Naruto: In the name of the Senju, he made the ninja world tremble.

Walking down the street where she was meeting her new teammates, Chiba recalled the scene of escorting supplies at the end of the Third Shinobi World War.

At that time, Mitarashi Anko was the center of everyone's attention. Although her talent was not top-notch, her status as Orochimaru's only student was enough to make everyone respect her.

This naturally includes Chiba, who was still relatively unknown at the time. Mitarashi Anko had a forthright personality and liked to stand up for the weak, so many of her peers had a good impression of her.

But now? Chiyu thought of the information the Third Hokage had given her, and could only sigh that it was human nature to seek advantage and avoid harm. Nowadays, Anko was not only universally hated, but also a plague-like presence.

Tap tap tap, tap tap tap.

Qianyu gently knocked on the door with her fingers bent.

A moment later, seeing no one responding to the door, he helplessly closed his eyes and sensed everything around him. The chakra in the room clearly appeared in his mind.

"I'm really not good at giving advice and comforting people," Qian Yu said, gently pushing open the door. The next second, a heavy, oppressive atmosphere rushed in, causing him to involuntarily take two steps back.

Having roughly guessed what was going on inside, Qianyu formed hand seals, created a shadow clone to leave the area, and then quietly walked inside.

The windows in the room were tightly closed, not allowing even a sliver of light to penetrate. The room was a mess, with empty food bags scattered everywhere, and a thin layer of dust covering the kunai and ninja tool pouches lying on the floor.

The once flamboyant and stylish trench coat was carelessly tossed on the ground, just like its owner, abandoned and neglected.

"Is the investigation not over yet? Where do I need to be taken?"

In the corner between the bed and the wall, a figure curled up asked in a hoarse voice, as if she had become accustomed to it.

"Whoosh!"

Long, slender fingers drew back the curtains, and long-awaited light rushed into the room, making the dust motes floating in the air clearly visible in the bright sunlight.

"There's no review process. I'd like to treat you to some meatballs, are you interested?"

A gentle voice sounded, causing Hongdou, who had buried her head deeply in her hands, to raise her red eyes and look up.

Seeing the obviously haggard Mitarashi Anko, Chiba couldn't help but think of the future Mitarashi Sweet Potato. Well, Anko is still easier to accept.

"You are...Aoki Chiba?"

Perhaps because she hadn't been exposed to sunlight for a long time, Hongdou involuntarily covered her eyes. After nearly a minute, she lowered her hands and carefully examined the ninja opposite her.

"Long time no see, Red Bean! From now on, we're companions. Please take care of me!"

Looking at Qianyu's outstretched right hand, Hongdou didn't respond at all. She simply turned her head away silently, her resistance very obvious. "Sorry, I'll only cause you trouble right now, so I'd better not."

Looking at Mitarashi Anko who was being extremely disrespectful, Chiba couldn't help but withdraw her right hand, pinch her chin, and look at her dejected appearance. Was she really that difficult to deal with?

Qianyu clearly remembered that there was a top-ranked genjutsu in the Naruto world called Talk-no-Jutsu, but he had no talent for it, so it was useless against him.

Thinking of this, Chiyu shook her head and walked up to Mitarashi Anko, handing her something from behind her back. "You should need this now."

Mitarashi Anko looked up and saw a gleaming kunai being held upside down by Chiba and offered to her.

"Take this and press it against your heart with gentle force, and your pain will be gone. Of course, if you like a stronger taste, you can also cut your throat and thrash around like a dead fish. Don't worry, I'll collect your body."

As she spoke, Qianyu handed over the kunai in her hand, a smile playing on her lips as she looked at the purple-haired girl opposite her, whose eyes showed astonishment.

After a few seconds of eye contact, the expression in Mitarashi Anko's eyes began to change.

"Bang!"

"You bastard, are you kidding me?! How can you comfort someone like that?!"

Chiba, who was being held against the wall by the collar by Mitarashi Anko, looked at the emotional girl in front of her and smiled. So she wasn't heartbroken after all.

"So what? Did you have any other choice but to kill yourself? Whether you hate Orochimaru or want to follow him, you need great strength, not to hide in the shadows and cry alone like this."

Qianyu's words were like a thunderclap, shattering the stillness in Hongdou's heart.

She looked at Qianyu with a hint of tears welling up in her eyes. Although the tears were already swirling uncontrollably in her eyes, she stubbornly refused to let them fall.

"What do you know?" she choked out. "He taught me everything. All my ninjutsu, all my beliefs, came from him. But he just left, leaving me only with an indelible curse mark. What am I? What am I to him?!"

The pent-up emotions finally burst forth at this moment.

Looking at Mitarashi Anko, who was squatting on the ground and crying loudly, Chiba breathed a deep sigh of relief. It was good that she could cry. At that moment, a figure appeared outside the door.

Ten minutes later, Hongdou's crying had gradually subsided. After venting her emotions, most of her pent-up frustration had been released. Thinking about everything she had just done, her face flushed slightly.

Just as she was debating whether or not to apologize to Qianyu, a sweet aroma mixed with glutinous rice wafted into her nostrils.

Glutinous rice balls!

Mitarashi Anko, recognizing the incredibly familiar smell, looked up abruptly and saw Chiyu holding a skewer of glutinous rice balls, drizzled with amber-colored sweet sauce, steaming hot, and presented it to her.

"As the team leader, I didn't bring any gifts on my first visit, so I bought these meatballs on the spot. Would you like to try some?"

Looking at her favorite food in front of her, Mitarashi Anko wanted to refuse, but the feeling of hunger in her stomach urged her to take the dumpling and eat it in small bites.

"Uchiha Tsuki will be coming over later. You remember her, right? She's my partner. You've met her before. She'll be here with another teammate."

"If you don't want them to see you looking like this, you'd better fix your makeup."

Hearing Qianyu's words, Hongdou, who was eating dumplings in small bites, unconsciously looked at her disheveled reflection in the glass next to her, and then at the messy room around her.

"have a finger in the pie."

After muttering something, Mitarashi Anko ate the dumplings in big bites. She didn't want anyone else to see her disheveled state, especially not a girl.

But tears welled up in her eyes and streamed down her face, wetting the sweet glutinous rice balls.

Seeing Hongdou enjoying the sweet and savory dumplings, Qianyu breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the old guy who had been spying on her should be at ease now.

"call!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled a long puff of white smoke, looking at the two people beside him with a hint of smugness. The meaning in his eyes was clear: I made the right choice, didn't I?

"In that case, let Qianyu take care of Hongdou, but we must keep a close eye on her."

Koharu nodded, agreeing with the Third Generation's decision, and then turned to look at Homura Mitokado next to her.

Mitokado Homura gently pushed up his glasses and nodded in agreement, but his attention was never on Anko. Instead, he kept looking at Chiba, seemingly lost in thought.