Chapter 416 – Ino’s Answer

Chapter 416: Chapter 416 – Ino’s Answer

UCHIHA DISTRICT

Ino had been standing in front of the entrance to the former Uchiha District for several minutes. The invisible barrier continued preventing her from entering and, on top of that, completely concealed everything that existed on the other side.

That only made her more curious.

She already knew Riser lived there with his wives, but she had never been able to see what truly existed beyond that protection.

On the other side of the barrier, Riser observed the young woman through the magic while standing beside Merlin.

"She seems determined," Merlin commented.

"Yes." A small smile appeared on his face. "She probably decided to become my woman and came here precisely for that."

Merlin gave him a curious look.

"Are you going to turn her into a vampire?"

Riser thought for a few seconds before answering.

"Not for now."

The transformation would change many things in Ino’s life. There was no reason to make such a definitive decision right at the beginning.

"I understand."

Merlin didn’t press the matter.

"I’m going to help Tsunade with a few things before she has another problem to deal with."

"Go ahead." Riser nodded. "See you later."

Merlin disappeared through a magic circle before he had even finished his last word.

Riser then passed through the barrier and appeared in front of Ino.

The young woman clearly hadn’t expected him to appear so suddenly.

"Riser."

Her nervousness was obvious, but this time Ino didn’t try to hide it.

"So?" he asked. "Have you made your decision?"

Ino took a deep breath.

She had spent the entire night thinking about his proposal, the risks, the consequences, and also about how she always felt whenever she was near him.

In the end, none of those thoughts managed to change her answer.

"Yes."

She raised her head to look at him.

"I want to be your woman."

Riser didn’t seem surprised.

"Then we’re dating."

A smile immediately appeared on Ino’s face.

His simple answer drove away much of the tension she had been carrying since the previous night.

But there was still something that continued bothering her.

"What about your wives?"

Riser immediately noticed her concern.

"What about them?"

"Would it bother them?" Ino crossed her arms while organizing her thoughts. "I mean... I just showed up out of nowhere."

"They already know I met you."

The answer came too quickly to reassure her.

Ino clearly remembered Merlin and Hancock during Jiraiya’s funeral. Even from a distance, both of them had seemed like extraordinary women.

’They’re definitely not ordinary people.’

The more she thought about it, the stranger the situation seemed.

One of them was capable of creating gigantic barriers around Konoha.

The other possessed such unbelievable beauty that she seemed like someone from a dream.

Compared to the two of them, Ino felt like she was stepping into dangerous territory.

"What are you thinking about?"

Riser’s question interrupted her thoughts.

"Nothing."

The answer came far too quickly.

Riser simply laughed.

"If everything were fine, you wouldn’t be worried."

Ino looked away for a few seconds before sighing.

"I just don’t want to cause any problems."

"You won’t."

The answer came without hesitation.

"No one’s going to try to kill you, attack you, or turn your life into hell. You can stop imagining strange things."

That made Ino relax a little.

The way Riser answered showed that situations like this were probably nothing new to him.

"I’ll believe you."

"Good choice."

Ino rolled her eyes.

"Your ego is unbelievable."

"But you agreed to date me anyway."

She tried to answer something, but ended up laughing instead.

Unfortunately, there was still another important conversation waiting for her.

"I’m going to tell my father."

Riser nodded.

"That’ll probably also give you time to let the others know."

"Yeah."

Ino began walking away down the street in her casual purple clothes as she headed toward the center of the village.

Before disappearing around the corner, she waved one last time.

Riser watched Ino’s figure walk down the street until she completely disappeared from view.

’Hancock isn’t going to be happy about this.’

The mere thought of her reaction made him laugh.

’So my first woman in this world has finally appeared.’

He shook his head as the Sharingan slowly spun.

’Hancock is going to complain a lot.’

The space around him began to distort, and a few seconds later, Riser disappeared from the Uchiha District.

___

KAMUI DIMENSION

As soon as he entered the house, he found Hancock walking through the living room.

"Dear, you’re back."

"In the flesh."

Hancock immediately walked over, but something about his expression caught her attention. The smile Riser was trying to hide was far too good to have appeared for no reason.

"What happened?"

Riser sat down on the sofa and pulled Hancock onto his lap before answering.

"You’ve just gained a new sister."

"That’s all?"

The answer came quickly, but the way Hancock squeezed his arm told a completely different story. The dark expression that appeared on her face for an instant didn’t help maintain her attempt at calmness either.

"You’ve improved."

"Of course I have." Hancock proudly raised her chin before continuing. "What exactly can I do? You met many incredible women in my world, and yet I’m the one you brought here."

She rested her head on his shoulder.

"So she’s just one more."

Riser silently agreed.

She really was right.

Throughout his life, he had met extraordinary women in different places. Some remained in their own worlds while he had moved on.

For a few seconds, Nico Robin and Sona Sitri crossed his mind.

"Indeed, I left some interesting people behind."

"See?" Hancock looked satisfied with her own conclusion. "Then I have no reason to worry."

Her logic was sound.

The problem was that she kept squeezing his arm every time she remembered Ino existed.

"You’re still jealous."

"I’m just controlling my jealousy," Hancock answered without showing the slightest embarrassment.

"That sounds like a confession."

"Maybe it is."

This time, she didn’t even try to deny it.

Riser laughed again.

"You really can’t hide it when you’re happy."

"Or when I’m irritated," Hancock replied naturally.

"That’s true too," Riser agreed.

Hancock seemed satisfied for a few seconds before returning to what truly interested her.

"Do you intend to bring her here?"

It was an important question.

The house inside Kamui was where he lived with Merlin and Hancock. It wasn’t a place open to just anyone.

"No."

The answer came immediately.

Hancock relaxed at once.

"Good."

"She’ll continue living in Konoha," Riser explained. "There’s no reason to bring Ino here."

"That already makes me feel much better."

Riser realized that answer was probably all Hancock had wanted to hear since the beginning of the conversation.

"I thought you didn’t mind," Riser commented with an amused smile.

"I accept the situation." Hancock settled more comfortably in his arms before continuing. "But it’s nice to have a place that’s just for us."

She pointed at the two of them before correcting herself.

"Or rather, for me, you, and Merlin."

Riser nodded.

"Kamui is enormous. There’s more than enough space to build another house if I want."

He rested his arm on the back of the sofa while continuing.

"But for now, Ino and I will only meet in Konoha. So you’ll probably spend more time in the Uchiha District."

The remark left Hancock intrigued.

"Why?"

"Because she’ll want to see me." Riser answered naturally. "So it’s better if our meetings happen in the district."

The answer seemed simple, but it made Hancock think of something else.

The Uchiha District had been restored by Merlin and was in much better condition than before. Even so, most of the place was still empty due to the lack of residents.

’Now that I think about it...’

An unexpected concern arose in her mind.

’Ino might think I’m a terrible wife.’

Merlin directly helped Konoha, created gigantic barriers, and solved important problems for the village. Hancock, on the other hand, spent most of her time inside Kamui.

That bothered her more than she wanted to admit.

Without realizing it, she was already imagining the impression Riser’s new woman would have of her.

Hancock suddenly stood up from his lap.

"I need money."

The change of subject was so abrupt that Riser almost laughed.

"That was unexpected."

"I want to go shopping."

"Shopping?"

"Yes." Hancock crossed her arms before continuing. "If I’m going to spend more time in the Uchiha District, then I want to renovate a few things."

Now everything made sense.

"You want to improve the district."

"Exactly."

Hancock proudly raised her chin.

"If that place is going to represent our family, then I want it to look worthy of that."

Riser had to admit it wasn’t a bad idea.

In fact, it was the first time he had seen Hancock show interest in building something in that world.

"Alright."

He took out a considerable amount of money from his magical storage and placed it on the table.

"Use as much as you need to renovate the clan."

Hancock’s eyes immediately lit up.

"Excellent."

"But try not to buy the entire village."

"I won’t promise anything," Hancock answered without the slightest embarrassment.

Riser ended up laughing.

Somehow, her concern about Ino had turned into a renovation project for the entire Uchiha District.

And knowing Hancock, that was probably only the beginning.

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