True Bonds (Part One)

"Actually, you're not even as good as rats..."

"Damn you!" The young ninja's blatant insult and contempt were enough to rouse even Yuehua Ai, normally so detached, to anger—not to mention the hot-blooded Yahiko and the others.

This guy had gone too far!

The boys gritted their teeth. Yahiko's clenched fist loosened, then tightened again.

"What are you going to do to us?" Yahiko let out a breath, doing his best to control his emotions as he asked in a relatively steady voice. He was just as furious as the others, and would have loved to smash that disgusting grin off the man's face with one punch. But he wasn't some hotheaded fool who lost all reason when angry. He understood their situation well enough: the person before them was a ninja whose strength they couldn't gauge, and who had made no secret of his hostility. Whatever else happened, he first had to find out what the man wanted.

"Oh?" Seeing that the boys hadn't rushed at him after just a couple of taunts, and had instead quickly regained their composure and demanded an answer, the young ninja looked even more intrigued. These children weren't the usual hotheaded fools. But that made things all the more interesting. As far as the process went, tormenting them until they broke mentally was much more entertaining than simply destroying their bodies.

"What am I going to do? It's really nothing much..." The young man stretched his mouth into a huge grin and gave the boys a sunny smile. Then his smile faded. He opened his mouth, stuck out his tongue, and pretended to choke in agony. Finally, he held a hand in front of his neck and mimed slitting his throat.

"It's really nothing much. I just want to kill you."

When he saw the boys' expressions change, the young man let out a burst of manic laughter.

"Don't worry. I won't kill you all at once. I'll let you taste the fear of death bit by bit. Watching you struggle helplessly always moves me in a special way. Tormenting you is my tribute to life and death!"

If this scene had been in a TV drama from Yuehua Ai's previous life, the young ninja's self-indulgent speech would have been pretty funny. But in real life, Yuehua Ai couldn't find anything amusing about it. His hands trembled despite his efforts to control them. Yes, he was afraid. It was a tremor born of instinct, the fear of someone who could decide whether he lived or died.

No one doubted the young man's words. The undisguised cruelty and bloodlust in his eyes were no act.

"Why? Why would you do this? Aren't you a ninja from Amegakure? Why are you attacking us?"

Nagato stared in disbelief at the four-rain-mark Forehead Protector tied around the man's head.

After all, most ninjas came from hidden villages, and those villages depended on the trust and support of their countries to be established and maintained. Beyond deterring enemy nations, hidden villages served an even more important purpose.

A hidden village and its country were strategic allies, each supporting the other. The country provided the village with the funds and resources it needed to operate, while the village trained ninjas to protect the country and its people.

Although Amegakure had become a battlefield between the great nations, only ninjas had come from those countries. This was a war fought between ninjas; none of the other nations had sent ordinary troops into the Land of Rivers. Any ordinary people living on the Land of Rivers, where Amegakure stood, were undoubtedly residents of the village.

Nagato couldn't believe the young ninja hadn't thought of that. And since the man hadn't once asked who they were from the moment he appeared, it was clear that he had already abandoned the ninja's duty to protect civilians.

Nagato bit his lip, staring blankly at the four rain marks on the ninja's Forehead Protector. Those marks had long been a symbol and source of faith for the Rain Ninjas and the people of the Land of Rivers. But now, rainwater trickled down the protector, and in Nagato's eyes, its marks overlapped with a pattern that had haunted him for a long time. They really were so alike.

"Why shouldn't I attack you?"

The young man paid no heed to Nagato's question and answered with one of his own.

"Ordinary people like you are no better than lowly ants. You work as hard as you can and create only a tiny bit of value. And in times of war like these, even that little value is gone. Once you've lost your value, you've lost your reason to exist."

"You should be grateful to me. Giving me pleasure will be the purpose I grant you from now on. I'm the one affirming your existence. And as for a ninja like me, someone who can decide your fate, you shouldn't offer meaningless resistance. You should worship me and accept my will."

What a delusional idiot. Yuehua Ai hated people like him most of all—self-important bastards who kept claiming they could decide other people's fates.

Why was there so much trouble in this world? Why did so many tragedies happen here? Because there were too many people like the man before them, people who had a little power and immediately tried to force their will on others.

After hearing him speak, the boys gave up any thought of reasoning with him. He was nothing but a self-important lunatic.

"Run! I'll hold him off!" Yahiko stepped forward and shielded the others. He had no confidence that he could hold this man back. The other guy was a ninja, after all. Even if he was only a Genin, the four of them stood no chance against him.

Their odds were slim, but Yahiko still stepped forward without hesitation. He couldn't back down now. As he moved to protect them, he had already made a certain decision.

"How can we leave you behind?" Nagato and Konan grabbed Yahiko. Whether or not he could hold the man off, there was no way they could abandon a comrade and flee alone.

Yuehua Ai wasn't as attached to his companions as the others were, but he stayed behind them all the same, making no attempt to run.

He glanced at Nagato and felt less worried. As far as safety went, he knew there was nowhere safer than here.

"This isn't the time to be stubborn!" Yahiko shouted over his shoulder.

"We're all ready to fight to the death. But rather than let him catch and kill us one by one, we might as well stay together from the start." Konan understood what their side was capable of. At that moment, she showed a toughness completely at odds with her gentle nature. She had always been a girl who was soft on the outside and strong within.

"...All right." After hesitating for a moment, Yahiko finally gave in when he saw the determination in everyone's eyes.

"Clap, clap, clap..." Applause rang out.

"What a moving bond you share. Seeing how close you are has suddenly given me a pretty good idea..." The young ninja gave them a sinister grin.

"What?"

"Even the bonds between ants can be touching. I've suddenly decided to let some of you live."

"Some of us? What do you mean?" They frowned.

The young man narrowed his eyes. "It's simple. There are four of you. If one of you kills a comrade, I'll let that person live. What do you think? Isn't it interesting?"

"What did you say? You bastard! You deserve to die!"

Yahiko and the others were aghast, anger flaring in their eyes. The way he was offering them a chance to live was by having them kill a comrade. Of course, their affection for one another and their sense of reason meant they wouldn't turn on each other—but what he'd said was vicious.

As soon as the young man spoke, Yuehua Ai's heart clenched. His body even trembled once, beyond his control. Could he survive by killing a comrade? He couldn't help asking himself: if he faced certain death and had the ability to do it, what choice would he make...?

He shook his head, trying to cast the thought aside. In the end, Yuehua Ai still had no answer.

"Stop trying to play games with us. We won't let you control us."

If they couldn't escape, then they would attack first. Yahiko made his decision in an instant. He shouted and pulled the Kunai he always carried, charging forward at the head of the group.

Seeing that the brats in front of him refused to obey his will and even dared to attack, a flash of irritation crossed Xiangyuan's eyes. They were ants. Shouldn't they be grateful he was offering them a way out? What he hated most were people who refused to follow the rules of his game.

The boys weren't playing by the rules, instantly ruining Xiangyuan's enjoyment of manipulating their hearts. Even his initial pleasure in toying with them like a cat with a mouse vanished. He decided to teach them the consequences of defying him. He would show them what true fear was.

Looking at the Kunai thrusting toward him, Xiangyuan's eyes filled with contempt. Ordinary people were just ordinary people. Their resistance posed no threat at all.

He grabbed Yahiko by the wrist, stopping the Kunai a fist's breadth from his face. No matter how hard Yahiko tried, Xiangyuan's hand was like an iron clamp, keeping the Kunai in his grip from advancing even an inch.

Xiangyuan seized Yahiko's wrist and twisted it hard. The boy cried out in pain and could no longer hold on to the Kunai. It clinked as it fell to the ground.

"Let Yahiko go!" Seeing Yahiko subdued in an instant, Nagato and Konan knew the man was far stronger than they had imagined. But they didn't retreat. They charged at him like moths flying into a flame, leaving Yuehua Ai standing motionless behind them. It wasn't that Yuehua Ai didn't want to do anything. But at just five years old, he couldn't think of anything he could do.

"Interesting." Seeing that Nagato and Konan had understood the difference in their strength yet charged forward instead of backing down, Xiangyuan's eyes flashed with surprise.

The surprise in his eyes quickly gave way to disgust. Xiangyuan hated people who overestimated themselves for the sake of bonds. Bonds were nothing but shackles on the heart. They made people weak and served no other purpose!