You won't have any missions for a while, so you're free to do as you please. However, it's best not to relax too much; maintain a state of readiness."
"Yes, sir!"
After the three of them—Shiraishi, Ruri, and another person—had lunch, Sakumo found them and gave them a brief instruction before they each went their separate ways.
Shiraishi naturally returned to the mansion in the Uchiha clan's territory with Ruri.
Having not returned to the village for several months, Shiraishi felt as if much had changed, yet nothing had changed, as he walked down the street.
"How do you plan to spend the next few days, Ruri?"
The break wouldn't be too short, but it wouldn't be too long either. He estimated that a new difficult mission would arrive in about half a month.
"Training."
Ruri's answer was concise.
"That's just like you. I've had some new ideas lately, and after these past few months of missions, I think I can create some practical tools to aid in combat."
"How so?"
Ruri seemed quite interested in this.
"Smoke bombs are good, but they're easily countered by Wind Release ninjutsu, and their duration isn't very long. They can be used for surprise attacks... but what if we add some poison gas to the smoke bombs? Then, even if Wind Release disperses the smoke, the enemy would have already inhaled a good amount of poison gas, significantly reducing their combat effectiveness."
Shiraishi voiced his idea, believing it to be feasible.
"Ninja generally have some degree of poison resistance, especially Sand Village ninja. If the poison isn't strong enough, it won't have much effect on them."
"No matter how good their poison resistance, there's a limit. However, if we're going to fight with poison gas, we'll need to prepare antidotes beforehand for our own people to take, to avoid accidental harm."
"It's suitable for small-scale operations; in large-scale battles, the effect might backfire."
Shiraishi nodded in agreement with Ruri's incisive observation.
In large-scale battles, the quantity of antidotes would be an issue, and poison gas is used in conjunction with smoke bombs. Even if they endure the poison gas with an antidote, their vision would be obstructed by the smoke for a short period.
However, Shiraishi hadn't intended to widely promote this tactic; it would suffice to implement it within Sakumo's squad.
After such a long time, Shiraishi had long understood that their squad primarily carried out dangerous and important confidential missions, and developing distinctive tactics suitable for Sakumo's squad was extremely necessary.
Returning to the long-unseen mansion, as they approached, they suddenly saw a man and a woman standing at the entrance, covered in fallen leaves, waving at them.
No, to be precise, they were waving at Ruri, looking very happy and excited.
"Do you know them?"
Shiraishi hadn't seen this man and woman in the Uchiha clan for the past two or three years, so he turned to Ruri.
"My parents."
Ruri answered calmly.
"!?"
Shiraishi was a little less calm.
This was the first time he had met Ruri's parents; he had only heard about them from Ruri before. This was their first actual meeting.
But come to think of it, ever since Shiraishi had temporarily stayed at Ruri's house, he had never seen Ruri's parents return home.
Even during the New Year, they only sent each other photos and letters, and Ruri's annual birthday and New Year's gifts were always very simple: a passbook.
The passbook started with a '1', followed by many, many zeros.
These were Ruri's annual birthday and New Year's gifts, simple yet uninteresting.
"Long time no see, little Ruri. Did you miss Mom and Dad?"
The woman was wearing a luxurious and noble dress, and her hair was neatly tied up, adorned with many ornaments.
She looked a bit too flamboyant and gaudy, but it didn't give off a vulgar vibe.
How to describe it? It was as if she naturally possessed such an aura.
She immediately pulled Ruri into a hug, rubbing her face against Ruri's, causing Ruri's small face to wrinkle. Shiraishi was afraid Ruri would spit a fireball at that moment and incinerate her mother.
"You're so noisy. I've told you many times, don't get your saliva on my face."
Ruri's face was taut, as if she was seriously scolding her mother.
"Don't say that, Ruri. Mom hasn't seen you in so long. Just like when you were little, let Mom properly dote on her cute little..."
Boom!
Shiraishi covered his forehead from behind.
He knew this would happen.
A wall of the adjacent mansion was blasted through by a fireball, emitting black smoke.
Ruri's mother's face was now covered in cold sweat, her neck mechanically creaking as if rusty, and the smile on her face became extremely forced and stiff.
"Oh dear, little Ruri isn't as well-behaved as she used to be. She used to be so..."
"Do you want me to throw you out? Or burn you? Getting drowned is also an option to consider."
Ruri's eyebrow twitched, as if her patience had reached its limit.
The woman in the luxurious dress sighed, giving up the idea of continuing to hold and torment Ruri in her arms.
Such a cute daughter, yet she couldn't be treated this way or that way. She should have known to have a boy to play with back then.
Her daughter was not obedient at all.
"Darling, how about we have another one? Little Ruri has grown up and doesn't want Mom and Dad anymore."
"It's clearly your fault, isn't it? You also know Ruri has grown up."
The man who had been watching the harmonious mother-daughter scene from the side seemed troubled as he scratched his head.
His daughter had been strong-willed since childhood, and she was the undisputed ruler of the house. As her father, he had long grown accustomed to such things.
"Oh, you must be the little Shiraishi that Ruri often mentions in her letters, right?"
The elegant woman finally noticed Shiraishi.
"Ah, yes, yes, that's right. Please take care of me."
Finally noticed, Shiraishi quickly stepped forward and bowed politely in greeting.
"No need to be nervous. It's rare for little Ruri to find such a good playmate. When she was little, little Ruri often chased and beat up a large group of boys by herself."
Hearing the elegant woman say this, Shiraishi's mind already conjured up such a scene.
If it was Ruri, it might indeed be possible.
"By the way, when are you two planning to get married? When you do, you must have a boy, because I suddenly feel that boys are a bit more fun than girls."
The elegant woman asked with a smile.
"..."
The topic jumped quite a bit, causing Shiraishi's mind to crash directly into a muddle.
A tic mark popped up on Ruri's forehead, and she began to form hand signs.
Boom!
◎
Ruri's mother was named Uchiha Miyoko, twenty-eight years old, in the prime of her life, fond of luxury goods, and liked to wear beautiful and extravagant clothes, like a princess.
Ruri's father was named Uchiha Sōsuke, thirty-six years old, a mature-looking uncle who wore a proper suit and seemed much more serious than his wife, Miyoko. He also appeared to be quite honest.
However, considering that Ruri was already twelve years old this year, and her mother Miyoko was only twenty-eight, in other words, when Miyoko became pregnant with Ruri... she was only fifteen, underage.
Shiraishi looked at Uchiha Sōsuke's seemingly honest face and didn't think Sōsuke was honest at all.
Because neither of them had the talent to be ninja, they were still only Chunin-level by now... According to Ruri's standards, being Chunin-level in their twenties or thirties probably meant they truly lacked the talent to be ninja.
Over the years, the couple had been working hard outside, leveraging some of the connections accumulated by the Uchiha clan. In their words, business was