The next morning, dawn broke.
Musashi's long-established biological clock woke him up right on time.
He rubbed his lower back muscles, which were feeling the effects of being "over-trained," and let out a soft sigh.
"Even with my constitution, I can't keep going at this intensity."
"Otherwise, my actual training is really going to fall by the wayside."
"Next time! Next time, I definitely need to pace myself!"
He got out of bed and stretched his limbs.
Blood surged through his veins, and his young body quickly recovered to its usual state, bursting with vitality.
He glanced back at his Big Sister, who was sleeping like a log with visible tear tracks still on her face. Musashi felt a warmth in his heart. He lowered his head and gently kissed her forehead.
He tucked the quilt in around her, left the room, and started preparing breakfast.
He hummed a tune, moving rhythmically as he lit the stove and heated the pot.
A moment later, a yawning Karin walked out of her room wearing pink pajamas.
"Yawn~ Why are you so happy today? Did you win the lottery or something?"
Musashi glanced back at her. "Hurry up and go wash your face!"
Karin half-squinted her eyes.
"I don't wanna. I'm going back to sleep."
Saying that, she walked toward Musashi's bedroom.
Sometimes, when Musashi went out to train early, she would sneak into his bedroom to catch a "return sleep." The quilt in the morning always smelled entirely of her Big Brother, making it especially cozy to sleep in.
Click.
This time, the door handle turned smoothly.
Karin took a step inside.
She stopped dead in her tracks.
She rubbed her eyes.
Disbelief.
She rubbed them hard again!
The next second, Karin's sleepiness vanished completely.
Karin: (⊙口⊙)!!!!!!!
---
Musashi didn't notice that Karin was uncharacteristically silent for the entire day.
After heating up a hearty meal, he went out to train first.
It wasn't until noon, when he came back, that Ayame finally woke up.
She struggled just to take a shower. After Musashi took care of her and fed her lunch, she fell back into a deep sleep.
'Welp, turns out Big Sister has zero stamina,' Musashi thought.
Musashi went out to train again and didn't return until evening.
---
Night fell.
Musashi sat at his desk, slowly flipping through new ninjutsu scrolls.
His surge in wealth allowed him to purchase more advanced ninjutsu and research materials.
His research, which had previously hit a bottleneck, finally had some new inspiration.
It wasn't until the night grew deep that he packed away the materials and walked over to the bed.
Ayame, who had been quietly watching Musashi's focused profile, was suddenly startled. She propped herself up and leaned back defensively.
"What... what are you doing?!"
Musashi grinned. "What's wrong, Big Sister? You act like I'm going to eat you."
Ayame: "You clearly just..."
Musashi didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
He pulled her into his arms.
Ayame stammered, "It's... it's getting late. We should... should sleep."
Musashi: "You slept all day, can you really fall asleep now?"
"If we don't rest at night, what are you planning to do?"
Musashi leaned in closer. "Nothing. Just staying quietly like this with you is good enough."
Ayame believed his nonsense.
They stayed like that, their distance closing inch by inch.
Just as the temperature in the room began to rise again, Musashi's expression suddenly changed.
"Why... did you stop..." Ayame asked.
"It's nothing." Musashi masked his emotions and whispered, "Sister, you rest first. I need to go out for a second. I'll be right back."
He walked out of the room.
Musashi's face turned dark and grim.
He activated the house's barrier, walked out the front door, and looked at the ninja wearing a mask standing outside.
He spoke in a low voice. "You'd better give me a reasonable explanation."
The visitor spoke calmly. "Jonin Musashi, apologies for disturbing you so late. Elder Danzo invites you."
Musashi: "I am an Anbu directly under the command of Lord Hokage. I only listen to the Hokage's orders. Elder Danzo has no jurisdiction over—"
"Jonin Musashi." The visitor bowed his head slightly. "Elder Danzo asked me to relay that this is to discuss the mission. He hopes you will make the trip."
Musashi fell silent.
A moment later, he spoke. "Lead the way."
---
Late at night in Konoha, the streets were empty.
The two of them stuck to a concealed route. A few minutes later, they stopped in front of an nondescript building.
"Jonin Musashi, Elder Danzo is waiting for you inside."
Musashi walked into the building.
In the dimly lit room, only Danzo, wrapped in bandages, was present. His single visible eye sized Musashi up, his expression unreadable.
"Musashi Ryomiya. It's been a long time."
"Do you Root elders just have a fetish for staying in dark, gloomy places like this?"
"Heh. Root exists to survive in the darkness. There is nothing wrong with that," Danzo replied. "After all, not everyone radiates 'youth and sunshine' like you do, correct?"
"Elder Danzo, you didn't call me here in the middle of the night just to make small talk, did you?"
Danzo chuckled lightly. "Young people really are full of fire."
"It's nothing major. It's just that my intelligence network recently discovered some... interesting things."
Musashi: "You might as well speak plainly, Elder Danzo."
Danzo gestured. "Sit down first. The interesting things I mentioned are on the table."
Musashi looked down and saw documents scattered on the coffee table. He picked them up and flipped through them lightly.
Inside was the content of the Land of Waves mission he had just executed.
In addition to that, there was intel on Gato, the Bounty Station, the Hidden Mist...
Basically, it covered the vast majority of the real situation regarding the Wave mission.
Danzo's voice rang out.
"My subordinates discovered this interesting intelligence and conveniently summarized it."
"Musashi, it seems this mission was quite a bit more 'interesting' than what you reported to Hiruzen."
"Although the terrain at Gato's base was tampered with, the traces of battle are very difficult to clean up completely."
"Also, that young man you brought back... his identity isn't that simple either, is it?"