I Don't Lie, So Please Forgive Me If I Said Anything Wrong

"Why did you save me?"

Kakuzu sat quietly before Shirou Emiya.

"Because you're injured."

Emerald-green Chakra shimmered in Shirou Emiya's palm as he watched Kakuzu's broken bones slowly reconnect. "And I just happen to be a Medical Ninja."

"He'll definitely be killed if he goes back."

Madara Uchiha criticized Shirou Emiya's kindness, casually revealing a truth. "Those trash from Waterfall Village would never treat him as a companion. With his pathetic strength, he could still be considered an expert in that little village..."

Madara Uchiha did not think Kakuzu could be mentioned in the same breath as himself, but he could not help recalling his own experiences. He snorted disdainfully. "Hmph. Those narrow-minded fools in the Shinobi World never like seeing someone else's strength surpass their own..."

For example...

That petty bastard Tobirama Senju.

And that sinister petty bastard Tobirama Senju.

And that sinister, despicable petty bastard Tobirama Senju.

Shirou Emiya knew Madara Uchiha was definitely slandering Tobirama Senju in secret, yet he still faintly felt as though he had been stabbed.

While he certainly was not someone who enjoyed slaughtering the innocent, if a powerful person who did slaughter innocents appeared, no one would want to become one of those innocents being slaughtered.

"So they wanted to kill me?"

Kakuzu immediately understood what Madara Uchiha meant. For a moment, he could not find his own direction, and his voice was somewhat heavy. "In this world, what can shinobi like us do besides carry out missions?"

"Of course, kill them!"

Madara Uchiha glanced at Kakuzu, his face full of mockery. "What a complete idiot. Bowing and scraping before the weak is nothing more than trampling on your own life..."

"..."

Kakuzu began to think instinctively.

Usually quiet and fond of thinking, Kakuzu had never allowed his thoughts to be constrained, nor did he hold any particular respect for his superiors.

If someone wanted to kill him, then he would kill them.

Madara Uchiha's reasoning was certainly not wrong.

What fucking captain, what fucking higher-ups, what fucking leader—if they wanted his life, then he could take theirs.

But...

Why had this Medical Ninja saved him?

Was it only because he was a Medical Ninja? In this world filled with deception and slaughter, even Kakuzu, who had always excelled at thinking, could not understand him.

"Do your best to stay alive."

Shirou Emiya healed Kakuzu's injuries, then patted him on the shoulder, signaling that he could leave. "Don't waste my Chakra."

"Hmph..."

"Saving his life..."

"What a waste of Lord Shirou's and my precious time."

Madara Uchiha folded his arms, utterly disdainful toward Kakuzu. Even when mocking him, he could not be bothered to raise his eyes and give him a proper look.

"Thank you..."

Kakuzu was soberly aware that he could not afford to provoke Madara Uchiha. He merely nodded to Shirou Emiya in thanks, then asked in a deep voice, "May I know Lord Shirou's name...?"

"Get lost already!"

Madara Uchiha suddenly flew into a rage, clearly unwilling to waste any more time. The scarlet in his eyes abruptly brightened. "If you've never even heard of such a great figure with that surname, then don't bother hoping to meet Lord Shirou again in the future..."

"I'm Shirou Emiya."

Shirou Emiya's attitude was completely different. He had always been gentle toward patients and did not care that Kakuzu was merely a shinobi from a Small Shinobi Village.

"!!!"

Kakuzu's pupils suddenly contracted.

That name...

Was this a joke?!

That was a legendary great figure!

As a shinobi, Kakuzu had heard stories of Shirou Emiya since childhood. His eyes filled with disbelief. He could scarcely believe that the Shirou Emiya before him was the great figure passed down through generations of legend in the Land of Waterfall!

According to legends left behind from the Ancient Era, when the Land of Waterfall had still been a small village, a strange curse had appeared upon its land. People fell ill with bizarre diseases after eating food and drinking water. The village's population dwindled year after year, and it was soon headed for extinction.

That was until Shirou Emiya, the legendary Medical Ninja of the Shinobi World, arrived in the Land of Waterfall. He cleansed the curse from its land and cured the villagers afflicted by the cursed disease, saving them from the crisis of their village's destruction. Later, that village continued to grow and prosper until it gradually became the Land of Waterfall.

Since tales of Shirou Emiya had spread throughout the Shinobi World, perhaps the Land of Waterfall believed it could not be without stories of this Medical Ninja. Thus, the tale of Shirou Emiya once saving the people of the Land of Waterfall was passed down through the generations.

"Are you really that Lord Shirou?"

Even Kakuzu, who had always considered himself calm and composed, could not settle his emotions.

Yet Madara Uchiha, standing beside Shirou Emiya, would certainly not lie. Even a powerful man like Madara Uchiha was not particularly arrogant in his treatment of Shirou Emiya.

Perhaps only that Lord Shirou possessed such magnanimity.

The shinobi of the Shinobi World had long grown accustomed to slaughter. Even during the era of shinobi villages, conflict was inevitable. Only the legendary Lord Shirou could be so kind.

"Other than the legendary Lord Shirou..."

"Who else could be so tolerant and generous?"

Madara Uchiha sneered at Kakuzu. He had his own motives regarding Shirou Emiya, so he did not mind praising him a little at a time like this.

"Go back early."

Shirou Emiya waved Kakuzu off.

"..."

Kakuzu hesitated where he stood.

There were still many questions in his heart that he wanted to ask.

For example, why had Lord Shirou appeared in this era? Why could he survive after Kakuzu's kunai pierced his heart? Why was his body so strange, like dust and fragments without the slightest trace of life?

"What?"

Madara Uchiha frowned, apparently dissatisfied that the healed Kakuzu still wanted to waste his time. "Was sparing your life today not enough?"

"Perhaps he's lost his way in life!"

Shirou Emiya smiled at Kakuzu, thinking that Kakuzu had fallen into confusion about his life. He offered him an idea. "If you're truly being ostracized by your village and have nothing to do, why not find something to devote your life to again?"

"What is there to devote myself to?"

Kakuzu shook his head, unable to think of anything.

Shirou Emiya stopped the enraged Madara Uchiha and casually suggested, "Why not try saving those who have fallen into suffering..."

"..."

Kakuzu fell silent for a moment.

The man left without looking back, as though he had made some kind of decision.

Kakuzu still wanted to return to the village first and test whether what Madara Uchiha had said was true, because he had always been an obedient and honest subordinate.

If they truly wanted to kill him...

Then he would kill those useless higher-ups.

As for what life would be like after killing the higher-ups, perhaps Lord Shirou Emiya's words were right. A noble person like him certainly would not be wrong.

Only...

He did not know Medical Ninjutsu.

It would not be bad if he could follow Lord Shirou.

However, as a shinobi from a Small Shinobi Village, Kakuzu could not help feeling inferior. He did not think he was qualified to follow such a great figure.

Perhaps...

There was another kind of life.

Kakuzu recalled the essence of a shinobi.

Shinobi earned bounties through commissioned missions. Perhaps he could find ways to earn money and help those in need. That might count as a strange sort of life.

It was simply too slow to earn money through mission commissions alone.

As a shinobi of Waterfall Village, there were pitifully few high-level commissions in the village. They could barely earn any money all year round. Once he fell out with the village and became a wandering rogue shinobi, it would be even harder to make money. He would have to find another way to earn it.

"What a bore..."

Watching Kakuzu's departing back, Madara Uchiha casually asked, "With Lord Shirou's status, was it worth wasting time on that kind of idiot?"

"For me, I suppose it was worth it?"

Shirou Emiya's fingers twitched slightly as he quietly put away a black blood vessel. This black blood vessel was one of the rewards he had received from a mission.

S-Rank Mission: Reveal the ability of an immortal body before Kakuzu. Reward: Earth Grudge Fear (a unique Chakra creation. Earth Grudge Fear can be used to unleash powerful ninjutsu, and can also be used to seize an enemy's heart, thereby gaining the ability to live forever. It can also acquire an enemy's Chakra nature transformations, obtaining up to the five basic nature transformations of fire, wind, earth, water, and lightning. In battle, Earth Grudge Fear fused with different hearts can be split apart individually to participate in combat.)

What a pity...

If he had obtained the power of Earth Grudge Fear in the Ancient Era, he could have found a way to gain immortality and would not have needed to painstakingly arrange so many contingencies.

Still...

It was not too late to gain this power now.

If his luck turned bad in the future and he needed to experience immortality again, this power might become his final method.

"Alright."

Shirou Emiya gathered his thoughts and looked intently at Madara Uchiha. His words seemed somewhat hesitant. "Speaking of which, I'm not very good at lying. If I said anything wrong, please forgive me..."