't, he could have just climbed through the window.
Just as he entered the private hot spring in his room, intending to relax, Anko, carrying Kurenai, flipped in through the window.
Makoto, wrapped in a bathrobe, looked speechlessly at the two of them, who were now sprawled on his floor. "What is going on?"
"About that—" Anko began to explain, looking troubled.
It turned out that when she had gotten Kurenai to her front door, they had run into Asuma, who had been waiting there for a long time. Asuma had wanted to take over caring for Kurenai, but a newly-awakened Kurenai had vehemently refused, and the two had almost started a fight. Anko naturally couldn't just leave Kurenai alone in her house, so she had no choice but to bring her back for safekeeping.
"Then why didn't you take her back to your place, or to your room next door? Why did you have to bring her here?" he continued to ask, exasperated.
It turned out Anko had her own twisted logic for that.
"Asuma knows where I live! He would have definitely gone looking for me there! I don't want my own apartment to be turned upside down!"
"As for my room here—" Anko looked embarrassed. "I'm completely broke. I have to go find the owner at dawn to check out. So—just let her stay here with you!"
"Besides, Asuma wouldn't dare cause trouble here, and your place is so big—"
He looked at the passed-out Kurenai. She was completely drunk and homeless, and he was partly responsible.
So he said, "I'll pay for your room tomorrow. Take her to your room."
"Huh? How can I do that—"
"She's drunk. You're going to let her stay with me? Do you want a repeat of what happened with us?"
Hearing him say that, Anko's expression changed. Although she wanted to say it was impossible, she didn't dare say such a thing in front of him. Thus, at his urging, Anko helped Kurenai to her own room. His room was finally quiet.
He had lost his desire to soak in the hot spring. He lay down on his bed, contemplating whether he should run a simulation today. With Anko and Kurenai sleeping next door, it was theoretically very safe. But in reality, he felt a little nervous.
Thinking about it carefully, he now had the Flying Thunder God Technique and the Illusion-Breaking Seal. He should be able to avoid most sneak attacks without worry.
—Then how, in the last simulation, had he been captured by Danzō?
Because that simulation had failed, no result was saved, so he had no way of knowing what had actually happened. Surely the old fox hadn't just hit him with Kotoamatsukami right off the bat? Thanks to the Hashirama cells, the cooldown on Danzō's Kotoamatsukami was nowhere near ten years, so it was possible it was ready. But that still wasn't a reason to use it on him. He felt his strength hadn't been exposed to the point where Danzō would need to treat him so cautiously.
The simulation hadn't revealed any intelligence on this—was it because the process of him being captured was too simple and was just skipped over?
His eyes flashed. If it wasn't genjutsu—was it poison?
At this thought, his desire to simulate became even stronger. Only by running a successful simulation and storing the result could he find out what really happened.
As for the simulation target—last time his target was Moegi. Learning Wood Style was one of his goals, and simulating with her would also grant him a longer training period. But now that he looked at it, to have an heir with Moegi would require at least ten years. The Great Ninja War would have been over for five or six years by then. The time span in the middle was too large. If the simulation went out of control, it would be difficult for him to even save the result, let alone gather intelligence.
Therefore, from the perspective of intelligence gathering, switching to someone who could reliably have an heir with him became the best choice.
From this angle, it seemed someone was very suitable.
[Simulation starting...]
[Remaining Simulation Attempts: 13]
[Simulation Target: Anko Mitarashi]
[Initial Relationship: She dreams about you.]
[Ding! The simulation is about to begin. You have three free opportunities to guide the simulation's direction.]
[Guide the simulation's direction now?]
He naturally chose "Yes."
Before the simulation began, there was also the option to lock in stats and talents for both parties, but he skipped this process. His goal this time was to gather intelligence; he couldn't waste simulation attempts.
Soon, he finished inputting his guidance, and the simulation began.
[You leave your room and knock on Anko's door. A flattered Anko opens the door and cautiously asks what you want. You ask her frankly if she wants to become your family.]
[Anko doesn't answer immediately. Blushing, she asks if you're drunk, or if she is. You roughly grab her hand and pull her back to your own room.]
[You tell her that instead of becoming your children's teacher, she should become their mother. Anko nods with a red face. You take off her clothes, and you complete the great harmony of life, again and again.]
Seeing this, he nodded with satisfaction. The current Anko would not refuse him. This had been proven in the previous simulation. Combined with their reconciliation in reality, as long as he pushed the matter, she would quickly become devoted to him and bear his heir. Although their relationship could hardly be called love, in the ninja world, where life and death were unpredictable, who dared to demand love?
But there was one drawback to doing this: the simulation might last only ten months at its shortest. However, compared to a sudden simulation failure, this wasn't a problem.
All he had to do now was wait for Danzō to make his move.
He had originally thought the simulation would fast-forward to Danzō's move, since, according to his guidance, he wouldn't be proactively triggering any plot points during this time.
But the plot came looking for him instead.
[Kurenai has actually been aware of the matter between you and Anko. She had originally wanted to stop you, but ultimately chose to endure it and silently offered you her blessing.]
[The next day, just as dawn breaks, Asuma comes knocking, using the excuse of looking for Kurenai to burst into your room. You and Anko are sleeping in a bundle, and are not discovered by him. Kurenai appears in time to stop him, and their relationship completely deteriorates because of this.]
He shook his head. He could only say that Asuma was too blind. For a girl, chasing too hard will only make her feel suffocated and want to escape. Being aloof but striking at the critical moment was a much better strategy for quickly pulling them close. Asuma had been a rebellious teen and had even been around the capital for a few years. How could he not even know this? Or was there a pure-hearted boy hiding beneath his delinquent disguise?
After this small interlude, the simulation advanced rapidly.
Soon, he finally learned what had happened in the last simulation.
[One month later, Hiruzen Sarutobi gives Anko an A-rank mission, ordering her to cooperate with Danzō and Root members to capture the Iwagakure spy, Akiyama Makoto.]
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