The private room fell quiet. Even Mitarashi Anko, who seemed drunk, narrowed her eyes slightly.
Yūhi Kurenai was silent for a moment before speaking. "Are you sure you have explained the mission details clearly? You need to understand, if you conceal any part of the mission, I have the right to terminate the task at any time."
Nojuro Ryun nodded and said, "I only know this much. But some things are just a feeling I have. Surely feelings can't be counted as evidence, right?"
"What feelings could a little brat possibly have? Come on, come on, tell your big sister all about your feelings! Don't worry, just think of it as telling your big sister your true thoughts."
"Or do you want a drink first?"
Anko picked up a sake cup and then brought it to Ryun's lips to pour it in.
Ryun knew this woman was serious. He simply pretended he couldn't refuse and let her pour a cup of sake into him. Afterwards, his face turned red.
"Wow, your alcohol tolerance is really poor! Kurenai, stop glaring at me. It's just one cup of sake, it won't kill him."
Anko gently patted Ryun's back, putting on an act of helping him catch his breath.
As for what her increasingly desirous look towards Ryun meant, only she herself knew.
"Nojuro, can you now tell us what is really going on?" Kurenai pressed at this moment.
Ryun pretended to let his gaze wander and spoke slowly. "I've been feeling someone following me recently, and I keep dreaming that someone will harm me."
"Perhaps it's because my new book is about to be released. I'm too nervous. That's why I want to hire a jonin to protect me, so I can feel at ease."
"Then how did you get so much money? I heard you're an orphan, right?"
Ryun gave Anko a surprised glance. Even Anko knew about his circumstances?
Anko misunderstood his look. She directly hugged Ryun around the waist. Her soft, warm embrace pressed against his back. She said, "Don't be sad, little brother. Your big sister Kurenai and I are both orphans too. We can hug each other for warmth."
"Anko, that's going too far."
Yūhi Kurenai sighed. Anko reluctantly let go of Ryun. She genuinely thought the boy in front of her was good-looking.
"I write books, run a yakiniku restaurant, and also designed a ninja tool. I earned several hundred thousand ryo."
Ryun told the truth. Both Kurenai and Anko widened their eyes in surprise.
They never expected he had made so much money in such a short time... And he wasn't even a ninja. This was a talented individual!
Anko's face flushed with excitement. She mouthed silently to Kurenai: I want him. He's mine!
Kurenai rolled her eyes and mouthed back silently: Then tomorrow you'll become the laughingstock of the entire Konoha.
Anko calmed down a little, her face full of resentment.
Why did she always miss out on such good men?
"Besides the feeling, is there any other evidence?"
As the one accepting the mission, Kurenai naturally needed to gather more information.
Ryun shook his head. Hazily, he seemed to think of something and said, "I just had that feeling again."
"Huh?"
Kurenai frowned slightly. She had previously also thought Ryun was simply being overly nervous.
But now that Ryun said this, Kurenai simply formed hand seals and activated a sensing jutsu.
A powerful sensory force directly covered the entire izakaya, even extending to several nearby streets.
Within this entire range, no one could evade her sensory perception. She even detected the sensory chakra on Ryun himself.
However, Ryun deliberately weakened his own sensory chakra, making it faint and intermittent, like an ordinary person who had awakened some talent but couldn't control it well.
But Yamanaka Fuu, hiding in the darkness far from the izakaya, was not so lucky. Not only was he detected by Kurenai, he himself was completely unaware of Kurenai's sensing.
Kurenai slowly withdrew her sensory power. She looked deeply at Ryun, surprised that he had actually sensed the truth.
But the other party seemed to be from the Yamanaka clan... What was going on? Could the Yamanaka clan be monitoring Ryun on the Hokage's orders?
Kurenai felt this matter was a bit troublesome. But since Ryun had come to her with an A-rank mission and 300,000 ryo, she had to at least try to help.
"Kurenai, did you sense something?"
Anko naturally saw Kurenai's actions. Kurenai shook her head, choosing to keep it secret. She said, "Nothing. It must be his illusion."
"I told you so. Why would a civilian be under surveillance? Let's just drink. Or do you want to eat something first... Waitress! Two more plates of dango, and three servings of red bean soup!"
"Anko..."
Kurenai still wanted to say something, but Anko said, "It's fine, it's fine. If he gets drunk later, I'll take him home, okay?"
An hour later, Kurenai looked at Ryun snoring on the sofa and at Anko with Ryun's head resting on her chest, her face full of exasperation.
She shouldn't have believed Anko had any self-control... What should she do now?
By the way, where does Ryun live?
Kurenai had indeed heard stories about Ryun, but that was all. She wouldn't concern herself with a civilian's address, nor would she know Ryun had moved to the Kazamatsuri Hot Spring House.
So she chose the safest method.
She dragged Anko with her left hand, carried Ryun on her right shoulder, and in a few leaps brought them to her own home.
Then she tossed Anko onto the tatami in the guest room, carried Ryun to the sofa, and went to take a bath herself.
It seemed Kurenai was carefree, but in reality, she had seals and barriers set up in her home.
From her experience, a drunken Anko would need some time to break through these, so Kurenai didn't need to worry about Ryun, a civilian, at all.
Ryun opened his eyes at this moment.
His alcohol tolerance currently was indeed poor, but using Yang Release chakra to neutralize the alcohol wasn't a problem.
But he knew that once he got drunk, Kurenai would bring him to her home. This was the experience Ryun had gained from simulations.
Of course, in this lifetime, Ryun was not her student, so Kurenai might not do this.
The facts proved Ryun's gamble was correct. Kurenai would not leave someone Anko got drunk to their own devices.
The reason Ryun went through so much trouble to come to Kurenai's house was naturally to deal with Yamanaka Fuu.
From a strength perspective, Yamanaka Fuu was no longer a match for Ryun.
But Ryun didn't want to expose his strength by defeating Fuu again, leading to the Hokage sealing his chakra and imprisoning him. That would waste too much of the precious time Ryun needed to improve himself right now.
Spending some money to get to know Kurenai and ask for her help was simply a great bargain.
As for whether this would cause further changes later, he would deal with those changes if and when they occurred.
After all, Ryun had simulations and could always adjust his response plans.
The sound of splashing water gradually grew softer. Ryun closed his eyes, planning to start a simulation after Kurenai went to bed.
What Ryun didn't expect was the sound of footsteps approaching. Kurenai actually came to stand in front of him.
The fresh scent of her after bathing, mixed with steam, wafted towards him, giving Ryun the illusion that she might not be wearing anything.
The reality was basically as Ryun imagined.
Kurenai sensed that Ryun was sleeping soundly. She had hastily put on a bathrobe and was drying her hair as she walked out of the bathroom. Passing through the living room, she came to check on Ryun's condition.
She bent over, staring at Ryun, confirming he wasn't having any physical problems from drinking too much. Only then did she leave reassured, leaving Ryun with an impression of a full, mature figure.
In the faint light, Ryun suddenly felt an impulse to eat a peach.
---
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📖 Like the story? Read 120 chapters ahead!
🔗 patreon.com/atomelectron
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━