Chapter 363: A Bold Move
Yukari found herself questioning the very nature of youkai existence. Had she genuinely taught him that?
No — wait, hold on, she'd nearly let Ryū talk his way around her there. Something as shameless as that, learned from her? Absolutely not.
She was, after all, a youkai sage of the utmost propriety — arguably the single most upstanding youkai in all of Gensokyo. "Shameless" wasn't remotely in her repertoire!
So whatever Ryū had just claimed about learning it from her was pure nonsense. Outright slander, more like.
Yes — slander, plain and simple. She was a bright, lovely young woman of seventeen. How could she possibly be shameless? The very idea was absurd.
After running through a rapid string of internal denials, Yukari's gaze drifted toward the village beyond and she smoothly changed the subject. "Admin-sama's home really is quite sprawling. Is this genuinely a 'village'? Looking at the scale of it, it could practically pass for a small city."
"It's just called Konoha, whatever the scale. Might as well go with 'village.'"
Ryū himself had never been entirely sure why it was called that. To him, Konoha wasn't especially large — but for a world as sparsely populated as the Naruto world, its size was actually nothing to scoff at.
If someone had called it a "city" instead of a "village," he doubted anyone would have objected much.
And yet "village" it was. He had a vague memory that either Uchiha Madara or Senju Hashirama had come up with the name — one of the two of them, at any rate.
He didn't bother asking Yukari why she was still lingering in the Naruto world. It wasn't as if he had any objection to her staying in Konoha.
This hadn't been a group quest, either, so nothing was forcing her to leave right away — she'd crossed over this time for a flat 1,000 Points.
She could stay as long as she liked. And, just as easily, she could head back whenever she pleased.
Without much thought, Ryū rested a hand naturally on Yukari's slender left shoulder — and felt, unmistakably, a faint shiver run through the youkai sage's body.
A tremor that subtle would have gone completely unnoticed by anyone else, no matter how closely they were paying attention. But Ryū caught it, clear as day.
A flicker of mischief sparked in him, and he turned to face her fully.
Their eyes met — her violet gaze steady on his — and for a moment the world seemed to go quiet, the only sound the faint rustle of wind through the treetops overhead.
"...What are you planning?" Yukari asked, betraying nothing on the surface — composed, unbothered, every inch the picture of seasoned poise.
But Ryū could tell, from the very question itself, that this particular youkai sage — who'd never once actually dated anyone before him — was more than a little flustered underneath it all.
"Whatever couples usually get up to, obviously. There's not a soul left in the whole village — just the two of us. The Ancient One and Kaguya have both headed home. So, what do you think we should do with ourselves?"
A teasing edge crept into Ryū's expression. Riling this youkai sage up every once in a while was, admittedly, one of life's small pleasures.
Though honestly, he could never quite tell whether her flustered act was genuine or entirely put on. Either way, he decided to just take it at face value — he wasn't in the mood to overthink it.
Yukari's lashes fluttered, and the words slipped out almost against her will. "...I — I have relatives visiting today, actually."
Ryū's expression twisted slightly. "Relatives? You're sure you still have any of those left to visit?"
"..."
He didn't dawdle over her flimsy excuse. He simply leaned in, unhurried, and closed the distance.
A few minutes passed, second by second.
Standing alone at the deserted village gate, Ryū could still feel the lingering warmth against his lips.
He glanced down at his own right hand, flexing it open and shut once, testing the motion.
Then he gave a thoughtful nod and murmured to himself, "In terms of size, I suppose only Tohru could really give her a run for her money."
Yes — he'd just gone and done something rather bold. Unfortunately, it lasted all of half a minute before a certain youkai sage delivered a swift kick to send him packing.
And then, in the blink of an eye, she was simply gone — presumably back in Gensokyo by now.
He'd genuinely thought he might have broken through her last line of defense that time, given how far she'd let things go. But weighing the deeper implications, Ryū forced himself to stamp out that particular train of thought — mostly out of a strong instinct that pursuing it any further might not let him survive the day.
He rubbed his aching leg, wincing slightly — that kick of Yukari's hadn't been gentle in the slightest.
Turning to look behind him, he found a long gouge torn clean through the ground where the shockwave had landed, plenty of proof of exactly how much force had gone into that kick.
Good thing Ryū trained in hand-to-hand combat and had the physical constitution to match — all he felt was a mild ache. Anyone with a slightly weaker build would probably have had a leg pulverized into paste.
Honestly, picturing that outcome painted quite the vivid mental image.
Wiping a lingering trace of fragrance from the corner of his mouth, Ryū let out a rueful chuckle and wandered off toward the village at an easy pace.
Right now, Konoha genuinely held just the one person — him. Minato and the rest presumably had no idea yet that the crater formerly known as Konoha had already been restored to normal.
They might have caught sight of that blinding green flash from a distance, but reaching the village itself would take them some time yet — even Minato, fast as he was, would need a while to make it back and see what had actually happened.
The streets of Konoha lay utterly silent, not a hint of noise anywhere. The blanket of snow on the ground had been restored right along with everything else, courtesy of the Ancient One.
Honestly, with barely any cold in the air to speak of, if it weren't for the snow underfoot, Ryū might not even have registered that it was already mid-winter.
The village was so quiet now it practically felt like a ghost town — an unmistakably eerie atmosphere hanging over everything.
Good thing it was broad daylight. If this had been nighttime instead, an ordinary person would probably have been shaking in their boots.
It was quiet enough that Ryū could hear his own footsteps clearly with every step, even walking as slowly and lightly as he was.
"Well... peaceful day, all things considered. Shame there's no one around, though — guess I'm cooking for myself. Might as well; good excuse to practice my knife work."
He recalled there was still a fair amount of beef sitting in his fridge back home — untouched for what must have been over two weeks now, shoved to the back and forgotten.
Hm. Frozen for two-plus weeks... should still be fine to eat, probably.
Then again, with his constitution, he could drink concentrated sulfuric acid or swallow arsenic and walk away fine. A little freezer-burned beef was hardly worth worrying about.
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