Chapter 408: , Completing the Loop

But at this moment, Kurotsuchi was clearly different from the Kurotsuchi in Kitsuchi’s memory.

In Kitsuchi’s memory, although Kurotsuchi had a firm and precocious personality, she still looked very innocent.

But right now, the Kurotsuchi appearing before him was unexpectedly full of mature and charming allure, as if she were a completely different person.

Kitsuchi looked at Mizunuki Ryosuke, who stood beside Kurotsuchi like a "shadow," and then looked at this somewhat "stranger" daughter, Kurotsuchi.

A terrifying thought suddenly appeared in his heart.

"C-could it be..."

Kitsuchi said, trembling, his eyes filled with gloom.

"Sigh."

"Just as you think, Father."

"I am that 'Kurotsuchi' you personally sent to the past."

The mature Kurotsuchi shrugged, speaking to Kitsuchi in a calm voice, devoid of joy or sorrow, causing a look of numbness and regret to appear on Kitsuchi’s already gloomy face.

There was no need for Kurotsuchi to continue; he had already guessed the result.

"Then..."

"How did you 'come back' now?"

Kitsuchi looked at his daughter and asked with difficulty.

Although he had already guessed it, Kitsuchi still subconsciously clenched his fists as he asked.

Hearing this, Kurotsuchi smiled.

She smiled very brightly, as if mocking her father for asking such a childish question.

"Of course, I lived through it one day at a time."

Kurotsuchi gave an answer that was incomparably cruel to Kitsuchi.

Hearing Kurotsuchi’s reply, Kitsuchi fell completely silent.

Looking at the daughter before him, who remained young in appearance but whose actual age was now nearly the same as his own, a wave of sorrow welled up in Kitsuchi’s heart.

It was his own stubbornness that had sent his daughter back to the past, obliterating twenty-plus years of her life in the river of time.

Seeing this, Mizunuki Ryosuke on the side couldn't help but sigh.

He knew that although Kurotsuchi appeared calm on the surface, her heart was actually extremely suppressed.

Without a doubt, having experienced so many things, Kurotsuchi’s life experience now made her understand that Kitsuchi’s obsession with trying to traverse time was a complete mistake.

And the greatest victim of it was her, Kitsuchi’s daughter.

To comfort Kurotsuchi, Mizunuki Ryosuke stepped forward and slowly took her soft hand.

The mature and charming Kurotsuchi turned her face to look at Mizunuki Ryosuke behind her, a moving shimmer flashing in her charming large eyes.

Fortunately...

She had met Mizunuki Ryosuke.

Although they had been an old married couple for years, Kurotsuchi’s attachment to Mizunuki Ryosuke remained undiminished; she simply leaned into his embrace, feeling the warmth from her partner.

"You two..."

Kitsuchi was shocked; looking at the intimate Mizunuki Ryosuke and Kurotsuchi, he felt his mind go dim, and his chest felt stifled.

Nothing hits a man harder than his own daughter becoming the woman of his enemy.

As if deliberately trying to anger Kitsuchi, Kurotsuchi stood on her tiptoes and pressed her red, delicate lips against the corner of Ryosuke’s mouth.

The two only touched for a moment, but even so, it caused a massive impact on Kitsuchi’s spirit.

"Pfft!!!!"

Seeing this, Kitsuchi could no longer endure it; he spat out a mouthful of old blood and fainted.

"Time—is it something a mortal can recklessly tamper with and exploit?"

"When you attempt to use time to change history, can you be certain that your actions aren't already a part of history itself?"

Mizunuki Ryosuke looked at the numb Kitsuchi and spoke slowly, his eyes filled with profound and inscrutable expressions.

Without a doubt, Kitsuchi’s attempt to reverse history was entirely wrong.

The result of trying to play with time was that one would inevitably suffer the backlash of time.

The path of space-time is mysterious and profound; even Mizunuki Ryosuke did not dare to easily touch it, yet Kitsuchi had the audacity to try and change history—it was nothing but a pipe dream.

Looking at this actual defeated opponent, and his nominal "cheap father-in-law," Mizunuki Ryosuke’s tone held no reverence.

In fact, Kitsuchi’s attempt to exhaust all the Rock Village’s resources to study space-time ninjutsu and return to the past had always been under his control.

And the reason Mizunuki Ryosuke did not stop Kitsuchi was simply to let him successfully send Kurotsuchi back to the past, to meet his past self.

It is ironic that what Kitsuchi did not know was that his attempt to change the course of history had instead personally created "history."

Kitsuchi sent Kurotsuchi to the past, thinking he could change everything, not knowing that such an ignorant assumption was the height of stupidity.

Time is inherently irreversible; the moment Kurotsuchi returned to the past, she had already become a part of history.

It was precisely because of the "cause" of Kurotsuchi returning to the past that the "effect" of the mature Kurotsuchi standing before Kitsuchi now appeared.

Every action and reaction was already destined.

Kitsuchi’s actions ultimately only hurt himself and others.

Seeing Kitsuchi in such a sorry state, vomiting blood and fainting from just this little bit of stimulation, Kurotsuchi shook her head helplessly.

To be honest, although she felt unhappy, she did not hate Kitsuchi.

Because if Kitsuchi hadn't sent her back to the past, she would never have met the love of her life, Mizunuki Ryosuke.

At most, Kurotsuchi was just a bit angry in her heart at this incompetent father; now that Kitsuchi had collapsed, as his daughter, she still had to take care of him.

Thus, Kurotsuchi cast a look of help toward Mizunuki Ryosuke.

There was no help for it; when it came to medical ninjutsu, Kurotsuchi was truly clueless.

"Husband..."

Kurotsuchi whispered in Mizunuki Ryosuke’s ear, her pitiful voice softening Mizunuki Ryosuke’s heart.

"This little girl is becoming more and more demanding lately,"

Mizunuki Ryosuke said to himself inwardly.

Seeing this, he smiled helplessly, then raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

Golden radiance flashed, and Kitsuchi instantly recovered as if nothing had happened.

The recovered Kitsuchi slowly crawled up from the ground; not only had his daughter become the woman of his enemy, but Kitsuchi also hadn't expected to be treated by this enemy.

Looking at Mizunuki Ryosuke, who appeared like a god, a trace of gloom flashed through his eyes.

At this moment, Kitsuchi understood that he was not only wrong to a disastrous degree, but he had also lost completely.

Now that things had come to this, what else was there for him to insist upon?

Because his mistake had already led to the "misfortune" that befell Kurotsuchi, how much longer was he to remain stubborn?

"I wish you happiness."

Kitsuchi said in a hoarse voice to Mizunuki Ryosuke and Kurotsuchi; facing his now exceptionally strange daughter and son-in-law, he could only express his attitude with a dry sentence.

Seeing that Kitsuchi had accepted his fate, Mizunuki Ryosuke waved his hand, dispelling the frozen space-time around them.

Time resumed its flow, and everything seemed to return to calm.

(Everyone, rest assured, I won't be writing a dual-narrative; this "future" plot segment is only to complete the loop for Kurotsuchi’s storyline.)