On the outskirts of a village somewhere in the Land of Rain, a small skirmish had just ended.
The wandering samurai and rogue ninja who had attacked the village had all been captured and pinned to the ground, awaiting their fate.
Shiba Seika crouched on a tree branch about two meters off the ground, idly tossing the Kunai in his hand.
Soon, one of his subordinates came over with several prisoners in tow and reported, "Captain Seika, all the enemies have surrendered. What should we do with them?"
"Quiet. I'm thinking."
At those words, the subordinate shuddered.
His experience from the past few weeks told him that whenever this man started thinking, the King of Hell started smiling.
The young Akatsuki Organization ninja beneath the tree was in his twenties. He carefully, anxiously tried to dissuade Shiba Seika, who was clearly only fourteen or fifteen and looked much younger than him. "Captain Seika, please stop thinking. You really can't kill any more people. Before we left, Leader Yahiko specifically told us not to take any more lives!
"Besides, according to the brief interrogation we just conducted, these people are all locals from the Land of Rain. They only became wanderers because they were desperate.
"Leader Yahiko said they might one day understand our ideals and become our allies. We should show them a little more compassion."
Shiba Seika, still crouching in the tree, finally stopped tossing the Kunai and turned to look at him with a mocking smile.
"That's true. They might understand us and join us someday, but that's only a possibility, isn't it?
"Just as likely, they might never understand or agree with us. They might even hold a grudge over what happened today and seek revenge.
"I'm an orphan, all alone. I don't care.
"But Kenjiro, you still have family, don't you?
"I remember you have a younger sister, right? A very cute little girl who lives in Rainfall Village on the other side of the hill. She's twelve this year, has a mole beneath the outer corner of her right eye, and likes to imitate Sister Nan by wearing a paper flower in her hair. She even has dimples when she smiles.
"Kenjiro, aren't you afraid that if these people never accept us, they'll go back and take revenge on your sister because of what happened today?"
Kenjiro was completely stunned!
You did that on purpose, didn't you?
You absolutely did that on purpose! You deliberately gave these prisoners all the details about my sister!
How am I supposed to stay calm now?!
But Leader Yahiko still held considerable sway over the early members of the Akatsuki Organization.
Even after Shiba Seika had maneuvered him into this predicament, the ninja called Kenjiro still did his best to argue.
"N-no, they won't. They already know they were wrong."
The captured wanderers on the ground immediately joined in, pleading for mercy.
"That's right! We know we were wrong! We really do! Please, give us another chance. We'll never oppose the Akatsuki Organization again!"
But Shiba Seika was still smiling in the tree.
"Heh. Kenjiro, they don't know they were wrong. They just know they're about to die.
"If you take them to Leader Yahiko now, you're gambling—gambling that they still have a conscience.
"But didn't the villagers just tell us? Every one of these men has killed before. They've all got blood on their hands. Not one of them is innocent.
"So can you afford to gamble?
"Kenjiro, you wouldn't want anything to happen to your sister, would you?"
At that moment, Kenjiro once again realized just how much of a demon the boy in front of him was—a demon who toyed with people's hearts!
Damn it! Who had let him into the Akatsuki Organization?!
After his lips had been twitching for a while, Kenjiro finally gave in. "Captain Seika, then what do you think we should do?"
I'm sorry, Leader Yahiko. I didn't mean to disobey you. I really had no choice, Kenjiro apologized helplessly in his heart.
He'd already made that same apology plenty of times over the past few weeks...
"Don't rush me. Wait a little. I told you, I'm thinking."
A while later, Shiba Seika finally had an idea and leaped down from the tree.
"Didn't the organization receive a report recently about Iwagakure Ninjas crossing the border and roaming around in the north?"
"Yes." Kenjiro answered every question without protest.
"Good. Then take these people to the woods up north and bury them.
"When we get back, we'll say we drove off the enemies who attacked the village, but unfortunately didn't capture anyone. Then, on our way back, we happened to spot traces of Iwagakure spies. We tracked them down and killed every last one in the woods up north. Yes, report it just like that."
Shiba Seika's brazen plot immediately made the prisoners on the ground struggle violently.
The next instant, Shiba Seika casually flung the Kunai he'd been tossing in his hand. It struck one prisoner between the brows, killing him instantly!
As he did so, his voice remained perfectly steady, without the slightest pause.
"Remember to strip off all their clothes before burying them. Leader Yahiko can be a stickler sometimes, especially when it comes to missions I lead. He might actually go back afterward and dig up the bodies to inspect them, so make sure everything looks convincing."
Kenjiro had a thousand things he wanted to say.
Why was Leader Yahiko so strict about the missions you led? Did you really have to ask?
At last, Shiba Seika patted Kenjiro on the shoulder.
"I'll leave this to you, Kenjiro. It's all to protect your adorable little sister."
"Heh. You're joking, Captain Seika. Should I be thanking you, then?" Kenjiro gritted out.
Shiba Seika pretended not to hear the resentment in his voice and asked innocently, "Shouldn't you?"
"..."
In the end, Kenjiro had nothing to say. He could only resign himself to getting the job done, silently lamenting as he left.
Why had things turned out this way?
Just a few months ago, it hadn't been like this. Back then, the Akatsuki Organization had been as warm as sunshine in his eyes.
As for the reason, Shiba Seika might have been able to answer him—because a few months ago, the current "Shiba Seika" had just arrived in this world.
A few months earlier, the Shiba Seika of this world had been an ordinary orphan in the Land of Rain. He was only quick on his feet; otherwise, he was unremarkable. He hadn't even learned to extract Chakra until the Akatsuki Organization took him in, and only then had he embarked on the path of a ninja.
But the person inside the current Shiba Seika was a modern Naruto fan who loved using Kizaru and Purple Dog in the arena.
On his first day in the Shinobi World, the newly arrived Shiba Seika had been forced to begin the struggle to survive.
And he meant that literally. His chances of survival had been next to nothing!
The moment his mind cleared after arriving in this world, Shiba Seika heard the system speak inside his head.
[System Notification: You have been bound to the Fate Observer System] [This system is dedicated to observing, calculating in real time, and accurately predicting the host's future outcomes based on available information] [The system's current assessment indicates that the host has the following probabilities of...] [17.0% probability of death in 153 days: killed in revenge by rogue ninja from the Land of Rain] [33.1% probability of death in 402 days: killed during Hanzo the Salamander's purge] [35.7% probability of death in 402 days: killed after being caught up in the effects of Nagato's out-of-control Rinnegan] [7.2% probability of death in 1153 days: abducted from the Land of Rain by Konoha's Root, subjected to extensive and brutal experiments over a prolonged period, then dying when the accumulated side effects cause his body to fail] [4.8% probability of death in 1467 days: handed over to Orochimaru by Root, then dissolved as experimental fodder] [1.6% probability of death in 3891 days: killed in the fighting when Orochimaru defects from Konoha] [0.5% probability of death in 6315 days: killed in battle after joining Orochimaru in launching the Konoha Crush Plan] [0.1% probability of death in 31330 days: dies of old age]
At the time, Shiba Seika's expression had looked exactly like the Shiba Inu meme he used all the time in his previous life: stunned, utterly stunned.
Fortunately, the system then told him that the host's actions would change its predictions in real time.
It also explained that, through the host's efforts, when his destined fate shifted significantly, the system might be able to steal power from the River of Fate, turn it into a reward, and bestow it upon him.
From that moment on, the transformed Shiba Seika had set his own ninja way—
I'd rather betray the Shinobi World than let the Shinobi World betray me!
Anyone who stood in the way of my dying peacefully of old age had to die!
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