Chapter 9 C9

Itachi Uchiha, who also witnessed that scene, finally felt relieved and focused on taijutsu sparring with Shisui. After all, Kana refused direct physical confrontation, focusing all her efforts on mastering genjutsu and ninjutsu, as well as practicing her dodging speed—a Hyuga, a Hyuga known throughout the ninja world for her Bagua taijutsu, was unwilling to engage in close combat.

Uchiha Itachi: I have a lot to say, but I won't say it.

After he and Shisui finished their afternoon training and went to their room to change their sweaty clothes, when they came out again, they saw the wide-open Japanese-style door outlining a square picture frame. The gentle breeze and the setting sun cast shadows of two figures, one large and one small, creating a very harmonious and warm scene—if one ignored the strange sound.

Itachi slowly approached and found Kana squatting on the wooden floor of the corridor, taking out the flute that was originally hanging at her waist. A knot made of red rope was still hanging from the end of the flute, with thin red tassels hanging down.

She held up her flute, using the swaying tassels to attract Sasuke's attention. Just as Sasuke was about to touch it, she quickly pulled it away and swayed it in a different direction. Sasuke wasn't angry at all and happily raised his little head to grab it. Kana would also make teasing "sizzle sizzle sizzle" sounds from time to time.

This scene feels so familiar. Why does it seem like I've seen it before?

Itachi's expression gradually turned serious. So... he was just teasing the puppy, wasn't he?!

A person with a severe brother complex: My fists are hardened.

Itachi's intention in slapping her was simply to stop her from doing something wrong, but Kana was already squatting on the edge of the corridor, recklessly shaking herself, and had no defenses against him.

Kana, a complete taijutsu failure, still couldn't believe her eyes when she pulled her face off the ground: "Uchiha Itachi hit me?"

He hit me.

He actually hit me!

Uchiha Shisui's speed was entirely worthy of his later title, "Shisui of the Body Flicker".

He, who was a step behind leaving the room, quickly finished his analysis upon seeing this, grabbed something and forcefully covered Kana's still somewhat dazed head, asking softly, "Does it hurt?"

ha?

Kana was confused.

Then, shifting my gaze to the ground, I noticed a sharp pebble, stained with blood, where I had just fallen.

Everything went black. The pain returned belatedly and began to attack her fragile brain nerves relentlessly.

Kana, who suffers from pain sensitivity, looked at Uchiha Itachi, who was also anxiously rushing over and squatting down in front of her to ask what was wrong. She narrowed her eyes, and due to a conditioned reflex, her vision began to blur uncontrollably: "Uchiha Itachi, I'm going to cry."

Kana usually keeps her word. After she announced "I'm going to cry" with a blank expression, tears started falling like beads from a broken string. Shisui panicked and reached out to catch them, but it wasn't right to give her a tissue to wipe them.

Sasuke, terrified by the blood on her forehead, cried even louder than she did. Kana, sobbing, didn't forget to lecture him: "I didn't want to cry... It's just a physiological reaction, don't be a... crybaby, waaaaah..."

Then, while crying, she even comforted Shisui, who wanted to carry her to the hospital to find a doctor: "It's okay, I've already endured the pain... I'll bear it for now... If I bear it, I won't cry anymore..."

Although this body is no longer the one with highly developed pain receptors from her previous life, just like many people experience hallucinatory pain for at least a few months after amputation, this kind of psychological inertia of pain will still remain.

So when the garbage system inexplicably dragged her into this time-travel world, she was not only unhappy, but she also had to retaliate by occasionally slacking off and messing with the system's mentality. Compared to this lousy mission, she would rather have a bowl of Meng Po soup to wipe away her memories and return to the world cleanly.

The system that was targeted: timid and hesitant, not daring to utter a sound.

By the time she finally recovered, the setting sun had already cast a very long shadow of the banyan tree on the ground in the yard.

Kana hadn't cried in a long time, and this sudden outburst left her head feeling a little dizzy.

Her forehead was wrapped in several white bandages with Zhishui, and her eyes were still red. After she recovered, she was finally able to explain to them fluently what "pain hypersensitivity" meant.

"...Simply put, for the same level of injury, I will feel one or even many times more pain than others..."

However, because she has a different body, she no longer feels the intense pain of many of the injuries she experienced in her previous life. But if she sees bleeding or a seemingly serious external injury, the pain psychological mechanism from her memories will be activated again. In fact, it is now closer to a stress response, so she only had the attack after she realized that she was bleeding.

However, it's complicated to explain, so I'll just shorten it to: "Now I only have this reaction when I see blood."

I'm truly sorry. He once arrogantly judged her as lacking certain elements to become a good ninja, but in reality, she had been enduring it all behind the scenes, working incredibly hard.

Shisui pondered for a moment, then asked very seriously, "If you weren't a ninja, what would Kana want to do?"

“This is not a choice I could make,” Kanai paused. “Although they left me with enough savings to barely survive to adulthood, I can’t just sit around and do nothing.”

"Moreover, 'value' is very important in the Hyuga clan."

Women who lack the value of ninjas will suffer even worse consequences; even if they have several children, people will still point fingers at them.

"Don't look at me like that, hey!" Kana emphasized. "I'm not pitiful, I'll get better sooner or later." Shisui had already reached his limit in terms of pity for her; any more would affect his guidance.

And Uchiha Shisui, please have some self-awareness about your face. With such a gentle and tender gaze, do you want to be a heartbreaker at such a young age?

Itachi Uchiha remained silent for a long time.

After Kana calmed down, she realized that she had done something wrong. She was usually quite tolerant of her partner, so she offered a way out, saying, "I won't do it again." She wouldn't treat Sasuke like a puppy anymore. She had heard that the cat faction and the dog faction were sworn enemies, and she hadn't thought things through. She would definitely be more careful next time.

—Actually, none of the above would have happened if I hadn't been allowed to bring him.

Itachi's hand rested lightly on her head, his thumb gently stroking her forehead through the bandage. "Does this hurt?"

If you don't pay close attention, you'll hardly feel anything.

"It doesn't hurt."

The banyan trees rustled in the wind, and the light was driven to the corners of the world by the night. The last patch of orange-red light flowed gently down from the distant mountains and slowly into the small courtyard. Uchiha Itachi was bathed in the misty afterglow. When his eyes were focused intently on someone, it reminded Kana of a night sky where only the North Star was shining. Kana knew that this was Uchiha Itachi in a serious state.

Itachi Uchiha was very serious when he set his mind on something or decided to do something, which was perhaps what made him stand out from others.

But this time his seriousness seemed to exceed her expectations.

Kana waited quietly and patiently for what he wanted to tell her.

That was a sentence she later desperately wanted, and later utterly loathed.

--"sorry."