Shinozaki Ayumi

"Young Master, what are you thinking about?" Shinozaki Ayumi reached out to stroke Xian Yu's messy hair, tilting her porcelain-doll-like head as she asked in a crisp, clear voice.

Xian Yu, who had been lying on his side with his head in Shinozaki Ayumi's lap, snapped out of his thoughts regarding the rules for obtaining kill points. He shifted his body into a more comfortable position and said lazily, "Meimei, can you be a bit sharper when we're out and about? Don't keep calling me 'Young Master' this and 'Young Master' that; just call me Xiao Yu. If some thief hears you and thinks I'm the unlucky brat of some wealthy merchant, it'll just invite unnecessary trouble."

Although killing bandits and robbers also granted kill points, one could guard against thieves for a thousand days, but one could never be sure when they might strike.

He must never underestimate these common bandits and robbers just because he had watched too much anime. Rats have their own ways, and anyone who could survive in this chaotic world was no simple character.

He certainly wasn't afraid of a head-on confrontation, but if he were targeted without even realizing it, Xian Yu didn't consider himself a blessed protagonist like Naruto Uzumaki.

Turning misfortune into luck and disaster into blessings. Once the "Talk-no-Jutsu" was activated, one was invincible.

There were endless underhanded tricks like poisoning, smoke bombs, and all sorts of other filth. If he treated these guys like the nameless extras in an anime, he might one day find himself falling at the hands of these seemingly insignificant nobodies.

"Mm, I understand. Young Master—oh, I mean, Xiao Yu, you really are so thoughtful." Shinozaki Ayumi continued to stroke his messy hair, tilting her head to watch the scenery receding outside the carriage.

As Xian Yu rested against her lap, he caught sight of a faint scar on the girl's snow-white, alluring neck, and he fell into his memories.

Back then, Xian Yu had just turned three and, after a week of basic training, was taken away from Konoha by that old thief Danzo for field experience.

While passing through an unnamed village within the Land of Fire, they found the village being ravaged by a group of bandits.

Houses were burning fiercely in the inferno, and the corpses of villagers were scattered everywhere.

The wanton cheers of the bandits and the helpless cries of women and children echoed throughout the entire village. It was nothing short of a living hell.

Danzo killed all the other bandits but left one scarred brute alive.

"Little brat, use this one to temper your courage. Kill him, or be killed by him. The choice is yours. He just murdered several defenseless women and children." Danzo disarmed the scarred man with a blank expression and stepped aside.

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

Having come from a peaceful era, the former internet cafe manager had never seen such things. He had nearly fainted from terror on the spot.

The bandit was a ruthless character, worthy of someone who lived by the blade. Knowing he had no way out after being disarmed by Danzo, he lunged forward viciously, determined to take the little brat with him to the grave.

If he was going to die, he would take someone down with him!

How could a three-year-old child possibly stand against a six-foot-tall murderer?

Xian Yu barely dodged the attacks. Even though he held a kunai and the man was empty-handed, he had no power to fight back.

After barely ten seconds of struggling, his young body gave out, and he tripped over a stone on the ground.

The scarred man grinned hideously, picked up a machete from the ground, and threw it at him: "Go to hell, brat!"

Just as he was about to lose his life, Danzo's figure flashed, blocking the path and catching the flying machete by the hilt.

The scarred man, who had just been acting as if he would die taking someone with him, seized the opportunity to run into a nearby house and grab an eight or nine-year-old girl. He held a small knife he'd found somewhere against her throat.

"Don't come any closer! If you take another step, I'll kill her! Let me go! If you let me leave, I promise you, I'll turn over a new leaf and never be a bandit again!" The scarred man was becoming hysterical.

He knew he couldn't escape.

The man in front of him was too terrifying! His thirty-some brothers had been slaughtered by this man like cutting vegetables!

If it weren't for the fact that he wanted to use him to train that little brat, he would have died just like the others long ago.

Danzo stood motionless, his face blank, saying nothing.

"Let me go! Just let me go! Really, I'll never be a bandit again!" The scarred man backed away slowly while clutching the girl, trying to find an escape route.

Suddenly, Danzo slowly raised his ninja sword. The scarred man, who had been staring at him intently, saw the man's eyes bulge as he roared frantically: "Don't come over! Don't come over! If you dare move, I'll kill her right now!"

Danzo smiled eerily and loosened his grip on the sword. Clang. The blade fell to the ground.

The scarred man was startled by the sound of the sword hitting the ground, and his hand tightened involuntarily. A long, deep gash appeared on the neck of the girl he was holding.

"Phew... rest assured, I won't do evil again once I leave. I'll definitely become a good person!" The scarred man's tense expression relaxed, but the next moment, his pupils constricted. He felt something pierce through his back and instinctively looked at the man opposite him.

That man was still in the same spot, having never moved, and the sword that had fallen was still on the ground!

"Who... is it..." In his final moments, the scarred man struggled to turn around, only to see... a three or four-year-old brat.

"Not bad. A fatal strike. The placement was accurate. Alright, time to go." Looking at his son, who was huddled on the ground shivering, Danzo said coldly and began to walk away.

He walked a dozen steps, only to find that his son hadn't followed. Just as he was feeling disappointed, thinking the boy's mental fortitude was too weak, a small, familiar voice came weakly from behind:

"Um... Dan... Danzo... can I take her with me?"

Yes, Xian Yu had always called him Danzo, never Father.

Perhaps that was exactly why the petty-minded Danzo would always beat him half to death at the slightest provocation...

Especially when Xian Yu was four; after he was beaten severely for the first time for slacking off during training, he had cried out "Father, I was wrong" while begging for mercy... though it sounded more like "Ba-ba."

It seemed that from that moment on, Danzo's violent tendencies had become increasingly severe... spiraling completely out of control.

"Xiao Yu, what are you looking at? Ah! Don't look there..." Shinozaki Ayumi had been tilting her head, staring blankly at the village that was growing further and further away.

Having inadvertently noticed her Young Master's gaze was somewhat vacant, she instinctively looked down in the direction he was staring. She immediately realized what he was looking at and covered her neck with both hands, exclaiming.

"It's so ugly, don't look at it..." Shinozaki Ayumi felt a mix of shame and anger. As a girl, she was naturally very self-conscious about flaws like scars on her body.

Xian Yu gently pried her hands away from her neck and said softly: "Our Ayumi is beautiful everywhere; there's no need to hide anything. By the way..."

As if suddenly remembering something, Xian Yu immediately called out with his mind: "Open Diamond Shop."

Looking at the interface before him, he hesitated for a second before continuing to command with his mind: "Purchase Secret Golden Wound Medicine."

"Notification: Host has purchased Secret Golden Wound Medicine x20, consuming 10 Diamonds. Current balance: 1440 Diamonds."

Pretending to reach into his pocket, he pulled out a small, exquisite porcelain bottle and handed it to Shinozaki Ayumi: "Ayumi, try this. It might be able to get rid of that scar."

"Hm?" Although Shinozaki Ayumi was a bit confused, she didn't think too much of it. She took the small bottle, removed the stopper, and poured a little out: "Oh, the powder smells so good. Wow, it's so white and clean, it's beautiful."