Falling

Furen quietly listened as Hanare gazed up at the sky, her eyes reflecting deep emotions. He understood that she was finally opening her heart to him.

"Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to hold on," Hanare's eyes gradually reddened. "I've never met my parents, nor do I know where my homeland is. My whole life has been about gathering intelligence—this is my fate."

"I'm a spy," Hanare said, her eyes red as she looked at Furen. She thought he would become wary of her.

But Furen showed no sign of alarm, only continued to listen calmly.

"I don't know much about my village. To prevent me from revealing information if I were captured, I was raised far away from it."

"Up to now, I've been willing to risk my life, all for the sake of a homeland I've never seen." Hanare glanced at Furen, sitting beside her. For the first time, she felt a sense of safety from him—like a rootless dandelion finally finding solid ground to settle upon.

"So, I really need my homeland... and the people who encourage me." Hanare placed her hand over her chest, her gaze distant.

As a spy, Hanare had endured countless hardships. She didn't even know if she truly belonged to her supposed homeland, the Dingqian Village of the Key Country.

Hanare lowered her head, and her tears fell to the ground.

Hanare's favorability toward you: 15%.

Furen gently stroked Hanare's soft, long black hair and spoke softly, "Do you want to know where you truly belong?"

Hanare, nestled in his embrace, turned to look at Furen. Her eyes were filled with determination. Having opened her heart to him, she now trusted Furen unconditionally.

"I have a way to help you recover your childhood memories," Furen said, standing up and pulling Hanare along as they made their way to his home.

"So this is... Furen's home?" Hanare poked her head inside, admiring how neat and tidy the house was. A bit of envy stirred in her heart.

"If you want, this could be your home too." Furen smiled at her as he looked back.

To the rootless Hanare, the idea of such a warm place to stay deeply appealed to her. She removed her shoes as Furen gestured for her to follow him inside.

Barefoot, Hanare followed Furen into his bedroom. Once inside, Furen reached up and pulled the curtains, darkening the once-bright room.

"Oh," Furen realized something and explained, "Entering your mind to search for memories requires both parties to be completely open with each other."

"Close your eyes. I'm going to enter your mind now..." Furen said softly.

After overcoming her initial shyness, Hanare followed his words, closing her eyes and allowing Furen to access her mind.

"Mind Body Switch Technique!" Furen silently recited, and his consciousness entered Hanare's mind.

"It should be around here..." Furen floated towards a concealed section between Hanare's brain and cerebellum. He intended to extract the memory scrolls from there, only to find that no memories were accessible.

"It's sealed here," Furen thought. Having learned the Mind Body Switch Technique, he had also gained knowledge about where different memories are stored in the brain.

In any normal brain, memories cannot simply be missing. There was only one possibility—her memories had been sealed.

"This seal is impressive," Furen murmured as he examined it closely. After studying it for a while, he began unsealing it.

As the memory scroll was retrieved, Hanare's childhood memories flooded back like a tidal wave.

"This is... Konoha's Hokage Rock... my parents... Konoha's headband!"

As the sealed memories returned, the truth was revealed. Hanare was actually the descendant of Konoha shinobi, taken by the Key Country, where her memories were sealed, and trained as a spy to infiltrate other villages.

"So I'm from Konoha..." Hanare muttered unconsciously.

Furen remained silent, knowing how overwhelming this revelation must be for her.

For so many years, she had worked tirelessly for the Key Country, only to discover that it was all a lie. If it hadn't been for Furen unlocking her sealed memories with the Mind Body Switch Technique, Hanare would have remained in the dark her entire life.

Beep!

Hanare's favorability toward you: 20%.

Congratulations, Hanare's favorability toward you has reached 75%. You now have three remaining chances to draw a prize. Would you like to proceed?

-----------------

A/N:

Enjoying the story? Add it to your collection for updates! If you can, please donate Power Stones to support the book and help it reach more readers.