Naruto: I Roamed the Ninja World as a Woman

Chapter 154 Ayane Amamiya's Little Group

Day four after departing from Konoha Village.

The four members of Amegakure, weary from their journey, finally returned to Amegakure Village.

Almost exactly as it had been when I left, the towering black steel tower stood majestically, with endless thick, lead-gray clouds overhead, occasionally punctuated by pale flashes of lightning that tore through the clouds, illuminating the sky and earth.

I have witnessed the boundless yellow sands of the Land of Wind and admired the ancient, verdant trees of the Land of Fire.

Now, returning to this familiar environment, Ayane Amamiya felt a strange, unfamiliar sensation stirring within her.

Although Amegakure is not as bustling and lively as Konoha, and not as majestic and imposing as Sunagakure.

But what one sees is a sense of peace that can be found inexplicably in this somber color scheme.

No matter how good things are outside, nothing beats home.

"Thank you all for your hard work traveling for so many days."

After returning to Amegakure, Hanzo of the Salamander did not issue any more missions, but instead gave the three of them a break: "Go back and rest for a few days. Come back to see me in three days."

"Yes!" ×3!

He waved his hand.

The three guards bowed and took their leave, exiting Hanzo's office.

Ayane Amamiya declined her best friend Ayuto's invitation to go shopping together, said goodbye to her two companions, and headed straight for her home.

A light drizzle began to fall again.

The raindrops pattered on the road, making a soft, pattering sound.

As she passed a clothing store, the girl made a point of stopping to carefully tidy her slightly disheveled sideburns and collar, using the blurry reflection in the shop window as a guide.

Yes, this feeling is probably the excitement a traveler feels when returning home.

Ayane Amamiya's residence is not far from the tall tower in the center of the village.

After she was promoted in the Dark Division, she was able to earn a living from the Duke of Rain's household, and her residence was moved from the rented apartment to a detached house.

With a creak.

The girl pushed open the wooden door to the courtyard.

Several plants in the yard, undeterred by the rain, had lush green leaves, glistening with dewdrops, swaying gently in the wind as if welcoming their owner home.

"Huh? Who planted this?"

That idiot Takenaka Risa, all she does is eat and play—she's probably the intelligent and kind-hearted Minami, isn't she?

She muttered to herself and pushed open the door to go inside.

The room was empty.

However, the furnishings inside were neat and tidy, without a speck of dust, indicating that someone regularly cleaned the place.

A note hanging in the entryway had a line of text written on it, signed with a smiley face.

Welcome home. There are freshly made dumplings in the kitchen; if they get cold, remember to reheat them before eating. —()

/「】

Huh?

How did they know when I would be back?

Ayane Amamiya was slightly surprised.

She flipped through the sticky notes again and discovered that six days ago, Minami and Takenaka Ri had started taking turns leaving her messages on them.

Moreover, the food they left behind each day was different.

From cod rice balls and mochi balls to sushi rolls, everything is something I like to eat.

"So, it was Nonou who told them the news?"

To avoid being discovered by Konoha, Yakushi Nonou did not return with her.

Instead, she arrived at Amegakure several days earlier than Ayane Amamiya, and was directly escorted back to Amegakure from underground by the Salamander Fish.

The girl changed into comfortable indoor shoes and headed straight for the kitchen.

Sure enough, there was an exquisite food box on the stove. Lifting the oil paper revealed several strings of round and cute tricolor dumplings, emitting a faint sweet aroma of glutinous rice.

Without a doubt, today's event was Xiao Nan's doing.

Ayane Amamiya felt a pang of emotion.

Even though Xiao Nan is four or five years younger than him, this way of doing things—

She's old enough to be your mother!

She picked up one of the meatballs and took a bite.

Although it had cooled down, the soft and chewy texture of the glutinous rice and the subtle sweetness of the red bean filling still melted in my mouth, creating a delightful taste.

Too lazy to heat it up, Ayane Amamiya simply ate them all.

After a quick wash.

The girl climbed directly onto the bed and hid her body in the fragrant quilt.

It's a pity that Yekura invited me to eat dumplings together when she was in Konoha, although we didn't end up going.

Once she returns to Sunagakure, she probably won't be able to enjoy such delicious food again.

With this thought in mind, the girl fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

I don't know how much time passed.

A soft rustling sound reached her ears, instantly waking Ayane Amamiya from her sleep.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Takenaka Risa, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, sitting cross-legged beside him, playing with a kitten that was only a few months old.

The human and the cat stared at each other, meowing at each other with great seriousness.

They spoke back and forth, as if engaging in a friendly conversation across species, though it was unclear whether the other could truly understand them.

"Where did this kitten come from?" Ayane Amamiya rubbed her eyes, her tone languid.

"You're awake?"

Hearing the noise, Takenaka Rin turned around and chuckled, "They're the kittens from that stray cat near the Anbu. Woodpecker and I each brought one back. What do you think? Cute, right?"

Ayane Amamiya nodded and stroked the cat's orange ears: "Judging by this color, I reckon it'll eat even more than you in the future."

"Don't say things like that!"

Takenaka Rin lowered her eyebrows and pouted, "I've been trying to lose weight ever since you left."

Ayane Amamiya laughed upon hearing this.

If there is anything in the world that can make a young girl yearn for it day and night, and have it on her mind forever—

That's probably just anxiety about body image and the thought of your crush turning around and looking back, right?

Although she hadn't experienced either of these things—

Pinch Takenaka Ri's round little face, Amamiya Ayane climbed out of bed: "Don't lose any more weight, or it won't feel good to the touch."

She comforted him, saying, "Even if you turn from a pear in bamboo into a watermelon in bamboo, I won't mind."

"Waaaaah, Ayane, you're so kind!"

Risa Takenaka was deeply moved, and then said with beaming eyes, "Since you've said so, I'll take a day off to recharge, and come have a big meal with you tonight!"

Ayane Amamiya: "————"

The girl stretched and politely declined, saying, "Forget it, I'm so tired. Let me get some rest tonight."

To everyone's surprise, Takenaka Ri laughed and said, "I know you've worked hard, so today I'll let you enjoy the same treatment as a daimyo! You don't have to do anything, just wait and eat!"

Ayane Amamiya was taken aback.

Only then did she notice the faint sounds and voices coming from outside the closed door.

The voices of Nonou giving instructions, Konan's coquettish voice, Yahiko's mischievous voice, and Nagato's classic half-beat-slow response.

These deliberately hushed sounds, accompanied by the warm aroma of cooking, drifted into the room.

Ayane Amamiya was somewhat surprised.

It turns out that after returning home, I unknowingly relaxed to this extent?

Does it smell good?

Takenaka Rin swallowed hard, unable to contain herself: "Minister Goat knew you were coming back today, so he specially sent me a ham, saying it was to welcome you back."

really.

After becoming stronger, people flocked to him to offer their goodwill.

Before the Chunin Exams, although Goat valued himself highly, he never showed it so obviously.

Ayane Amamiya smiled and said, "I'd rather eat yours than ham or anything like that."

Takenaka Ri tilted her head: "What?"

The girl leaned close to her ear: "Big, white, pear!"

!!!

Zhu Zhongli's ears immediately turned bright red, and she stammered.

"I was talking about fruit! What are you thinking?"

Seeing this, Ayane Amamiya was a little confused and patted her forehead: "It's that pear you used to eat every day when we were on missions together!"

I still remember that even Jiraiya said it was delicious!

Takenaka Rin breathed a sigh of relief and muttered, "Cough cough, I thought you meant—"

"In the Land of Wind, there's a lot of sand."

"The Land of Fire has a larger population."

Sitting in the warm and cozy living room, Ayane Amamiya, facing many curious gazes, recounted her experiences along the way.

"That's all? That's it?" Yahiko was dumbfounded.

Ayane Amamiya nodded: "That's all."

After she finished eating, she stretched and leaned back.

She wanted to lean against the back of the sofa, but the energetic little orange cat was running around happily. To avoid crushing it, the girl simply let herself fall into the warm and soft embrace of the Pharmacist Nono beside her.

"It smells so good!" Ayane Amamiya snuggled into Nono's arms without any hesitation, feeling the heavy softness.

If Xiao Nan, with her gentle and kind heart, is the kind of person who could be my mother.

In terms of magnanimity, Yakushi Nonou definitely meets the standard!

"What about the Chunin Exams?"

Undeterred, Yahiko persisted, asking, "I heard from my classmates that Ayane-neechan, you're amazing! You beat those ninjas from the great ninja villages to a pulp! The teacher even said she'd include your exploits in next year's textbook!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Nan immediately lowered her head guiltily.

In fact, she also contributed to the high level of popularity of Ayane Amamiya within the Ninja Academy.

These past few days, Minami has been secretly making and selling Ayane Amamiya cardstock, and she's made quite a bit of money from it!

"It's not that exaggerated!"

Ayane Amamiya waved her hand dismissively: "Well, anyway, it's like this first, then that, and in the end we win."

""

Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter.

It's something that should be written about at length, so why does she talk about it so blandly?

"Oh right, about the Konoha orphanage—"

Amamiya Ayane remembered something else and quickly tugged at Nonou's sleeve: "Before I left Konoha, I heard that Tsunade had become the new director and was planning to move the entire orphanage into the Senju clan's territory, while also trying her best to treat the children who had been injected with Wood Release cells."

This was something that Mito Uzumaki, feeling guilty, specifically wrote about in her will before her death.

Originally, her chosen successor was Kushina Uzumaki, who was also "helpless in her own way".

After all, only those of the same kind will truly care about each other.

As a result, Kushina later chose to defect.

As the only surviving direct descendant of the Mito family, Tsunade naturally wouldn't refuse this last wish from her grandmother.

"I see—"

Upon hearing this, Yakushi Nonou felt much relieved: "Lady Tsunade shouldn't have been held back by Danzo's funding like I was, right?"

Ayane Amamiya could hardly contain herself, thinking to herself, "————That's hard to say."

Even if Tsunade loses every bet, with the Senju family's wealth, they can still last for several decades.

At worst, she could go out and perform, or treat some difficult and complicated illnesses.

"I made a lot of money from Konoha this time."

Ayane Amamiya looked at everyone and said, "The matter of the Amegakure Orphanage that we discussed earlier can now begin construction."

When this topic was brought up, everyone's expressions became much more serious.

The three little ones, in particular, had the most serious expressions.

They had already heard about this from Nonou, and the reason why Minami was secretly making money was also for this reason.

"My idea is to build two sites first."

"One of them is in the village. I went to Lord Hanzo to apply for funding from the village to support its construction."

"The other place is a shrine in my hometown, which takes in orphans who are homeless, and I pay for it myself."

Ayane Amamiya calmly stated her plan: "It's best to finalize things in the village by the end of this year, without any further delays."

With the influx of food from the Land of Fire, the Land of Rain will experience a brief period of development.

She had to seize this opportunity and get this done as soon as possible, otherwise, once the flames of war broke out...

All crows are black.

The higher-ups at Rain Village aren't exactly living saints or great philanthropists!

"What about the venue?"

Yahiko offered his suggestions: "Manpower isn't a big problem. Once we learn Shadow Clone Technique, we can come and work part-time!"

"For venue and such, come to my place!"

Not to be outdone, Takenaka Risa raised her hand high: "I have so many empty houses, feel free to use them."

Xiao Nan hesitated, "Minister Zhuzhong won't have any objections, will he?"

Now even the three little ones know that Takenaka Ri's father is the logistics manager of Amegakure.

"Oh well, I'm my dad's only daughter anyway, so everything that's his will be mine eventually. What's wrong with using it in advance?"

Takenaka Rin didn't seem to mind and said generously, "Use it as you like, no rent required!"

You are such a filial daughter!

Ayane Amamiya mentally scoffed, then said softly, "In that case, let's proceed!"

The girl's gaze swept over the people present.

She thought to herself, "This is probably my future small team, my little group."

He became famous throughout the ninja world after the Chunin Exams.

Ayane Amamiya had already vaguely sensed that Hanzo the Salamander intended to push her onto the Amegakure stage.

At least!

I shouldn't be lurking in the shadows like before.

Once he escapes from the shadows, the focus of subsequent intelligence work will likely be entirely handed over to the experienced and prudent Woodpecker.

It would be best if Takenaka Ri also left the Black Swan Squad and stayed by my side to help handle various matters.

Pharmacist Nonou is a top-notch research talent; her stage should be in the construction and innovation of the Amegakure medical ninja system.

As for the three little ones—

These kids are still young, let them enjoy their precious time on campus a little longer.

Overall, our small group has unlimited potential and a promising future.

However, looking at the present situation and considering immediate combat capability, it seems that only he himself can shoulder the main responsibility.

Ugh!

Being in the Land of Rain, an ancient battlefield in the Central Plains, Ayane Amamiya suffers from a severe fear of insufficient firepower and still feels somewhat insecure!

If I had known, I should have brought Kushina Uzumaki with me back then.

She felt a little regretful.

I wonder where they are now, and whether they have set sail yet?

Have the ruins of the former Uzushio Ninja Village been found?