harleyscars Chapter 130 Hmm... Who are you...?
Chapter 130 Hmm... Who are you...?
The weather doesn't look good today; the sky was overcast all afternoon, as if it was about to rain.
The following time was Takita's daily routine of training. For several hours from afternoon until dark, he would immerse himself in training and not think about anything else.
Upon arriving at the training ground, Takita went to a corner he usually liked to hang out in, quietly took out his weapon, and carefully wiped it clean...
"Father, I should be... a qualified clan leader now, right?" Takita stared at the sharp edge of the sword and muttered to himself.
This sword was left to him by his father, and it was the weapon that accompanied his father, Kuranosuke, in countless battles. After Takita became the clan leader, although the clan members treated him much better than before, he was under increasing pressure amidst his busy schedule.
The only way he could release his stress was through this moment of cultivation. As long as he held this knife, he felt that his father was still by his side, his pillar of support.
Takita practiced his swordsmanship repeatedly in the air, each swing accompanied by the buzzing sound of a sharp blade cutting through the air.
He practiced his swordsmanship repeatedly until he sat on the ground, drenched in sweat and panting heavily...
"Huh...huh..."
Sweat dripped from the ends of his hair on his forehead, making his bluish-gray hair look damp, but his eyes still shone with a hint of light.
"Looks like I'm still a little short... but it should be soon! I can start the next stage of training soon!" Takita clenched his fist and muttered to himself.
Even though he still appeared very thin and frail, and the knife he wielded was almost taller than him, he didn't seem to feel any hardship at all. After resting for only a short while, he got up again...
The air grew increasingly humid, and the number of people on the training ground seemed to dwindle. Takita remained in the corner, practicing his swordsmanship, seemingly oblivious to the changes around him.
Until a raindrop landed on the tip of his nose...
"Oh...is it raining?"
Takita looked up at the clouds in the sky; they were dark and heavy, as if they were about to fall.
He hesitated... He still had a lot of training to complete, and if he went back now, he wouldn't have much of a chance to continue his training today.
"Hmm... whatever, it's just raining!" Takita shook his head, readjusted his stance, and continued to swing his sword.
He planned to complete his daily training even in the rain! As a ninja and also as the clan leader, he bore the fate of his clan and had to work harder than others.
The rain started as just a few drops wetting the ground, but in the blink of an eye, it intensified and turned into a downpour, soaking the entire forest.
"It's so cold..."
Takita was getting soaked in the rain, the hilt of his sword was slippery, and his vision was a little blurry...
In front of a house in the distance, a black-haired boy dressed in gray clothes had an otherworldly air about him, as if the heavy rain had nothing to do with him.
He stood quietly under the eaves and saw that small, thin figure in the corner of the training field in the distance...
"Shimura Naoki, he is the current head of the Hagoromo clan. It's your turn to go and fight for a chance for the future of the clan."
"I...I know..."
Naoki responded calmly, surprised that he had only been in Konoha for less than two hours and was already able to begin his mission...
He was actually in a bad mood, and the rain falling from the sky was almost exactly the same as his mood.
He had just been thoroughly cleaned, with not a single inch of his body spared... all for this tiny, elusive opportunity?
He didn't understand.
Holding a red umbrella and wearing wooden clogs, Naoki tried his best to calm himself down and slowly stepped into the rain...
His target was that boy on the training field.
Get close to him, get him, and then use him...
The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and Takita felt weak all over. He felt as if the rain was freezing cold on his body.
He still gripped the sword hilt tightly, but the continuous drain on his strength, coupled with the torrential rain, caused a sudden surge of sadness to well up from the depths of his heart...
Why? Why am I always so unlucky? Have I worked so hard all this time for myself? Or for someone else...?
Takita slipped and fell backward, crashing heavily to the ground. His sword flew out of his hand and landed at the feet of a boy not far away.
Naoki silently picked up the knife from the ground, held up his umbrella, and slowly walked to Takita, who was lying on the ground getting soaked in the rain.
A splash of red blocked his view, and the rain stopped dripping onto his face as Takita's vision blurred...
The scene seemed frozen in time: in the pouring rain, a boy holding a red umbrella held a knife in his right hand, silently watching another boy lying on the ground.
"Um...who are you...?"
Takita was a little confused, not knowing who this person who had suddenly appeared was. He sat up and took a serious look at the other person. Takita was certain that he had never seen him before.
"Your knife..." Naoki was extremely nervous, but he continued calmly, "It's raining so hard, let me take you home."
Naoki knows Takita's identity, but Takita doesn't know Naoki's purpose.
"Ah, sorry... thank you, but I haven't finished practicing yet." Takita wasn't in the mood and didn't even look closely at the other person's face.
He stood up on his own, took the knife from the other person, wiped it with his sleeve with some tenderness, and then prepared to continue practicing.
Naoki was puzzled as to why he insisted on training in the pouring rain. Even a ninja would catch a cold if he kept doing this.
But for the sake of his mission... Naoki spoke again, saying, "You should go back. If you continue like this, you'll get sick and catch a cold, which will further delay your cultivation."
"Ah..." Takita paused, looked down at the knife in his hand, and gripped it tighter. "Alright... you're right."
Takita looked up and finally took a proper look at the boy in front of him. His pure black hair was neatly cut, his face was delicate, and he had a somewhat sad and melancholic air about him.
He was dressed in a simple but clean gray casual outfit, and his skin appeared even whiter than snow against the backdrop of his red umbrella.
But... Takita could sense a faint, ethereal aura emanating from him. It wasn't that the boy before him was an illusion, but rather that he could detect a hint of sadness about him.
"What's wrong?" Takita asked abruptly. "Is something making you sad?"
"Ah, I'm fine..." Naoki's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly felt a little guilty.
A hint of doubt flashed in Takita's eyes. What Naoki didn't know was that Takita was naturally very sensitive to certain emotions, and what he disliked most was hearing lies.
"Thank you for your kindness, but I don't think you need to worry about me. Besides, you probably didn't just happen to be passing by, did you?"
Takita smiled apologetically. Although he didn't know what was going on with this person, he wasn't in the mood to solve other people's problems.
Naoki lightly bit his tongue. When he saw Takita earlier, he had actually felt a sense of relief... but that wasn't his intention. How could such a subtle change in emotion have been noticed by the other person?
Naoki thought pessimistically that his first impression of Takita wasn't actually bad, and if he could give himself to this boy... perhaps it wouldn't be too tragic.