Starting with rogue ninjas, building the insect kingdom.

Chapter 615 Iruka's Love History

As night fell, Iruka dragged his weary body and pushed open the door to his home.

There were no lights on in the room, and he was too lazy to turn them on. Over the years, he had long been accustomed to sitting alone in the dark.

He took off his coat and casually draped it over the back of the chair, then sank into the sofa, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples.

The ninja academy is getting busier every day.

The new student named Kawaki, despite his exceptional talent, is always getting into conflicts with his classmates.

Today he punched another child in the nose and made it bleed. He spent most of the afternoon mediating, and his lips were almost worn out from talking so much.

dong dong dong.

The knocking sounded, urgent and forceful.

Iruka opened his eyes and frowned as he looked towards the doorway.

Who could it be so late at night?

He got up, walked over, opened the door, and was stunned when he saw who it was.

"Yumi?"

The woman standing outside the door was in her early thirties, with a haggard face, slightly red eyes, and wearing the uniform gray linen dress worn by the villagers of Konoha.

Iruka recognized him, of course. Years ago, he had worked as a medical ninja at the village hospital and had taken care of him when he was sick. They were once connected... He had always thought he had found love, but it turned out to be just a joke.

"Teacher Iruka." The woman bowed slightly, her voice a little tense. "Excuse me, I have something I'd like to ask you."

"Come in and talk." Iruka stepped aside, a vague feeling that something was amiss.

The woman did not sit down after entering the room, but stood in the center of the living room with her hands clasped together.

Her gaze swept around the room, as if to make sure no one else was around, before she finally spoke: "That child from outside, named Kawaki, have you seen him before?"

Iruka nodded: "He is a student in my class."

"Is he really from outside?"

Iruka paused for a moment, carefully choosing his words: "That's what the Hokage said. That child certainly doesn't seem like someone who grew up in Konoha; he knows many things we don't."

"Did he ever tell me what it's like outside?" The woman took a step closer, her eyes revealing an almost greedy longing.

"Yumi," Iruka sighed, "I can't just tell you these things. You know the village rules; information about the outside world needs to be—"

"What do you need?" The woman's voice suddenly rose, then she realized she had lost her composure and lowered her voice, but the long-suppressed emotion could no longer be hidden.

"Does it require high-level approval? Does it require ideological review? Or do we have to wait until those of us are qualified before we can find out?"

Iruka remained silent.

The woman stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled, a smile tinged with an indescribable bitterness and irony.

She slowly walked up to Iruka, sat down on the sofa, and looked up at him.

"Teacher Iruka, I've come today not just to ask about that child."

She took a neatly folded piece of paper from her sleeve, unfolded it, and handed it to Iruka.

That was a painting.

The brushstrokes are childish, the crayons were used, and the colors were applied crookedly.

The drawing features a large blue circle with a small stick figure next to it. The stick figure has yellow hair on its head and its mouth is open, as if it is smiling.

"This was drawn by my son," the woman's voice suddenly became very soft. "He said it's the sea."

Iruka paused slightly in the hand holding the painting.

"He's six years old this year, and he's in preschool at the Ninja Academy," the woman continued, her gaze falling on the painting. A slight smile played on her lips before she tightened her lips again. "He's never seen the sea, nor has he ever seen a real sky. He thinks the sky is gray and black, and that the vegetables growing on the ground are the whole world. But Iruka-sensei, you know that's not true."

She looked up and stared directly into Iruka's eyes: "You know there's a blue sky outside, an endless sea, countless schools of fish, and giant whales. You know that people outside don't have to line up every day for the same food, don't have to wear the same clothes, and don't have to put on a smile and pretend to be happy in front of patrolling ninjas."

"Yumi..." Iruka's voice was a little hoarse.

"You know nothing." The woman suddenly laughed again, this time with a resolute, defiant laugh. "You know nothing, Teacher Iruka. You don't know how I've survived all these years, you don't know whose child this is."

Iruka was completely stunned.

The woman stood up and walked up to him, so close that he could see the fine lines at the corners of her eyes and the bloodshot veins in them.

"Do you remember six years ago? I was a nurse at the hospital then." Her voice lowered, as if she were telling a long-ago secret. "Back then, the village had just started to close off, and bad news kept coming in from the outside. Everyone lived in an indescribable fear. Me too. I was scared, I was depressed, and I couldn't sleep at night. I... did a lot of crazy things."

She bit her lip, as if she were having a final battle with herself.

"I've had entanglements with many people. Back then, doctors at the hospital, several clerks in the administration department, and even some ninjas from the patrol team... all came to me. We comforted each other and kept each other warm; nobody took it seriously."

Her gaze fell on Iruka's face, carefully studying his expression. "You're one of them too, Iruka-sensei. But..."

"I took it seriously," Iruka replied.

He has been unable to escape the shadow of his past over the years, which has led to his repeated failures in blind dates. In addition, he is also obsessed with cleanliness because there are few clean girls in the village.

Most of them appear polite and refined on the surface, but they are quite different in private.

The woman looked at him like that and suddenly burst out laughing. As she laughed, tears started falling from her eyes.

"Did you always think it was just a one-night stand? You thought we would break up after that, right? But have you ever thought about why we broke up like that?"

Because I could see it, Iruka-sensei, you were truly moved, but I wasn't. I didn't want to lie to you, so I'm leaving.

"That child..." Iruka's voice suddenly became dry.

"It's yours. I've never contacted you all these years because I didn't know if you would accept me as I am. But today I just can't take it anymore."

"He's growing up, asking more and more questions that I can't answer. He says he wants to go out and see the world, but I don't know how to get him to go. He's a good boy, Iruka, you don't want him to be stuck here forever, do you? Please tell me, tell me the truth." She stepped forward, her clothes slipping off her shoulders.

Iruka's mind was buzzing.

Six years ago, he only thought he was a fool who had his feelings toyed with. I never imagined that they had a child together, and that the child had grown up right under their noses.

"I want to see him! Let me see him!" Iruka exclaimed excitedly.