Shinozaki Ayumi

"Young master, what are you thinking about?" Shinozaki Ayumi ran a hand through Xian Yu's messy hair, tilted her porcelain-doll-like head, and asked in her clear, bright voice.

Xian Yu, who had been lying on his side with his head on Shinozaki Ayumi's lap, came back to himself after reading the rules for earning Killing Points. He shifted into a more comfortable position and said lazily, "Ayumi, be a little more alert when we're out, okay? Don't keep calling me 'young master.' Just call me Xiao Yu. If some bandits hear you, they might think I'm some rich merchant's hapless kid and cause us trouble we don't need."

He could earn Killing Points by killing bandits and robbers, but it was better to be a thief than to spend every day guarding against them.

He mustn't look down on ordinary bandits and robbers just because he'd watched too much anime. Everyone had their own way of surviving, and anyone who'd managed to make it through these troubled times was no pushover.

He wasn't afraid of a head-on fight, but if someone targeted him without his knowledge, Xian Yu didn't think he was some blessed guy like Naruto Uzumaki.

Turning danger into good fortune, escaping calamity unscathed. With a little Talk no Jutsu, he'd be invincible.

Poison, knockout smoke, and all sorts of other despicable tricks were endless. If he treated these guys like nameless extras in an anime, he might one day end up dead at the hands of one of them.

"Mm, got it. Young master—no, Xiao Yu, you really do think of everything." Ayumi continued running a hand through Xian Yu's messy hair, tilting her head as she watched the scenery roll by outside the carriage.

Lying against Ayumi's lap, Xian Yu saw a faint scar on the girl's snow-white, enticing neck and sank into his memories.

Back then, Xian Yu had just turned three and completed a week of basic training. The old bastard Danzo had taken him away from Konoha for a training exercise.

As they passed through an unnamed village in the Land of Fire, they found it being ravaged by a band of robbers.

The houses were blazing, and the ground was covered with the corpses of villagers.

The bandits' unrestrained cheering and the helpless cries of women and children rang throughout the village. It was a veritable hell on earth.

Danzo killed all the other bandits, but left one scar-faced brute alive.

"Listen up, brat. This one's for you to practice your nerve on. Kill him, or let him kill you. You choose. He just slaughtered several women and children who couldn't fight back." Danzo impassively took the weapon from the scar-faced bandit, then stepped aside.

The man was over six feet tall, with a hideous scar running from his forehead to his chin.

A little internet café attendant from a peaceful era had never seen anything like this. At the time, Xian Yu had nearly fainted from fear.

The bandit was a ruthless sort, just as you'd expect of someone who lived by the sword. Even though Danzo had taken away his weapon and he knew he had no chance of surviving, he charged at the little kid in front of him, hoping to take him down with him.

If he was going to die, he'd take someone with him!

Could a three-year-old really stand a chance against a vicious thug over six feet tall?

Xian Yu could barely dodge his attacks. Though he was holding a kunai and the other man was unarmed, he couldn't fight back at all.

After only a dozen seconds of fighting, his young body gave out, and he tripped over a stone on the ground.

The scar-faced brute grinned viciously, picked up a cleaver from the ground, and hurled it at him. "Die, brat!"

Just as Xian Yu was about to die, Danzo flashed in front of him and caught the flying cleaver by its handle.

The scar-faced brute, who'd just acted as if he'd take someone down with him, used the opportunity to run into a nearby house and seize a girl of eight or nine. He held a small knife he'd found somewhere to her throat.

"Stay back! Come any closer and I'll kill her! Let me go! If you let me leave, I swear I'll turn over a new leaf and never rob anyone again!" The scar-faced brute was nearly hysterical.

He knew he couldn't escape.

The man in front of him was terrifying! He'd killed more than thirty of the man's brothers as easily as chopping vegetables!

If he hadn't wanted to use him to train that brat, he'd already be dead like the others.

Danzo stood motionless, his face expressionless. He said nothing.

"Let me go! Please, just let me go! I swear, I'll never rob anyone again!" Holding the girl, the scar-faced brute slowly backed away, looking for a way to escape.

Suddenly, Danzo slowly raised the Ninja Blade in his hand. The scar-faced brute, who'd been staring at him the whole time, bulged his ox-like eyes and roared in a frenzy, "Don't come any closer! Don't come any closer! Move an inch and I'll kill her!"

Danzo smiled strangely and loosened his grip. With a clatter, the Ninja Blade fell to the ground.

The sound made the scar-faced brute jump. His grip tightened without him realizing it, and the small knife sliced a long gash into the girl's neck.

"Phew... Rest assured, once I leave, I'll never do anything evil again. I swear I'll turn over a new leaf!" The scar-faced brute's tense expression relaxed. But the next moment, his pupils suddenly shrank. He felt something pierce his back and instinctively looked toward the man opposite him.

The man was still standing in the same spot. He hadn't moved, and the blade that had fallen to the ground was still there!

"Who..." With his last breath, the scar-faced brute struggled to turn around. What he saw was... a three- or four-year-old child.

"Not bad. One strike, one kill. Good aim. All right, time to go." Seeing his son cowering on the ground and trembling, Danzo spoke calmly and started to leave.

But after walking a dozen steps, he realized his son wasn't following. Just as he began to feel disappointed, thinking the boy was too weak-hearted, a soft, childish voice he knew well came from behind him:

"Um... Dan... Danzo... Can I take her with us?"

That's right. Xian Yu had always called Danzo by his name, never Dad.

Maybe that was why petty Danzo was always beating him half to death...

Especially after Xian Yu turned four. He'd been slacking off during training and got beaten badly for the first time. When he begged for mercy, he'd cried, "Dad, I was wrong." Though it sounded more like "Baba."

It seemed that from then on, Danzo's violent streak had grown worse and worse... until it was completely out of control.

"Xiao Yu, what are you looking at? Ah! Don't look there..." Ayumi had been tilting her head as she gazed absently at the village growing farther and farther away.

She accidentally noticed her young master staring blankly. Following his gaze, she looked down and immediately realized what he was looking at. She covered her neck with both hands and cried out.

"It's so ugly. Don't look there..." Ayumi was a little embarrassed and annoyed. As a girl, she naturally cared about the scar on her body.

Xian Yu gently pried her hands away from her neck and said softly, "Everything about our Ayumi is beautiful. You don't need to hide it. By the way..."

As if he'd suddenly remembered something, Xian Yu immediately called out in his mind, "Open the Diamond Shop."

He hesitated for a second as he looked at the interface, then called out again in his mind, "Purchase Secret Golden Wound Medicine."

"Notice: Host purchased Secret Golden Wound Medicine x20. 10 diamonds deducted. Current balance: 1440 diamonds."

He pretended to reach into his pants pocket and fished around, then pulled out an exquisite little porcelain bottle and handed it to Shinozaki Ayumi. "Ayumi, try this. Maybe it can get rid of that scar."

"Hm?" Though Ayumi was a little puzzled, she didn't think much of it. She took the little porcelain bottle, removed the stopper, and tipped it to pour some out. "Oh, this powder smells so nice. Wow, it's so white and fine. It's beautiful."