With both hands restrained, Mito still wasn't giving up. She stomped her foot, aiming for his.
"Still going? That's enough!" Izuna said, annoyed. *Was it really such a big deal? If I started telling dirty jokes from my past life, would you just use the Reaper Death Seal on me?*
He flexed his hands slightly, releasing a small amount of chakra that jolted her. Though skilled in sealing jutsu, the Uzumaki princess was not adept at combat. She lost her balance and tumbled forward, falling against his chest.
Time seemed to stand still. A sweet, ambiguous tension filled the air.
Izuna unconsciously relaxed his grip on her wrists, his hands moving to encircle her slender waist instead.
*Well, men are pigs. They fall for every pretty face.* The saying had some truth to it. Izuna's actions right now were eighty percent driven by Uzumaki Mito's beautiful face. But wasn't a woman's face the primary motivation for any man's pursuit?
*She smells so good...* That was Izuna's first thought as he held her. The more he wanted to find the source of the fragrance, the tighter he held her, until his chin rested on her shoulder. His breath ghosted across her neck, sending a shiver through her and making her body go limp. If he hadn't been holding her waist, she would have already crumpled to the ground.
Mito's mind was completely blank. With her hands now free, she had no idea where to put them. Feeling his warm breath on her neck, her body went so soft it felt paralyzed in his embrace, her hands coming to rest naturally on his waist.
After what felt like an eternity, Izuna loosened his hold slightly, only to tilt his head and press his forehead against hers, moving ever closer.
Mito's face was as red as an apple, her expression dazed. All she could see were Izuna's eyes drawing nearer and nearer.
Just as their lips were less than half a centimeter apart, she snapped back to her senses. Using all her strength, she pushed him away. "No! No! We can't!" she cried out.
Izuna, not using chakra to brace himself, was pushed back two steps and released her.
"...Sorry," he finally said, the two words coming out soft and faint.
Mito didn't reply. She immediately turned her back to him, adjusting her disheveled kimono. When the fabric brushed against the spot on her neck where his breath had been, she could still feel a tingling sensation.
For the rest of the night, the atmosphere was painfully awkward. Izuna managed to get a few hours of sleep, but Mito didn't close her eyes once, her heart pounding relentlessly in her chest.
*I couldn't possibly have feelings for him... No, it's impossible! He's an Uchiha! I'm an Uzumaki, an ally of the Senju. It could never work!* All night, Mito's mind was a battlefield of such conflicting thoughts.
The first rays of a new day broke through the darkness. Only then, after a night of turmoil, did a wave of drowsiness wash over her. But it was already time to set out.
Seeing Mito's exhausted face, a strange light flashed in Izuna's eyes, one he didn't notice himself. "You should get some more sleep," he said.
Mito looked at him for a long moment, then her lips parted. "Aren't you in a hurry?"
Of course he was. The war between the Uchiha and Senju had already begun, and his Mangekyo Sharingan had entered a dangerous phase of use. His eyesight was probably already failing. He needed to capture a Tailed Beast as soon as possible to compensate for his weakness.
But after last night, his feelings toward Mito had undergone a subtle change. Seeing her so tired left a sour taste in his mouth, and the words had just slipped out.
"My men reported that the Two-Tails was spotted around here, so there's no need to push forward. Just get some more sleep," Izuna said.
Mito didn't know if he was telling the truth or not, but the memory of her internal struggle from the night before made her want to avoid talking to him. She leaned against a dead tree, turned on her side, closed her eyes, and quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Izuna brought the index and middle fingers of both hands together, forming a cross seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
*Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!*
Five shadow clones burst into existence at once, dashing off in five different directions. Izuna's target this time was the Two-Tailed Matatabi, one of the two Tailed Beasts that would one day belong to Kumogakure, along with the Eight-Tails. Although he had confirmed the Three-Tails was in the southeastern coastal region of the Land of Fire, after the last incident, it was uncertain if it would still be there. Besides, he had already alerted the Senju and Uzumaki; trying to capture the Three-Tails now was unrealistic. So, Izuna had shifted his focus to the Two-Tails.
After sending out his clones, Izuna sat cross-legged and began to practice gathering Sage Chakra. He had made no real progress with this technique since acquiring it, to the point where he had considered giving up on Sage Art training altogether. But it was currently the only way to mitigate the drawbacks of the Mangekyo Sharingan. He had no other choice.
Sensing the change in Izuna's chakra, the sleeping Mito slowly opened her eyes. She saw Izuna, his back to her, sitting cross-legged and concentrating his chakra.
Mito intended to close her eyes and go back to sleep, but she couldn't resist opening them again.
*Honestly! Why do I even care what he does! Just sleep, sleep!* With that thought, she opened and closed her eyes several times before she finally couldn't take it anymore and blurted out, "Training your chakra like that is completely inefficient! No, you'll make no progress at all!"
"Huh?" Izuna, who was in the middle of refining Sage Chakra, turned his head to look at Mito's vexed expression. Though he really wanted to ask, "Aren't you sleeping?", his strong survival instinct made him change his words. "Then what should I do?"
Mito stood up and walked over. After pursing her lips for a moment, she asked, "First, tell me where you got this method for training new chakra."
"On an island north of the Land of Waves..." Izuna didn't hide anything. He told her everything about his trip to Sage Island and how he had stolen the secret scroll of Sage Art from Jugo's clan.
"Stealing another clan's secret art... You must be the first Uchiha Vice-Clan Head in history to do something like that," Mito said with a dismissive pout.
Izuna narrowed his eyes. "Skip the sarcasm. Do you have a solution or not?"
"I need to see the specific method for this Sage Art... Can you show me the scroll you stole... No, never mind, it's fine. It's not like I want to get involved anyway," Mito said, changing her tune mid-sentence with an awkward stubbornness.
However, Izuna paid her no mind and simply took out the two scrolls, handing them to her.
Mito was quite surprised that he would hand over the scrolls he had gone to such trouble to steal without a second thought. A certain possibility crossed her mind, and with complex feelings, she opened the scrolls and began to read them carefully, word for word.
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