CH 485

After dealing with the Devil and Angel Chibi forms of her, Kurenai took a deep breath, raised her head to meet Kuroto’s gaze, and asked, “Captain, that’s all I know, and I have already told everything I can, are there any other questions?”

Kuroto had a thoughtful look on his face and nodded, “What was the result of the battle between Orochimaru and the member of Amatsukami? Did either of the two die?”

“As I mentioned previously, I escaped while Orochimaru and the member of Amatsukami were fighting… so, I am… not sure what was the exact result of their battle.” – answered Kurenai.

“That is to say, the exact result of the battle is unknown…” muttered Kuroto absentmindedly.

Kurenai nodded and said with a saddened expression, “I am sorry for disappointing you Captain… if only I was better… maybe I could have….”

‘If I didn’t know the truth, I would have really believed that she is telling the truth.’ Thought Kuroto as he looked at Kurenai’s regretful expression.

Knock Knock…

At this time, there was a knock on the door, following which Hayate’s voice came from outside the door, “Captain, Itachi has brought Kurenai-senpai’s medical report.”

Kuroto broke out from his thoughtful expression, and said, “Let him in.”

Following Kuroto’s words, Hayate who was standing outside opened the door and allowed Itachi to come in

Itachi walked in and said, “Here is Kurenai-san’s medical report captain.”

Kuroto nodded and took it from Itachi’s hands, and flipped through the pages… all while keeping the note of Kurenai’s heart rate which has increased slightly because of nervousness.

Kuroto chose to ignore it, and just flipped through the pages of Kurenai’s medical report.

Since most of Kurenai’s injuries were healed by him, so anything related to fractures, and snakes present inside her body is not mentioned in the report.

The only important points included a deep but not life-threatening shoulder wound that reached up to her breast, a lack of blood in her body due to blood loss, and slight traces of an unknown poison in her blood.

Poisoning is already cured by simple detoxification, blood will be transfused to her within 24 hours, and her shoulder injury has already been treated by Shizune.

Aside from this, she is only suffering from physical and mental exhaustion, for which one week of rest is more than enough.

After reading everything, Kuroto passed the medical report to Kurenai and said, “Here is your medical report, there are no life-threatening injuries, thankfully. Additionally, you have been given a one-week holiday to rest and recuperate. And do remember that tomorrow you will be meeting Hokage-sama, so be prepared with your report. Make sure to include a map highlighting the route you took to return back to Konoha in your report. We need to investigate Orochimaru’s purpose in kidnapping you and the reason he had a conflict with the member of Amatsukami.”

Kurenai froze slightly upon hearing the ‘map’, but immediately nodded, “Yes sir.” At the same time, she can’t help but think, ‘Thank goodness I took one whole week and considered this issue, otherwise, it would have been really bad…’

Kuroto nodded, and said, “All right, that will be all. Go back and rest.”

Kurenai nodded, then stood up and bowed to Kuroto, “In that case, I will be taking my leave Captain.”

Kuroto nodded absentmindedly, “Hmm, do not miss the appointment for a blood transfusion.”

Kurenai nodded and started walking towards the door with a relieved look, she may have lied to Kuroto with a calm and straight face, but only she, herself knows just how much pressure she was under while answering each of Kuroto’s questions to not give out any detail about Futen.

And the pressure is also reasonable, after all, what she has done now is an active betrayal, never in her dreams did Kurenai think that one day she would do something akin to betraying the village, she is not sure why she go so far?

‘Perhaps it’s because I want to have something in common with Futen.’ Were her thoughts as she opened the door.

“Kurenai… no… Kurenai-chan…”

Just when she was about to step out of the room, suddenly she heard Kuroto calling her name, which caused her to stiffen a little, ‘Did Captain notice something?’ but she immediately calmed down because she heard Kuroto using the suffix ‘-chan’.

Kuroto only uses ‘-chan’ when talking to her as a friend and not as Captain of Team-Ro, therefore, Kurenai understood that he wants to say something as a friend, and asked, “Is something the matter Kuroto-kun?”

“I apologize for what Orochimaru made you go through.” Said Kuroto in an apologetic tone.

Kurenai turned around and shook her head with a smile, “You need not apologize for Orochimaru’s actions…” After a pause, she continued, “He is a criminal, and completely different from you. So, please don’t beat yourself up over something that Orochimaru did. His actions have nothing to do with you.” At the same time, she had some thoughts in her mind that she would like to keep to herself.

“I am grateful for your understanding Kurenai-chan.” Said Kuroto with a grateful tone.

Kurenai just smiled and said, “If there’s nothing more, I will take my leave.”

Kuroto nodded and did not stop her anymore.

With that Kurenai stepped out of the room and left.

Looking at the spot Kurenai just stood at, Kuroto rubbed his chin with a thoughtful expression, ‘Something is definitely going on in her mind.’

Initially, Kuroto had prepared to control Kurenai into reporting the information he doesn’t mind getting leaked, but Kurenai’s behavior was completely different… not only did she hide the information about the Nekomata Shrine, but she did not report anything about Futen either… this is strange, and Kuroto would be an idiot if didn’t feel that something is wrong with Kurenai.

…

With Kurenai gone, Hayate, who had been guarding the door walked in.

Yugao who had witnessed the entire interrogation process, said with a frown, “Captain, I feel that something is wrong with Kurenai-senpai.”

Hayate said, “It’s normal to be a bit depressed after going through what Kurenai-senpai went through.”

Yugao shook her head, and said, “No, rather than depression… I would say that she is worried about something.”

Hayate shook his head, and said, “Really? She didn’t look all that worried to me… I would say she is annoyed and frustrated, considering her experience it is normal, after all, one party is Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin, while the other is a member of Amatsukami who is said to be stronger than Homusubi and Suijin…”

“Maybe…” Yugao couldn’t refute Hayate’s argument, so could only think to herself, ‘But my instincts as a woman are telling me that she is worried… I should talk to her privately… maybe she will feel more comfortable talking with me.’

Kuroto ignored the love birds’ daily banter, and instructed Itachi’s Crow Clone, “Keep a watch over her.”

“Yes, Kuroto-san.” Itachi’s Crow Clone nodded and disappeared from the room.

Just as Itachi disappeared from the room, there was a sudden rush of footsteps in the corridor outside, and immediately afterward, a large group of people opened the door and walked in.

The one at the forefront was none other than Sarutobi Asuma who has been busy searching for the whereabouts of Kurenai for the past few days. Just from his haggard unshaven face, dark circles, and eye bags, it is not difficult to judge just how worried he was about Kurenai.

Following him are most of the contemporaries of the same generation, including, Hatake Kakashi, Might Guy, Morino Ibiki, Mitarashi Anko, Iwabee Umemiya, Ebisu, and a few more.

(Translator’s Note: Iwabee Umemiya (Not the real name) is the third member of Team Orochimaru, alongside Hyuga Kuroto, and Mitarashi Anko. His current Shinobi rank is Jonin.”

As soon as he entered the room, Asuma looked around and didn’t find any trace of Kurenai, with a frown he turned towards Kuroto and asked, “Where is Kurenai?”

Kuroto replied, “She has gone home to take a rest.”

Asuma nodded, then asked with a nervous expression, “Is she okay?”

Following Asuma’s question, everyone looked at Kuroto, waiting for his answer.

When Asuma heard of Kurenai’s kidnapping, he barged into Sandaime’s office and asked his father to put the village under Martial Law, at the same time, asked him to issue a compulsory mission to all the capable Shinobi in the Village to search for the missing Kurenai.

What Sandaime did in response is not hard to guess… He directly refused Asuma without even batting an eye.

Although Asuma’s mood was sore, finding Kurenai and ensuring her safety was more important… so Asuma had to turn towards his friends and other contemporaries to help him search Kurenai’s whereabouts.

Apparently, Sandaime didn’t stop this approach of Asuma, or to be more exact he didn’t have the opportunity to stop as he was busy in an extremely secret meeting with the Yondaime Mizukage who had just arrived in the Village.

The exact contents of the meeting are a secret but it was obviously related to the Akatsuki Organization and the Amatsukami Organization.

This is why Asuma got away with using such an exaggerated team of Shinobi just for searching Kurenai’s whereabouts.

The strength of this team can be imagined, as everyone is either a Jonin or Tokubetsu Jonin.

Therefore, for the past few days, everyone in this room, including Hyuga Kuroto’s Shadow Clone that was left behind in the village, was searching for Kurenai’s whereabouts, and actually made a lot of effort but couldn’t find anything. Everyone started to think that her disappearance was perhaps related to Akatsuki or Amatsukami, which only made the matter more serious, and made Asuma depressed.

Asuma was so depressed that he almost barged into his old man’s office to ask him to declare war on both Akatsuki Organization and Amatsukami Organization, but before he could, Kakashi suddenly appeared in front of him with Flying Raijin and stopped him.

Asuma obviously had no intention to stop, however, when Kakashi showed Kuroto’s letter to Asuma; Asuma no longer cared about war and all, just rushed towards the Konoha Hospital to make sure that Kurenai is safe.

But now he learned that Kurenai has returned home to rest, so obviously he can only turn to Kuroto and ask about her condition.

Kuroto patten Asuma’s shoulder, and said with a smile, “Don’t worry, her injuries are not life-threatening and have already been treated by Shizune-chan… only physical and mental exhaustion is left, which is nothing too serious, she just needs to rest for a few days and she will be back to normal.”

Hearing from Kuroto, Asuma suddenly took a long sigh of relief, “Thankfully she is safe.” Then after a short pause, Asuma suddenly asked Kuroto, “By the way, which bastard dared kidnapping Kurenai?”

Kuroto looked up and down at Asuma for a minute, then after thinking a little he said to Yugao, “Yugao, pass the report to Asuma.”

Yugao asked in surprise, “Captain?”

Kuroto nodded, “It’s all right.”

Following Kuroto’s nod, Yugao no longer hesitated and passed the report to Asuma.

Originally, the details of Kurenai’s kidnapping should be kept a secret unless Sandaime states otherwise, but who made Asuma the son of Hokage?

Moreover, all the people in this room are either Jonin or Tokubetsu Jonin, which means all the people in this room make up the high-end combat power of Konoha, not to mention, they are all contemporaries of the same generation, and Kuroto, who already understands the ins and outs of the matter knows full well that there is no information in this report worth keeping secret, so he decided to let them in on the matter.

Although, Kuroto did not expect to see Iwabee Umemiya in this group… he didn’t care much. Kuroto knows that Umemiya is loyal to Orochimaru… but it makes no difference to him; in Kuroto’s view, Umemiya could still be considered a good friend and comrade because, he, Anko, and Kuroto have together fought against many enemies as members of Team Orochimaru before and during the Third Great Shinobi War.

After everyone read the report one by one, they looked at each other in confusion.

Asuma was the first to speak, and his tone clearly indicated his surprise, “Orochimaru? How could it be him? Why did he, of all people kidnap Kurenai? What did he even want from her?”

Because Kurenai managed to safely escape from the hands of her Kidnapper, it must mean that the kidnapper was neither Akatsuki nor Amatsukami, so Asuma was obviously inflated.

He wanted to catch the kidnapper and present him in front of Kurenai to impress her and win her heart. Then according to the script in the book he has read, he would invite her to go on a date, obviously, she would agree and they would soon start dating.

If this setting is followed, soon Asuma and Kurenai would-be lovers and then married officially, within a few more years, they will also have a mini Asuma and mini Kurenai playing catch in the yard with their cousin brother Konohamaru.

Mini Asuma and Mini Kurenai would be naughty kids and constantly torment their grandfather by pulling his beard.

Asuma’s wife Kurenai would hum a beautiful melody as she cooks for their small family and he will listen to that beautiful melody while reading the morning newspaper; smoking a cigarette, and occasionally thinking to himself, ‘Ah! this is the life.’

But Asuma didn’t expect that his ‘Ah! this is life’ dream was a low-quality cheap balloon and had a hole in it, even before he could blow air in it, it exploded and brought him to reality.

Kurenai’s kidnapper turned out to be Orochimaru! And who is Orochimaru? No one needs to emphasize.

According to Asuma, let alone him, even Hatake Kakashi and Hyuga Kuroto, the two strongest of their generation wouldn’t be sure of defeating Orochimaru.

Heck, let alone those two, even his father Sandaime Hokage dares not say with certainty that he can defeat or kill Orochimaru without losing his life.

Although angered and helpless, Asuma had to accept the fact that he can’t use this method to win Kurenai’s heart, so he could only sigh.

Different from Asuma’s helplessness, Anko’s face darkened at the mention of Orochimaru being the culprit of Kurenai’s kidnapping. Even though she has followed Kuroto’s advice; walked out of Orochimaru’s shadow, and no longer cares about him… Orochimaru is still the person she doesn’t want to face.

And different from Asuma and Anko, Kakashi’s attention was completely on Amatsukami, as he muttered to himself in a wondering tone, “Why did a member of Amatsukami have a conflict with Orochimaru? Is it because Orochimaru is a former member of the Akatsuki Organization?”

Others all had their own thoughts, pondering and expressing their own opinions such that the room became a bit noisy.

Seeing this, Kuroto took back the report, passed it to Yugao, and said to everyone, “Okay everyone, we are still in Konoha Hospital so please mind yourselves… We don’t want to cause trouble and incur the wrath of Tsunade-sama, right?”

As soon as ‘the wrath of Tsunade-sama’ was mentioned, everyone immediately shut up and tacitly nodded, only an idiot would want to incur Tsunade-sama’s wrath.

Kuroto was satisfied with the result, and said, “We have been busy searching for Kurenai-chan for the past few days, now that she has returned safely so it’s time we too go back to our houses and take a much-needed rest.”

Everyone nodded and started to disperse, Asuma suddenly said to everyone, “Tomorrow, I will host a party in order to celebrate Kurenai’s safe return… Everyone must come!”

Guy said in a thinking pose, “Hmm, speaking of which, it’s been years since all of us got together… this time we must let the flames of our youth explode!”

Kakashi who has become more and more depressed since the Alliance Ceremony Incident, had a droopy look and shook his head weakly, “Forget it.”

Guy immediately said, “Kakkkaashii! This is the age to dedicate our youth to a hot-blooded battle, and you are my eternal rival, I can not allow you to act lazy like that!”

Before Kakashi could reply to Guy, Asuma tossed his arm around Kakashi’s neck and said, “Hey, the trick you told me last time did not work… shouldn’t you take responsibility? Others may not come that would still be acceptable… but you are not allowed to not come!”

Asuma knows that a lot has been going on in Kakashi’s mind and it has made Kakashi become darker and darker and has caused him to frequently visit Konoha Hospital to get his injuries treated. Tsunade-sama has repeatedly emphasized that Kakashi should not put so much pressure on himself while training because rather than training he is causing self-harm… but no matter how much Tsunade-sama nags at him, there has been no change in Kakashi.

This has caused, not only Hokage-sama but even several friends to be deeply worried about Kakashi’s state.

Everyone understands that Obito’s eye meant a lot to Kakashi, and losing it has caused too much emotional pressure on him.

Guy wants to help but has been unable to… because whenever Guy would nag him, Kakashi would just disappear with Flying Raijin, helpless Guy turned to other friends.

As a friend, Asuma can obviously see this state of Kakashi and wants to help him too.

Seeing that both Guy and Asuma have already pressured him, Kakashi cast a hopeful gaze at Kuroto only to be completely ignored by him.

With no one left to help him, Kakashi could only nod helplessly, “Alright, I’ll come.”

“Yosh now that everyone agrees, at 07:00 PM tomorrow everyone will gather at the secret tavern where we wanted to celebrate our academy graduation but couldn’t because of being too young to drink!” announced Asuma.

“Got it.” – Everyone nodded to Asuma and then left to do their own things.

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