The following noon.
With the windows and doors tightly shut, in the dim and messy room, two male bodies lay face down on the floor. The large bed beside them had already been dismantled, as were the tables, chairs, and furniture scattered everywhere, indicating how fierce the battle had been the previous night.
As the effects of the drug gradually wore off, both men regained some consciousness, but their entire bodies felt as if they had been through an intense sprint, leaving them weak and listless on the ground, staring blankly at the floor.
No one could recover from such an ordeal immediately, especially with the searing pain in their behinds. Asuma let out another sigh.
What kind of monster was this monk Jirō, to be so utterly unreasonable.
After a long while, the two finally regained some strength, but their faces remained pressed against the floor; they couldn't bear to look at each other.
Asuma's voice was hoarse as he said, "This must never reach a third person's ears!"
Jirō replied, "What if the person who drugged us lets it out... what will we do?"
Hearing this, Asuma couldn't help but shed tears. With their intelligence, they knew after the fact that something was amiss; someone had definitely drugged them.
But what could they do? If it were a fight with weapons, he and Jirō wouldn't be afraid; they could die fighting.
But the opponent had resorted to such a dishonorable tactic; what a despicable person!
"We'll worry about that later. As long as we completely forget about it, even if the other party spreads it, it will only tarnish our reputation."
Asuma was already planning to return to Konoha and use his clan's influence to suppress public opinion.
Jirō remained silent for a moment, then flipped over and began to tidy up. After what had happened, he had no face to stay at the Daimyo's mansion; he might as well return to the temple to chant scriptures. The city's waters ran too deep for a mere monk like him to understand.
Seeing Jirō putting on his clothes, Asuma also rolled over. As he tried to sit up, the sharp pain in his backside sent him back down.
Hiss! Dammit!
Tears welled up in Asuma's eyes as he stared blankly at the ceiling. His vision was blurry, but he seemed to see a figure looking back at him.
At this moment, Asuma sat bolt upright, his eyes wide as saucers.
"What the hell! Kazuma, you bastard, what are you doing here!"
Hearing Asuma's roar, Jirō narrowed his eyes and looked at the ceiling. A head was staring at them with wide eyes, as if the intense battle of last night and this morning had been fully witnessed.
Thinking that both he and Asuma had been completely seen by the other party, Jirō's heart ignited with nameless rage. He leaped up, grabbed Kazuma's head, and pulled him down.
*Crack, crack, crack.*
With the sound of several tiles breaking, Kazuma's limp body was held in Jirō's hands.
Jirō felt for Kazuma's pulse and exclaimed in shock, "Kazuma is dead."
Asuma stepped forward to check, and only after confirming Kazuma was dead did he let out a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness. Otherwise, after that utterly embarrassing display, he would have killed Kazuma himself.
"How did Kazuma die? Did the person who drugged us last night turn out to be Kazuma?"
Jirō groped Kazuma again, finding a hallucination smoke and some poison on him.
"It seems Kazuma suffered unimaginable mental torture. Combined with the hallucination smoke, his mind simply snapped, leading to his death."
"There's such a way to die?"
Asuma was very curious about what Kazuma had seen to cause such a massive shock to his mind. But then he immediately remembered the other party had been on the roof watching him and Jirō all night, and he was rendered speechless.
"Asuma, do you think Kazuma was the one who ambushed us?"
Asuma reached into his upper pocket, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it. After taking a couple of puffs, the expression on his face relaxed. He exhaled a smoke ring and said,
"Whether he was or not is no longer important. In this situation, even if he wasn't, he has to be. Otherwise, a guardian ninja dying here, how do you think the Daimyo will see it?"
After taking a drag, Asuma felt his mind become much clearer. This was a profound truth; a cigarette after the fact was better than being an immortal!
Jirō was somewhat surprised that Asuma could maintain such a clear head after last night's events. The cigarette butt dangling from his lips, his frivolous gaze...
Jirō swallowed and asked, "What should we do now?" At this moment, their roles had reversed, with Asuma becoming Jirō's pillar of support.
Asuma put on his coat, picked up the "Fire" character waistband from the ground, and said, "Of course, we'll resign to the Daimyo and go our separate ways!"
Jirō trembled with anger, staring at Asuma's departing figure. He truly wanted to say, "You're the kind of person who pulls up his pants and denies everything, how heartless!"
But Jirō quickly came to his senses; he was the one who had pulled up his pants, and that feeling...
Jirō shivered. Forget it, he wouldn't think about it. He needed to deal with Kazuma's body first.
...
On the large bed in a guest room, Lin Yu got up and stretched.
"Ohayō, minasan!"
The only response Lin Yu received was two fair and tender hands covering his mouth, then pulling the blanket over them, finding a comfortable spot to continue their nap.
Lin Yu was helpless. He gently left the embrace of tenderness. His clothes were still largely intact; Lin Yu wasn't one to behave carelessly in someone else's home.
"You're up so early. Didn't sleep well last night?"
Lin Yu turned his head and saw Tsunade in a bathrobe. He pouted, "It's already noon. What early?"
"I thought you might have overdone it last night!" Tsunade's beautiful eyes gave Lin Yu a sidelong glance as she held a cup of hot tea.
"I'm not that kind of person. I don't have a habit of messing around in unfamiliar places."
"Oh? Is that so?"
Tsunade seemed to have heard the answer she wanted. The corners of her mouth curved upwards as she dangled her long, slender legs, sitting on the corridor and seemingly admiring the flowers and plants in the courtyard.
Lin Yu sat beside Tsunade and asked, "How much longer are you planning to play outside?"
"What? Missing your Kushina? Or that girl Mikoto?"
Lin Yu remained silent, merely staring fiercely at Tsunade. Knowing she would eventually bring it up, Tsunade was truly something.
Tsunade chuckled, "Soon. We've relaxed outside for so long, it's time to go back."
Lin Yu stared at Tsunade's exquisite and beautiful face for a long time, then asked impassively, "How much did you lose?"
"...About four or five hundred million ryō!"
Lin Yu's face darkened. He grabbed Tsunade by her collar and said sternly, "What do you plan to use as collateral!"
"Hey, hey, kid, let go. Your Kushina lost it herself; it has nothing to do with me!"
"Do you think I'd believe that? Kushina is just a naive sweet girl; whatever you tell her to bet on, she'll bet on it."
"Mikoto is the same; she has no independent judgment. She definitely listens to you, Tsunade."
Tsunade looked at Lin Yu, who was close in front of her. A hint of panic flickered across her beautiful face, but her beautiful eyes seemed to catch sight of something. She no longer cared about the vast expanse of her chest, and weakly said,
"Then, then what do you want me to do~"
"Uh..."
Lin Yu was surprised by Tsunade's sudden change in demeanor and instinctively wanted to let go, but found his wrist tightly held by Tsunade, with her chest in full view.
But Lin Yu now found himself swallowing with difficulty. He sensed two terrifying gazes behind him!
"Did I hear correctly that I'm a naive sweet girl?"
"Am I a woman with no independent judgment?"
Two icy voices, as if from the depths of hell, sounded from behind. Lin Yu felt a stinging sensation on his back, as if two murderous gazes were fixed on him.
"Um... I can explain!"
"Lin Yu, where are your hands!"
Tsunade took advantage of the situation, pulling Lin Yu's hand to rest on her chest, and exclaimed from her ruby-red lips, her face a picture of panic.
"Lin Yu, you!"
Although the soft and smooth sensation in his hands was incredibly delightful, Lin Yu felt that disaster was imminent.
"Damn it! Die, Lin Yu!"