Chapter 112 (Patreon)

Looking at the tearful woman before him, Roy could sense the unease in her heart. He couldn’t bring himself to reject her so heartlessly, yet he couldn’t accept her feelings with a clear conscience either.

It would feel as though he were taking advantage of her vulnerability—if not outright coercing her.

He also understood why Kushina was constantly searching for someone to help her. As his stamina continued to increase, she was worried that he had no proper way to relieve his stress.

Even so, arranging things like this was far too awkward.

Seeing Roy hesitate, bitterness welled up in Chiyuki’s heart.

As expected, someone like her would still be looked down upon.

Kushina and Kaorui might also have children, but people were not the same. They were both beautiful and descended from the Uzumaki Clan. How could she possibly compare when she hadn’t even awakened her own kekkei genkai?

“Ahem... Chiyuki-san, matters of the heart shouldn’t be decided so suddenly.”

Noticing the light fading from Chiyuki’s eyes, Roy found himself at a loss for words.

Chiyuki’s situation wasn’t her fault, yet she was the one forced to bear the consequences.

As for Matsushita, although he was undeniably a scumbag, even he had only acted that way to survive.

The true cause of this tragedy was Kirigakure’s Bloody Mist policy, the Third Mizukage’s fear of the bloodline clans, and this twisted world itself.

He could see the suffering of the woman standing before him, but there were countless others he couldn’t see—people driven from their homes by war and forced to live under false names for one reason or another.

He was only an ordinary Shinigami. He had yet to obtain the power necessary to change the entire shinobi world.

Since he couldn’t save every unfortunate person in the world, he would begin with the woman standing before him.

“Chiyuki-san, let’s work together toward a better life from now on.”

With those words, he handed the Zanpakutō at his waist to Chiyuki.

Chiyuki, who had nearly given up hope, hadn’t expected such a sudden turn of events. When Kushina arranged all of this, she had naturally told her about the Zanpakutō as well.

She raised her head and looked at Roy with determination before firmly gripping the hilt.

“Roy-kun, please take care of me from now on!”

After leaving the inner world, Chiyuki looked down at the sword embedded in her chest, a trace of astonishment still lingering in her eyes.

Hearing about it and experiencing it herself were entirely different things.

Even with the sword piercing her body, she couldn’t feel the slightest discomfort. She only wondered whether she would be able to maintain her composure when Roy pulled it out later.

She hoped she wouldn’t embarrass herself in front of Roy-kun.

“Roy-kun, I’m ready!”

Seeing that she had prepared herself, Roy reached out, gripped the sword, and pulled it free from her body.

Like Haku, Chiyuki possessed affinities for both Wind and Water Release. Although she hadn’t awakened Ice Release, she had begun training as a shinobi during this period.

At present, her abilities were roughly equivalent to those of a newly graduated genin. Even though her kekkei genkai had yet to awaken, her chakra reserves were still somewhat greater than those of an ordinary person, though not to any astonishing degree.

Furthermore, since she had already missed the best period for developing her foundations, her future potential would most likely fall somewhere between tokubetsu jōnin and an average jōnin.

Of course, that estimate only applied to her natural growth.

Now that she had formed this connection with Roy, it was difficult to say how far she could ultimately go.

While Chiyuki adjusted to the changes within her body, Roy carefully examined the effects of his newly acquired Shikai ability.

【Mirror Flower · Snow Country】: Creates a vast domain of ice and snow. Within the domain, every attack launched by either friend or foe leaves a trail suspended in the air. These trails can then be transformed into razor-sharp blades of ice and unleashed in an all-encompassing assault against the enemy.

The ability reminded Roy of an opponent he had once encountered during his time in the Soul Society.

Whenever that opponent lashed out with his whip, the marks left behind would transform into venomous snakes and attack a second time. Unfortunately for him, his overall strength had been rather unimpressive, so Roy had defeated him without much trouble.

As for this Shikai ability, its effects weren’t limited to the ice blades created from the lingering attack trails. The freezing environment itself would also hinder the enemy.

Its effects included reduced mobility, weakened ninjutsu, and more.

“R-Roy-kun...”

Having gradually adapted to the strange sensation within her body, Chiyuki rose to her feet on trembling legs.

Just as she was about to say something, the door was suddenly pushed open, and another Chiyuki walked into the room.

Roy appeared in front of her in a flash and irritably rubbed her head.

With a puff of smoke, the Transformation Jutsu was dispelled, revealing Kaorui’s face.

“Cleaning the house must be terribly exhausting, isn’t it?”

Roy pinched her soft, springy cheeks as he spoke.

“For the sake of Roy-kun’s physical and mental well-being, this small amount of effort is nothing,” Kaorui replied solemnly.

“You’ve picked up too many bad habits from Kushina.”

Because of what she had experienced in Kusagakure, Kaorui had never possessed such a lively and mischievous personality before.

It seemed people truly did become like those they spent the most time with.

Peeking past Roy, Kaorui spotted Chiyuki standing behind him with one hand clutching her collar. A mischievous smile immediately appeared on her face.

“Did I come in too early? Should I step outside and wait a little longer?”

“You think you can run away after coming this far? I’ll deal with you first, then settle things with Kushina later.”

“No, that wouldn’t be right, Roy-kun. Chiyuki just—”

“That’s precisely why you, as her teacher, need to teach her properly.”

Chiyuki looked completely bewildered.

She wasn’t entirely inexperienced. Wasn’t it simply a matter of doing the same thing repeatedly? What could there possibly be to teach?

However, she soon realized just how naive she had been.

Learning truly was important. There was still a great deal of knowledge she had yet to acquire.

On her way home from work, Kushina couldn’t stop wondering whether today’s plan had succeeded.

The moment she entered the house, however, she was greeted by Roy’s cold expression. Kaorui and Chiyuki stood nearby with their heads lowered, both of them tense and silent.

Kushina’s heart tightened.

‘Did he find out? But how?’

She understood Roy far too well.

Because of the barrier surrounding the house, he wouldn’t casually use his sensory abilities while inside. She had even gone so far as to make Chiyuki wear Kaorui’s clothes to conceal her natural scent.

As long as Roy entered Chiyuki’s inner world and saw her appealing to his sympathy according to the plan, his gentle and considerate nature should have made it impossible for him to refuse her.

Once everything was settled, he wouldn’t turn around and deny responsibility either.

Yet judging by the current situation, he must have noticed something was wrong beforehand.

“Roy-kun, what happened? Why do you look so upset?”

Although the plan might have failed, Chiyuki wasn’t an outsider. Kushina therefore spoke directly to Roy while pretending not to notice her presence.

“You still have the nerve to ask me that with a smile? You took advantage of someone’s vulnerability and used her child’s future as leverage to pressure a mother. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? You’re a mother too. How would you feel if someone used Naruto to force you into doing something?”

Kushina froze.

When she spoke with Chiyuki, she had certainly mentioned Haku, but she had never intended to use him to pressure Chiyuki into accepting the arrangement.

However, when she considered the situation from Chiyuki’s perspective, her actions didn’t seem much different from coercion.

When it came to their children, mothers were capable of abandoning many of their boundaries.

“I...”

Kushina opened her mouth, but any explanation she could offer now felt hollow.

Consumed by regret and nervousness, she failed to notice Kaorui and Chiyuki standing beside her with their heads lowered, their shoulders trembling more violently by the second.

Nor did she notice that the faint blush on their cheeks had yet to disappear.