I'm Inside Naruto Manga

The last traces of dark blue in the sky were swallowed by the night. Logan didn't even remember how he had left the estate.

Mechanically, he climbed over the wall. As his eyes met the empty streets outside, the evening breeze carried away some of the suffocating air pressing on his chest.

His neutral expression faltered. Leaning against the wall, his mind was in turmoil. Not far away, a guard at the entrance noticed his shadowy figure in the corner. Holding up a torch, the guard curiously approached, mistaking him for a homeless person and said, "Move along. This isn't a place for you to loiter."

Logan ignored the other party and was lost in thought. His mind kept recalling what Sumika had just said.

The guard waved his torch slightly. He had seen too many disheartened souls in the night and had no interest in another. Likely thinking it was a hassle, he added in a lower tone, "Leave now. Don't make trouble for yourself." and returned to his post.

There were many kinds of despair, but Logan's wasn't the kind the guard imagined, weighed down by the struggles of life. Still, his mood was undeniably bleak. He cast a glance at the guard, knowing that if he stayed any longer, he will forcibly take him away, but Logan paid no heed, simply sliding down to sit against the wall. The cold bricks pressed against his back.

"So, she's getting engaged." Logan murmured, nodding to himself. The dim light revealed cracks in the stone pavement, "I suppose it makes sense. In a feudal society, her age isn't considered young anymore..."

He tried to rationalize it, but it's useless.

When Sumika said, "I'm getting engaged" in a complicated tone a few minutes ago, the atmosphere had plummeted to freezing point. After that, their conversation withered like grass in winter, becoming dull and meaningless.

At first, Logan didn't believe it. He thought he had misheard her and asked, "What did you say?"

"I'm getting engaged, Hattori-kun." Sumika repeated, locking eyes with him. Then, as if to drive it in, she added in the same exact words, "It's true."

For a moment, emotions such as disappointment and regret surged up uncontrollably. Logan's face became stiff, and his mood instantly darkened as if a storm cloud had settled over him. This was unlike any shock he had ever felt before. Taking a deep breath, he latched onto the key detail in her words.

'She's getting engaged', not 'already engaged'. Though, in the end, it hardly made a difference.

"... When?" Logan forced himself to ask.

Beneath the table, Sumika clenched the fabric of her clothes and her lips parted slightly, "The day after tomorrow."

Then, still forcing a gentle smile, she explained this sudden engagement. She spoke calmly, making sure the topic didn't seem too heavy.

How did it start? Who is taking the lead? The other party being a certain minister's son. What kind of person he was rumored to be... One by one, Sumika spoke in a soft voice, and her calm tone seemed to indicate that she had accepted this politically driven marriage.

Logan didn't listen much. Even if he had, he wouldn't have bothered remembering the details. He didn't know how to respond. After a long silence, their conversation ended in a hasty farewell.

Now, beneath the wall, Logan listlessly picked up a small stone. The faint moonlight cast a dim glow on the ground. He forced himself to think rationally and knew he couldn't blame her. Even though, to him, this felt like a sudden disaster.

Nothing truly happens suddenly, and everything has its build-up.

When Sumika mentioned it to him before, he didn't imagine how serious it would be. Many people had approached her, even the Daimyo had introduced suitors to her. But when she had firmly refused before, Logan had let himself believe she always would.

A woman of high status, with remarkable talents, living in the Capital… Logan had oversimplified the situation. It wasn't that he had never considered the constraints of a rigid society. He simply hadn't grasped the difficulties she faced.

Sumika's casual way of speaking about it had masked the pressure and hardship beneath. And he, naively, had convinced himself she would always have a choice.

Only now, facing reality, did Logan realize how unacceptable it was to him.

Understanding this, Logan knew he had no right to demand she change anything. He tossed the stone in his hand. It bounced a few times before rolling to a stop at someone's feet.

Logan looked up and saw that it wasn't the guard coming to chase him away, but a young girl.

Through the unclear light, he felt that the appearance of the fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl in front of him seemed familiar.

"It's you?!" The elegantly dressed girl exclaimed in surprise.

Upon hearing her voice, Logan recognized her as well, "Hanazawa? It's been a while..."

Hazawa, the next in line to be a ceremonial envoy, had seemingly just finished some business and was returning home. She stood by the street, flanked by two attendants. The dim sky could not hide the beautiful face, and her demeanor was noble. Upon realizing who Logan was, her surprised expression quickly twisted into anger.

"What are you doing here?"

'Her tone was much sharper than I remembered...' Logan, in no mood to care, simply answered, "I'm here to see your teacher."

"How dare you..." Hanazawa was about to say something incredulous, pointing an elegant finger at him. But then, her gaze shifted from Logan to the wall behind him, then to the faint light shining from the mansion, "You've already seen her?"

Logan looked at the other person's face, 'Hanazawa probably knew that I was a Konoha's Missing-nin'.

He then nodded.

Sumika was an existence that Hanazawa deeply respected. Even though she's just a young woman, she could simply wave her hand to command someone to seize the detestable Ninja before her, "Guards..."

"Is she really going to get engaged?" Logan was unfazed by the cold hostility directed at him and instead calmly asked the question.

Hanazawa's body stiffened. She had been about to finish her command, but seeing the expression on the face of the detestable Ninja in front of her, the rest of her words got stuck in her throat.

"My lady, what happened?" The commotion drew the attention of the guards at the entrance. One of them, resting a hand on the hilt of his sword, cast a wary look at Logan.

The attendants behind Hanazawa were also on alert, yet Logan acted as if he hadn't noticed. He simply locked eyes with Hanazawa.

After a few seconds, Hanazawa weighed her thoughts and then motioned for the surrounding guards to leave.

"Hanazawa-sama, this..."

"I said you may leave."

With her voice laced with authority, the guards glared at Logan one last time before retreating unwillingly.

Once the street was empty, leaving only the two of them, Hanazawa turned to face Logan, her tone still sharp with hostility: "Hoshino-sama will indeed be finalizing her engagement soon. So what does that have to do with you?"

She deliberately emphasized the last part, making it clear that this conversation was nothing more than an opportunity to rebuke him.

Logan had no retort. Maybe, just as she said, this situation had nothing to do with him.

But seeing Logan's not speaking, Hanazawa didn't feel the satisfaction she had anticipated. Instead, she found his quiet demeanor eerily similar to how Sumika had been silent before, and she couldn't help but feel a little irritated.