Deep into the night, Nono'u remained wide awake. The threat from Danzo Shimura still loomed over her, and she sat at her desk, racking her brain for a solution.
But the absolute disparity in status and raw power made it impossible to find a way out, even with her legendary intelligence.
Tsunade was gone, and with her, the final shred of protection from the Hidden Leaf's high command had vanished. There was no hope that Hiruzen Sarutobi would ever move against Danzo for the sake of a few nameless orphans.
Under the current circumstances, even if Nono'u were willing to sacrifice herself to save the children, it would be futile. Danzo's true target was Saiki.
To force her cooperation in manipulating Saiki into joining Root, Nono'u knew Danzo wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice every single child in the orphanage.
She couldn't even tell Saiki about this. Doing so would only shift the crushing weight onto his shoulders, forcing him to choose between his own freedom and the lives of his innocent "family."
Even if Saiki went to Hiruzen, the other orphans and Nono'u would still fall prey to Danzo's shadow-bound persecutions.
There were only two real solutions: deserting the village entirely, or assassinating Danzo Shimura.
As long as you had even a thread of connection to trouble, those bastards would track you down like starving dogs smelling raw meat.
But clearly, either option was currently impossible.
Reality was simply that cruel. Aside from the lucky few like Saiki, most war orphans were viewed by the village only as expendable fuel for the fires of war.
The night grew colder. Nono'u stood up weakly. As was her routine, she decided to check on the children one last time before bed.
The children were all well-behaved. Since Saiki had visited today, they had played excitedly all afternoon and were now soundly asleep in the land of dreams.
After ensuring no one had kicked off their quilts, Nono'u left the large dormitory.
Saiki's small guest room was located away from the main dorms, but she noticed that the light inside was still burning bright.
The fact that Saiki hadn't extinguished his light so late at night made Nono'u pause in her tracks.
Inside the room, Saiki was suffering in silence. He had merely attempted to circulate his Qi according to the pathways he had discovered during his session with Tsunade. The result was a massive accumulation of Yang Qi that was now triggering another violent Qi Deviation.
Just as he was desperately trying to suppress the rampaging energy, a soft knock, knock sounded at his door.
"Saiki? Are you still awake?"
Because his entire focus was anchored on calming his Qi, Saiki hadn't sensed Nono'u's approach. Hearing her voice, the boy—who was sitting cross-legged on the bed—snapped his eyes open and tried to stand up, only for his feet to tangle together in his frantic state.
Outside, Nono'u heard a heavy THUD as something hit the floor.
She had only come to check if he'd forgotten to turn off the light, but her own sensory skills picked up a massive, chaotic surge of chakra radiating from the room. That was exactly why she had knocked.
Hearing the crash, Nono'u's heart leaped.
"Saiki! What happened?!" But there was no response from inside.
Normally, with Saiki's elite physical coordination, such a clumsy fall would be impossible. But hovering on the jagged edge of Qi Deviation, his control over his own motor functions was as primitive as a toddler's.
Falling head-first, the sharp jolt of pain shattered his mental focus at the worst possible moment. It was like a cultivator being interrupted during the most critical stage of their breakthrough.
The Qi he had barely managed to settle erupted into absolute chaos. He curled into a ball on the floor, gasping for air and pouring every ounce of will into not exploding, leaving him without the strength to even answer her.
Saiki's Pre-natal Qi was too pure—much like a legendary, high-tier cultivation manual. Its power was immense, but the risk of losing control was equally staggering.
He didn't necessarily need a woman every single day, but he absolutely could not attempt to circulate his energy in that specific "dual" way while alone. Without the Yin-Yang balance, the Yang fire within him would build up until he reached a lethal breaking point.
With her heightened ninja senses, Nono'u heard Saiki's pained, ragged breathing through the door.
She transformed her palm into a sharp blade and sliced through the wooden bolt of the door, throwing it open. There, she saw Saiki sprawled on the floor, looking like a frog being boiled alive.
The sight terrified her. "Saiki! What's wrong?!"
Nono'u rushed to his side and hauled him up into her arms.
Saiki's consciousness was a blurred, hazy mess. Feeling Nono'u's proximity and being pulled into her warm embrace, the scent of a mature woman and the sensation of her softness caused Saiki to instinctively cling to her.
Seeing his skin flushed a violent red and feeling the heat of his boiling chakra, Nono'u shook him desperately. "Saiki! Saiki, wake up!"
Hearing her voice, Saiki managed to regain a sliver of lucidity. He gasped out in agony, "Sister Director... I'm so hot... it hurts..."
As he spoke, his head began to nuzzle frantically against Nono'u's chest, and his hands began to roam wildly across her back. One hand instinctively slid lower, firmly clamping onto a plump "peach."
Although Nono'u was in her twenties, her life had been defined entirely by missions and survival. She had never been touched by a man, let alone been manhandled with such primal aggression.
Saiki's hand was significantly stronger than it looked. His fingers sank deep into the soft flesh of her buttock, causing Nono'u to let out a sharp, embarrassed cry.
"Saiki!" She tried to scold him, but a Saiki consumed by Yang fire was beyond the reach of words.
Watching him burrow into her chest while his hands kneaded her backside, Nono'u would have used a lethal medical jutsu to kill anyone else.
But this was Saiki. She felt a mix of helplessness and desperate worry.
"Saiki, stop moving! Control yourself! Let me see what's wrong with you!"
She tried to reason with him, but seeing that he was entirely lost to his instincts, she decided to let him grope for a moment so she could focus on a diagnostic.
She placed her hand on his head, channeling her chakra to inspect his condition.
"Ah! Stop that!" Her face burned red. Saiki's wandering hands were no longer content with her rear; his fingers were now probing aggressively into her "crevice."
Pushing his mischievous hands away, Nono'u finally understood his condition. She was facing the exact same dilemma Tsunade had.
Looking down at Saiki's lap, she saw that his loose shorts were already supporting a massive, pulsating "campaign tent." Even the composed Nono'u felt her cheeks catch fire.
Saiki's chakra was in a state of total, violent rampage, aggressively amplifying his biological lust.
If this were just a standard drug-induced arousal, her medical ninjutsu could have purged it easily. But Saiki's condition was energetic and fundamental; her healing arts were useless.
Realizing she was powerless to fix it through medical means, she asked frantically, "Saiki, how did this happen? What did you do to yourself?"
"Sister Director... I'm suffering... I need a woman..." Compared to the night with Tsunade, Saiki was actually conscious of his surroundings, but his primal biological drives had completely overridden his higher functions.
Hearing this, the gentle Nono'u gave him a sharp, embarrassed flick on the forehead.
"What the hell are you saying?!"
But looking at his agonized state, Nono'u realized she had run out of choices.