The atmosphere hung somewhat awkwardly.
In the hospital room, Ryōto and Rin stared at each other in silence, not uttering a single word. Every time Ryōto tried to say something, Rin would shyly lower her head, fidgeting with her fingers and curling her toes as she sat off to the side.
"My mother definitely filled your head with strange ideas!" Ryōto finally burst out.
"M-mm," Rin mumbled softly, blushing and refusing to meet his gaze. "Not at all."
She was acting like a young bride.
This is bad, Ryōto thought. This girl has really latched onto me.
"So, what are you doing here in the middle of summer vacation instead of training properly? Are you really not afraid you won't live to see twenty?!"
"I wanted to make sure you'd be okay..." Rin said, her voice tinged with hurt.
The hair on the back of Ryōto's neck stood on end. He now understood why Obito had suffered such a crushing defeat. Who could possibly resist such tenderness?
I can! Who in their right mind would fall for a five-year-old girl? That's just pure perversion!
At that moment, the door to the room was flung open, and a muscular, handsome, silver-haired middle-aged man with a grim face entered, dressed in work clothes like a carpenter. He immediately fixed his glare on Ryōto. Beside him, a pretty nurse was doing her best to hold him back; she looked at Ryōto and gave him a gentle, yet somewhat strange, smile.
Rin shot up in a panic and exclaimed, "Dad, Mom..."
Ryōto looked at the man, and his eyelid twitched. The man was furious. His gaze was murderous. After drilling holes into Ryōto with his eyes for several seconds, the man took a deep breath, grabbed Rin's wrist, and said in a low voice, "Rin! We're going home!"
"Dad!" Rin cried out.
The handsome man with the dark face cut her off, "Not coming home for the night! This is unacceptable! If this happens again, you can forget about calling me your father!" And with that, he began to drag Rin away.
Rin turned back, looking imploringly at her mother. "Mom! Say something to Dad!"
Rin's mother waved with a smile and said, "Don't worry, I'll help you take care of Ryōto-kun. Be a good girl and listen to your father."
Rin kept glancing back at Ryōto, but he had turned away.
"Dad! Gentler! You're hurting me!" Rin cried.
Once the father and daughter had left, Rin's mother looked at Ryōto and said, "A pleasure to meet you, Ryōto-kun. I'm your mother."
Ryōto's eyes widened as he stared at the woman.
"You can call me Mama Natsuno."
With those words, under the boy's stunned gaze, Rin's mother reached out, squeezed his cheeks, and her expression instantly transformed. Her gaze turning sharp, she pierced him with her eyes and said, "Don't you dare hurt my daughter, understand? Do you understand me, Ryōto-kun? I know where you live."
Such intense pressure!
Covered in a cold sweat, Ryōto nodded.
"Kawaii~"
Natsuno's face changed again, and she bestowed upon him a gentle, sweet smile.
"You're just so cute, absolutely adorable," she said, continuing to pinch his cheeks. There was a certain personal relish in her movements.
His cheeks were starting to ache, and Ryōto decided it was best to keep quiet.
"If you need anything, just call me, I'll handle it. For now, you just rest well and get better soon."
Having said her piece, Rin's mother left.
It's over... It's all over!
Ryōto stared at the ceiling with an expression of utter despair. The parents on both sides had approved of this marriage! It was a done deal!
Soon, the door opened again. With the lifeless eyes of a dead fish, Ryōto looked over. This time, it was the White Fang. Placing the fruit he had brought on the nightstand, he raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"What's with that expression? You're acting just like Kakashi. But Kakashi has small eyes, and yours are so big—it's not good if they don't have a spark in them."
Hearing this, Kakashi, who was standing behind the White Fang, pursed his lips under his mask.
"Brother, I'm fine," Ryōto said.
"Call me teacher!" The White Fang lightly smacked Ryōto on the head.
"Brother, when did you get married?"
"Huh?" The White Fang scratched his head; he had already forgotten. "Let's not talk about that. The important thing is, I see you're alright, and that puts my mind at ease."
"Do you think there are any benefits to being married?" Ryōto pressed on.
"Hmm..." The White Fang was caught off guard and seriously pondered the pros.
"None, right?"
"Why would you say none?" the White Fang unconsciously retorted.
"Well, name one."
The White Fang couldn't answer, opening and closing his mouth several times.
"When you live alone, you can do whatever you want. Isn't that great?" Ryōto said. "But if a woman comes along, she'll constantly be buzzing in your ear like a fly: you can't do this, you can't do that."
"Exactly!" the White Fang nodded and clapped Ryōto on the shoulder.
Kakashi listened intently.
"Don't be fooled if she's an absolute angel before the wedding. No one knows what she'll turn into after."
"Right!" the White Fang nodded again. "Don't remind me of women, they give me a headache."
Ryōto looked at the White Fang and smiled. "Did you get the gift, brother?"
"Thank you! I'll be drinking that until the end of time!" the White Fang chuckled. "A whole cartload!"
A whole handcart.
"If you can't finish it, I'll help."
"You little rascal!" the White Fang laughed. "Once you're better, you and I will have a proper drink. Just make sure Inuzuka Rin doesn't find out."
"Don't worry, I'm tough as nails. I won't sell you out."
The White Fang reached out and ruffled Ryōto's hair.
"I'll be waiting, then. Once you're discharged, we'll have a good long session."
After chatting for a bit, the White Fang left. Kakashi stayed behind—an order from his father. After a long silence, Kakashi said, "Ryōto, when you recover, let's fight."
"I'm on familiar terms with your father, so you should call me uncle," Ryōto replied.
Kakashi shot up abruptly, glared at Ryōto, then turned away, opened the window, and jumped out.
What an impatient boy.
Soon, Ryōto had new visitors. To his surprise, it was Sato Takeru. The teacher, with a smile on his face, placed Ryōto's school backpack by the bed.
"Even on vacation, don't forget to read, Ryōto."
"Yeees~"
After Takeru left, a whole pack of dogs swarmed into the room. A little-known fact: dogs were not usually allowed in Konoha Hospital. Here were Smarty, Zato, Kage, as well as Tamago, Kenshin, and Kurogane.
Among them, Zato was the eldest, followed by Kage. Both looked like adult women. Kage, dressed in the uniform of the ninja hound rehabilitation class, with golden hair and long legs, sat by Ryōto's bed with a gentle expression.
Zato, wearing a straw hat, stood by the window with her arms crossed. She had yellow hair tied back in a ponytail, a ninja sword at her waist, and was dressed in the standard Konoha shinobi uniform. Only half of her face was visible from under the hat, giving her the appearance of a silent and mysterious warrior. By order of Inuzuka Rin, she was listed as an active Konoha ninja, but since she didn't go on missions, she could be considered a non-existent shinobi.
Tamago, looking like a brazen teenage girl with short golden hair, sat on the adjacent empty bed. Her face wore an expression of defiance, and her gaze, full of wildness, was extremely aggressive. She looked about fourteen. She was provocatively dressed in a tank top and short shorts, with an Inuzuka clan haori thrown over them.
Kenshin looked like a bald young man with rough features and a fierce appearance that warned others to keep their distance. However, a certain simplicity could be read in his eyes. His entire body was covered in black patterns resembling tattoos, making him look like a fighter from a yakuza gang. He wore a short jacket and long pants, showing off a muscular body. Ryōto had initially nicknamed him "Blockhead" because if Tamago gave an order, he would jump into a pit without a second thought. Because of this, he had a brave but reckless character.
And Kurogane, at first glance, was an ordinary, calm, black-haired young man in an Inuzuka clan haori. His slender build was deceptive, and a smile always played on his face. In Ryōto's homeland, the black leopard was called a black panther. This guy's black fur shimmered with faint yellow spots under the sunlight. This was a leopard's adaptation to dark environments, so he excelled at ambushes, stealth, and assassination. Of the three siblings, he was the most authentic ninja: he never engaged in frontal attacks, was cunning, and loved to strike from the shadows like a hyena. He had become this way as a result of constant suppression from Tamago. Whether human or dog, his blood relation to his older sister weighed on him to the bone. Both brothers stood obediently on either side of Tamago.
The Inuzuka Clan has always relied less on themselves and more on their ninja hounds.
Smarty, a little girl with long silver hair who bore a slight resemblance to Ryōto, ran excitedly around the room. She was the youngest.
Their appearance here meant that under Inuzuka Rin's guidance, they had completely mastered the Human Beast Mimicry technique. And that, in turn, meant that in human form, they could learn numerous ninjutsu techniques and use them independently, no different from humans.
But Masao hadn't come because... Could it be that he still can't fully master the Human Beast Mimicry technique? He can't even transform properly, how clumsy he is. Though, it's partly due to his tough hide, which is hard to control, Ryōto sighed.
"Young master..." Kage, having peeled and sliced an apple, speared a piece on a fork and brought it to Ryōto's mouth.
Seeing this, Tamago snorted in displeasure. She had known Ryōto since his birth. When he was just an infant in his cradle, it was she! She had lain beside him for hours, rocking him! She had long known that sooner or later she would become Ryōto's dog. She could tolerate her younger sister, but another dog had beaten her to it.
Her golden, beastly pupils flashed, and Tamago said, "Brother, I want to be your dog!"
The brothers standing beside her nodded, looking at Ryōto. Us too.
Ryōto flinched, and the apple fell from his mouth. They had learned to speak, but not perfectly.
"Why are you suddenly saying that..." Ryōto asked.
"Don't be afraid. If you can't get out of bed later, I'll protect you," Tamago said, tilting her chin up as if expecting gratitude. Her yellow hair, resembling fluffy ears, twitched on her head. She loved her ears and tail, but Inuzuka Rin wouldn't let her show them.
Is she cursing me?
"Shut up," Ryōto waved his hand weakly. "Ōsetsu."
Tamago was born on a day when cherry blossoms bloomed and snow fell. The name was beautiful and feminine, but the dog herself did not match it.
Tamago curled her lip, jumped off the bed, lay down by Ryōto's bedside, and, bowing her head, said, "Saddle me up, I'll take you for a walk!"
"Get off me!!!" Ryōto planted his foot on Tamago's face and screamed in desperation. "Learn to speak properly first before you suggest something like that!"
Who in their right mind would ride a girl down the street in broad daylight?!
Kage speared another piece of apple and brought it to Ryōto's mouth, murmuring gently, "Young master..."
Tamago didn't back down and, pressing her face against Ryōto's leg, said in a muffled voice, "You used to like it a lot."
"The past is the past! Now is now!"
"Woof-woof-woof!" Smarty suddenly jumped onto the bed, making it shake. "Sister, I want a ride!"
"Quiet, you!" Tamago snapped at her.
They fussed noisily around Ryōto. The buzzing and barking didn't stop for a second. Lying on the hospital bed, Ryōto stared lifelessly at the ceiling.
Mom, come quick, I miss you. They're so noisy!
Zato, as befitting a reliable former ninja hound, vigilantly watched the window and the surroundings, guarding her master with a wary and cold demeanor.
The seven ninja hounds constituted Ryōto's entire combat strength. The adult forms of Smarty, Tamago, Kenshin, and Kurogane were giant wolfhounds, looking more like wolves in appearance. In the Inuzuka clan, they were called "ancient and mighty ninja hounds." They grew slowly, but in terms of size, they were the largest among all ninja hounds.
As Ryōto trained and grew, they grew with him. Therefore, his rate of development was seven times faster than that of an ordinary ninja. Even if he was temporarily unable to train, Ryōto wasn't worried about his growth. This pack of ninja hounds was his greatest trump card. They say a dog is as strong as its master, but Ryōto might very well be strong because of his dogs.