That's Right, I Was Just Playing With You!

"Hey! Do we know each other?" Li Tong glanced sideways at Jiraiya, saying, "Please let go of me; we aren't that close."

"My name is Jiraiya, you should have heard of me!" Jiraiya hooked his arm around Li Tong's neck and walked forward, acting like an old friend of many years. "Come on, let's go to that tavern over there, sit down, and talk it over slowly. Kid—oh, wait... Li Tong, right? Hahahaha, Li Tong-san, I feel like we have a real connection, hahahaha..."

Another shameless one!

Tsunade had already run off and disappeared, and now Jiraiya was dragging Li Tong along, acting like they were best buds.

"Police Force! Police Force! Someone died here!" From the fifth floor of the hotel twenty meters away, a ninja poked his head out of a hole in the wall and shouted loudly.

Dozens of Uchiha Clan ninjas had already arrived on the street, and upon hearing the commotion, those nearby all leaped straight up.

Mikoto Uchiha also reacted and sprinted over.

Although her rank in the Police Force wasn't high, her status within the Uchiha Clan was extremely high, and since the Police Force was established by the Uchiha Clan, she could ignore rank and take command of the Uchiha ninjas at the scene.

Li Tong couldn't help but glance toward the hotel.

Jiraiya immediately turned his head back, patted his shoulder, and laughed, "Hahahaha, how about it? Li Tong-san, two hundred thousand ryo, transfer the bet you're about to win to me. Trust me, you definitely won't lose out. That Tsunade is famous for welching on debts; she'll keep hiding from you, so it's better to just, heh heh..."

Li Tong was being dragged forward by Jiraiya, completely against his will.

He wanted to resist, but it was useless; Jiraiya's strength was by no means weaker than Tsunade's, and his overall combat power was arguably even higher.

However, his reputation wasn't as high as Tsunade's—just a little lower—mainly because Tsunade's reputation for strength included her abilities as a medical ninja.

"We aren't close!" Li Tong refused.

The name Pervy Sage was legendary to Li Tong. Although Jiraiya was only twenty-two now, decades younger than the Pervy Sage in the original story, Li Tong knew about his inappropriate designs on Tsunade.

If Li Tong really transferred the upcoming bet to Jiraiya, there was no telling what Jiraiya might do.

"I know we aren't close yet, but we can get close." Jiraiya steered Li Tong toward the west, his face flushed with a smile. "Let's find a tavern and chat, haha, we definitely need to have a good chat!"

Orochimaru, with his pale, ink-black complexion and icy aura, followed behind them with his arms crossed. This originally had nothing to do with him, but he seemed to have taken an interest, his gaze fixed firmly on Li Tong's back.

Li Tong felt like he had needles pricking his back.

The feeling of being watched by Orochimaru was very uncomfortable.

"Stop!" Ahead, a heroic figure leaped down from a high vantage point and glared at Li Tong. "Kid, you can't leave! Come back to the Police Force with me!"

It was Mikoto Uchiha!

Following Mikoto Uchiha, six or seven more Uchiha ninjas leaped down from above, two of them carrying a bloody, mangled corpse they had just brought down from the fifth floor of the hotel.

"Sure, arrest me, hurry!" Li Tong immediately held out his hands. Compared to being pestered by Jiraiya, he preferred to go sightseeing at the Police Force.

Jiraiya yanked Li Tong back, stopping his forward movement, then tossed his head back to look at Mikoto Uchiha, grinning, "Little girl, whatever the losses are today, I'll cover them."

"Lord Jiraiya." Mikoto Uchiha immediately bowed her head respectfully and said quickly, "I'm afraid it's no longer a matter of compensating for damages. We have discovered a deceased person, so we must take him back."

"It's just a dead person, is it worth making such a fuss?" A cold voice rang out, and a figure flickered into existence before Jiraiya and Li Tong.

To be so indifferent to life.

"You—" Mikoto Uchiha looked up sharply, about to retort, but her expression changed drastically, and she backed away in fear.

"L-Lord Orochimaru!" Mikoto Uchiha greeted him respectfully before bowing her head again.

The surrounding atmosphere suddenly turned cold.

Of the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi's three direct disciples, Tsunade was cold on the outside but warm on the inside—as long as you didn't offend her, she was quite reasonable. Jiraiya was famous for being easygoing, laughing and joking with everyone. But Orochimaru was... cold! Extremely cold! His methods were ruthless, cold-blooded, and heartless, making people fear him!

Whoosh!

A nearby elite jonin of the Uchiha Clan saw the situation was wrong and flashed in front of Mikoto Uchiha. He knew that Mikoto Uchiha was young and lacked the experience to handle such issues.

"Lord Orochimaru!" The elite jonin said quickly, "While intercepting a fugitive, Li Tong released a large-scale ninjutsu in the street. Not only did he cause massive property damage to the village, but he also caused dozens of injuries, one of whom died on the spot. We need to take him back to assist with the investigation. We will report this matter to the Hokage, so please, Lord Orochimaru, do not interfere."

"Right, right, don't interfere, let me go!" Li Tong immediately chimed in, then gave his shoulder a shake, broke free from Jiraiya's arm, flashed, and jumped to Mikoto Uchiha's side, holding out his hands. "Arrest me, hurry!"

The surrounding Uchiha ninjas looked at Li Tong as if he were a mental patient.

They had never seen someone who had killed someone and then actively demanded to be arrested!

Orochimaru glanced at Li Tong, said nothing, and turned to leave.

"Tsunade was right, this kid really is crazy!" Jiraiya muttered, then followed Orochimaru. After taking a few steps, he looked back and waved at Li Tong. "Li Tong-san, I'll be looking for you again!"

Things having reached this point, there was nothing to be done if they didn't leave, especially since Li Tong had actively requested to be arrested.

It wasn't until Jiraiya and Orochimaru disappeared down the street that the Uchiha elite jonin breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hmph! Kid, your attitude toward admitting guilt is fine, but you're still a dead man! A life for a life!" Mikoto Uchiha said fiercely, pulling out shackles to lock Li Tong up.

"You blind little girl!" Li Tong said, courting death with his remark.

"You! Who are you calling blind?" Mikoto Uchiha immediately bristled, her hair even standing on end.

"Who else but you? Which eye saw me kill someone?" Li Tong said righteously.

Mikoto Uchiha was about to be driven mad; such a shameless person was truly rare. Her hands trembled as she pointed at the corpse that had just been carried down, shouting angrily, "The body is right in front of you, and you still dare to deny it? I'm telling you, you killed someone, and no matter what your reasons are, you're finished!"

"Oh? That one?" Li Tong looked enlightened, glanced at the mangled corpse, and said with great surprise, "Eh? Isn't that the fugitive? I intercepted and killed a fugitive, so I'm guilty?"

"Huh?" Mikoto Uchiha was instantly stunned.

A fugitive?

Is this corpse that fugitive?

Mikoto Uchiha did not know, nor did the other Uchiha Clan ninja nearby, because only a few Uchiha ninja had been pursuing the fugitive at the time. Mikoto Uchiha and the others had arrived later, so naturally, they did not know what the fugitive looked like, especially since the person had been beaten into a bloody pulp by the Rasengan.

An elite jonin of the Uchiha Clan standing to the side frowned, looked up, and shouted, "Who was at the scene at the time? Come here!"

Uchiha Ri, who was helping to maintain order in the distance, heard the call and hurried over.

"Is this that fugitive?" Mikoto Uchiha pointed at the corpse and asked quickly.

Uchiha Ri crouched down to take a look. Although the corpse was beaten into a bloody pulp, the clothing, shoes, and equipment remained unchanged; it was indeed Kuro-Maru. Uchiha Ri scanned it up and down a few times before standing up and saying, "Yes, it's him! I thought he had escaped, but I didn't expect him to have been killed already."

At the time, thick fog had shrouded the area, and no one had seen Li Tong strike Kuro-Maru away.

Mikoto Uchiha was beyond furious, glaring at Li Tong.

"I was right, wasn't I?" Li Tong spread his hands.

"You played me!!" Mikoto Uchiha shrieked. As a lady known far and wide for her grace, she was being driven mad by Li Tong.

"Yeah, I did play you!" Li Tong curled his lip and shrugged. In truth, he just wanted to shake off Jiraiya's entanglement.

Mikoto Uchiha was so angry she nearly bit through her silver teeth. Since no innocent people had died, it really wasn't a big deal; at most, it would just be a matter of paying some money.

"Here is the money for you; it should be enough for compensation." Li Tong pulled another stack of banknotes from his pocket, totaling about twenty thousand ryo, and shoved them all at Mikoto Uchiha. "If there's nothing else, I'm leaving!"

With that said, Li Tong stomped his feet and leaped into the air.

Vaulting to the height of the second floor, Li Tong kicked off the outer wall of the inn, used the momentum twice, and scrambled into the fifth floor through the hole.

The fifth floor of the inn was in a state of total disarray.

When Kuro-Maru had been struck into the building, he had knocked over numerous furnishings and smashed through the wall of the guest room, only dying after rolling out into the hallway.

Li Tong ran into the hallway, collected five cards from the spot where Kuro-Maru had finally died, and turned to run back outside.

These five cards had naturally dropped after Kuro-Maru's death. Normally, cards would hover above the corpse, but if the corpse were moved, the cards would not follow.

This was his first time obtaining cards from a samurai, and a samurai with strength comparable to a chunin at that; he had no idea what he would actually get.

He would check them when he got back.