"Wah..."
Jing Tianjinya woke with a contorted expression, only to realize that someone had clamped a hand over his mouth to stop him from cursing.
He was about to fight back when he saw a cold kunai pressed against his neck. A chill shot straight through him, and his furious expression instantly turned calm and meek.
A few seconds later, the Shadow Clone noticed the fear and faint grievance in Jing Tianjinya's eyes as he looked at him. Beneath his Root mask, Yi Xiang's face grew slightly puzzled. What a bully.
After silently mocking him for a moment, the Shadow Clone asked the question he had prepared. In a hoarse voice, he said, "Who told you to spread the rumor that the blond brat was the Nine-Tailed Fox?"
The Shadow Clone hadn't asked whether he was the one who spread the rumor. He'd stated it as a fact to see if he could trick Jing Tianjinya into giving something away.
Before Jing Tianjinya could answer, the hand holding the kunai pressed it closer. His eyes kept darting down toward the blade. He didn't dare bring his other hand near it, and anxiously pointed at his own mouth instead.
Yi Xiang's Shadow Clone raised his hand slightly, deliberately pretending not to realize that Jing Tianjinya couldn't speak.
Only when men like him were truly afraid would they tell the truth.
"An adult dressed a lot like you told me to spread it. He even paid me."
Jing Tianjinya answered urgently, his gaze seemingly drifting toward the kunai in the Shadow Clone's hand.
Wasn't I supposed to be done after that? Did they not like how I did it, or did they think they'd paid me too much last time? It was a lot, sure, but I spent it all on booze!
"And then you did it? Was anyone else given the same orders?"
"I only mentioned it now and then to a few drinking buddies. At first, nobody believed me. But then more and more people started seeing the blond brat's shadow..."
As if remembering something horrible, Jing Tianjinya's expression grew even more frightened.
"Speak!"
Seeing the kunai now pressed against his neck, Jing Tianjinya didn't dare delay another moment.
"It was the shadow of a fox demon, with nine tails and blood-red eyes. It felt like, at any moment, we'd all become his food."
"Before that, I don't know if anyone else had been ordered to spread the rumor. Afterward, in that situation, everyone was spreading it."
Genjutsu? I'll let my main body figure that out. Yi Xiang's Shadow Clone drew back the hand holding the kunai, slowly rose, and formed Hand Seals, without the slightest concern that his target might fight back.
Shadow Clone Technique!
Seven or eight clones appeared in an instant, quickly filling the room. Jing Tianjinya swallowed with difficulty, then immediately rolled over and knelt, pleading, "Ninja-sama, I didn't know that I..."
Thud!
Thump, thump, thump!!
"Damn you, I told you to act tough! Why'd you stop cursing?!"
Yi Xiang's Shadow Clone ranted in Chinese, never letting up with his fists and feet. The clones went at Jing Tianjinya one after another, sometimes several at once.
A few minutes later, a strange creature lay peacefully on the ground, bruised from head to toe, with tear tracks still on his face, several front teeth missing, blood slowly trickling from his nostrils, and a few large bumps swelling on his head.
"Ptooey. You won't be leaving the hospital for a month. If you cause trouble again, I'll come beat you up again."
Whether Jing Tianjinya heard him or not, Yi Xiang's Shadow Clone kept cursing as he fretted, "And I still have to carry this guy, while the main body's lying at home. Honestly..."
At Konoha Hospital, the kind-hearted Yi Xiang's Shadow Clone dropped Jing Tianjinya at the entrance. A nurse on duty heard the noise and hurried over to investigate.
Meanwhile, at the Nonaka Family home, the Yi Xiang Shadow Clone who had already accomplished his goal vanished in a puff of white smoke outside the house.
A while later, a boy's piercing screams came from inside, accompanied by an adult's strange howls of pain.
[ Ding! Congratulations, host. You have completed Mission Two. Reward: 20 Luck Points. Current Luck Points: 51 ]
"Danzo's got worse mental problems than I thought. He must be seriously twisted to have the heart to turn a child this young evil. How could he be sure that an evil Naruto would obey his orders?
Did he plan to control Naruto with Kotoamatsukami or the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal?"
Yi Xiang thought the former was more feasible. If anything happened to Naruto, the Third Hokage would investigate the latter. That would surely cross his bottom line, and the conflict that followed could spark a civil war in Konoha.
"I'm going to sleep. What's the point of overthinking it? I'll deal with whatever comes, and tonight went pretty well anyway."
Having received his clone's memories, Yi Xiang grinned and soon drifted off to sleep.
"Big Brother Yi Xiang, get up. It's time for lunch."
Naruto called out with practiced ease. He was already used to Yi Xiang sleeping in until midday, but he still liked spending time with him, even if it meant paying for Yi Xiang's meals every day.
"Okay."
Yi Xiang replied lazily from inside the house. He slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes, thinking, Having a little brother is pretty nice, especially one who can cook.
Since Naruto often visited Yi Xiang's home, he'd felt bad about imposing and asked Uncle Ichiraku to teach him how to cook.
At first, Yi Xiang bought groceries and kept them around for Naruto to cook. Later, Yi Xiang simply gave Naruto half a month's worth of his compensation so he could buy groceries and cook for himself.
As long as they didn't go out for a big meal or wander around somewhere, Yi Xiang's half-month's compensation could just about cover food for both of them for a month.
"Mm, this fish looks great." His appetite already whetted, Yi Xiang eagerly picked up his chopsticks and took a taste.
Carefully cooked by Naruto, the fish had turned an appetizing golden brown. Yi Xiang took a bite. It was crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and fragrant with seasoning.
"Big Brother Yi Xiang, I caught this fish this morning. I used Uncle Ichiraku's secret seasoning. It tastes pretty good, right?" Naruto gave a shy smile.
"It's great. Keep this up and you could open a restaurant of your own. You might even make more money running a restaurant than as a ninja." Yi Xiang teased him.
They sat across from each other, chatting as they ate. Before long, they'd finished all the food on the table.
"On my way here, I heard a lot of people talking about the Nonaka Family. They might've been robbed. All three of them were injured, and now they're too scared to leave the house."
"They got what they deserved. Look at his parents. They're always stealing from people and taking advantage of them. Whenever they're in a bad mood, they'll even kick any stray cat that walks by.
"And that brat, Nonaka Ichikawa, always used to throw rocks at us and curse at us. His parents even let him get away with it. They deserved what they got," Yi Xiang said matter-of-factly.
Too bad I burned the money I took last night, just to be safe. As for the three of them, I only gave them a little workout. They were all such big mouths.
On a bright afternoon, beside the familiar stream,
Yi Xiang sat in the middle of the water wearing only a pair of shorts. The water's surface came within a few centimeters of his shoulders.
He slapped and splashed at the water now and then. The current flowing downstream felt as soothing as a massage.
"System, end the fusion," Yi Xiang said, stopping his play and looking ahead.
[ Ding! Extracting the ninja's items. Obtained one-tenth of the ninja's chakra. ] [ Ding! Congratulations, host. You obtained one set of Naruto's pajamas. Keep up the good work. The higher the ninja's rank, the higher the rank of the items you can draw. ]
"Heh, that'll save me a bit of money. But I'll give these pajamas to Naruto. We're about the same height anyway."
Yi Xiang wasn't surprised. His luck had always been terrible. He still thought he'd gotten lucky when he drew an Epic-rank ninja last time.
After checking his chakra, Yi Xiang soon noticed in surprise that his chakra capacity had increased fourfold. His whole body felt noticeably lighter.
He figured he could now use a C-rank ninjutsu five times instead of just once.
"My chakra capacity's higher, but my recovery rate still isn't anywhere near as ridiculous as Naruto's."
"Be content. As long as I have enough Luck Points, I feel like there's no limit to how strong I can get—and I won't suffer any side effects."
Before you continue