The beginning of every story often comes with unexpected surprises.
The day before yesterday, Naruto had taken the initiative to knock on the neighbor's door, wanting to see what the girl next door looked like and why she always peeked at him.
Today, she took the initiative instead.
She opened the door, stood at the entrance, and smiled at him.
"Hi!"
Out of politeness, Naruto greeted her first and walked forward.
When he finally saw her clearly, he was slightly stunned.
"Who… are you?"
Naruto was genuinely surprised.
Unlike most members of the Tsuchigen clan, she did not have obvious horns or pale skin.
She looked almost exactly like an Earth human.
The girl stood behind the fence, looking a little nervous.
Then she smiled softly and said,
"Um… can I… come over and talk to you?"
Naruto thought for a moment and nodded.
"Of course. We're neighbors."
Hearing that, the girl's tense expression relaxed instantly.
She jumped lightly and crossed the fence in one move.
Naruto was startled for a moment.
Then he smiled helplessly.
"Well… your jumping ability is pretty good."
"Oh! Thank you!" the girl replied shyly.
Naruto looked at her carefully.
Her eyes were black, just like his.
She really didn't look like a typical member of this clan.
"Let's go inside," Naruto said. "Didn't you want to chat?"
"Yes, yes!"
She nodded quickly.
After entering the house, the girl looked at Naruto and asked,
"Are you… the young master's friend?"
Naruto poured two cups of water and handed her one.
"I guess you could say that."
"Oh…"
She nodded and glanced around.
"You… live alone?"
Naruto smiled.
"Yes. Haven't you noticed? I've been alone all this time."
Realizing that Naruto had noticed her spying, the girl's face turned red.
She lowered her head and hugged her teacup.
Naruto found it a little amusing.
Then he asked directly,
"By the way… I want to ask you something."
"Are you from the Tsuchigen clan?"
The moment he said that, the girl suddenly stood up.
Her face flushed.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly.
She stared at Naruto angrily.
Naruto quickly raised his hands.
"Wait! I didn't mean anything bad! I just—"
Before he could finish, the girl suddenly picked up her teacup.
Splash!
She threw the water straight at his face.
Then she ran out.
Naruto blinked.
Fortunately, the tea had cooled down.
Otherwise, he would have been seriously burned.
After wiping his face, Naruto hurried outside.
He looked at the closed door next door and shouted,
"Hey! I just wanted to ask because I'm not from here either!"
"You look like people from my hometown!"
"Hey!"
No response.
No matter how much he shouted, she didn't come out.
Instead, nearby residents began to complain.
"Stop making noise!"
"Shut up!"
"Where did this bastard come from?!"
"I'll kill you if you keep yelling!"
...
In an instant, several terrifying auras burst out.
Naruto's expression changed slightly.
He suddenly felt unfamiliar with this place.
Subconsciously, he hurried back into his wooden house.
"T-This is… scary…"
He finally understood what Ichiro had meant.
The people living here were definitely not ordinary.
Thinking about it, Naruto decided not to bother her anymore.
He would ask Ichiro tomorrow.
That night, Naruto couldn't sleep.
The scene in the evening had frightened him.
He was afraid something might happen in the middle of the night.
So he stayed awake for a long time before finally falling asleep.
The next day.
When Ichiro Tsune arrived, Naruto was still sleeping.
"Huh? What's going on?"
"Hey! Naruto! Wake up!"
Ichiro's voice echoed in the room.
Naruto slowly opened his eyes.
Then he staggered up and opened the door.
"Brother Ichiro! You're finally here!"
He walked over and looked at Ichiro pitifully.
Ichiro frowned.
"What's wrong with you? Why are you still sleeping now?"
He placed breakfast on the table.
Naruto pulled him to sit down.
"Brother Ichiro, listen to me—"
"Bah! Go wash up first!"
Ichiro covered his nose in disgust.
Naruto felt embarrassed.
He quickly went to wash up.
After that, Naruto ate while telling Ichiro everything that happened.
After listening, Ichiro patted his shoulder and laughed.
"Don't worry, Naruto."
"Everyone who lives here is an outlier of the Tsuchigen clan."
"But none of them will hurt you."
Naruto nodded.
He finally felt relieved.
"By the way, Ichiro," Naruto asked.
"Who is the girl next door?"
"And why did she splash me yesterday?"
Ichiro touched his chin.
"At first, I wasn't sure."
"But now that you mention it, I know."
"She should be Akatsuki Tsuchigen… from four hundred years ago."
"Four hundred years?!"
Naruto's mouth dropped open.
"But… she looks like a little girl!"
Ichiro rolled his eyes.
"Calm down."
"My great-grandfather has lived for nearly ten thousand years."
"Why aren't you surprised by that?"
Naruto thought about it.
That was true.
Compared to ten thousand years, four hundred wasn't much.
Ichiro continued,
"Akatsuki was different from birth."
"She didn't have the horns of our clan."
"Because of that, she was treated differently."
"No one bullied her openly, but no one played with her either."
"She was very talented in controlling dark matter."
"So she studied desperately at the academy."
"She wanted to prove herself."
"Fortunately, her parents loved her very much."
"No matter how others treated her, she still had support."
Naruto listened quietly.
Then Ichiro sighed.
"Unfortunately… an accident changed everything."
"What accident?" Naruto asked.
Ichiro's voice became heavy.
"When her parents were out, they encountered the Otsutsuki clan."
"To protect the clan's secrets…"
"They dragged the Otsutsuki into a black hole."
Naruto's pupils shrank.
Ichiro continued,
"With their mastery of dark matter, they could have survived."
"But they had to fight while crossing."
"So they couldn't stabilize the field."
"They never came back."
He looked at Naruto seriously.
"Remember this."
"If you ever cross space through a black hole…"
"You must activate a dark matter field first."
"Otherwise, you'll be swallowed."
"Understand?"
Naruto nodded solemnly.
"…I understand."
He never expected that the girl next door had such a tragic past.
His heart felt heavy.