"Where… am I?"
Yagami's mind blanked for a moment.
After reacting to the system's task timer, he didn't dwell on it. He quickly retrieved a fresh set of clothes from the system, changed, and rushed out the door.
As he stepped outside, Yagami glanced back and realized he had actually slept the entire night in a hot spring inn.
"Kagura Mind's Eye."
While sprinting and leaping toward the Kikyo Castle watchtower, his perception spread outward at high speed.
After confirming that nothing unusual had happened around the tower, he finally relaxed.
If Kikyo Castle had fallen while he was asleep, he would have lost 20,000 prestige points.
"Huh… Kushina?"
Yagami suddenly slowed to a stop.
As he withdrew his perception from the direction of the watchtower, he sensed a figure following closely behind him.
And that figure was unmistakably Kushina.
"Cough—cough, cough!"
Realizing she had been discovered, Kushina burst into an fit of awkward coughing.
"Are you okay?"
Yagami landed lightly beside her and gently patted her back, helping her catch her breath.
"I'm fine! What could possibly be wrong?"
Kushina replied with obvious guilt.
Her cheeks quickly flushed red.
Ever since childhood she'd been nicknamed "Tomato," and with her face burning like this, the name fit perfectly—except now she was a very charming tomato.
"As long as you're fine."
Yagami naturally took Kushina's soft hand, and the two walked side by side toward Kikyo Castle.
Feeling the warmth in his palm, Kushina's heart pounded faster.
The entire walk to the castle, her head remained lowered, too shy to look up.
To Yagami, Kushina in love was unexpectedly bashful.
"Lord Yagami! Lady Kushina!"
"Lord Yagami! Lady Kushina!"
As they reached the watchtower, countless Konoha shinobi greeted them excitedly. Some even bowed deeply in respect.
"Looks like you've earned quite the title yourself…"
After nodding to the shinobi, Yagami leaned close and murmured softly into Kushina's ear.
His breath brushed her ear, sending a sweet warmth through her chest.
"Well, of course."
"Yesterday I captured Ebizō with my own hands."
Kushina blushed, half embarrassed and half proud, as she straightened her posture.
In yesterday's battle, the greatest credit undoubtedly belonged to Yagami.
But second place clearly went to Kushina.
To the defenders of Kikyo Castle, the two of them were heroes.
"Shinku-senpai, nothing happened last night, right?"
When Yagami and Kushina reached the tower, Yūhi Shinku was already there.
He had dark circles under his eyes—he clearly hadn't slept all night.
"It's fine. No problems at all!"
"After the Sand shinobi collected their dead last night, they retreated ten miles and set up camp."
Seeing Yagami arrive, Shinku responded warmly.
Even though Yagami was still young, Shinku knew better than to underestimate him.
Yagami's strength was simply overwhelming.
His fighting style wasn't like a typical ninja relying on ninjutsu.
With a blade in hand, he had carved straight through the Sand shinobi encirclement.
That overwhelming fighting style was far more shocking than any ordinary ninjutsu.
"I see."
Hearing that the Sand shinobi had retreated, Yagami nodded.
It seemed the system's four-star mission was secure.
After yesterday's slaughter, his prestige had reached 43,000 points.
With the mission reward about to be added, he would soon have over 60,000 prestige points.
That meant—
He could finally begin his first advanced lottery.
After saying goodbye to Shinku, Yagami and Kushina strolled around the tower again.
As for Kakashi's training…
Yagami had long since forgotten about it.
At that very moment, Kakashi was downstairs, grimly practicing his sword swings alone.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. Mission complete: Successfully defended Kikyo Castle. Reward: 20,000 prestige points.]
By noon, the system notification rang out in Yagami's mind.
His Kagura Mind's Eye expanded backward.
Sure enough, a force of roughly three thousand shinobi was entering Kikyo Castle from the rear.
"What is it?"
Seeing Yagami suddenly turn to look behind the castle, Kushina followed his gaze in confusion.
Of course, she couldn't see anything.
"Kushina, I'll teach you a perception technique."
…
Noticing her puzzled expression, Yagami thought for a moment before deciding.
After all, she was his future partner.
If she lacked perception and he wasn't around…
That would worry him.
"A perception technique?"
Kushina turned back to him in surprise.
"This isn't an ordinary sensory ninjutsu," Yagami explained.
"In the ninja world, it's one of the finest perception techniques that exists."
"And to use it, you need the special physique of the Uzumaki clan."
Kushina blinked, startled.
"You're from the Uzumaki clan?"
"That explains your enormous chakra reserves!"
Realization dawned on her face.
Then her gaze shifted suspiciously to his hair.
Weren't Uzumaki supposed to have red hair?
"Cough…"
"One of my ancestors belonged to the Uzumaki clan, so I inherited their physique."
Noticing where she was staring, Yagami lied smoothly.
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