The Innately Cruel Red-Haired Boy

Feng An looked at Sakura crying beside him and said calmly, "Sasuke's fine. He'll wake up on his own in a day."

Sakura wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Thank you for saving us, Feng An."

"It's nothing. We're classmates."

"By the way, don't you still owe me the terms of our bet?"

Feng An looked at Sakura with a wicked grin.

Sakura's face instantly flushed red.

"No, um, back then, you were the one who didn't do it..."

Ever since she had lost that bet, she had constantly worried about when Feng An would make her fulfill it.

But after she had been assigned to Team 7 and begun training and carrying out missions, she had never seen Feng An again.

She had not expected that when they met for the second time, Feng An would already be so far ahead of them.

She asked uneasily, "D-Do you still want it now?"

Feng An glanced at her barren, underdeveloped area and shook his head.

"I was just joking with you."

Then, carrying the Grass ninja's head, he leaped down from the tree and landed before Fūka and Yudzuki.

"Ah! That's so disgusting! Why are you carrying her head?"

What kind of wild nonsense was that?!

Feng An shot her a glare.

"If you don't know how to talk, then don't talk. Yudzuki, you need to educate her properly. What kind of garbage is filling her head?"

???

What was he talking about?

Yudzuki nodded awkwardly.

Though she had no idea what he meant, Feng An surely had his reasons for saying it.

Feng An then waved at Sakura.

Yudzuki and Fūka followed behind Feng An.

Holding Sasuke in her arms, Sakura stared blankly at Feng An's receding back and murmured to herself.

"Just like when we parted at the Academy last time, when will we meet again...?"

Several hours passed.

"Hey, you freak, how much longer are you going to carry that head around?"

Fūka frowned and asked, covering her nose.

Feng An did not explain.

He did not want to keep carrying a dead person's head either, but he had to find Anko Mitarashi.

Yudzuki and Fūka had no idea what he was trying to do, so they could only follow behind him.

"Ha! Hand over your scrolls!"

Three Amegakure ninjas suddenly sprang out onto the path ahead and blocked the trio's way.

Feng An stopped and glanced at the three men blocking the road, saying irritably, "What now?"

"Ha ha ha! Of course, hand over the scrolls and we'll let you—"

While one of the men was laughing, another man beside him tugged at his clothes from behind.

The man snapped at him impatiently.

"What are you doing?"

Then the other man patted him on the back as well.

"H-He's holding something that looks like a-a-a human head!"

"Quit talking nonsense. Let me take a look."

The man glared at the two of them and looked toward Feng An.

Huh? Where had he gone?

In an instant, Feng An appeared before him and raised the Grass ninja's head with one hand, pressing it against the man's face.

The shriveled Grass ninja's head came into intimate contact with him.

"Can you see it clearly now?"

"Ah!"

The man's pupils constricted. His whole body trembled, and he screamed as he swung a fist at the head before him.

Fortunately, Feng An reacted quickly and kicked the man flying into the distance.

"She was a beauty when she was alive. Getting intimate with you was already your good fortune, and you still wanted to abuse her?"

The remaining two men watched their companion get kicked dozens of meters away, not even daring to blink.

Feng An raised a brow. "If you don't get lost, does that mean you've taken a liking to her too?"

Looking at the shriveled, horrifying head Feng An held, the remaining two men felt a wave of nausea rise in their throats. They hurriedly shook their heads and fled at full speed.

Seeing this, Fūka and Yudzuki suddenly understood.

So he had been carrying it to show other teams!

That way, he would not have to waste any effort, while also intimidating other teams and making them abandon any thoughts of stealing their scrolls.

They had thought Feng An was just a freak, but he was on the second level while they were still stuck on the first.

Fūka walked up to Feng An and apologized somewhat awkwardly.

"Sorry, I misunderstood you. You should've said it was meant to intimidate other teams. Then I wouldn't have called you a freak."

"Huh?"

Feng An scratched his head.

Actually, he had not thought that far ahead.

With his strength, he could already swagger through the Forest of Death. Intimidation? Threats? There was no need for any of that.

But since they had imagined him as some high-IQ mastermind, he did not mind going along with it.

"Yes, that's right. That was exactly what I was thinking. I thought you'd understand even if I didn't say it."

Feng An put on a sighing expression.

Seeing him like that, Fūka became even more convinced that he was a genius at the very top in both personal ability and tactics.

She secretly swore that no matter what incomprehensible thing Feng An did next, she would think it through carefully and try to learn at least a little from it.

She became even more certain of the truth of the saying, "Feng An must have his reasons for doing this."

"To be honest, my hand's getting a little sore. Can you carry it for me?"

Feng An held the Grass ninja's head out in front of Fūka.

The bloody stench from the head instantly rushed into her nostrils.

"Get it away, blegh! Get it away!"

The moment Fūka smelled that stench, nausea surged through her.

She hurriedly covered her nose and mouth and hid behind Yudzuki.

I'd rather not learn this tactic!

Just as Feng An was about to say something else, a familiar Northern Hemisphere flashed past him.

Anko Mitarashi!

Overjoyed, Feng An hurriedly blocked her path and called out, "Anko."

Anko Mitarashi swept Feng An with an icy gaze.

Only after seeing the Konoha forehead protector did her expression ease slightly.

Her tone still carried a trace of coldness as she asked, "Who are you? What do you want with me?"

"Are you looking for her?"

Feng An held the Grass ninja's head up before him.

He had searched for Anko for a long time along the way and did not want to beat around the bush, so he got straight to the point.

Anko's pupils suddenly widened.

Orochimaru's figure instantly surfaced in her mind again.

The Cursed Seal on her neck reappeared. Suppressing the pain in her expression, she asked, "How do you know I'm looking for her? What is your relationship with Orochimaru?"

"I happened to run into the Orochimaru you mentioned just now. After our team worked together to kill him, he said before dying that he wanted to see his beloved disciple, Anko Mitarashi, one last time."

"As soon as I heard that, I thought of you. To fulfill his final wish, I came looking for you."

Without changing expression or missing a beat, Feng An shifted all the blame onto Orochimaru.

He knew Anko could not possibly go ask Orochimaru whether he had really missed her.

He could say whatever he wanted.

Anko frowned. "So you cut off his head?"

Feng An hurriedly shook his head. "No, during the battle, I cut off his head. That's why I carried it here."

Anko was deeply shocked.

So wasn't it still you who cut off his head?

This red-haired boy was innately so cruel. It was fortunate that he belonged to Konoha Village. If someone like him appeared in another village, I would definitely crush him while he was still growing.