Shota Futa

In Shota Futa's memory, he had never seen his parents.

Ever since he could remember, he had lived in the orphanage of Sunagakure.

There was no gentle and lovable director from the novels, nor were there teachers who provided considerate care.

Such people mostly existed only in novels or plays.

The orphanage where he lived was, in fact, an educational institute meant to train warriors.

From the day he became aware of the world, what lay in front of him was training that barely ever stopped each day.

After every day of training, he ate food that was not tasty but could indeed fill his stomach.

Yet even so, no one around him complained.

Because those who complained had long been kicked out, their whereabouts unknown.

Every day, he faced either stern-faced male instructors or the so-called director with a dignified expression.

Fortunately, this place still left the orphans a way to survive.

Though life was hard, not many were truly killed or injured because of the training.

It was during those days that he finally reached his tenth birthday.

And his birthday gift that day was a shuriken.

That afternoon, at that familiar training ground, he used that shuriken to stab it into his friend's abdomen.

Although he could no longer clearly remember that friend's name,

during those hard years of his youth, that person had been his best friend.

They supported and encouraged each other, enduring that devilish training together.

But he had never expected that the final exam for graduating from there would be to kill his best friend.

He could no longer clearly remember the course of the fight. He only remembered that when he regained his senses, he was already gripping his weapon tightly, with it buried in his friend's abdomen.

There was no resentment or unwillingness in his friend's eyes before he died. Instead, they held relief and guilt.

Before dying, his friend had murmured something, but he had not heard it clearly at all.

At the time, he could not understand why, when he was clearly the one who had killed him, that person still had a trace of guilt in his eyes.

As his friend's body fell, it seemed that his emotions died with him.

Holding that blood-soaked shuriken, he left the orphanage where he had lived for years.

From that day onward, he officially became a Genin of Sunagakure.

Not long after the Five Great Nations had been established, the open fighting had ceased, but the real war had shifted into the unseen Dark World.

Although his Combat Ability was not strong, he seemed to have possessed a talent for being a spy since childhood.

After his superiors transferred him into the Assassination Unit, his work mostly involved infiltrating the Enemy, selling intelligence, and then wiping out his Opponents.

Though only around ten years old, he seemed to understand very well how to gain the trust of others.

And so, several more years passed, and he was promoted to Chunin.

He was sent to Konoha as an undercover agent shortly after becoming a Chunin. That year, he was fifteen.

Unlike before, this would be a Long-term Mission.

Until he received Instructions from above, he would remain undercover there.

He joined Konoha as a Rogue Ninja from a Surrounding Village.

In truth, during the period shortly after the five great villages had been established, such identities were common.

Several years after entering Konohagakure, having already gained the village's trust, he actually became a teacher at the Ninja Academy.

Even among the Five Great Nations, Konoha was the village that best represented peace.

He lived a life completely unlike before. At times, the peaceful atmosphere here even made him feel that it was somewhat unreal.

Yet this peaceful atmosphere did not soothe his heart. Instead, it made him increasingly agitated.

No one knew that whenever he saw those children with innocent smiles, what he truly thought about was how to slaughter them as quickly as possible.

Whenever he greeted his Neighbor each day, he would secretly indulge in the Evil Fantasy of whether that person could still smile if Konoha were destroyed.

His childhood experiences had twisted his heart to a certain degree.

In fact, the reason he wanted to be a spy was also because he liked seeing the venomous expressions of those he had betrayed when they finally learned the truth and looked towards him.

It even gave him a sense of Unexplained Pleasure.

Yet this mission had lasted a full ten years.

He had changed from a fifteen-year-old Youth into a twenty-five-year-old youth.

He had changed from a warrior who killed without restraint on the battlefield into a benevolent teacher at the Konoha Ninja school.

But no one knew how much those seemingly peaceful ten years had tormented him inside.

At last, he waited for an opportunity.

Using the convenience of his position, he learned of the existence of the Forbidden Book and its exact storage location.

It was the work of the Second Hokage. He had heard that it even contained forbidden techniques capable of bringing the dead back to life.

He immediately reported this intelligence to his superiors, who also attached great importance to it.

Sure enough, only a few days later, Instructions arrived from above.

They would have the other spies hidden in Konoha Make a Move together and steal the Forbidden Book.

After several days of planning, they finally acted on a Deep Night.

The plan went even more smoothly than he had imagined. Carrying that Giant Scroll, their group immediately fled along the planned route.

But Konoha's response was far faster than they had anticipated. In only one night, the roads leading to Sunagakure were sealed off.

Fortunately, they had hired an Amegakure Ninja in advance, which kept them from being immediately discovered by the Anbu searching everywhere.

In the end, with no other choice, they decided to open the Forbidden Book in public and copy it down. As long as even one person could escape back, they could bring those forbidden techniques home and complete the mission.

However, the moment they opened the book, everyone's expressions froze.

Because that so-called Forbidden Book did not contain a single word!

At that moment, Shota Futa immediately realized that all of this had been Konohagakure's scheme.

They had merely been pawns in its plan.

That was when, on that night, the masked Anbu finally discovered them.

A fierce battle erupted.

Unfortunately, nearly all of them possessed only Chunin-level strength, and most had spent long periods engaged in espionage, making their direct Combat Ability weak.

Only ten minutes after the battle began, almost everyone on their side had been wiped out.

Just as Shota Futa was nearing despair, a powerful Ninja rescued him from that group of Dark Ninja.

It was the Amegakure Ninja they had hired!

This Ninja, named Hanzo, told him that he had received a mission and would leave after taking him to a certain target location.

Faced with such an arrangement, Shota Futa could only silently accept it.

After all, he knew that as someone Konoha had listed as a prime criminal, it would likely be difficult for him to return to Sunagakure through legitimate channels in the future.

Unexpectedly, they encountered a group of little brats from Konoha on the road.

Perhaps because he thought of how those Konoha higher-ups had toyed with him, he could barely suppress his Killing Intent toward those little brats from Konoha.

However, Hanzo would not allow him to do so, and he understood the reason very well.

He would have done the same. After all, there was no need to offend that powerful nation over an escort mission.