The Third slightly shook his head, a smile on his face. "Such an impatient child. Nothing like Naruto, just like his mother."
"Naruto's parents?" Sakura was quite surprised. She had always assumed Naruto was an orphan abandoned by his parents.
"Cough cough, you must've heard wrong," The Third suddenly realized he had carelessly slipped something while lost in memories.
"Right, those without assigned tasks can go prepare for their missions now. As for Shiki Uzumaki, please stay behind for a moment."
Upon hearing this, Shiki's eyelid twitched slightly, but he quickly regained composure.
In fact, he had expected this — The Third wanting to speak with him in private.
"Lord Third, what do you need to talk about with Shiki?" Yuuma Akimoto asked curiously. This little girl seemed to channel all her curiosity toward Shiki.
She wanted to know practically everything related to him.
"Yuuma, better not ask about this. Go prepare first, I'll tell you later, okay?"
Before The Third could even respond, Shiki himself refused Yuuma.
Yuuma blinked once, then fell silent, lowering her head.
"In that case, we'll take our leave first." Hayate Gekko patted Yuuma and Seiji's shoulders as a signal.
Yuuma nodded, casting one final glance at Shiki before turning away.
Without delay, Seiji slung his white sword over his shoulder and strode out behind Yuuma.
The Third put down his task scroll and told Iruka, "I'll leave things here to you. Thank you for your trouble."
"Not at all, this is simply my assigned duty, Lord Third." Naturally, Iruka felt awkward under such politeness from The Third. Indeed, this job never belonged to The Third in the first place.
"Well then, Shiki, come with me." The Third picked up his pipe again, placing it between his lips.
Shiki wasn't sure what The Third wanted to talk about. But he knew that if the old man had gone out of his way to summon him, it must be important.
Even if it turned out to be trivial, he still needed to follow closely behind—just as he did now.
It was still midsummer, with cicadas endlessly chirping away. Some might find their songs annoying, while others would feel calm amid the noise.
Cicadas were just noise from the outside world. When your heart is truly calm, they couldn't touch you anymore.
Just like Shiki's current state—strangely enough, despite how turbulent his heart should've been, it remained oddly still.
"Shiki, you've been in Konoha for over five years now, right?" The Third suddenly asked.
"Mm, almost six." Shiki nodded. Before arriving in Konoha, aside from his mother, he'd barely interacted with anyone else.
He had absolutely nothing—just a child's body and the clothes on his back. Even now, he marveled at how he'd made it all the way to Konoha on sheer willpower alone.
After all, back then, he'd been just a child—nothing more than fragile flesh and unshakable will.
A shadow of sadness passed through The Third's eyes.
"Yes... almost six years already."
"I remember when you first arrived in Konoha—you were just a little child back then. Now look how much you've grown. But not taking proper care of you was my fault."
"No, you're not to blame."
Seeing the earnest look in Shiki's eyes, the Third hesitated before holding back his words. "Enough then. Let's drop this topic. Clinging to guilt won't change anything."
"Ever since you came to Konoha, I've specifically instructed many ninja on missions to the Land of Rain to look for any news about your mother. Yet there has been absolutely nothing."
Shiki remained silent. He couldn't believe that after losing him, his mother would choose to stay hidden without trying to find him.
Just what had happened? Instinctively, he wanted to avoid thinking about it.
Creak—the sound of the door opening interrupted his thoughts.
Only now did Shiki realize he had already followed the Third to the Hokage Office.
"Come in and talk."
Chapter 90: Konohamaru's Recognition
Shiki was startled for a moment, then walked inside.
Although he had visited the Hokage Office before, this was the first time he had come alone with the Third.
It was only now that Shiki truly realized how vast the room was. Other than the Hokage's desk at the center, only along the circular perimeter of the room were scattered some items—mostly books and scrolls.
Still, he couldn't understand why there weren't any bookshelves at all in the office.
But when his gaze shifted toward the window behind the desk, his heart skipped a beat outside its rhythm.
Through the window streamed rays of sunlight, bathing every corner of the room.
No wonder nearly half the walls were transparent glass windows. The light reflecting onto the smooth wooden floor almost seemed capable of dispelling all darkness.
Only a space this open could be filled with light and never feel oppressive.
"Shiki," the Third said as he slowly returned to his seat behind the desk. "Actually, assigning you this mission to the Land of Rain was a decision made after deep consideration."
"After that incident, I paid extra attention to you. I noticed you've never stopped looking for information from the Land of Rain."
"But still, nothing has turned up." Shiki replied bitterly, dismissing in one sentence five years' worth of effort.
"So if I hadn't given you this mission, you would have gone yourself regardless?"
"Probably." Shiki responded indifferently. In truth, he had already prepared everything needed before heading to the Land of Rain.
The special oil applied on kunai and shuriken was specially formulated to prevent moisture from the rainy climate of the Land of Rain, which might otherwise cause rusting and weaken the tools' durability.
He had already picked out a black raincoat—waterproof and designed to allow full mobility during combat.
He had mapped out the geography of the Land of Rain thoroughly. Before this, he hadn't known exactly which part of the Land of Rain he had wandered from—how he had begged his way through until sheer luck brought him to Konoha.
Now, using the few remaining clues from his memories and combining them with books, he had narrowed down several possible regions.
He knew, in fact, that what he had done went far beyond these preparations.
But when he finally spoke, all he said was, "Maybe."
The Third kept staring at Shiki, searching for even a flicker of emotion on the boy's face—but found none.
Bringing up this matter was like trying to reach a locked chest buried deep in the ocean—beyond reach, and impossible to open.
The Third sighed and slumped back in his chair.
"I called you here just to tell you that this time, you can go look for some clues. However, you mustn't go too deep into the Land of Rain. This is for your own good, and for your companions' safety as well."
Shiki nodded. "I would never let my companions come to harm because of me."
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