Father Bobbit

"Chiba, I think that was the priest. The way you just spoke to him... wasn't that... a little inappropriate?" Worry appeared on Mira's pretty face when Chiba returned to her side.

"Don't worry. Those guys deliberately picked a fight because they thought you were pretty. They got off easy with just a beating," Chiba said disdainfully.

A warmth welled up in Mira's heart. She pressed her lips together. "Thank you..."

"What are you thanking me for? If it weren't for you, Mira, I would've been a wolf's dinner long ago," Chiba said with a smile.

"Come on, let's go home." Chiba took Mira's small hand and smiled.

Mira's cheeks reddened slightly, and she nodded gently.

"Stop!" The blond young man looked up at them and shouted.

Chiba put an arm around Mira's slender waist and jumped down from the roof. The people around them moved aside, leaving them a large open space.

"Who are you? Are you a mage?" The blond priest stared intently at him.

Chiba said lazily, "Who I am is none of your business, and whether I'm a mage doesn't seem to be any of your business either."

"Then do you know what the consequences are for injuring several mages?" he demanded.

"No. He gave my friend a hard time, and he's lucky I didn't cripple him."

Seeing that the blond priest was about to speak again, Chiba's expression darkened. "Do you know what would've happened if I hadn't come? Just because Mira accidentally bumped into him, those guys who call themselves mages wanted to take her away? If I hadn't come, would you have stopped him? Hm?"

"I..." The blond priest faltered, then said, "But he didn't succeed, and what you're talking about is only hypothetical. Why did you have to resort to violence?"

Chiba sneered. "I have nothing to say to someone like you who can preach because you're not the one affected. If someone harassed your wife one day, would you still be able to talk to them so calmly?"

The blond priest's face froze.

Beside Chiba, Mira's cheeks were bright red. She quietly reminded him, "Um... priests can't get married, so they don't have wives..."

Chiba: "..."

All right, this guy really couldn't understand.

Mira, meanwhile, was thinking back on what Chiba had said. "If someone harassed your wife one day..." Did he mean...

Mira's face grew even redder.

"Boss! Boss!" At that moment, Alili squeezed through the crowd. Then he looked at the blond priest and froze.

"Cousin Bobbit, why are you here?" Alili asked blankly.

His tone was as respectful as when he spoke to Chiba, and the hostility had vanished from his face, but everyone was used to it.

"Alili, why are you here? You call him boss?" Bobbit asked in surprise.

"I..."

Alili was no fool. He heard the anger in Bobbit's voice, so he lowered his head and said nothing more.

"Let's go." Chiba smiled at the girl beside him.

"Mm." Mira lowered her head slightly and answered in a voice barely louder than a mosquito's buzz.

And so, under the crowd's dumbfounded gazes, Chiba took Mira's hand and walked home.

"We're back."

Chiba and Mira pushed open the door and stepped inside, but the instant they opened it, Lisanna rushed straight into Mira's arms.

"Mira, they said some mages stopped you. Are you all right?" Lisanna looked up at her and asked anxiously.

Mira shook her head and smiled faintly. "Thanks to Chiba arriving in time and driving those mages away. Otherwise, something might have happened."

Lisanna immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Chiba stroked the little girl's head and smiled. "Hey, hey, hey! The hero's standing right here. Aren't you going to show me some appreciation?"

Lisanna looked up at him, and a sly glint flashed in her eyes. "Then... I'll give you my big sister!"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Mira's pretty face turned red, and she gave Lisanna a stern glare.

Chiba rubbed his nose and grinned.

Lisanna stuck out her tongue and hid behind Elfman.

"By the way, what's for dinner? I'm starving!" Chiba plopped down on a stool and asked.

Mira said, "There's no food left at home. After what happened today, I didn't get a chance to buy any."

Chiba's face fell at once. He had spent the whole day working on wind-attribute Chakra and was already starving.

"How about... we have a cookout?!"

His eyes lit up as he spoke.

"A cookout this late at night? Isn't that a bad idea? What if there are wild beasts or something?" Little Lisanna was a little scared.

"A cookout it is! I'll deal with any monsters. An old man like me loves eating their meat." Hodrian walked in through the door, smiling.

"Hee-hee, then let's hurry! With Grandpa there, we don't have to be afraid of any monsters!" Lisanna said with a grin.

Only this oddball master and disciple would deliberately go up the mountain for a cookout late at night.

After packing a tent and other supplies, the group headed straight up the mountain. The old man was formidable too. He used Shadow Flame Heaven-Splitting Kick to make an enormous commotion, stirring up the wild beasts on the mountain, then used the disturbance to track down and catch three wild boars.

The old man still liked eating pork.

But when it came to starting a fire, they still had to rely on Chiba. After roasting all three boars with Great Fireball, he nearly dropped dead from Chakra exhaustion.

By the time they finished roasting the meat, Mira and the others had put up the tent.

The five sat in a circle around the campfire, eating roast meat, talking and laughing. Firelight shone on each of their faces, giving it a feeling of home.

Late at night.

There was only one tent, and it wasn't very big, so they left it for Mira and her two siblings. Chiba and Hodrian each lay in the branches of a tree, picking their teeth with toothpicks they had brought along.

Chiba looked up at the night sky. There was a full moon tonight, the first in a long while. As he gazed at the bright moon, round as a jade disk, countless thoughts filled his mind.

Honestly, he missed home.

He had been in this world for several months. Even though he had changed his name, learned Ninjutsu, and gained the Sharingan, he was still himself.

"Kid, what are you thinking about?" Hodrian asked from the neighboring tree.

"I'm wondering if I've eaten enough."

"I haven't."

"Shall we go get another one?"

"Sure!"

And then the two fools really did go and raise another ruckus.

"I... can't take any more. I'm going to let my food digest. Old man, keep them safe." Chiba was so stuffed his Byakugan was nearly awakening, and he hurried away.

"Mm... go on, go on. I'm here!" The old man was still battling the roast meat.

"Rustle..."

After Chiba had completely disappeared, the sound of faint footsteps reached the old man's ears.

"Oh? Still up this late? Or did we wake you, little girl?"

The old man wiped the grease from his beard, turned around, and smiled.

"Grandpa, I'd like... to ask you to teach me magic..."

After hesitating for a moment, Mira finally mustered the courage to speak.