He Was Found

Although he had planned from the start to establish a foothold in the Land of Demons, Chen had never imagined things would go like this.

Everything seemed to be going far too smoothly. Once he had won Shion over, it seemed he had everything else in the bag.

Most importantly, why did Shion seem like she wasn't all that bright?

"Chen, can I call you that?"

Shion finally let go of Chen, but her cheeks were still flushed.

"Sure. That's what my friends call me, too."

"Then can I see what you look like?"

Shion looked at him with hopeful eyes. At this point, Chen had no intention of hiding anything, so he took off his mask.

But the moment Chen removed his mask, Shion threw her arms around him and kissed him.

Chen hadn't expected that at all.

"Now that you've kissed me, you have to take responsibility for me. From now on, I'm your woman. You're not allowed to have other women. I'll take good care of the Land of Demons."

Shion looked bashful, but she forced herself to declare her claim on Chen.

There was no denying that Shion looked so delicate and lovely that anyone would feel for her.

"Ding. System notification: The task 'Kiss Shion' is complete. You have received the Sexy Technique, LV1."

"System, do you really have to mess with me like this? This was all your doing, wasn't it?"

"Don't slander this system. I only issue tasks and carry out punishments. I don't concern myself with anything else.

"Come to think of it, who actually won the other over here—you, or her?

"I'm curious. When you two get to that part, who will..."

Chen really didn't feel like dealing with the system, so he simply pretended not to hear it.

"You really are a little brat. Let's head back to the Land of Demons."

"You say that as if you're so much older than me. Maybe you're even younger than I am."

Shion retorted indignantly.

"I'm over twenty, all right?"

Chen was telling the truth. Adding together his two lifetimes, he really was over twenty. Shion simply didn't believe him.

The journey back went smoothly.

On the way there, Shion had at least walked for a while, but on the way back, she clung to Chen's back and refused to get down.

"Ding. System notification: The task 'Protect the Shrine Maiden's Bell' is complete. Task reward: Flying Thunder God Technique, complete version, LV1.

"Calculating additional reward...

"Additional reward calculated. Additional reward: Way of Destruction No. 33, Pale Fire Drop."

As Chen and Shion entered the shrine maiden's residence in the Land of Demons, the mission there was complete.

Chen wasn't surprised to get the Flying Thunder God Technique. What surprised him was that the additional reward was a Kido from the Bleach World.

But when he thought about it, even the Asauchi had already appeared. Kido showing up wasn't all that impossible.

"Blood Moon, thank you for your help with this mission. I hope you'll stay in the Land of Demons for a few days so I can show you our hospitality."

"The Shrine Maiden of the Land of Demons has invited me. How could I refuse? Thank you for having me."

Chen and Shion played along, and the guards didn't suspect a thing.

Chen stayed in the Land of Demons for three days before leaving. During that time, they also discussed what to do next.

Establishing a shinobi village outright wasn't realistic. The Five Great Shinobi Villages were all keeping an eye on the Land of Demons, so Chen had Shion adopt children with the potential to become shinobi in her capacity as the Shrine Maiden.

They also agreed to let shinobi take on missions from the Land of Demons.

The first measure would help them build a real force, while the second was a deliberate smokescreen.

Thanks to the Flying Thunder God Technique, Chen also left a specially marked Flying Thunder God Kunai with Shion. If anything happened, the two of them could use it to stay in contact.

Only after everything was arranged did Chen leave the Land of Demons.

Since other people were present when they parted, Shion didn't show her feelings, but Chen could clearly see how reluctant she was in her eyes.

"You're always calling me lecherous, but look at you. You went and took advantage of a little kid the moment you had the chance.

"Come on, she's only four!"

The system turned around and started teasing Chen. This made him realize once again that his system wasn't merely shameless, nor did it have negative levels of shame. It simply had no idea what shame was.

"Wasn't there someone who told me to just take her by force before?"

"Who? When did anyone ever say that? How shameless."

All right. Chen had given up on trying to talk to the system.

After leaving the Land of Demons, Chen completed and turned in the mission he had previously accepted from the Underground Bounty Station.

He had gained quite a lot from this trip away from Konoha. Not only had he secured the establishment of the Land of Demons' forces, he'd also made a good deal of money.

At least he wouldn't have to worry too much about making ends meet anymore.

Once everything was taken care of, Chen used the system to return to Konoha.

While Chen was away, his Shadow Clone had kept things running. Since he was an orphan, nobody paid attention to him except Uchiha Izumi, so no one had noticed anything amiss.

When he got home, Chen dispelled his Shadow Clone, and its memories flooded into him all at once.

"Looks like nothing went wrong. Maybe I can travel around again when I get the chance."

Early the next morning, Chen arrived at Training Ground No. 7.

After this trip, Chen had grown considerably stronger, but it still wasn't enough. At the very least, he still couldn't protect himself during the Uchiha Clan Massacre.

Although Chen could now use Shion's help to go to the Land of Demons, he didn't want to live under someone else's roof.

If he went to the Land of Demons for real, Chen wanted to arrive like a king, not as someone's lackey.

Besides that, Chen also hoped to change the fates of Itachi and the others. The Uchiha might be arrogant, but there were plenty of people among them who didn't deserve to die.

"Chen? You're here early to train today?"

"Yeah. Are you here to train too, Big Brother Shisui?"

"Mm, I am. I also wanted to see whether you were back."

Their friendly conversation suddenly turned tense. Chen had never expected Shisui to notice something was off. After all, the Sharingan shouldn't have been able to see through a Shadow Clone.

"Big Brother Shisui, what do you mean? Back from where?"

"You must have left Konoha sometime during this period.

"I don't know exactly what happened, but your aura has clearly changed.

"It was the same before. The day before, there wasn't a trace of killing intent on you, but the next day, there was a faint trace.

"That kind of aura only comes from killing someone, yet you didn't do anything unusual in Konoha.

"This time, it's even more obvious. Your killing intent has grown, and your aura has changed noticeably.

"The one who stayed in Konoha these past few days must have been your Shadow Clone, right?

"Only a Shadow Clone could fool even my Sharingan."

Shisui's words caught Chen completely off guard. He'd thought something had gone wrong with the Shadow Clone, but it turned out the problem was with his real body.

"Ding. System notification: You have gained Uchiha Shisui's recognition. Task failed. You are now a Konoha S-rank rogue ninja, and you will lose one centimeter every day."