Nagato Kagutsuchi: The Dawn
Ch. 90 - Leak Story
Time passed, and autumn came to the Cakrwayuha Forest.
"Nagato, it seems like this time I won again" said Grandpa Hyogoro swinging his sword aiming at Nagato's sword.
Nagato's sword fell to the top, this time he lost back to fight with Grandpa Hyogoro. This time Nagato showed no emotions as usual.
Hyogoro's grandfather frowned, as Nagato's face looked sad.
"Nagato.." muttered Grandpa Hyogoro softly at Nagato's sad look.
Nagato felt sad, even though he only trained to fight with Grandpa Hyogoro. But after the hard training he went through, he never won even from Grandpa Hyogoro.
"What's with your face? Like you said everything was over." Hyogoro's grandfather patted Nagato's shoulder and whispered in his student's ear.
Nagato smiled awkwardly, as Grandpa Hyogoro told him to get closer to Litha.
Nagato glanced at Litha, the little girl was practicing the sword and doing warm-up moves.
"Litha?" sapa Nagato sat down to look at Litha.
"What's wrong, Nagato," Litha replied.
Nagato was silent for a moment, seeing Grandpa Hyogoro who was holding back a laugh, seeing himself following Grandpa Hyogoro's words to approach Litha.
"What am I like for you? A fella? Best friend?" tanya Nagato stood in front of Litha and turned his face to the side.
"We are friends, wait.The two of us are arguably friends, but you could also say we are just friends," replied Litha noticed Nagato's strange behavior.
For the first time in his life, Nagato blushed in embarrassment as he realized he was acting strange today.
"Litha, am I acting strange today?" nagato asked Litha with her flat face.
"Heeh, so Nagato can also be aware of ya." replied Litha giggling at the cute expression on Nagato's face.
Seeing herself being laughed at by him, Nagato held Litha's nose.
"Litha, I'm serious" said Nagato staring at Litha's face close.
"I'm serious too, oh yeah Nagato can accompany me for a little while?" litha's reply diverted the conversation.
"I want to train alone, so don't bother," Nagato replied in embarrassment.
Hearing Nagato's reply upset Litha, she smiled faintly at Nagato who was leaving from her side.
Nagato practiced the sword as usual, training himself to swing the sword, to be useful for the unexpected fight ahead.
The two of them continued through the day as usual, until one day there was a letter that Hawk wrote for the two of them.
In the letter Hawk wrote, it was written if he wanted to tell Litha and Nagato about a tournament held specifically for young warriors.
"A lot of strong people gathered there, I'm interested in this tournament" Nagato said after reading the letter.
"So to you, I'm not very strong, so." said Litha who heard Nagato's words.
"You can also fight with me, don't have to fight with the strong people who follow the tournament," Litha replied staring at Nagato sharply.
"Listen, Litha, I've always thought about protecting you, so I can't fight you" Nagato said, stroking Litha's long fine hair.
Litha blushed her face, but she clucked in annoyance every time Nagato held her hair because Litha felt like she was considered a child by Nagato.
"Stop stroking my hair, I'm not a kid." Litha hit Nagato's stomach, her hand punch made the young man hold back a laugh.
Nagato smiled faintly, "Stop that punch of yours, I don't even feel the slightest pain." Nagato held Litha's hand while staring at Litha's face close.
Litha and Nagato stared at each other for a few seconds, after which they both fell silent in shame.
"I left for a while" Nagato said before walking away from Litha to look for Grandpa Hyogoro's whereabouts.
Litha just kept quiet and went inside the house, in the room she smiled - her own smile thought of Nagato who had always been kind to her.
Meanwhile Grandpa Hyogoro was fishing in the river, he was enjoying the relaxed and comfortable atmosphere while drinking wine he waited for his fishing bait at a meal.
"Grandfather Hyo, this is a letter." Nagato surprised Grandpa Hyogoro who was fishing.
Hyogoro's grandfather took the letter and read it.
"It's a good opportunity for both of you" Grandpa Hyogoro murmured softly.
"I want to join this tournament." said Nagato who heard Grandpa Hyogoro muttering softly.
"You two must attend this tournament when you are 12 years old" Grandpa Hyogoro replied.
Nagato frowned, "Aged 12? My feelings were written from 8 to 17 years old." Nagato looked at Grandpa Hyogoro full of astonishment.
"It's written like that, but you two have to take part in this tournament when you're 12" Grandpa Hyogoro said in a commanding tone.
"Why wait 12 years, am I and Litha still too weak?" nagato asked Grandpa Hyogoro.
Hyogoro's grandfather drank his wine then he smiled, "Nagato, 1 year how many months is there?" this time Grandpa Hyogoro asked Nagato a question.
"12 months." Nagato replied briefly because he thought Grandpa Hyogoro was drunk.
"Yes, that's why you two had to attend this tournament when you were 12" explained Grandpa Hyogoro while waiting for his bait to be eaten by fish.
Nagato clucked in annoyance after hearing Grandpa Hyogoro's reply. Lazy to argue even further he returned home to see Litha.
The house looks deserted, Nagato searches for Litha inside the house, when he finds her, it turns out that Litha is cooking food for him.
Nagato approached Litha from behind and saw what she was cooking.
"The fragrance.." Nagato muttered the aroma of the cooked vegetables Litha.
"Eh, Nagato..." Litha elbowed Nagato's stomach as the young man came directly behind her.
Nagato held back his laughter, looking at Litha who was elbowing her stomach, feeling that there was no magic, Nagato went to the Seven Different Springs Waterfall to practice breathing.