Besides, immortality was no simple matter.
So Arisu nodded and agreed.
"Alright! It's a deal."
Yumeko took a deep breath, trying to make her voice sound calmer.
"Pinky promise."
After saying that, she instinctively held out her little finger and waved it in the air, signaling for Arisu to hook pinkies with her.
Arisu gave her a calm glance.
His gaze was steady, as if he were looking at a fool who didn't know her place.
"Uh..."
Yumeko's hand froze in midair, and embarrassment slowly spread across her cheeks.
She realized how childish and out of place her action looked in this man's eyes. She quickly withdrew her hand, pouted slightly, and glared at him, unwilling to accept it but not daring to say anything more.
"Don't push your luck."
Arisu said nothing else. He simply turned around. His plain white robe swayed gently under the moonlight, and his figure silently disappeared from the room.
As he left, the terrifying pressure that had blanketed the entire room receded like the tide, and the air became easy to breathe again.
Only Yumeko remained in the room.
She leaned against the bedside and let out a long sigh.
She sat there blankly for a long time, unable to recover her senses.
She had actually been foolish enough to try making a pinky promise with that terrifying "Observer"... Thinking of the cold look he had given her, as though she were an idiot, Yumeko's face started burning again.
"How embarrassing... Yumeko, is there seriously something wrong with your brain?!"
She slapped her cheeks hard, trying to drive away both the embarrassment and the strange flutter in her heart.
After Arisu left, only the faint moonlight outside the window and the steady breathing of the two children remained in the room.
Yumeko turned to look at Indra and Asura, sleeping soundly in their cradle. Their tiny faces looked especially soft under the moonlight.
A complicated feeling rose in her heart. There was a mother's tenderness, mixed with deep worry.
"...I really was too naive."
She sighed softly. The vague thoughts she had once harbored about "changing the brothers' fate" were completely gone now.
That man was too terrifying.
He called the Sage of Six Paths an ant, walked through the backyard of the Ninshu as if no one were there, and more importantly, he could kill her whenever he wanted.
Even with their lives bound together as leverage, she had only managed to save her life for the time being.
"Forget it... I'll just raise you two properly. As for everything else... I really shouldn't interfere anymore."
Yumeko reached out and gently brushed her fingertips across Asura's soft cheek. Her gaze gradually became firm.
From that night onward, she decided to completely rein herself in.
On the surface, she would continue being a gentle and responsible mother. Secretly, she would never again try to interfere in the future conflict between Indra and Asura.
She only wanted to stay alive, to live until the era of Naruto Shippuden and see how this world would continue.
———
Time passed, and another five or six years went by in the blink of an eye.
Indra and Asura had grown from swaddled infants into boys of five or six years old.
The two became more handsome with each passing year. Indra's face already carried a hint of composure and an innate dignity, while Asura was lively and energetic, always wearing an innocent smile.
During these years, Yumeko faithfully stayed in her place and fulfilled her duties as a "mother."
Every day, she took care of the two children's daily needs, taught them basic etiquette and writing, and gently comforted them whenever they became upset.
Other than that, she never again involved herself in anything related to the course of the story, nor did she dare entertain thoughts of interfering with the brothers' future.
The backyard of the Ninshu remained as peaceful as ever.
One afternoon, beneath the warm sunshine, Yumeko sat under a flowering crabapple tree in the courtyard, quietly admiring the blossoms.
A gentle breeze drifted by, carrying petals to the ground. She reached out to catch one, but her thoughts had already wandered elsewhere.
It had been a full five or six years since the man who called himself the "Observer," Arisu, had visited her in the middle of the night.
In all those years, she had never seen that white figure again, yet she never dared lower her guard.
"So much time has passed... without incident."
Yumeko murmured to herself with a bitter smile.
For more than five years, she had always maintained a subtle distance from the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo.
Ever since giving birth, she had never shared a bed with Hagoromo again.
At first, she worried he might become suspicious or dissatisfied, but he proved to be extremely tolerant and respectful. He never forced her even once.
Yumeko knew very well that she had only been an ordinary college student in her previous life who had never even dated anyone. She instinctively resisted and rejected that sort of thing.
Whenever she faced Hagoromo, she used "postpartum depression" or "not feeling well" as an excuse. Hagoromo never questioned her. Instead, he silently devoted even more of his energy to governing the Ninshu and teaching ninjas.
"He really deserves to be called the saint of this world..."
Looking toward the main hall of the Ninshu in the distance, Yumeko sighed softly.
Hagoromo had other wives and concubines, and his desire for intimacy had always been low, which spared her a great deal of trouble.
Still, whenever the dead of night came, she couldn't help wondering whether she could really endure it if she lived for thousands of years.
Yumeko shook her head, temporarily pushing those uneasy thoughts aside, then stood up and walked toward the house.
At the same time, Black Zetsu, who had been hiding in the shadows all along, quietly began to gradually withdraw his manipulation of Indra.
"Huh? Doesn't something feel off? I remember Asura and Indra weren't supposed to have a mother."
Black Zetsu scratched his head, unable to understand.
He remembered that, in the original story, those two didn't have parents.
But now they actually had parents.
"Could she be another transmigrator?"
A chilling thought suddenly crossed Black Zetsu's mind.
It wasn't the first time he had thought this, because this Naruto world seemed... a little strange...
He had never seen Hamura himself, nor had he seen Gamamaru.
According to what they said, Hagoromo had sealed Kaguya by himself and had also sealed Hamura away.
"But Indra and Asura's mother might not be a transmigrator, because I haven't seen her do anything to change the plot. If she were a transmigrator, she'd definitely change the plot..."
Black Zetsu shook his head.
That Reiko looked like a native.
"Forget it. She's just a mortal..."
As the years passed, Indra and Asura continued to grow.
After guiding them from the shadows for so many years, it seemed it was finally time for him to slowly let go.
Before long, quite a stir spread through the Ninshu.
The young Indra had actually created his own hand seal system.
This achievement quickly spread throughout the entire Ninshu, leaving countless disciples shocked and full of admiration.
And Indra was only seven years old, yet he had already displayed such astonishing talent.