A Sudden Assassination

By the lake, a wooden cabin.

The cabin door stood open. Li Tong, sleeves rolled up, walked out carrying a basin of dirty water. He dumped the waste into the drainage ditch behind the house, then walked to the lake to fetch a basin of clear water before returning inside.

The cabin was not large, but it was well-equipped. It contained three rooms in total: a main hall at the entrance, a four-square-meter kitchen, and a bedroom.

When Li Tong first arrived, the place had already been cleaned, and daily necessities like tables, chairs, benches, pots, and pans were all provided, yet Li Tong was far from satisfied.

Because it was too dirty!

Thus, Li Tong had spent the entire morning doing nothing but cleaning. He had wiped every inch of the cabin inside and out three times over, even scrubbing the rafters until they shone like new.

Inside the house.

Placing the basin of clear water on a stand, Li Tong let out a long breath. He looked back at the room, which was now "gleaming" everywhere, and revealed a satisfied smile, though his expression quickly soured.

"There's no place to bathe, so I need to build one. I'll need to buy pipes, dig a drainage trench, and I need a large wooden barrel..." Li Tong pulled the money notes Chen He had given him from his pocket, counting them while muttering, "I haven't eaten yet... I'm so hungry... The bedding is old... I have to buy new ones... Everything costs money, money, money..."

In total, there was ten ryo and forty en.

Because the era was different, the currency value and conversion rates in this Konoha differed from the Konoha of the original work's sixtieth year—or perhaps they were mostly the same, with only the purchasing power being the issue.

Currently, the official currency issued by Konoha came in two denominations: en and ryo.

One hundred en equaled one ryo.

In other words, Chen He had given Li Tong a total of one thousand and forty en.

"I'll go to the street and see; surely I can at least afford a full meal..." Li Tong tucked the counted money into his pocket.

In the bustling downtown of Konoha, the streets were crowded with people. It was noon, the peak time for restaurants and taverns, and ninjas could be seen calling out to friends everywhere.

Li Tong, dressed in his Konoha ninja uniform, walked through the streets, observing the food prices at various eateries.

Here, many restaurants hung wooden signs in their windows, listing items like beef noodles, hot soup noodles, and shrimp noodles, with prices marked below.

A bowl of hot soup noodles: ten en!

A bowl of beef noodles: fifteen en!

A large bowl of shrimp noodles: twenty en!

These prices weren't necessarily high, but the relief funds Chen He had given Li Tong were truly meager. If he ate three meals a day of the cheapest hot soup noodles, it would cost nine hundred en a month.

Of course, if Li Tong bought groceries to cook for himself, it would be much cheaper. The money Chen He gave him was enough for a month's worth of food, but only just—he could only afford basic sustenance. If he wanted to buy a few pieces of clothing, the money would fall short.

After understanding the purchasing power of the currency, Li Tong began searching for a restaurant.

Amu Shop, too dirty!

Yamato Ramen, too dirty!

Hot Fire Restaurant, too dirty!

Li Tong's germaphobia had fully kicked in. He couldn't stand the greasy tabletops in the restaurants or the filthy towels draped over the waiters' shoulders. Eating there would be a waste; he'd just end up vomiting...

"Dual-colored eyes, that's him!"

"That Rain ninja defector!"

"Damn it, this guy killed our Konoha ninjas, how did he end up joining us?"

On the street, Li Tong, who was still looking for a place to eat, heard the whispers. He acted as if he heard nothing and continued walking forward.

He had been out for more than half an hour and had heard similar whispers many times. Without a doubt, news about him had already spread throughout Konoha, and it had spread faster than he expected. Li Tong didn't care; he was mentally prepared. Besides, there were Konoha Anbu ninjas secretly protecting him, so he didn't need to worry too much about his safety for the time being.

Baiye Inn!

A twelve-story wooden restaurant located in the most prosperous part of the downtown area, it was luxuriously decorated and grand in appearance. Most importantly... it was clean!

Li Tong stood in front of the Baiye Inn, looked it over, nodded with satisfaction, and stepped inside.

"Welcome! Please, this way... Heh, what would you like to eat? Our lobster is excellent; it was shipped in from the East Sea just this morning..." The waiter at Baiye Inn was extremely enthusiastic. As soon as Li Tong entered, he rushed over, led him inside, and didn't stop talking.

Li Tong observed the environment inside Baiye Inn. The first floor was quite large, with over thirty tables, and almost all the guests dining there were ninjas.

At the back of the hall, by a window.

"Your menu." As soon as Li Tong sat down, the waiter handed him the menu.

Opening the first page, Li Tong's face instantly darkened.

Teriyaki Beef and Mushroom Noodles—price: one ryo and fifty en!

Li Tong flipped through a few more pages of the menu; the prices of the hot dishes that followed were too painful to look at. He slowly turned his head to look at the smiling waiter, his mouth twitching. He wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

He really wanted to ask: Is this a rip-off joint?!!

The price of a single bowl of beef noodles was ten times that of a regular restaurant!

It was high-end!

It was clean!

The people who came here were all ninjas!

Therefore, it was expensive!

But this is way too expensive!

"One bowl of beef noodles!" Li Tong slammed the menu shut and said calmly.

Since he was already here and seated, and facing the waiter's enthusiastic, expectant gaze, Li Tong felt too embarrassed to just walk out. Money, well, there would always be a way. Li Tong believed that with his abilities, earning some money in Konoha was absolutely not a problem.

After eating his fill, Li Tong left Baiye Inn.

At this moment, Li Tong only had eight ryo and ninety sen left, which was eight hundred and ninety sen in total.

Actually, he had just attempted to "eat and run." If he had caused a scene over the bill, the ninjas secretly protecting him would surely have appeared to pay for him, but... Li Tong couldn't afford to lose face like that!

Outside Baiye Inn was the busiest part of the Konoha commercial district, and there were many people coming and going. Li Tong had been very careful to avoid bumping into anyone, but often, he still brushed shoulders with passersby.

As he walked, Li Tong observed his surroundings; to him, Konoha was still very unfamiliar.

Finally, after passing through the most crowded section, Li Tong felt much more relaxed.

Bang—

Suddenly, someone walking from the opposite direction bumped into Li Tong's shoulder. Li Tong stumbled and nearly fell. The man was in a hurry, muttered a quick "Sorry," and walked away quickly.

Li Tong looked back; it was a tall, thin man wearing a conical hat with a katana at his waist. He looked like a wandering samurai, but Li Tong had seen his information: he was an Amegakure ninja!

"He..." Li Tong had just started to mutter something when his expression suddenly changed.

He felt something extra on his person! As a magician, Li Tong had the habit of hiding things on his body, so he was very sensitive to such things. He reached into the right pocket of his jacket and felt a piece of paper... Was this a secret contact? But why did that guy have killing intent?

Li Tong had already decided to defect to Konoha, and there were always Konoha ninjas monitoring him in secret. If he did anything suspicious, he would truly be courting death!

Therefore, after feeling the paper in his pocket, Li Tong pulled it out directly.

It was a rectangular piece of paper, slightly larger than an adult's palm. It was brown overall with dark red edges, and it featured complex black curse seal patterns. In the center of the patterns was a single character—Explode!

Li Tong's eyes widened instantly, his pupils contracting violently!

He had read the original Naruto series; he knew what this was!

Damn it! This is an explosive tag!

That guy wasn't here for a secret contact!

It was an assassination!

At the same time, Chen He, who had been personally tailing Li Tong for over half an hour because he was bored that afternoon, had his expression change drastically. He saw it! This Amegakure rogue ninja who had just defected to Konoha had pulled out an explosive tag in public in the middle of the busy street!

"Stop! What are you doing?!" Chen He roared as he leaped down from a nearby rooftop.

Along with him, three other Anbu ninjas rushed toward Li Tong.

Damn it, he really wants to kill me... At this moment, Li Tong finally saw his reality clearly. He hadn't expected the crisis to come so quickly, so suddenly, and so decisively!

The explosive tag was in his hand, ready to detonate at any moment.

"Damn it... damn it..."

The muscles on Li Tong's face twitched. His fingers suddenly blurred into shadows; with one hand, he folded and pinched the explosive tag. The originally rectangular tag, after being folded, turned into a square card the size of a playing card.

Taking a step back, Li Tong bent his wrist, leaned his body back, and swung his arm in a full arc, throwing the folded explosive tag with ferocious force.

Whoosh—

The explosive tag flew like a spinning shuriken, chasing after the retreating figure in the conical hat. Li Tong had mastered abnormal-level card-throwing techniques, and this body possessed immense strength—as a killing machine trained by Amegakure, its raw physical power was terrifying.

The sound of it piercing the air was ear-piercing!

The tall, thin man, who had been silently counting down the detonation time in his heart, felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He sensed the incoming danger and, hearing the sound of a projectile, instantly turned around and drew his sword for a horizontal slash! But the next moment, his expression turned to one of horror, his face frozen in place.

Boom—

The spinning, detonating explosive tag engulfed the tall, thin man in a ball of fire!

"Ding! Host has completed a counter-kill scenario for the first time. Reward: 1,000 Reputation points."

"Ding! Host has completed a general cross-rank kill for the first time. Reward: One B-rank Ninjutsu Random Card."

"Ding! Host now possesses Reputation points. The Reputation Exchange System has been activated."

"Ding! Host attribute interface has been activated."

The moment the tall, thin ninja was blown to bits, the Card Emperor Sprite's notifications continued to echo in Li Tong's mind. Li Tong also saw three cards fly out from the body of the ninja who had been turned into a fireball, each wrapped in a ball of light, hovering above the corpse.