"I'm Hoshimi Ren, and you are?"
Ren looked at Nara Choumei in front of him, utterly bewildered. He didn't seem to know this person, yet this person knew him. Was his reputation really that widespread?
"It really is you."
Nara Choumei's hand moved away from his Ninja tool pouch, and he quickly walked closer to the two of them before speaking.
"Hello, I am Nara Choumei. I used to be a combat strategist. My superior was…"
At this point, Nara Choumei looked at Ren with a complex gaze.
"Hoshimi Miaten!"
"Hmm?"
A sharp glint flashed in Kosuke's eyes. Hoshimi Miaten? He seemed to be the deputy head of border defence who sacrificed himself two years ago. This child's name is Hoshimi Ren… So that's how it is…
"So you were a colleague of my father. Hello, Choumei Uncle."
Ren was stunned at first upon hearing this, but quickly recovered and bowed respectfully.
Goodness, in his memories, he only knew that his father was often away, and his mother, who worked at Konoha Hospital, also left early and returned late every day. Occasionally, his father would return for a couple of days before rushing off again. So, Ren only knew that his father was a Jonin, but he didn't know which department he worked in. Hearing Nara Choumei say this, Ren instantly felt that his father's identity was not ordinary.
His subordinate was a combat strategist, so it seemed his father should be in the border defence department, and a high-ranking official at that.
"Just as Miaten Senior said, you are indeed very polite."
Nara Choumei reached out and patted Ren's shoulder, then turned his gaze to Kosuke.
"And this is?"
"This is the Ninjutsu instructor Hokage-sama found for me. Earlier, we saw how quiet it was here, so we trained for a bit. I didn't expect to disturb Choumei Uncle."
Before Kosuke could speak, Ren explained.
"So that's how it is."
Hearing that it was someone appointed by the Hokage, Nara Choumei felt relieved. He looked at Ren, opened his mouth, and seemed to hesitate to speak.
"Kosuke Senior, I might have something to deal with today. What do you think, can we continue tomorrow?"
Kosuke looked at the two, pondered for a moment, then nodded.
"Yes, we'll meet at the Ninja School entrance tomorrow morning. Don't be late."
"Understood, thank you, Kosuke Senior."
After Ren responded, he looked up and saw that Kosuke had already left using Instantaneous Body Technique.
Nara Choumei breathed a sigh of relief as Kosuke left, then turned and walked back the way he came.
"Follow me."
"Yes."
Ren responded while following behind Nara Choumei. The two returned the way they came, and in a short while, they walked out of the forest. Nara Choumei stopped and turned to look at Ren.
"This is…"
Ren looked at the scene before him, a little surprised.
Before him was a large expanse of green grass, with herds of deer everywhere. Looking towards the centre, there was also a lake, and a small wooden house stood quietly by the lakeside.
"Come in."
Ren snapped out of his daze. Unbeknownst to him, Nara Choumei had already walked to the front of the wooden house and was waving towards him.
"Excuse my intrusion."
Ren hurried over, and after entering the house, he closed the door behind him.
The interior of the house was very simple: just a bed, a table, two stools, and a cooking counter.
"Don't be shy, have a seat."
Ren took the stool Nara Choumei handed him. As soon as they sat down, Nara Choumei spoke.
"You're so alike…"
Ren paused, then realised he was talking about him.
"You and your father are very similar, both very polite to people."
"Is that so…"
Ren lowered his head and pursed his lips, then looked up at Nara Choumei.
"My father, what was he like at work?"
"Miaten Senior, he was a very gentle man…"
Nara Choumei looked up at the ceiling, his eyes filled with reminiscence.
"When I was first assigned to the department, it was Miaten Senior who was responsible for training me. Back then, I was still a rookie and messed up a lot of things. Many people ridiculed me, saying I was disgracing the Nara clan. But Senior didn't disdain me; instead, he offered help whenever I encountered difficulties. With Senior's one-sided support, I was able to stand on my own. Day after day, year after year, five years passed. I became a combat strategist, and Senior became my superior, who was the previous deputy head of the border defence department."
At this point, Nara Choumei paused, looking at Ren as he spoke.
"Your father always carried your photo with him. The last time he showed me was two years ago, when you were five years old. I didn't expect two years to pass in the blink of an eye."
For a moment, Nara Choumei also felt a sense of melancholy.
"Is that so…"
Ren fell into deep thought. No wonder Hiruzen Sarutobi agreed to his request to learn Water Release. It seemed his parents' identities were not simple. One was a director at Konoha Hospital, and the other was a deputy head of the Konoha border defence department. If they hadn't sacrificed themselves, he wouldn't have to be so tired every day now…
He gave a bitter smile, collected his thoughts, and looked at Nara Choumei again.
"Choumei Uncle, you didn't just call me here to reminisce, did you?"
"That's right."
Nara Choumei's expression became serious.
"After my two years of covert investigation in the border defence department, I discovered that Miaten Senior's death was suspicious."
"You mean… there's more to this matter?"
Ren wasn't foolish; he immediately understood Nara Choumei's implied meaning.
"Exactly. At that time, Senior and I received a very important mission: to meet with a spy hidden in the Hidden Stone Village. Because this intelligence was extremely important, the higher-ups decided to send Miaten Senior to personally lead the team to retrieve it.
Everything went smoothly before we obtained the intelligence. When Miaten Senior was leading us back, we were suddenly ambushed by a group of unknown Ninja. They were well-trained and coordinated. A small squad went, but in the end, only I escaped, carrying the dying Miaten Senior and the intelligence. After rescue efforts, Miaten Senior still passed away…"
At this point, tears welled up in Nara Choumei's eyes. After stabilising his emotions slightly, he continued to speak.
"At the time, all of this could only be attributed to an accident. Ninjas, by nature, live a life on the edge of death. After experiencing so much, one becomes numb. But what I didn't expect was that while I was transporting the intelligence and Miaten Senior's body back to the village, another group of unknown Ninja attacked us.
However, fortunately, I encountered White Fang-sama, who was returning to the village after completing a mission. We successfully annihilated all the enemies, but later, I inadvertently discovered that these mysterious Ninjas were from the same group that attacked us when we completed our mission! Both groups had a strange black curse mark on their tongues. After White Fang-sama escorted us back to the village, Miaten Senior's body was finally laid to rest. During the few days I spent recuperating in the village, I perused a large number of Nara clan books and finally found information about this curse mark in one of them."
Nara Choumei paused, then slowly uttered a few words.
"Tongue, Calamity, Root, Zetsu."