The Meaning of Choice

No unnecessary introduction was needed.

The moment he gripped the "White Powder," the surge of disgust in his heart silently told Lin Qing exactly what kind of filth this was.

Drugs.

The official authorities of the Land of Waves were secretly engaged in the drug trade.

Lin Qing hated two things above all else: gambling and drugs.

Sasuke reached out his small hand and grabbed Lin Qing's sleeve.

It was rare for him to see Lin Qing's eyes look so cold.

"I'm fine."

Lin Qing said softly, "But..."

He looked up at the dozens of crates of "White Powder" on the ship, then gazed ahead.

An old, rusted fishing boat had pulled alongside them, and dark, gaping cannon muzzles protruded from both sides of its hull.

Forty shirtless crew members with dark, tanned skin and blades or axes hanging from their waists stood on the deck. Upon seeing the samurai lying on the ground, they bared their fangs, drew their weapons, and began to walk toward Lin Qing.

"...they are going to have a problem."

"Star Platinum."

This was a battle without suspense.

Not a single person could withstand a punch from Star Platinum. Everyone who lunged forward was sent flying backward at even greater speeds, vomiting blood before crashing into the seawater.

"A ghost!"

Finally, the crew members broke down. Ignoring their companions, they turned tail and scrambled back to their fishing boat.

"Get lost!"

Little Sasuke shouted at their retreating backs, his face beaming with a joyful smile.

He loved his journey with Lin Qing; it was about settling scores and speaking one's mind freely.

Ninja?

What kind of ninja?

He refused to endure anything.

But Sasuke's smile quickly stiffened on his face.

Shouts erupted from the opposing fishing boat as the cannon muzzles swiveled to aim directly at them.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three cannonballs in succession traced an arc through the air, fired in a single volley.

"Star Platinum!"

Lin Qing pointed a finger.

Star Platinum roared, its body spinning in mid-air to kick away the first cannonball.

Then, it spread its arms, catching the incoming projectiles one in each hand. With its steel-like arms, it exerted force and hurled the cannonballs right back.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The three cannonballs let out sharp, piercing whistles, clearly breaking the sound barrier as they moved so fast they left only afterimages on the retina.

A series of thunderous explosions and wails followed.

The fishing boat was pierced through and torn to shreds, and the crew members screamed as they fell into the sea.

The battle had started abruptly and ended just as suddenly.

Only then did the passengers regain their senses, realizing they had just escaped death.

They weren't stupid.

Drug trafficking, even in this wretched ninja world, was strictly prohibited.

There was only one cargo hold on the ship, and drugs that needed to be kept away from moisture would naturally be stored there. So... could they, having seen the drugs, still hope to leave the ship alive?

The answer was clearly no.

The passengers slumped to the floor, their hearts finally dropping from their throats.

"We... we're saved."

The sea breeze blew against their faces, and the relief of surviving a disaster left the passengers feeling a bit dazed. They looked at Lin Qing's back—it wasn't particularly tall or burly, yet at this moment, it gave them an incomparable sense of security.

Lin Qing commanded Star Platinum to toss all the White Powder on the ship into the sea, along with the bald samurai. He then slapped the unconscious crew members awake and gave them two choices:

Sail the ship or jump into the sea.

Valuing their lives, the remaining crew members nodded and bowed frantically, displaying their "craftsman spirit" as they started the ship and continued forward.

By the time Lin Qing and his group had traveled far away.

The bald samurai poked his head out of the seawater and spat toward the cargo ship.

"Idiots! I've spent half my life on the water; do you really think I could drown in the sea?!"

There were lifeboats on the fishing vessel, and the crew members who had fallen overboard were already down there searching; it wouldn't take long for them to be found, and they could row back to the Land of Waves.

"Daring to touch Gato's cargo, kid, you're dead! Even if you run to the ends of the earth, someone will cut off your head and bring it back!"

The bald samurai cursed.

The surface of the sea broke, and a crew member with blood streaming down his head gasped for air, his expression filled with terror: "My lord! The fish, the fish..."

"Fish?"

The bald samurai didn't understand what there was to fear about fish.

Did they run into sharks?

That wasn't right; he was extremely familiar with this shipping route.

This area was not a sea region where sharks patrolled.

"The fish have gone mad!"

The crew member screamed.

As if to verify his words, a palm-sized fish leaped out of the water, dove into the crew member's mouth, and bit down hard on his tongue.

"Ah—"

The crew member let out a miserable shriek, reaching out to pull the mad fish from his mouth, but a second fish bit his hand, and a third gouged out his eye.

The bald samurai watched the scene before him in shock.

He recognized the fish leaping out of the water; they shouldn't have been aggressive at all. What shocked him even more were the eyes of the school of fish—

A scarlet, ruby-like red.

This was the manifestation of having consumed drugs!

The drugs Lin Qing had thrown into the sea had been eaten by the school of fish as bait, causing them to go insane under the stimulation of the chemicals!

The bald samurai only then noticed that the sea surface was terrifyingly still; there wasn't a single crew member left.

He looked down to see a patch of scarlet.

"Don't come over here!"

The bald samurai's desperate cry echoed across the sky.

Lin Qing withdrew his gaze.

Sasuke looked as if he had something to say but was holding back. Lin Qing flicked him on the forehead and said with a smile:

"Spit it out."

Sasuke scratched his head and looked down, saying: "I just feel like... aren't we being a bit too high-profile?"

He was talking about defeating the fishing boat.

It felt great while they were fighting.

But thinking about it afterward, he felt there were flaws everywhere.

Once the ship docked, Konoha would only need to make a few inquiries to know they had come to the Land of Water.

"It is high-profile, but that is the choice of life."

Lin Qing said: "When you threw that kunai, hadn't you already made your choice?"

"That was just me getting emotional..."

Lin Qing shook his head and said: "What you call 'emotion' is the fruit borne by the tree you've grown until now, a tree named 'value system.'

A cold-blooded ninja could never possess this 'emotion.' Can you imagine a scene where Danzo lashes out in anger to save Xiaotao?"

"But is this... right?" Sasuke asked.

Lin Qing ruffled his little head.

"There is no such thing as right or wrong in this; if you must say, as long as two conditions are met, it is right—"

He held up two fingers.

"First, this decision was made after thought and aligns with your true heart."

"Second, you are willing to pay the price for it and bear the consequences."

Sasuke recalled the moment again.

Was he willing to risk being tracked by Danzo to save Xiaotao?

The answer was yes.

Having just experienced the tragedy of his clan's annihilation, Sasuke did not want to see anyone he knew get hurt ever again.

He gradually understood what Lin Qing meant.

"Brother Qing, you are truly remarkable, and not just because of your external strength, but also..."

Sasuke placed his right hand over his heart.

"The strength here."

Lin Qing smiled, accepting the compliment.

Remarkable?

In the real world, he was an out-and-out failure.

Things were fine during his school days, but after he started working, he found himself completely out of place in the workplace.

There were simply too many things Lin Qing couldn't stand to watch.

It wasn't until one time, when he stopped his boss from sexually harassing a female colleague, that things blew up; in the end, the harassed colleague claimed it had all been a misunderstanding.

Lin Qing became the person who "couldn't read the room."

Afterward, his superiors made things difficult for him and had his colleagues isolate him, thinking that would make Lin Qing regret his actions.

But Lin Qing felt no regret.

The reason he stopped the harassment wasn't to target his boss, and certainly not to save the female colleague who had turned around and bitten the hand that fed her.

Lin Qing simply felt that things shouldn't be that way.

Just like today.

Of course, doing the right thing requires capital.

In his previous life, Lin Qing's capital was his core technical ability within the team.

In this life, it was the JOJO System.

As for the meaning of choosing to do what is "right"...

Lin Qing leaned against the railing as the gentle sea breeze blew by. He narrowed his eyes, hearing Xiaotao's laughter and Sasuke's haughty, cold snort.

Xiaotao stepped forward and gave Sasuke a big hug.

Sasuke stood there frozen in place.

The corners of Lin Qing's mouth curled into a smile.

Perhaps, this is the meaning.

"Woo--woo--"

The steamship sounded its whistle.

At dusk, they arrived at the Land of Water.