Good Child

"They cannot solve the problem of your soul being eroded, but I can."

"Become my slave, forget the past, and I will treat you well."

Naoki felt those soft arms around his neck, the breath so close he could feel it, and the beautiful face before him, yet his heart remained ice-cold.

He stared into Aikawa Yumi's eyes, which still held a lazy smile, as if everything were under her control.

"Who exactly are you? What do you want from me?" Naoki's voice was hoarse.

Naoki had submitted...

A smile deepened on Aikawa Yumi's face. She leaned in closer to Naoki again, her red lips kissing his forehead, the soft white skin of her chest nearly pressing against his face.

Naoki did not dodge, letting the kiss land on his forehead.

The warm sensation vanished as quickly as it had come. Aikawa Yumi stepped back half a pace, looking at him with a beaming smile, as if admiring a prey she had finally caught.

"That's a good boy."

Naoki lowered his eyelids, his Two-Tomoe Sharingan slowly spinning in the darkness before finally fading away.

After a bout of internal struggle, he had chosen to endure...

This world was not the world of his past life. Here, there were ninjas who could fly through the air, Rinnegan users who mastered gravity and repulsion, Byakugan users with vision spanning nearly ten thousand meters, powerhouses who could cleave the moon in two with a single strike, and even the Otsutsuki who could dictate the life and death of all beings by their own will, not to mention the Jashin who could grant near-immortality...

Therefore, he had to believe, and dared not disbelieve, what Aikawa Yumi had said. After all, he was unwilling to use Sakurai Hideko as a gamble; he was a man with weaknesses...

"From now on, you don't need to call yourself Uchiha Naoki anymore. Who in the entire continent doesn't know the prestige of the Uchiha clan? That name is too eye-catching."

"Given that you are my slave, you shall be renamed Anu from now on."

"What do you say?"

Aikawa Yumi hugged Naoki's arm, looking at him with a beaming smile.

"Fine."

Aikawa Yumi laughed even more happily. She reached out and pinched Naoki's cheek, as if playing with a newly acquired toy.

"That's a good boy, Anu."

Naoki lowered his eyelids, offering no response.

Afterward, the two left the small wooden hut by the seaside...

Kannazuki Town was not large, consisting of only a hundred or so households scattered along the coastline.

Aikawa Yumi brought Naoki to the east end of town, outside the door of a tavern.

"This is my home, a tavern. Not bad, right?"

Giggling, Aikawa Yumi took out a key and opened the wooden door.

As the door pushed open, a complex scent mixed with the aroma of alcohol, the smell of the sea, and something unidentifiable rushed out.

Naoki followed Aikawa Yumi into the tavern, his Two-Tomoe Sharingan quietly activating in the darkness, rapidly scanning the surrounding environment.

The tavern was small, capable of holding about twenty or thirty people.

The bar counter faced the entrance, with wooden shelves full of wine bottles behind it. Seven or eight square tables were scattered messily throughout the space, with chairs turned upside down on top of them.

Empty wine barrels were piled in the corner, and a few faded ukiyo-e prints hung on the walls.

"How is it?" Aikawa Yumi turned around, spreading her arms, her red skirt swaying slightly in the dim light. "Although it can't compare to the prosperity of big places like Konoha, this is the only tavern in Kannazuki Town, the only one!"

Naoki did not speak, instead observing the surroundings.

This tavern was clearly quite old, but judging by the layers of dust on the tabletops, it was obvious it hadn't been open for business in a long time...

The clamor outside the door interrupted the brief silence within the tavern.

Naoki stopped wiping the table and cast his gaze toward the entrance.

Aikawa Yumi had just come out from the back room, having changed into a simple, practical outfit. Hearing the commotion, the smile on her face faltered for a moment before she returned to her lazy demeanor.

"Oh, guests have arrived?" She smoothed her collar and walked toward the door. "It's been so long since I've been open for business, yet someone still remembers my little shop..."

Before she could finish, the wooden door was kicked open violently.

Five or six men filed in. Leading them was a bald, burly man with a face full of fat and a hideous scar running from his left eye to the corner of his mouth, which looked particularly terrifying in the dim light.

He wore an open, coarse cloth jacket, revealing a dense array of tattoos on his chest.

"Miss Yumi!" the bald man shouted as he entered. "Finally stopped hiding?"

Aikawa Yumi stood where she was, her smile unchanged, but Naoki noticed her fingers tighten slightly.

"Hasegawa Kenichi, you brute, did I not teach you a lesson last time?"

"Teach me a lesson?" Hasegawa Kenichi grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "You were just lucky last time. This time, I've brought enough men. Let's see where you can run to!"

"In my opinion, you should just honestly come with me, so the brothers don't have to be rough, and it won't be so embarrassing when we reach the master..."

Naoki stood in the shadows, calmly observing these uninvited guests.

They were all ordinary people; not a single one of them had any chakra fluctuations.

Aikawa Yumi glanced back at him, a playful smirk tugging at the corners of her lips: "Anu, we have guests. Aren't you going to greet them?"

He lowered his gaze, remaining motionless.

Only then did Hasegawa Kenichi notice there was someone else in the tavern. His eyes landed on Naoki, scanning him up and down.

"Well, well, keeping a pretty boy, are we?" He sneered, dismissing Naoki entirely, and reached out to grab Aikawa Yumi's arm. "Come with us!"

Seeing that Naoki wouldn't budge, Aikawa Yumi had no choice but to act herself. She raised her leg to kick Hasegawa Kenichi in the crotch, only for him to clamp his legs shut, trapping her limb.

"Hahaha."

Hasegawa Kenichi laughed: "Miss Yumi, using the same trick twice isn't very fresh."

"You'd better just come with me quietly."

As he spoke, Hasegawa Kenichi reached out to grab her.

Aikawa Yumi spun around, using her remaining leg to kick him in the chest.

Taking the blow, Hasegawa Kenichi stumbled back a few steps as his underlings rushed forward to catch him. Freed, Aikawa Yumi moved like a nimble cat, seizing the chance to distance herself from Hasegawa Kenichi and his men, retreating to Naoki's side.

"Anu, kill them!"

Naoki did not move.

Hasegawa Kenichi and his group laughed even more brazenly. One man, thin as a monkey, pointed at Aikawa Yumi and shrieked: "The broad's lost her mind, asking her lover to kill us? That pretty boy? I think this kid's got a decent look to him too; let's take him along as well. Someone might fancy him..."

"Don't be so rude to Miss Yumi!"

Hasegawa Kenichi pointed at his subordinate, offering a brief reprimand.

Immediately after, he burst into loud laughter, the sound echoing through the cramped tavern.

Naoki's gaze swept over them. Five—no, six of them. All ordinary people, with no chakra fluctuations. They reeked of stale alcohol and the thuggish air of men who had spent years brawling in the streets. Even the strongest among them, Hasegawa Kenichi, was merely relying on his burly frame and a wealth of fighting experience.