Bullying the Weak

Tanzaku Street, Sweet Honey Izakaya.

Jiraiya lay sprawled on a leather sofa, embracing two scantily clad, seductive Rabbit-eared Girls who were acting spoiled.

"Open the drinks, open the drinks! This lord will cover your sales quota today!"

"Mmm~ I like Little Jirai the best." The Rabbit-eared Girls hugged Jiraiya's head from either side, squeezing his face with their chests.

Bottles of alcohol lay haphazardly on the table, yet were continuously refilled. Jiraiya's hearty laughter echoed through the private room before he finally slumped onto the table, clutching an old photograph.

The shoji door slid open, and four burly men wearing eye patches and carrying spiked clubs entered. They unceremoniously laid the heavily intoxicated Jiraiya flat on the floor, allowing the Rabbit-eared Girls to grope for money.

After a thorough search, they only found a frog-shaped wallet containing less than 20,000 Ryo.

"How is this possible? Did this old man already spend all his money?"

One of the Rabbit-eared Girls pointed to a resting alcove in the room. "There's a boy inside."

The men immediately strode over and yanked open the door, their attention falling on Naruto, who was asleep on the tatami mats with two bags serving as pillows at his head and feet.

They squatted down to grab the bags, but after two tugs, they couldn't dislodge them. Naruto's legs remained firmly planted.

"Is it tied to him?"

"No."

The four men separated, intending to lift Naruto's legs, but no matter how they tried, they couldn't move him.

"That's strange."

At that moment, Naruto, before their eyes, suddenly moved. He instantly shifted from lying down to sitting up, hugging the two bags. His slightly red-rimmed eyes blinked, proving he had indeed just been woken from his sleep.

The men put on leering, threatening smiles. "Hand the bags over to the uncles, your elder hasn't paid his bill."

Naruto, valuing his sleep for his physical development, suppressed his annoyance and said, "Bring me the bill."

"Brat! I told you to hand them over..."

Bang!

One of the men's faces was slammed into the floor, blood gushing from his mouth.

"Ah!" The Rabbit-eared Girls screamed in fright. "Help! A customer is causing trouble!"

The remaining three men's expressions changed drastically. They straightened their weapons and retreated.

Thump-thump-thump!

The sound of hurried footsteps filled the air as eight ronin, adorned with tattoos and carrying katanas, flooded through the shoji door.

"Who's causing trouble!"

Their gazes fell upon the blood on the floor, and they charged in unison, surrounding Naruto.

Naruto's eyes gradually lost their patience.

Sometimes he felt the world was truly difficult to communicate with. Paying for services was only natural, and he genuinely intended to pay, as the ladies had worked hard to provide emotional value.

He just wanted to see the bill.

Why did they have to curse and threaten him?

Bullying the weak?

He chuckled, anger flashing in his eyes. "This is the last time I'm saying this: bring me the bill."

Under the table, Jiraiya rolled over and let out a loud snore, mumbling incoherent drunken words.

The ronin leader pulled out a stack of papers, glanced at the bottles on the table, scribbled down a string of numbers, and presented it to Naruto with a contemptuous, insulting look. "Medical expenses plus service fee for drinks."

Looking at the string of zeros, Naruto understood.

These were no longer ordinary citizens; they were thugs!

Facing thugs! He had to strike with all his might!

His fist flew out before anyone could smirk or react.

A head exploded with a splat, spraying blood across half the room, staining the ceiling, floor, and the terrified, screaming faces.

The ronin's fierce appearances were now twisted into expressions of utter horror, uglier than anything imaginable, but their fear was real, as real as the tender breasts of the blood-splattered girls.

The previously aggressive thugs turned and fled, scrambling in panic.

Naruto was annoyed. He couldn't sleep well.

This place was clearly going to be noisy. He needed to find a quiet spot to sleep quickly, or he'd be groggy tomorrow morning.

He slung the two bags over his shoulder and walked out.

Jiraiya, who had been snoring moments ago, was now standing. His face was still flushed with alcohol, but his eyes were remarkably clear.

"Actually, teaching them a lesson is enough. As long as you display your power, they'll naturally grovel and beg for mercy."

"Troublesome."

Naruto had no intention of dealing with trash. He had initially just wanted to pay and go back to sleep, but the trash had refused his benevolence.

"Those who bully the weak should be prepared to be annihilated by someone stronger." He walked quickly, intending to find a rooftop or a tree to make do.

Jiraiya heard Naruto's extreme statement once again. He couldn't say he agreed with it wholeheartedly, but he also had no way to refute it.

He had seriously debated with Naruto whether it was worth killing, but Naruto had silenced him with a single sentence.

"Looting and rape are both crimes. If you can tolerate looters, does that mean you can forgive when your own loved ones are raped?"

Jiraiya was a man who, despite his lecherous nature, greatly respected women.

The izakaya devolved into chaos. The two of them left easily and leaped out of the street.

Tanzaku Street, as a famous entertainment district in the Land of Fire known for its food, drink, and gambling, had regular patrol guards, many of whom were retired or wandering ninja.

At this moment, a man in a high-collared white trench coat and a bald man in a suit and tie jumped down from a neon sign and entered the Sweet Honey Izakaya.

The owner greeted the man in the trench coat, "Mr. Gantetsu."

Gantetsu, a retired Chunin from Iwagakure, one of the Five Great Nations' villages of the Land of Earth, now worked security for the yakuza.

"What happened?"

"A customer came in, didn't want to pay in the end, killed someone, and ran. He's probably a ninja." The owner pointed to a woman with a pale face, frantically scrubbing bloodstains from her chest and face. "You can ask her for the specifics."

Even though the woman was already clean, she still scrubbed vigorously, her skin turning red as if she had a psychological disorder.

"It was that boy! That boy did it! Just one punch, and the person's head was gone! It was all blood, the whole room was covered in blood!"

The bald man looked at Gantetsu. "Boss, I'm afraid it was a ninja."

Gantetsu nodded. This sort of thing was common and not particularly unusual. "I understand. Is there any other information?"

Another woman said, "That old man was looking for a woman with a photograph. A very beautiful woman."

Gantetsu frowned. "Can you draw her?"

"We'll try."

The two women leaned over the counter, picked up paper and pens, and after a moment of back-and-forth, sketched a likeness. Her deep cleavage and the diamond pattern on her forehead were particularly striking.

The bald man recognized her at once. "Boss! Isn't that the big spender who brought a box of money and played at Dairo's gambling house!"

"Hmm." Gantetsu entered the private room and examined the gruesome scene, checking the corpses. His expression grew increasingly grave.

The attack was too decisive and brutal; even he might not have been able to do it.

The owner said, "Mr. Gantetsu, you must catch this villain! Our shop lost at least hundreds of thousands of Ryo in revenue today!"

The bald man said, "Don't worry, our boss is a legendary Dark Ninja!"

Gantetsu remained silent, then turned and said to the bald man outside the izakaya, "Nagashi, gather the men. I'll go guard that big spender. If they know each other, they'll come looking eventually."

"Yes, Boss!"

Gantetsu leaped onto a sign and moved swiftly across the rooftops, finally stopping at a mansion with a "Cho-han" curtain hanging outside.

As he walked further in, the noise of people grew, and they crowded the hallway, watching a gambling room.

Inside the room, people on both sides were smiling broadly, greedily staring at a stunning woman in a green robe emblazoned with the character for "gambling."

The woman knelt on a straw mat, picked up the dice cup, and shook it vigorously, making a clattering sound.

Her beige hair, tied into two ponytails, swayed rapidly over her magnificent, ample bosom.

Finally, with a powerful slam, she opened her bright eyes and declared, "Bets down!"