Immortal Body?

Happy times always seem to pass too quickly. A cold wind was blowing across the open-air balcony, and the noise around the Villa was gradually fading away.

Shuichi and Kurenai had been drinking together for nearly two hours, and various fish dishes had been served on three separate tables, though most of them ended up in Shuichi's stomach.

"You have a surprisingly high alcohol tolerance. Looks like I'll have to spend a lot of money on you in the future!" Shuichi said, his face slightly flushed.

He glanced at the table and the floor; empty bottles were everywhere. The two of them had already drunk more than half of the case of liquor they had brought over—that was almost several times the drinking capacity of a normal adult.

"Uh-huh..."

A soft humming came from beside her ear. Shuichi turned her head and saw that Hong Zheng's eyes were closed and she was not speaking, or perhaps she wanted to say something but couldn't express herself clearly. She was probably only one breath away from being completely drunk.

Although she had a huge fertility for a woman, she still couldn't compare to someone like Shuichi, who had abnormal physical abilities.

"Hiccup..."

Shuichi let out a burp filled with the smell of alcohol, and his bloated stomach instantly felt much better. After getting up, he created several Earth Clones to clean up the scene, and then picked up Hong with both hands and walked into the house.

"This... is he going to assault another girl while drunk?" Kotaro on the rooftop was filled with conflicting thoughts. "This is outrageous! As a champion of justice, should I stop him?"

Shuichi had no idea that he had become a pervert in the eyes of a certain parrot. He quickly went into the master bedroom, put Hong on the super king-size bed, covered her with a blanket, and left the room.

After taking a few minutes to shower, he felt the effects of the alcohol hadn't completely worn off, so he went back to the second-floor balcony to sit quietly. Kotaro finally couldn't resist and rushed down, shouting:

"Shuichi, you beast! Have you already... pierced through that girl?"

"What the hell are you talking about! 'revealing'?" Shuichi was practically laughing in anger, yelling at it, "What can you do in less than 10 minutes? A man like me won't take his clothes off for less than 50 minutes!"

He felt deeply insulted that this damned bird would mistake him for a "quick shooter." "And where did you hear about our human stuff?"

"Well... it's just that I'm very knowledgeable," Kotaro said sheepishly.

Having spent many years in the Land of Fire, standing on different rooftops Tenten, its bed-listening skills are truly exceptional.

"In my memory, those nobles only lasted a few minutes... and even if you didn't move, you definitely made a move; you just touched Hong's waist!"

Shuichi was speechless. This was an insult to the allure of his Purple Aurora. If he really wanted to play with the ball, he could have just asked. How could a gentleman like him possibly resort to stealth? "Looks like your damn bird needs a good beating again!"

He stood up, squinting, and his gaze gave Kotaro a bad feeling. "What do you want?"

"Nothing much? Your liveliness is making things difficult for me, so I have to tell you to be quiet." Shuichi grinned maliciously. "It's just a sterilization surgery. Don't worry, with my Medical Ninjutsu skills, it won't hurt much!"

"No...!" Kotaro shuddered and began to flee frantically, his colorful body flashing and darting through the night, attracting attention like a streak of light.

Meanwhile, Shuichi followed below at a leisurely pace, occasionally using the Flying Thunder God Technique to leap to its side and make grappling motions, keeping Kotaro constantly on the move and giving it a good workout.

After confirming their relationship, Hong and the other person did not publicly inform others, keeping it a tacit secret between them.

Whenever he had free time, Shuichi would pull her into his team, and the frequency of them carrying out missions together increased significantly.

Since they were already quite familiar with each other, no one suspected that their relationship had become unusual...

As the new year approaches, ordinary people, busy making a living, begin to hustle and bustle again.

On the road northward from the Land of Hot Springs, a procession stretching for dozens of meters was making its way, with various large and small boxes packed close together, and the workers' breaths were particularly noticeable in the cold weather.

Walking at the front and side of the group was a female ninja wearing Konoha hat, while in the middle was a short boy who occasionally scanned his surroundings warily, blending in with the large number of adults and appearing inconspicuous.

"Time flies! Ten years have passed in the blink of an eye!" Inoue Danza said with a sigh, his temples beginning to gray, indicating he had entered middle age. "I didn't expect that you, Shuichi-kun, would have a personal disciple. Is this the legacy of Konoha?"

Seeing Itachi's somewhat mature demeanor, he seemed to recall the scene when Shuichi went on a mission with Orochimaru.

Shuichi, who was standing next to him, patted the snow off his hat and replied with a smile, "Yes, this kid is quite outstanding. Even I might not have been better than him back then."

The caravan's destination was in the eastern part of the Land of Frost. Shuichi personally took charge, bringing along Yūhi Kurenai and Itachi to form a three-person escort team to accept the mission.

"Speaking of which, the surrounding small countries should have been relatively peaceful these past two years, right? Why are you still offering such a high hiring fee, Uncle Danza?" Shuichi asked curiously. "Could there be some unexpected event on this trip?"

"... I hope everything's alright, but I can't help but worry." Danza explained helplessly, "This route used to be relatively safe, but not long ago, a whole caravan that traveled this route disappeared, including a Chunin. He's probably in grave danger."

Shuichi eyebrow. "Oh? Really, not a single word?"

"No, according to some details of the investigation, the incident occurred in the Land of Hot Springs, not the Land of Frost..."

"Hmm?" Shuichi suddenly interrupted him, and after sensing the situation, said awkwardly, "It seems your information was correct. Quite a few people are heading this way, and they're certainly moving fast."

Inoue Danza: "..."

With top Shinobi World experts in charge, he remained completely calm. In fact, exposing the attackers was a good thing; once Shuichi's squad wiped them out, the trade route would return to normal.

"Everyone, stop! Be on high alert!"

A loud voice rang out from the back of the group, surprising the large group of porters, but they still obediently followed the leader's orders.

The caravan had just crossed a large bridge, and now there were relatively dense forests on both sides. The branches and trunks covered with snowflakes contrasted sharply with the colors, and visibility was not good in such weather.

"Call!"

They had barely stopped when something suddenly flew out of the woods. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a sickle head connected by Steel Cable, which, to the worker's horror, was about to slash at his head.

Itachi sensed the attack immediately, leaped into the air in a flash, drew his short sword and precisely struck the base of the scythe at high speed, deflecting the threat with a "clang".

Before he even landed, three Kunai flew out of his hand in a triangular shape, shooting into the forest along the Steel Cable. The next second, there were two "clanging" sounds, followed by a barely audible sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh.

"Hit?"

Itachi stood still, swords in both hands, his eyes fixed on the front.

The enemy is already quite close, and they've even split up their forces to attack in other directions. This is rather arrogant, showing they're quite confident in their own military strength.

"You all run to the back; I'll hold them off."

Itachi told the workers to get away quickly, but as he spoke, the scythe that had been flung away by the chain trembled and suddenly came crashing down from above at an even faster speed, seemingly about to pierce his head.

"Brush!"

Instead of retreating, Itachi advanced, unleashing a burst of chakra from his feet to dodge the slashes. He quickly crashed into several figures ahead, and the sounds of battle immediately filled the air. "He's just a brat, kill him quickly!"

Seeing Itachi's actions, Inoue Danza said with some concern, "This person doesn't seem friendly. Shuichi-kun, should we go and help them...?"

"Splash, splash..."

Before he could finish speaking, two people rushed out of the surrounding snow and almost simultaneously attacked him. Two broad, thick Horse-Slaying Saber, each over a meter long, slashed horizontally at Shuichi and Danza, their blades gleaming with a faint, cold light.

Despite the powerful waist-slashing attack, Shuichi remained calm, taking a step back towards the Danza and raising both arms to block the blade. "Sizzle!"

The incredibly sharp broadsword failed to harm him in the slightest, leaving the two attackers utterly astonished. Even a steel arm guard would have been severed, so how could this be?

Shuichi parried without stopping, grabbed the back of the blade and yanked it hard. The next moment, he grabbed their wrists and activated his Explosion Release chakra. At the same time, he lightly jumped up, spread his legs, and kicked the enemy's jaw with tremendous force.

Inoue Danza clearly heard a "crack" sound of a spine breaking; the other person's head was probably kicked off, as they were too badly injured to even scream.

"Bang! Bang!"

The two attackers flew several meters and crashed into the snow. Looking over, it was discovered that they were both dressed in simple black clothes with a red triangle in a circle printed on them.

"This is... the so-called Jashin Cult?" Shuichi frowned and walked towards one of the people. He sensed that this guy was still alive despite suffering such a fatal wound.

To his surprise, the man raised his head with a ferocious expression the moment he approached, wielding a large sword with his other hand to strike at Shuichi, gushing blood from his mouth as he cried out, "Accept the punishment of the Lord Evil God!"

"Smack!"

Shuichi kicked the man's wrist first, sending the broadsword spinning several times before embedding itself in the snow. He then bent down, grabbed the man by the neck, and lifted him up, gradually increasing the pressure on his wrist. "Interesting, Immortal Body? Let's see if you can really die!"

"Uh... uh..."

The man, suspected to be a member of Jashin Cult, tried to make a sound, but within seconds his throat was choked shut, and after a while, his body became completely still.

"Dead?" Shuichi slowly released his grip, violently ripping off a Circular Triangle Necklace. He examined it in his palm. "While not Immortal Body, his body seems to have been significantly modified; his physical strength is quite formidable..."