Unexpected Visitors Apologize, the Art of Redirecting Hatred

Liuyun and Kushina sat on the bench, chatting and laughing for quite a while. But when two unexpected visitors came to their door, the cheerful atmosphere vanished without a trace.

"Uchiha... Kazuhiko?"

Liuyun instinctively frowned when he saw the visitors.

Uchiha Kazuhiko stood outside his home with his mother, Uchiha Ayane. The two of them were holding a basket of fruit.

"Kushina Uzumaki, you're here too!"

When Uchiha Kazuhiko spotted Kushina beside Liuyun, he could not help crying out.

"What!"

Uchiha Ayane was somewhat surprised. They had originally planned to find that little beast Liuyun first, then go looking for that wretched girl. She had not expected the two of them to be "all over each other" even during their break.

"Sorry to bother you two. I brought Kazuhiko here today to apologize to you... What happened at the Ninja Academy was Kazuhiko's fault. I hope you can forgive his mistake..."

Suppressing her discomfort, Uchiha Ayane took the initiative to explain why they had come. After speaking, she bowed, her manner fairly humble.

Pah, you shameless pair...

Uchiha Kazuhiko cursed inwardly, though a stiff smile appeared on his face.

Liuyun and Kushina exchanged a glance, both of them looking thoroughly surprised.

Their homeroom teacher, Xiaotian, had already spoken with them about Uchiha Kazuhiko. He said he would make Uchiha Kazuhiko apologize sincerely and suggested that they let him off.

After all, ruining someone's future was like killing their parents. Leave some room for others, and you might meet again someday. Xiaotian advocated harmony above all.

"This is just a small gift. I hope Liuyun, Miss Kushina, will accept it..." Uchiha Ayane offered them the fruit basket in her hands.

When under someone else's roof, one had no choice but to bow one's head. If Uchiha Kazuhiko wanted to graduate smoothly from the Ninja Academy and become a ninja, he had to earn these two's forgiveness.

Otherwise, the Ninja Academy teachers would never agree to let Uchiha Kazuhiko return to school.

Liuyun did not take the fruit basket right away. Instead, he silently stared at Uchiha Kazuhiko with a calm gaze.

The four looked at one another without speaking. Everyone fell silent, and the atmosphere became somewhat grave.

Uchiha Ayane's raised arms were starting to ache, yet the two across from her still said nothing.

Left with no choice, Uchiha Ayane secretly shot Uchiha Kazuhiko a meaningful look.

"I'm sorry, Liuyun... sir, Miss Kushina. I was wrong!" Uchiha Kazuhiko said loudly, his face flushed red.

"What were you wrong about?" Liuyun casually asked, raising a brow.

"I shouldn't have bullied Liuyun, and I shouldn't have used a Kunai against Miss Kushina. At the time, I only meant to hit her shoulder. I never intended to kill Miss Kushina..."

After speaking, Uchiha Kazuhiko bowed to them.

"Please be magnanimous and forgive me this once..."

Liuyun stared at him expressionlessly until the man's scalp began to tingle. Only then did he turn to Kushina beside him.

"Miss Kushina, what do you think?" Liuyun asked with a straight face and a solemn tone.

Seeing his pretentious seriousness, Kushina nearly burst out laughing, but fortunately managed to hold it back at the crucial moment...

"All right. Since your attitude is decent enough, I'll forgive you this time. Don't always think about bullying people in the future..."

Kushina generously chose to forgive him.

"Thank you, Miss Kushina..." Uchiha Kazuhiko lowered his head, his expression hidden from view.

"Liuyun, what about you..." Uchiha Ayane asked Liuyun with a smile.

But the next moment, Liuyun ignored her completely and instead fixed Uchiha Kazuhiko with a gloomy stare.

"Those clansmen yesterday—they were called by you, weren't they?"

"What?"

Uchiha Kazuhiko raised his head, looking utterly confused.

Liuyun was slightly surprised. It seemed Uchiha Kazuhiko really did not know what had happened yesterday afternoon.

The group that had surrounded Liuyun and Kushina had probably acted on their own initiative.

"Are you playing dumb, or are you genuinely dumb? Eight Uchiha came to gang up on me yesterday. You're saying you didn't call them?" Liuyun sneered.

"Ah... It wasn't me, I didn't..." Uchiha Kazuhiko waved his hands repeatedly.

He had been confined at home these past two days to recover from his leg injury. His parents had not allowed him outside at all, so how could he have had the chance to contact his other companions?

"You didn't?"

Liuyun coldly sized him up. His gloomy demeanor frightened Uchiha Kazuhiko badly.

"That's right! If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten what happened yesterday. Those bastards must have been sent by this guy."

Kushina glared angrily at Uchiha Kazuhiko. She had nearly forgotten about it, but she could not let this bad guy who kept causing trouble off so easily.

"It really wasn't me... I don't even know what happened..." Uchiha Kazuhiko was so anxious he was nearly in tears.

At this point, Uchiha Ayane hurriedly stepped forward to explain as well, saying that her son had been grounded and had not left the house these past two days.

"Is that so? I don't believe you. If you hadn't instructed them, why would they have joined forces to bully me? And Uchiha Yan even said they came for your sake. Tell me, how are you going to settle this?"

With his arms crossed, Liuyun spoke calmly.

"It really wasn't me... Yan and the others..." Uchiha Kazuhiko looked like he wanted to cry but had no tears. He did not even know how to explain himself.

He felt like he was done for. Maybe he really would never become a ninja...

"Our Kazuhiko absolutely had no part in this. Once we return, we'll investigate it thoroughly. Liuyun, Miss Kushina, please give us some time..."

After panicking for only a few moments, Uchiha Ayane came to her senses. She bowed again and made her promise.

"Since Auntie has put it that way, I'll give Auntie some face..." Liuyun stopped while he was ahead and did not continue pressuring them.

Had Uchiha Yan and the others not wanted to stand up for this guy?

Then Liuyun would see whether Uchiha Kazuhiko appreciated the gesture and what he would ultimately do.

They were united in treating Liuyun as an outsider, so Liuyun might as well play the outsider properly and see if he could break them apart, preferably turning them into a disorganized rabble.

He would not give them the chance to present a united front against outsiders.

"Take the fruit basket back and eat it yourselves. I'm sure you know the ninja code. We won't accept this fruit, and we definitely won't eat it."

Liuyun refused their gift. Could one casually accept and eat a fruit basket given by a ninja?

What if there were two Exploding Tags tucked underneath, or some colorless, tasteless poison mixed into the fruit that only took effect ten days or half a month later? Wouldn't that be terrifying?

Uchiha Ayane looked embarrassed. In the end, the mother and son said goodbye and turned to leave.

"Hmph, that two-faced bastard. Yesterday's group must have been sent by him."

Watching Uchiha Kazuhiko's retreating back from afar, Kushina could not help snorting coldly.

"Probably not..." Liuyun replied with a smile, all negative emotion already gone from his face.

"Not him? Then should we forgive him?" Kushina asked in surprise.

"We definitely have to forgive him. After all, Uchiha Kazuhiko's father is an Elite Jonin. When our strength isn't enough to protect ourselves, we still need to show proper respect..."

Even a rabbit would bite when cornered, let alone an Elite Jonin...

But things were still far from reaching that point, which was why Liuyun wanted to put a little pressure on Uchiha Kazuhiko.

Given Uchiha Kazuhiko's vile temperament, once he learned about yesterday's incident, he would only blame Uchiha Yan and the others for meddling and causing him to lose his chance at forgiveness...

Liuyun was driving a wedge between those people purely to redirect their hatred. Even if the hatred was not redirected, at least he and Kushina would no longer be jointly targeted by the Uchiha Clan.