Coming Into This World Means Having Connections

"Why do you want to see a whale? Is there a special reason?" Lucy asked.

The reason was that it was on the way.

There wasn't any special reason.

"Whales are highly intelligent. You probably haven't had any close contact with one before, have you? It could make a good yokai friend."

Like the Sage of Six Paths, who had shared the seeds of chakra and created ninjas, Yura wanted to create yokai.

"Uh..." Lucy couldn't work up any enthusiasm. I already have quite a few animal friends.

"Little Monster~" Flying over a town, Yura looked down at the brightly lit streets and said, "Let's go down and find an inn."

An inn!? Lucy's eyes lit up! Would she finally get to eat human food?

"But... do we have any money?"

"We do!" Yura said confidently. "Lots and lots!"

Not long ago, Yura had wiped out three ninja clans. Their real estate could be ignored, but they had plenty of cash.

"Then can I have a bill?" Lucy asked. "I've never even seen what money looks like..."

Yura gave her one.

One bill meant one bill.

A five-yen coin. No need to thank her.

Holding the money, Lucy dove down. A certain realization dawned on her. After landing in the woods near town, she looked at Yura with pleading eyes and said, "Um, if I pull your carriage for you from now on, could you pay me?"

Yura stopped midstep and turned to look at Lucy.

Poor kid.

"How much would you pay me each time?" Yura asked with a faint smile. "Little Monster~"

"Um..." Lucy held up one hand, spreading all five fingers, and tentatively looked at Yura. She was pretty clever, after all. "How about this much?"

But her opponent was Yura.

"Fifty?" Yura asked.

That number sounded way too low. Lucy wasn't stupid. She looked as if her heart were breaking and tears were about to fall.

"Five hundred?" Yura asked.

Five hundred? Lucy's eyes lit up. That sounded like a lot. Her tears retreated.

"No." Yura immediately said, "I can only give you a hundred."

A hundred?

That would do!

Lucy nodded reluctantly and said, "All right, a hundred it is. No taking it back. Whoever takes it back is a puppy!"

"Sure." Yura smiled faintly. "Whoever takes it back is a puppy~"

Lucy held out her hand, eagerly looking at Yura.

Yura gave her a hundred.

Lucy happily stuffed it into her pocket, humming as she cheerfully caught up with Yura.

"Rat poison~ Rat poison~"

Inside an inn in town, a Konoha Anbu Ninja wearing a mask abruptly opened a pair of tightly shut Byakugan.

Yura stopped in her tracks.

Hostility aimed at her came rushing toward her.

Yura smiled faintly.

Another clueless bug had come crawling over.

The Konoha were relentless!

"I swear, you people and I are just cursed to clash..."

"Me?" Lucy turned her head in confusion, walking briskly into town. What should she buy? Her mind had wandered off, and she was distracted.

Night had just fallen over the town. The bustling streets teemed with people, packed shoulder to shoulder. Amid the lively festival, a parade danced and made its way noisily along the street.

Inside an inn, four ninjas wearing various white masks and fully clad in Anbu gear gathered together.

"What is it?"

"I've detected a massive chakra presence. It seems to be..." Beneath her fox mask, the Byakugan-wielding female ninja spoke solemnly. "A Jinchuriki."

How was that possible!

The three ninjas frowned. Their leader asked, "White Fox, are you sure?"

The village's plan to capture the Tailed Beasts had only just begun, and basically only the Anbu knew what a Jinchuriki was. To assist Senju Hashirama's efforts, they had already begun gathering intelligence in advance. Their mission this time was to search for signs of Tailed Beasts within the Land of Fire.

"I'm sure, Captain."

Squad leaders, division leaders, and overall commanders.

A group of four made up a squad.

Konoha was arguably at the height of its power, greater than at any point in its history. In terms of strength alone, all four were clan elites, ranked as Jonin.

"A Jinchuriki..." The captain found himself at a loss. No one had told him what to do in this situation. After thinking it over, he decided not to make trouble. Their mission was only to look for signs of Tailed Beasts, not to capture a Jinchuriki. "Ignore them."

At his words, the three others breathed a sigh of relief. The four of them might not be a match for a Jinchuriki.

But...

"Captain..." White Fox hesitated, unsure whether she should mention the other thing she had noticed.

"Speak freely, White Fox," the captain said gently. "We're comrades."

The village had only just been established. Although the various ninja clans had reached an understanding, there was still a certain awkwardness in their day-to-day interactions.

"Beside the Jinchuriki is the top target in the Assassination Handbook," White Fox said. "I couldn't be mistaken."

The other three were startled. One of them whispered in shock, "Ghost Princess!"

That made the situation even more complicated.

The captain pondered the decision, carefully weighing the pros and cons.

Lord Tobirama had personally identified her as an extremely dangerous target. Ever since the Warring States period, he had always trusted Lord Tobirama's judgment.

A long silence followed.

"Captain..." said a ninja wearing a bird mask. "We're Konoha, the strongest village in the Shinobi World."

"Division Leader Ox is nearby..."

It would take time to assemble the others. Besides...

"With a Jinchuriki there, one division won't be enough," the captain said. "We'd need to assemble two divisions. Would we have enough time? If we alert them and they leave, we won't get another chance like this easily."

"Captain..." White Fox said. "Forgive my bluntness, but the chakra inside Ghost Princess is so weak it's almost pitiful. If I weren't looking carefully, I'd think she was a civilian..."

"White Fox, don't let your guard down," the captain said. "You think a ninja who could silently kill three Jonin on her own would have chakra that weak? That's all the more reason to be cautious!"

Killing three Jonin was one thing if it was one-on-one. If it was one against three, the four of them would turn and run.

"No, quite the opposite," White Fox said. "My Byakugan can see clearly enough. If she had a massive amount of chakra like Lord Hashirama and Lord Tobirama, then no matter how much she suppressed it, she couldn't possibly reduce it to such a low level. With my Byakugan, I could follow her from a distance without any trouble."

Well, she was confident.

Outside the window, a butterfly flapped its wings in the night. At the festival on the street, Yura licked a frosted candy apple. Beside her, Lucy's eyes could barely keep up. Everything she saw made them shine as she gazed at the stalls lining the road.

That said, the sight of those beautiful prices made her feel miserable.

A hundred ryo really wasn't much...

"Whoever takes it back is a puppy~ Little Monster~"

As soon as Lucy turned her head, Yura smiled and said it.

Lucy turned back around, feeling a little broken inside.

"I hate this so much..."

Yura's scarlet eyes swept over the stalls along the street. As expected, those Byakugan really were the eyes of the Otsutsuki. Even with their bloodline greatly diminished, they could still spot her at a glance.

"Then..." The captain looked at White Fox's confident eyes and said, "Notify the nearby squads to assemble. Our mission has temporarily changed to tracking Ghost Princess."

He hadn't mentioned capturing the Jinchuriki. He knew the clan leader, Hashirama.

His obsession with peace in the Shinobi World was almost fanatical. Unless absolutely necessary, he wouldn't willingly kill another ninja, especially one from another village.

"Understood!" the others responded.

A ninja wearing a Monkey mask stood up, wrote a message on a scroll, and released a Ninja Hawk. It beat its wings and soared into the night, rushing into the clouds. But just as it flew over the town, the hawk gave a faint shudder as a strand of hair silently shot into its body.

Yura licked the frosting on her apple, then bit into it with a crack. The sugar and fruit pulp crunched between her lips and teeth.

As time passed, the Ninja Hawk flying off into the distance had its brain silently burned away by the effect of her grudge.

As expected, coming into this world meant having connections.

Lucy stared at the apple, swallowing. She really should just buy one. It looked so delicious.