Not a word was spoken all night.
The next day, Kyosuke ordered a table full of sumptuous breakfast.
As he put it, he was still growing, so he could make do with anything except his food. That had to be perfect.
"Such wasteful extravagance." Mito, as usual, couldn't resist mocking him. But it didn't take long for her to get her comeuppance.
"What?" Kyosuke looked at her in confusion. "I ordered this with my own money. If you want some, go buy it yourself."
"Fine. You're ruthless." The girl with the bun pouted and sat off to the side. She took some dry rations from her pack and immediately bit into them hard.
It was as if she were imagining the flatbread was some despicable Uchiha.
"Take it easy. That's your food for the next few days." Kyosuke, his mouth slick with grease, still found time to twist the knife.
"Mind your own business!"
"Fine. Just don't come begging me later."
Watching the girl's retreating back, Kyosuke grinned wickedly. That little girl's so proud. I need to properly discipline—no, help her grow.
Otherwise, she'd suffer a serious setback someday.
He pulled the Sealing Scroll from his pocket, found the entry marked "Food," and packed away the meal the owner had prepared.
It was an extravagant way to do things. A Sealing Scroll was worth more than a hundred times the cost of the food, and no ordinary person would use one like this.
But Kyosuke wasn't some ascetic. If he could enjoy himself, he wasn't about to suffer for no reason.
As a Legion Commander, he could carry a large supply of blank scrolls.
It was the clan's money, anyway. He might as well take them.
Little did he know, someone with an ulterior motive had witnessed his actions.
Two young kids, using a Sealing Scroll to pack away their food.
They might as well have carved "I'm a fat sheep" on their foreheads.
If the watcher didn't take a shot at robbing them, he'd be doing his profession a disservice.
Before long, a gang of bandits had surrounded Kyosuke and Mito.
"Listen up, kid. Come with me if you know what's good for you. Otherwise, I'll stick you with the white blade going in and the green blade coming out—I'll puncture your gallbladder!"
Kyosuke sucked in a breath. Had banditry really become this sophisticated?
They were threatening to puncture his gallbladder. Was he supposed to be scared to death?
Clearly, the young lady Mito didn't share his talent for entertaining himself.
She'd already been fuming, and now a gang of clueless bandits had crossed her path. They had only themselves to blame for being so blind.
Chakra burst forth. The quiet girl transformed into a ferocious beast and charged into the crowd, sending men tumbling everywhere.
Kyosuke watched from the side, shouting in dismay. "Hey, that's too violent! You're so bloodthirsty!"
"They only wanted to puncture our gallbladders. How could you go and stab them in the kidneys?"
"You're going to be single forever at this rate."
The few bandits who remained felt like crying.
Big brother, please stop talking. At this rate, we won't even have our other kidney left.
Grabbing the middle-aged bandit in front of her, Mito demanded coldly, "Tell me, how many accomplices do you have? What other heinous things have you done?"
"P-please spare me!" The middle-aged bandit put on a miserable expression, concealing the murderous glint in his eyes quite well.
Just as Mito was about to torture him, the seemingly ordinary bandit suddenly released Chakra on par with an elite Chunin.
In less than a second, he turned the tables. Now Mito was the one at the mercy of his blade.
"You!" The Princess stared at him, eyes wide. She hadn't expected to be tricked so easily.
Besides, if he was this strong, why had he stooped to robbing passersby?
Pressing a Kunai to the girl's neck, the middle-aged man sneered darkly. "Just do as you're told. Now that you've seen what I can do, there's only one way this ends: you die."
"People have to pay for their stupidity."
"Listen to that." Kyosuke looked at the girl with exasperation. "He's absolutely right. Take his words to heart. Got it?"
I'll remember your grandpa! The Chunin bandit and Mito, now his hostage, were both dumbfounded.
Was this really the time to be joking around with me?
He was about to threaten them further when the man suddenly realized the boy in front of him had disappeared.
It wasn't a burst of speed. He had simply vanished from where he'd been standing.
"Looking for me?"
The teasing voice by his ear filled the man with terror. He turned his head on instinct.
Then he saw a pair of eerie crimson eyes.
Clang! The Kunai fell to the ground. The man stood motionless like a walking corpse, letting his hostage slip free.
"Genjutsu?" Mito frowned. She hadn't expected him to be skilled in Genjutsu, too.
For someone so young, he was almost too versatile.
Ignoring Mito's doubts, Kyosuke looked at the bandit and asked calmly, "Who are you?"
He wasn't a naïve girl with little worldly experience. The middle-aged ninja had clearly appeared for a reason.
In any case, they'd already crossed paths. It couldn't hurt to ask for details.
"My name is Jichiro Sarutobi. I'm a Chunin of the Sarutobi Clan. I was ordered to intercept merchants along the road and raise war funds for the clan."
The Sarutobi Clan was one of the most prestigious clans in the Land of Fire. After Konoha was founded, its clan members even became students of Tobirama Senju.
One of them was the future Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Who would've thought that a renowned clan from the Warring States Period would be involved in such a filthy business behind the scenes?
Even Kyosuke felt ashamed on their behalf, let alone Uzumaki Mito.
"What are you going to do?" Mito watched him, as if she were hoping for something.
Kyosuke didn't say a word. He flicked his Kunai and killed the man on the spot.
"You're just passing through. Don't tell me you want to play the hero?"
Seeing the measly two hundred points he'd earned, Kyosuke scoffed and turned to continue down the road. "Come on. Unless you want to keep making enemies of the Uzumaki Clan."
His words hit her right where it hurt.
The Sarutobi Clan was powerful, and their use of summoning beasts made them unpredictable in battle. It was said that the clan had ties to the Three Great Sage Lands.
If they provoked the Sarutobi Clan, the Uzumaki Clan would hardly escape the consequences.
"I really didn't think this through."
They continued in silence. Before long, the two neared the eastern border of the Land of Fire.
Unbeknownst to them, someone had already begun tailing them in secret.
Even someone as powerful as Kyosuke hadn't noticed anything amiss. It was hard to tell whether their pursuer was exceptionally strong or had some special way of hiding.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Mito finally asked the important question.
"Looking for allies. You knew that already, didn't you?" Kyosuke blinked and deliberately played dumb.
With no other choice, Mito ignored him again.
She wanted to see what kind of ally he could find.
There were forces that could stand against the Uzumaki Clan, but what made him think he could persuade them to act?
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