Three Years

Three years later.

Night, within the Land of Fire.

Dark clouds covered the moon. The wind howled through the dense forest, and the bleak autumn gusts drowned out the usual clamor of birds, beasts, and insects.

Outside a bandit hideout, Uchiha Izumi watched Katsuo slowly approach with an infant in his arms.

Behind him, the hideout was deathly silent. Other than the howling autumn wind, there was not another sound. The thick stench of blood drifted out the moment he stepped from the hideout and reached Uchiha Izumi's nose.

There were many bandit hideouts like this within the Land of Fire. Such dens had another name: "Genin training grounds."

Recently, Uchiha Izumi had been taking him to clear out such bandit hideouts. He wanted Katsuo to see blood and adapt to the profession of a ninja ahead of time!

Including this one, tonight's tally had reached five bandit hideouts. No fewer than a hundred bandits had died by his hand!

Although these people deserved to die, they were still over a hundred lives. Katsuo was filled with guilt. He felt like an executioner!

His blood was gradually growing colder, his heart gradually harder. Every time he struck, he became more precise. He wanted to lessen the pain these bandits suffered when they died!

From the trembling discomfort of his first kill to his current steadiness and proficiency, he was adapting to slaughter at an astonishing speed!

An aura of indifference, numbness, and brutality began to linger around him.

It was the aura of a killer!

Tonight, he had broken into the bandit leader's room and killed the sleeping leader, only to wake a woman beside him.

The woman claimed she had been captured by the bandits and tried to make Katsuo spare her.

Katsuo gave no reply and merely watched her quietly. He saw hatred in her eyes. This woman was trying to deceive him!

After a long while, seeing that Katsuo had no intention of sparing her, the woman instead begged him to spare her month-old child. Then, without hesitation, she chose to kill herself before him!

As he watched her warm blood splatter across his body, his heart shook violently!

Seeing the baby girl sleeping beside her, he ultimately could not bring himself to strike!

One of a ninja's rules was to pull out the weeds by the roots and leave no future trouble. Katsuo had violated that rule!

"You are not a qualified ninja..."

Katsuo remained silent and did not refute Uchiha Izumi's words.

"But you are a good person!"

Uchiha Izumi added.

Looking at the bright red blood covering his body, Katsuo first gave a self-mocking laugh, then burst into wild laughter.

His voice was filled with sorrow and helplessness!

"Ha ha ha... Izumi-sensei, you really know how to joke. Are there any truly good people among ninjas? We're nothing but a bunch of shadowy executioners!"

He now thoroughly understood the profession of a ninja. He knew that even the kind-hearted, hot-blooded protagonist from the Original Work, Naruto Uzumaki, had likely taken no few lives himself!

Only a ninja who had seen blood could be called a true ninja. This was a hard requirement in Konoha, and throughout the ninja world.

Many things were not as beautiful as they appeared on the surface. A ninja was, by definition, an assassin who dwelled in the shadows, a killer who could not stand in the light, someone scorned by others. It was only that anime that had glorified this profession!

The Japanese always like to turn ugly, cold-blooded things upside down and beautify them into righteous passion. Ninjas are like that, and so is that pirate series!

Katsuo thought to himself. At that moment, he suddenly felt an intense disgust toward the profession of ninja.

Although he had begun to resist the profession of ninja, he was trapped in it and could not break free... Only by continuously growing stronger and accumulating power could he possibly transform from a "ninja" into a "strong person"!

"Izumi-sensei, could you help me find an orphanage or somewhere similar to settle this child?"

Katsuo asked seriously.

Uchiha Izumi looked at him blandly, then took the baby girl into his arms and said:

"This is a burden. You should not have kept her. A being like this is like a faint spark. Perhaps she will quietly go out in a strong wind, but there is also a slight chance that she may set the plains ablaze... As a ninja, you should sever this kind of karma!"

At those words, Katsuo turned around and headed toward Konoha.

"I ended this bandit hideout. I have the right to decide whether they live or die. Showing mercy to the weak is the awareness of a strong person. Have you ever seen a strong person fear or be wary of the weak? Her mother gave her life for her. She has the right to live."

"So, please, Izumi-sensei!"

Katsuo said with his back to him.

The woman's maternal radiance reminded him of his mother in this life.

"Fine, fine, I'll do as you say..."

Uchiha Izumi agreed lazily, but as he looked at the baby girl, his eyes showed no emotion and remained filled with piercing coldness!

"This is my bottom line as a person!"

Katsuo suddenly stopped and looked back. A pair of blood-red eyes emerged, the tomoe within both pupils fixing themselves on Uchiha Izumi. The pupils at the center of the tomoe abruptly contracted!

Those eyes carried his fierce will!

"!!!"

"Don't worry... I'll definitely take care of it!"

Uchiha Izumi hurriedly promised. At that moment, he understood Katsuo's resolve, and the coldness in his eyes immediately vanished.

"Thank you!"

Katsuo slowly disappeared into the darkness.

"..."

"That guy's eyes are becoming more and more terrifying, especially that look combined with killing intent!"

Uchiha Izumi let out a long breath and muttered.

To be honest, he was somewhat afraid of Katsuo's eyes, and even more afraid of his terrifying rate of growth.

Over the past three years, he had witnessed all of Katsuo's changes. It was precisely because of this that he had developed a fear of this child that he should never have had!

Looking at the baby girl in his arms, Uchiha Izumi frowned and sighed.

"What a hassle!"

He intended to keep his promise and find a reliable orphanage to take in the orphan.

The next day, at the Ninja Academy, students poured out of the classroom as the dismissal bell rang.

Inside the classroom, Katsuo and Mikoto were alone.

Looking at Katsuo, who sat with his eyes closed in concentration, Mikoto's large eyes were filled with curiosity.

He's becoming more and more different. Why has he always had such a frightening aura lately? What does he do after he goes home?

Mikoto wondered.

"Hm? Why are you staring at me?"

Katsuo opened his eyes and glanced at her sideways.

"It's nothing... Can't I look at you? You eat my family's food and spend my Grandfather's money, but I'm not even allowed to look at you?"

Mikoto asked with a smile.

"..."

Katsuo's expression stiffened slightly at her words... After all, one's mouth went soft after eating another's food, and one's hand went short after taking another's things. He truly did not dare put on a sour face for Miss Mikoto... After all, he had done both...

Even if he really had not been in a very good state lately!

"What have you been doing lately? Why do the Inuzuka Clan members and their dogs not dare come near you anymore? Yesterday, I even saw Inuzuka Maru badmouthing you behind your back. It seemed like he was telling others to stay away from you... Everyone seems more afraid of you now!"

Mikoto lowered her voice.

Katsuo did not care in the slightest. He leaned close to Mikoto's round face and asked curiously:

"Then why aren't you afraid of me? Why don't you stay away from me?"

Seeing Katsuo so close to her, Mikoto's face reddened slightly, and her heart thumped wildly.

"Why should I be afraid of you? It's not like you can eat me, right?"

Katsuo chuckled at her words but said nothing more.