As a Ninja, I Only Want to Live Off Women in the Nasuverse

Higashino Kanade dug at his ear with one hand, his eyes unusually languid as he said, "I'm tired. Rather than constantly dancing between life and death every day, I'd rather find a rich woman and become her live-in son-in-law."

"Living off a woman is great. You don't need to work too hard to get what you want. Your wife is pretty and has a nice voice. All you need to do is lie there obediently."

"Doing less and getting more, gaining without working—that's what I pursue."

The system fell silent once more, seemingly unable to comprehend Higashino Kanade's thought process.

"You should find another host. I don't need you anymore."

This system has already bound itself to the host's soul and cannot seek a new host. If the host lives, this system lives. If the host dies, this system dies as well.

"Then stop bothering me, and don't give me any troublesome missions. I'll just pretend you don't exist. Whether you go into standby mode or shut down is up to you." Higashino Kanade waved his hand impatiently.

Request denied! This system's mission is to cultivate the host into the strongest Hokage. Even if the host is unwilling, this system will issue missions according to protocol.

"Get lost! This is coercion! Have you ever considered my feelings?!"

Objection invalid. This system retains all rights of interpretation. A novice mission will now be issued.

Ding! System novice mission triggered!

Mission Name: The Murderer in the Night

Time Limit: 7 days

(Exceeding the time limit will be considered mission failure.)

Description: Under the night sky of Kan'mu City, tales of a murderer have spread. Your parents were also unfortunate victims. As their child, you swear to avenge them and personally kill the murderer.

Mission Reward: One Bronze Treasure Chest

Mission Failure: Death!

(Though the host is trash, this system is still willing to die with you. Are you moved?)

Moved my ass!

Feeling the information flooding into his mind, Higashino Kanade cursed out the system's entire family tree again.

Higashino Kanade no longer wanted to work hard. All he wanted now was to live off a woman, but the system's appearance had dealt him a vicious slap across the face.

It felt like finishing a day of overtime, being exhausted to the point of death and wanting to crawl into bed for some rest, only for your boss to suddenly call and order you back to work overtime—with no way to refuse.

Now that things had come to this, Higashino Kanade knew that nothing he did could change his fate. Since he could not resist, he could only lie back and enjoy it. After all, Higashino Kanade was afraid of death too.

"System, what is this Bronze Treasure Chest in the rewards? Can it give me a Sharingan?"

Even if he had never eaten pork, he had at least seen pigs run. Before transmigrating, Higashino Kanade had read plenty of web novels and was familiar with the usual system-story tropes.

For the sake of his future life, Higashino Kanade felt it necessary to understand the system's reward structure. Intelligence was very important to a ninja.

Theoretically, it is possible. Reward chests are divided from lowest to highest into Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Diamond. They may contain weapons, items, ninjutsu scrolls, bloodline limits, or tailed beasts. The higher the grade of the chest, the better its rewards. A Bronze Treasure Chest can theoretically yield a One-Tomoe Sharingan.

So that was how it was.

Higashino Kanade nodded. If he worked hard to complete missions, it might not be impossible for him to become Otsutsuki Kanade in the future.

"I imagine the higher-grade chests come with much harder missions." Higashino Kanade began drawing conclusions from the pattern.

Mission difficulty is determined based on the host's strength. The greater the difficulty, the higher the grade of the reward chest.

Host, a friendly reminder: you have one Novice Gift Pack. Would you like to claim it?

"Claim it! Of course I'll claim it! If I pass up a freebie, I'm your grandson!"

Higashino Kanade truly could not bring himself to say anything nice about this damn system.

The next moment, a bright ball of light appeared before Higashino Kanade. As the light faded, a familiar bag came into view.

Infinite Ninja Tool Bag

Description: This ninja tool bag contains several Kunai, shuriken, Explosive Tags, Military Rations Pills, blank scrolls, Smoke Bombs, wire, and other essential ninja tools. Considering that ninja tools cannot be replenished in this world, the tool bag will refresh any lost ninja tools at exactly midnight every day.

"Holy shit, a divine artifact!"

As the item's information poured into his mind, Higashino Kanade reached out with his small hand and firmly grabbed the ninja tool bag. Opening it, he found Kunai and shuriken in abundance. Their workmanship was excellent too, even better than the items sold at Tenten's family ninja tool shop.

Higashino Kanade took out a Kunai and skillfully spun it in a beautiful flourish. "Sure enough, only weapons can give me a sense of security. The system doesn't seem so awful after all!"

Ordinary ninja tools might not seem like much to others, but to Higashino Kanade, they were divine artifacts. Ninja tools were not cheap in the Naruto world!

Take Explosive Tags, common in ninja battles, for example. Even the cheapest one cost 300 ryo. One ryo was equivalent to ten yen, while a genin could generally only earn one to two thousand ryo from a mission. Throwing out just a few Explosive Tags meant working an entire mission for nothing.

As for Konan, who could produce six hundred billion Explosive Tags to deal with Obito, Higashino Kanade was willing to call her the richest woman in the ninja world!

For one, Higashino Kanade did not have much money. For another, the Nasuverse did not exactly have ninja tool shops. The significance of the Infinite Ninja Tool Bag to Higashino Kanade was obvious.

After all, could you even call yourself a ninja if you did not throw shuriken and Kunai in battle???

After hiding the ninja tool bag beneath his pillow, Higashino Kanade began considering the mission.

The reward was a Bronze-grade treasure chest, which meant the murderer in Kan'mu City was definitely no ordinary person. With Higashino Kanade's current strength, killing them would likely be difficult. He needed a plan.

Rainy day.

Near the outskirts in the northern part of Kan'mu City stood a dense bamboo forest planted by human hands. Within the deep bamboo grove, a smooth stone path carved by humans wound onward, narrow and long.

At the end of the stone path, in the deepest part of the bamboo forest, stood an enormous Japanese-style residence.

Most of the residence was built from bamboo, orderly yet elegant. A large wooden gate stood at its entrance, with two bright incandescent lamps hanging before it and bringing a sliver of light to the shadowy bamboo grove.

Such a massive estate could not have been built without considerable wealth. The owner of this land was one of Kan'mu City's most prominent families—the Ryougi Family.

Not far from the Ryougi Family's gate, rainwater mixed with blood flowed along the cracks between the stones of the paved path. On some unknown step lay a Headless Corpse, blood gushing from its neck. Beside it rolled a severed head, its face twisted in extreme pain and terror, every feature speaking of the suffering its owner had endured before death.

Beside the corpse, a young girl stood quietly, utterly motionless.

6. First Clash with Ryougi Shiki

The girl wore a pink yukata. Rain struck her clothes, outlining her graceful figure.

At first glance, her face was beautiful, yet upon a second look, it appeared handsome as well—a face possessing an intensely androgynous beauty. Though still young, she was undoubtedly destined to become a peerless beauty.

Yet when faced with such a bloody and cruel sight, this beauty did not scream and flee like an ordinary girl. Instead, she stood silently where she was, allowing the spurting blood to splash over her body. Her hollow eyes stared at the Headless Corpse, as though she were enjoying it all.

How many times had this been now? Another corpse had appeared before me. Did Shiki do this?

Even as she enjoyed the scene, the girl named Ryougi Shiki was confused. "Shiki" was the other personality within her.

Ryougi Shiki wanted to kill. She wanted to experience the sensation of a blade entering a human body. This desire had become especially strong lately, born from the murderous impulse within her.

But desire was only desire. Humans were creatures capable of restraining their desires. Ryougi Shiki herself did not want to kill, and she was certain that she had never killed anyone. Yet the corpses that kept appearing before her made her suspect whether the other self had done it.

Ryougi Shiki was the other personality inside her, one with murderous impulses. It would not be strange if Ryougi Shiki suddenly killed someone one day. However, Ryougi Shiki was only a secondary personality and did not control the body. Without Ryougi Shiki's permission, Ryougi Shiki could not possibly use her body to kill.

But then what was with these corpses?

If the murderer was not Ryougi Shiki, who was it?

Could the murderer recently appearing in Kan'mu City be herself?

Ryougi Shiki fell into deep self-doubt, considering the possibility that Ryougi Shiki had taken control of her body without her knowledge and gone out to kill.

Clack, clack—

The sound of hard shoe soles striking the stone path rang out, exceptionally clear within the deep bamboo forest.

Ryougi Shiki turned her head and saw a mysterious figure about 1.4 meters tall, their entire body hidden beneath a yellow raincoat.

The mysterious figure approached at an unhurried pace. Bloodwater flowing down the stone steps reached his feet, but he did not care in the slightest. When he reached a certain distance, the figure raised his head and surveyed the scene.

From above, Ryougi Shiki could finally see the mysterious figure's true face.

It was a cute yet handsome face that had not yet shed its childishness. The boy's features were exquisite, far more attractive than any celebrity's. His wet, long hair clung to the sides of his face, lending him an unworldly, ethereal air.

The boy's eyes were amber-like brownish-black, clear and innocent, making people instinctively favor him. Yet strangely, his gaze carried a weathered exhaustion that someone his age should not possess, like an old monk who had seen through all worldly affairs.

"Did you kill this person?" the boy asked blandly, breaking the silence of the bamboo forest.

"Who are you?"

Ryougi Shiki's hand unconsciously moved toward the dagger hidden in her sleeve. A boy who could remain so calm before such a gruesome scene was far too strange, far too abnormal.

"On January 23rd, a couple was killed by the murderer who has recently emerged. According to the police handling the case, the two victims put up fierce resistance before their deaths, and the murderer's arm was scratched."

As the boy spoke, his gaze passed through Ryougi Shiki's wide sleeve. Something like a bandage was wrapped around her fair, smooth arm.

Ryougi Shiki instinctively withdrew the arm the boy had been watching. Her arm had indeed been injured recently.

"The murderer did not know one thing: the dead couple left behind a child who had just turned twelve. That child was me."

Suddenly, a chill crawled up Ryougi Shiki's spine and reached her neck. Looking at the boy staring at her, she felt as though a wild beast had fixed its eyes upon her.

Ryougi Shiki immediately drew a short blade from her sleeve, its cold edge pointing directly at the boy. "Did you come here to kill me?"

The boy did not answer. Instead, he pulled a strangely shaped weapon from somewhere behind his back. It drew a beautiful arc through his hand, its sharp blade glinting with bone-chilling cold light.

What rotten luck!

Ryougi Shiki cursed inwardly before declaring fiercely, "Don't think I won't attack just because you're a child. You can still leave now."

The only response she received was the boy lunging forward.

The boy moved swiftly, like a ghost in the rainy night. In just a few breaths, he crossed more than a dozen steps and rushed before Ryougi Shiki.

Ryougi Shiki was startled by his speed. Facing the strange weapon thrusting toward her, she gritted her teeth and stabbed her short blade mercilessly toward the boy's shoulder.

But Ryougi Shiki's attack missed. Like an experienced veteran, the boy easily evaded her attack as though he had foreseen it.

The next instant, a sharp Kunai was pressed against Ryougi Shiki's chin. The victor had been decided!

Feeling the chill against her chin, Ryougi Shiki could not believe that she had lost so easily to a child. Her proud nature made her feel an unprecedented sense of humiliation.

Though she wanted to fight this boy again, in a life-or-death situation like this, she understood that if she did not say something soon, she would truly die for nothing.

"I didn't kill him!" Ryougi Shiki said stubbornly.

Ryougi Shiki knew her words had little credibility. Even she herself suspected that she had killed the man. She had already prepared to defend herself, but the boy's next action left her utterly stunned.

"I know you didn't kill him."

The boy withdrew his weapon, having not harmed even a single hair on Ryougi Shiki's head.

???

Ryougi Shiki stared at the boy in disbelief. That was it? The person standing before you might be the murderer!

"How did you determine that I'm not the murderer?" Ryougi Shiki touched the chin that had just been pinned by the weapon.

"Because you have no killing intent."

"Killing intent?"

"That's right! When someone wants to kill another person, their aura changes. If you were the murderer, that strike just now would definitely have been made with the determination to kill me. But it wasn't. And judging by how stiff your movements were, I'd say you've never killed anyone before."

The boy's Amber-like Eyes reflected Ryougi Shiki's figure, as though they could see straight through her.

"Isn't it too arbitrary to judge whether someone is a murderer based solely on whether they have killing intent?" Although being seen through by the boy irritated her, Ryougi Shiki wanted even more to hear his reasoning and determine whether she herself was truly a suspect.

"True. Something as vague and mysterious as killing intent cannot count as evidence. To prove whether you're the murderer, we need something more convincing."

The boy walked past Ryougi Shiki and came before the Headless Corpse. His expression did not change in the slightest. As though he had seen such things countless times before, he began inspecting the body.

"The dead can speak too. He can prove whether you killed anyone."

"Oh, right. Let's introduce ourselves. My name is Higashino Kanade. And you?"

"Ryougi Shiki."

7. Higashino Kanade's Plan

"Oh, I found something remarkable."