Chapter 122: Impure World Reincarnation
Sasuko looked at Naruko's bright smile and suddenly stepped forward to gently embrace her.
Soft warmth entered her arms. Naruko froze completely, hands suspended in midair not knowing where to place them: "Sasuko?"
"I'm sorry, Naruko." Sasuko buried her face in Naruko's shoulder, voice somewhat muffled. "I said such terrible things to you before."
She recalled when initially persuading Naruko to give up, clearly seeing sadness flash through the other's eyes, yet still selfishly speaking hurtful words.
Perhaps Yu was right. She truly had become an empty shell—heart filled only with obsession over Yu, even speaking harshly to friends who treated her sincerely. Since childhood, Naruko had helped her many times.
Naruko had never seen Sasuko like this, momentarily at a loss.
She hesitantly raised her hand to lightly pat Sasuko's back, stammering comfort: "It's, it's fine... I actually didn't really take it to heart."
Naruko had never been one to hold grudges.
Her heart was like a shallow well. All unpleasantness quickly sank to the bottom, leaving only warm kindness rippling on the surface.
Perhaps precisely this innate open-mindedness let her never lose her way through that lonely, malicious childhood.
Sasuko still immersed herself in guilty emotions when Naruko suddenly blinked, smiling: "Mm, Sasuko... seems to have grown quite a bit. Your figure is really something now."
Sasuko's face instantly flushed red. She immediately released the embrace, glaring at her in embarrassment: "You..."
This little blonde was clearly also quite pretty—azure eyes pure and clear, features sweet—yet always deliberately saying suggestive things.
Sasuko's cheeks reddened as she made to pinch Naruko's face again.
Naruko laughingly jumped backward, her golden twin tails swaying lightly in sunlight.
"I'm telling the truth!" She dodged while laughing. "Just now hugging you I really could feel..."
"Stop talking!" Sasuko interrupted in embarrassment, though the gloom in her eyes had dissipated.
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Sunset glowed beautifully as Yu sat alone in his family courtyard.
Steam rose gently from the teapot on the stone table. He held a forbidden jutsu scroll about Impure World Reincarnation.
This forbidden technique could use living people as sacrifices to summon departed souls from the Pure Land back to the present world, reshaping bodies with dust as vessel. The summoned would possess immortal bodies and infinite chakra, yet be controlled by the caster.
As his realm improved, Yu's understanding of jutsu essence deepened.
These years, he'd reviewed nearly all of Konoha's secret technique texts about souls.
But after careful study, only this Impure World Reincarnation forbidden technique truly possessed the possibility of manifesting the long-departed.
Yu gazed at the forbidden jutsu scroll in hand, falling into contemplation.
During Sasuko's school years, he'd continuously attempted improving Impure World Reincarnation in secret.
Using those who deserved punishment as sacrifices, he'd summoned the Fugaku couple's souls.
But each returned soul seemed to lack the most critical component—that vitality unique to the living and complete consciousness.
He vaguely sensed the problem might lie in the soul's return process.
Souls returning from the Pure Land very likely lost certain essence while crossing the boundary between life and death.
This research touching life-death taboos, he'd always kept secret from Sasuko.
So when Sasuko said he "lived in the past," he'd felt momentarily stunned.
He'd never wanted Sasuko knowing he conducted these experiments walking moral edges.
Though this was indeed his personal obsession, in this world where souls and Pure Land genuinely existed, he couldn't abandon attempting to return those he cared about.
He had too much to say to his adoptive parents, still regretting why he hadn't arrived in time.
His excessive indulgence of Sasuko stemmed partly from this deeply hidden guilt—he clearly possessed the power to prevent tragedy, yet had ultimately been one step late.
Sasuko was right. He truly had been living in the past's shadows.
He couldn't forgive himself, couldn't easily release this obsession.
Because if he released even this guilt, he'd no longer be his current self.
Suddenly, a familiar Flying Thunder God fluctuation arrived—Sasuko.
Yu's hand twisted slightly in space, quickly storing the Impure World Reincarnation scroll into Kamui dimension.
Next second, the black-haired, black-eyed girl gracefully appeared before him, bringing a wave of elegant fragrance.
Yu showed his customary gentle smile: "Why did you come back? Did you have fun?"
Sasuko gazed at his unchanged expression, heart feeling stuffy: "Not happy. Because you always lie to me, hiding so many things."
Yu froze upon hearing this: "I don't think... I've lied to you much?"
Sasuko suddenly stepped forward, instantly closing the distance between them.
Only a finger's width remained between them. Yu could even feel her warm breath gently brushing his cheek.
Her fragrance drifted faintly over. Black eyes looked directly into his. Fair skin glowed with delicate luster under sunlight, slightly trembling lashes casting fine shadows.
Sasuko gazed at him like this. After a long while, she finally looked away and stepped back.
"It's nothing."
She said softly, tone carrying somewhat elusive emotion.
Yu worriedly stroked Sasuko's hair. Sasuko obediently nuzzled against his palm.
"If you're unhappy, you can tell me directly." He said gently. "I'm very willing to hear you share all your thoughts."
Sasuko raised her head, saying softly: "What about you? When you're unhappy, are you willing to tell me?"
Yu's gaze flickered slightly. After silent moments, he responded gently: "You know I stay home all day. Life is plain. What troubles need special mention?"
Sasuko gently grasped his wrist, moving his hand from her hair, gaze firm: "Yu, I'm already an adult. No longer the little girl who needs your constant protection."
Yu froze slightly, then showed a gentle smile: "In my eyes, you'll always be..."
"Don't say that." Sasuko interrupted him, stepping forward to close distance. "I don't want to forever be your little sister, don't want to forever be protected behind you. I want to understand everything about you—your past, your troubles, even..." She paused, voice lowering. "Those shadows you don't want me to see."
Yu gazed at this stubborn face. After long silence, he said softly: "Some things—not knowing them brings more happiness."
"Then how do you determine that I, kept in the dark, will definitely be happy?" Sasuko raised her hand to lightly caress his cheek. This intimate gesture surprised Yu. "Let me share your burdens, Yu. No matter what I am in your heart, whether guilt or obsession... let me bear it together with you, okay?"
"Sasuko, I..." He hesitated, voice somewhat low. "Some paths are destined to walk alone."
"Then let me witness from the side." Sasuko stubbornly refused to yield. "At least let me know what you're working toward, rather than watching you bear everything alone like now." She gazed into his eyes, voice gentle yet firm: "When I was little, you promised me—if you have troubles, you'd tell me."
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