"Why did you lie?"
On the way home, Pakura caught up from behind.
She remembered very clearly that what Ryuji had told her was: this human puppet was modified from the corpse of the Third Kazekage.
That is to say, the Third Kazekage was already dead before being turned into a puppet.
If the Third Kazekage couldn't be revived, then the lie would be exposed.
She didn't understand what Ryuji meant by telling such a lie?
"You know I'm lying, so why didn't you expose me?"
"We've been teammates for a few years, with a friendship of entrusting our lives to each other."
"Deceiving the higher-ups is a very great offense, and being an accomplice is no small crime either."
"What did I do to help you?" Pakura looked stunned. "I only stated my own deduction."
"..." Ryuji paused for a moment, then smiled. "I never thought you, who never cared about political maneuvering, would have this side."
"Not being interested doesn't mean I don't understand anything." Pakura pouted disdainfully, then changed the subject, asking, "Honestly, what are you planning? This kind of lie is easily exposed. How are you going to explain it to the high council later?"
"Easily exposed?" Ryuji chuckled. "No, as long as Sasori of the Red Sand doesn't let it slip, it won't be exposed."
"Then aren't you dead?"
"You two didn't get along well back in the village, and now we've even captured him and brought him back. From any angle, he has no reason to cover for your lie."
"Actually, our relationship is pretty good." Ryuji said without blushing or a racing heart.
"Just the two of you?"
"Exactly, just the two of us."
After saying this with certainty, Ryuji started walking again.
Both he and Sasori were called the most genius puppeteers in the village's history, highly anticipated by everyone.
Although neither Ryuji nor Sasori cared for these so-called genius titles, but Sasori didn't want to lose to anyone and constantly competed with him in secret.
Back and forth, the two became somewhat familiar.
And they both recognized each other's talent and abilities, developing a sense of mutual appreciation.
However,
Just this alone wouldn't make Ryuji so blindly believe that Sasori wouldn't sell him out.
After all, that guy isn't exactly a good person either.
To hope that their past bit of friendship would make him keep a secret for Ryuji after he just screwed him over... that's like an ancient man visiting a brothel hoping to find a virgin.
Ryuji's confidence stemmed from another reason.
"Even if you two have some friendship, after something like this happens, he won't keep your secret." Pakura still didn't think much of it.
"I have my plans."
While talking, the two arrived at a fork in the road.
Ryuji stopped and turned to gaze deeply at Pakura.
Feeling the boy's intense gaze, Pakura quickly lowered her head. Her increasingly rapid chest movements revealed the unease in her heart.
"Pakura..."
"Yeah?"
"Can you give me some blood?"
"Um, that... Huh?"
Pakura looked up with a confused expression, a big question mark appearing in her mind.
"My mechanical bird is broken. I want to install an additional high-temperature focused blast cannon while repairing it. Your Scorch Release is the most suitable for the trigger."
"That's all?"
"Besides this, what else?" Seeing the girl's astonished expression, Ryuji felt puzzled. "What on earth were you expecting?"
"..." Pakura opened her mouth, wanting to speak but stopping.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, as if trying to expel the frustration in her heart along with the air.
Pakura opened her eyes and looked coldly at Ryuji. "Do you hang curtains on the walls of your house?"
"Why hang curtains on walls?"
"Because there's no door!"
After saying that, she walked away without looking back.
Ryuji was stunned for a moment. By the time he came to his senses, the girl was already far away.
"...Hey, wait." Ryuji hurriedly chased after her and said, "If you're afraid of pain, you can just give me one of your used sanitary pads."
"Go look for them in the toilet."
"There are so many toilets, how would I know which one is yours?"
Hearing this, Pakura stopped.
She slowly turned around, her orange eyes wide open. "You mean if you could identify which one was mine, you would actually go look in the toilet?"
"Although it's a bit disgusting, for the sake of scientific endeavor, it's nothing."
Pakura opened her mouth. There were a thousand words she wanted to say, but in the end, only two came out.
"Pervert!"
"Thanks for the compliment."
"..."
Looking at the boy who was not ashamed but rather proud, Pakura felt blood rushing to her head and couldn't help wanting to swear.
'Calm, calm, a girl must be elegant.'
Pakura tried hard to suppress the impulse in her heart, taking a while to calm down.
She calmly gazed at the boy and said, "Ryuji, you should know how important Ninjutsu is to a Shinobi, right?"
"Yeah." Ryuji nodded.
Ninjutsu, as an important means of attack for Shinobi, once its effects are known to the enemy, it's easy for weaknesses to be studied and countermeasures developed.
Therefore, keeping Ninjutsu secret is very important.
"Generally speaking, all Shinobi keep their Ninjutsu secret. If conditions allow, they even hide it from their teammates." Pakura looked coldly into the boy's eyes. "Since you know this, you still dare to ask me for blood with such a reason. Do you think I'll give it to you?"
"Yeah!"
Looking at Ryuji, who spoke as if it were obvious, Pakura couldn't help but find it amusing. "Why do you think I'll give it to you?"
"Because we have good feelings for each other!"
"..." Pakura was speechless.
She thought Ryuji was so confident that he must have some special reason, but it was only this.
However...
"You win."
Ryuji wasn't wrong. Pakura truly found it hard to refuse this man's requests.
...
"Welcome back, Master!"
Arriving at the doorstep, the door opened on its own.
Behind the door, a big sister with wine-red shoulder-length hair, a gentle face, delicate skin, and wearing a maid dress bowed to Ryuji.
"Yeah."
Ryuji nodded and stepped into the room.
The maid big sister followed behind and said, "Hot water is ready in the bath, and meals are prepared in the kitchen. Will Master bathe first or eat?"
"Let's eat first."
"Understood, please wait a moment."
The maid turned and entered the kitchen, while Ryuji lay down on the sofa and fell asleep in no time.
This search mission had lasted several days… he was exhausted.
"Master, the food has been brought to..."
Returning to the living room, the maid was about to call Ryuji to eat when she saw him sleeping soundly and couldn't help but complain softly, "Really, sleeping like this will give you a cold."
"It's fine."
Whether he was responding to the maid or talking in his sleep, Ryuji murmured with his eyes closed, "Many puppets were damaged in this mission. Go help repair them."
"Understood, I'll take Master upstairs to sleep first."
"Yeah."
The maid showed a gentle smile, extended her slender hands, gently picked up Ryuji, and walked toward the second floor.