They Are All Iwagakure Spies

On the outskirts of a village in the Land of Rain, a small-scale skirmish had just come to an end.

The ronin and rogue ninja who had attacked the village were all captured, pressed into the dirt to await their fate.

Shiba Seika crouched on a tree branch about two meters off the ground, tossing a kunai in his hand up and down.

Soon, a subordinate approached with several captives to report, "Captain Seika, the enemy has surrendered completely. How should we handle them?"

"Quiet. I'm thinking."

Upon hearing this, the subordinate shivered instantly.

Weeks of experience had taught him that whenever this man started thinking, the King of Hell started laughing.

The twenty-something Akatsuki Organization ninja beneath the tree looked cautious and terrified. He tried to persuade Shiba Seika, who was clearly only fourteen or fifteen and looked much younger than him, "Captain Seika, please stop thinking. We really can't kill any more people. Leader Yahiko specifically instructed us before we left not to cause any more deaths!

Besides, according to the brief interrogation just now, these people are all locals from the Land of Rain. They only turned to being ronin because they were at their wit's end.

Leader Yahiko has said that these people might eventually understand our ideals and become our comrades. We should be more tolerant toward them."

Shiba Seika, crouching on the branch, finally stopped tossing the kunai. He turned his head and offered a mocking smile.

"True, they might eventually understand us and join us, but that's only a possibility, isn't it?

By the same token, they might never understand or agree with us, and they might even harbor a grudge because of today's encounter, waiting for a chance to retaliate.

I am an orphan, all alone, so it doesn't matter to me.

But Kenjiro, you still have family, don't you?

I recall 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 at the corner of her right eye, likes to imitate Sister Nan by wearing a paper flower in her hair, and has two little dimples when she smiles.

Kenjiro, aren't you afraid that these people won't agree with us, and after they go back, they'll take revenge on your sister because of what happened today?"

Kenjiro felt his entire body go numb!

You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?

You are absolutely doing this on purpose! You deliberately gave such detailed information about my sister in front of these captives on the ground!

How am I supposed to stay calm now?!

However, Leader Yahiko still held significant weight in the hearts of these early Akatsuki members.

Even after being manipulated to this extent by Shiba Seika, the ninja named Kenjiro still tried his best to argue.

"No... that won't happen. They already know they were wrong."

The ronin captives on the ground immediately chimed in to cooperate.

"Yes! We know we were wrong, we really know we were wrong! Please, give us a chance! We will never dare to oppose the Akatsuki Organization again!"

But Shiba Seika, up in the tree, was still smiling.

"Heh, Kenjiro, they don't know they were wrong; they just know they are about to die.

If you take them to Leader Yahiko now, you are gambling that these people still have a conscience left.

But didn't the villagers just say it themselves? They have all killed people; their hands are stained with blood. 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 realized once again, with profound clarity, that the boy before him was a devil who toyed with human hearts!

Damn it! Who on earth brought him into the Akatsuki Organization?!

After his lips trembled for a long time, Kenjiro finally resigned himself to his fate. "Captain Seika, then how do you suggest we dispose of them?"

I'm sorry, Leader Yahiko. I don't mean to defy your orders, but the situation forces my hand, Kenjiro apologized helplessly in his heart.

Although he had made similar apologies quite a few times over the last few weeks...

"Don't rush. Wait a moment; I told you I was thinking."

After a while, Shiba Seika finally decided and leaped down from the tree.

"Didn't the organization receive intelligence a while ago that there were Iwagakure ninja infiltrating from the north?"

"Yes," Kenjiro replied, resigned to answering every question.

"Very well. Then take these people to the woods in the north and bury them later.

When we return, we'll say we repelled the enemies attacking the village, but unfortunately, we didn't capture any prisoners. Later, on the way back, we accidentally discovered the tracks of Iwagakure spies, tracked them, and eventually killed all of them in the northern woods. Yes, report it exactly like that."

Shiba Seika's brazen conspiracy immediately caused the captives on the ground to struggle violently.

The next moment, Shiba Seika casually flicked the kunai he had been tossing, and it struck a captive right between the brows—a fatal blow!

As he performed this action, his tone remained without a ripple or a pause.

"Remember to strip them of their clothes before burying them. Leader Yahiko is sometimes particularly meticulous, especially regarding missions I lead. He might actually go to the site afterward to dig up the bodies for inspection, so remember to make the details look authentic."

Kenjiro had ten thousand curses he wanted to scream.

Why do you think Leader Yahiko is so meticulous about missions you lead? Do you have no self-awareness at all?

Finally, Shiba Seika patted Kenjiro on the shoulder.

"I'll leave this matter to you, Kenjiro. It's all for the sake of protecting your dear sister."

"Heh, Captain Shiba Seika, you're joking, aren't you? Or should I actually be thanking you?" Kenjiro gritted his teeth.

Shiba Seika acted as if he couldn't hear the resentment in the other man's words, innocently retorting, "Shouldn't you?"

"..."

In the end, Kenjiro had nothing to say and could only resign himself to the task, sighing silently to himself as he walked away.

Why did things turn out this way?

It hadn't been like this just a few months ago; just a few months ago, the Akatsuki Organization had seemed as warm as sunlight in his eyes.

As for the reason, Shiba Seika could perhaps answer him—because a few months ago, the current "Shiba Seika" had just transmigrated here.

A few months prior, the Shiba Seika of this world was just an ordinary orphan in the Land of Rain, possessing only a bit of agility and nothing else of note. It wasn't until he was taken in by the Akatsuki Organization that he barely managed to learn Chakra extraction and embark on the path of a ninja.

But the current Shiba Seika had a core that had long since been replaced by a modern Naruto fan who loved using Kizaru and Purple Dog in the arena.

On the very first day he transmigrated into the Ninja World, the new Shiba Seika was forced to begin his struggle for survival.

It was a struggle for survival in the truest sense, the kind where death was almost certain!

The moment his mind cleared after transmigrating, Shiba Seika heard the system in his head speak to him.

[System Notification: You have bound to the Fate Observer System]

[This system is dedicated to observing, simulating in real-time, and accurately predicting the host's future outcome based on existing intelligence]

[Based on system evaluation, the host's future holds—

17.0% probability of death in 153 days. Cause of death: Retaliation from rogue ninjas in the Land of Rain;

33.1% probability of death in 402 days. Cause of death: Killed during a purge by Hanzo the Salamander;

35.7% probability of death in 402 days. Cause of death: Caught in the crossfire of Nagato's out-of-control Rinnegan;

7.2% probability of death in 1153 days. Cause of death: Abducted from the Land of Rain by Konoha's Root, subjected to long-term malicious experimentation, and dying from the accumulation of side effects leading to physical collapse;

4.8% probability of death in 1467 days. Cause of death: Traded to Orochimaru by Root and dissolved as a consumable;

1.6% probability of death in 3891 days. Cause of death: Killed in the crossfire during Orochimaru's defection from Konoha;

0.5% probability of death in 6315 days. Cause of death: Killed in action during Orochimaru's Konoha Crush plan;

0.1% probability of death in 31330 days. Cause of death: Natural causes]

At that moment, Shiba Seika's expression looked exactly like the Shiba Inu meme he used in his past life: numb, completely numb.

Fortunately, the system subsequently informed him that the host's actions would change the system's simulation results in real-time.

Furthermore, based on the host's efforts, whenever a significant deviation from the fated outcome occurred, the system would have the opportunity to steal power from the River of Fate, turning it into rewards to bestow upon the host.

So, from that moment on, the brand-new Shiba Seika established his own Ninja Way—

Better that I betray the Ninja World than let the Ninja World betray me!

Anyone who stands in the way of me dying of old age must die!