Taming Beasts

Furan? That name sounded a little out of place in this world, though my own name did not exactly fit this world either.

"The village is gone? Which village was it exactly? Seeing that red hair of yours, you should be from the Uzumaki Clan, right?"

"Yes, give me the meat already. I answered your questions!"

What an impatient child. And she still did not seem to understand the hierarchy in this cave.

"I won this cave from you. I hunted and cooked the meat. I made the bed, and I made the door at the entrance too. Depending on your attitude, I might just throw you out. Are you sure about this?"

The moment I finished speaking, she threw a punch at me. This time, I was not careless. I simply caught her wrist and easily flung her into the wall.

I did not use much force. I merely used the Water God Style's method of exerting force and borrowed her own strength to throw her away.

With an Uzumaki Clan physique, it would hurt at most. I did not want to waste those absurdly expensive potions.

After getting put in her place again, Furan finally learned her lesson. She stopped baring her teeth and hissing at me, instead lowering her head obediently as she returned to stand before me.

"I'm sorry."

Mm-hm, that was more like it. This child simply did not know how to get along with people. After all, she had always been plundered, so plundering was the only way of survival she had learned.

She was pitiful too. My previous life had been miserable, but compared to Furan, I had at least had enough food and a stable life.

Though pain could not be compared, and every era and every experience had its own hardships, seeing someone so miserable with my own eyes still made me unable to stop comparing her to myself.

Looking at the little red wildcat in front of me with her head lowered in apology, I could not help reaching out to pat her head before handing her a steaming, juicy steak.

"Before you eat, you have to meet one condition. Eat some leafy vegetables first, then fruit, and finally the meat. If you eat slowly, I'll let you stay here. If you eat too fast, you go outside immediately. Understand?"

Furan nodded and accepted the food I handed her with both hands.

If she ate too much too quickly, she would only get sick. I had no idea how long it had been since she had last eaten properly.

Following my instructions, Furan hid in a corner and ate slowly and obediently. Every so often, she would sneak a glance at me to observe my expression.

It probably had not started raining outside yet. I should let Furan take a bath and change clothes. Otherwise, if hygiene issues made her fall sick, it would be too wasteful to use potions to ease it later.

[Teacher Hill, can I exchange for some toiletries and a change of clothes?]

I might have been the first person in history to ask the system for toiletries...

[Yes, Qingyue. You will need to exchange Power of Fate for them, but if you agree to increase the novel's update speed, you may buy on credit at a discount.]

[OK! Deal!]

Very quickly, there appeared in my hands... branded body wash, shampoo, toothpaste, and even facial masks, toner, and lotion from my previous life...

There were toothbrushes, bath sponges, towels, bath towels, and bathrobes too, along with two sets of clothes. One was mine, and the other was presumably Furan's.

I had not expected the supplies to be so complete. There were socks and shoes, and even a cast-iron basin!

This meant we did not need to wash in the river with cold water. We could heat water over the fire, then use body wash and towels to clean ourselves.

I had not expected to be able to take such a comfortable hot bath in the wilderness. As expected, Hill was omnipotent.

Seeing that Furan had nearly finished eating and was not greedily staring at the grilled meat still on the shelf, I called her over.

"Use these things to take a bath yourself. Wet your whole body first, then use what's in this bottle to wash your hair, and what's in this bottle to wash your body. Finally, use this to dry yourself. Put on these clothes after you finish bathing."

If it had been an ordinary person, they would definitely have questioned me endlessly. But Furan did not seem to care about any of that and simply obeyed my instructions.

After using the remaining leaves to shield the place where Furan was bathing, I lay down on the straw mat for a brief rest.

Today had been far too chaotic. I needed to sort through the information properly.

In any case, the first priority was to find out where I was, then protect Furan all the way back to Konoha.

I hoped this place was not too far from Konoha. In a few months, it would be year fifty, and the Kannabi Bridge Battle might break out not long after that.

I had to get back before then. Otherwise, Rin, Obito, and the others might be in danger.

As I was thinking, I heard the sound of leaves being pushed aside behind me and turned to look.

"I'm done bathing."

Her fiery red hair fell loose around her, still dotted with countless droplets of water. Her round little pale face was finally clean.

Her eyebrows were sharp, like two short swords. Beneath those sword-like brows were large, spirited eyes that slanted upward at the corners, their black pupils clear and bright like pearls.

She wore a white, off-the-shoulder long-sleeved blouse on her upper body, with black ruffled trim at the collar and cuffs paired with a slim black necktie. It was cinched at the waist in black, with gold decorative buttons at the collar and placket, while a red inner layer added depth to the outfit.

Below was a dark brown mid-length skirt that fell just past her knees. Its hem was wide, with the same black ruffles along the edge to echo the top. Her legs were covered in white knee-high socks suitable for a little girl, paired with black Mary Jane shoes. It was a very retro academy-style outfit.

Did Hill pick these clothes? I had not expected her to enjoy studying fashion too.

She looked adorable when she simply stood there silently with her head lowered and no expression on her face, but the moment she showed an expression, she became fierce again.

Suddenly, she crossed her arms over her chest and turned her head away, though she still stole glances at me.

"What is it!"

Was she embarrassed? Probably not. She likely could not even tell what embarrassment was.

"Nothing. I was just thinking that girls are cuter when they're clean."

"Wha..."

"Oh, right. Do you still have anywhere you can go back to?"

Probably not. Sure enough, Furan shook her head. It seemed she did not have a single relative left.

"Have you heard of Konoha Hidden Village in the Land of Fire?"

"When I was very little, I think... I heard of it."

Sigh. The Land of Whirlpools and the Land of Fire had always been close, but the Uzumaki Clan's powerful sealing arts and special physiques had made other villages envious and wary.

In the end, the Uzumaki Clan had been completely wiped out just like that. Only a tiny number of pitiful survivors were scattered across various places, and all that awaited them were tragic endings.

Take Kushina, for example. As the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki, she had always lived in the pain of being a jinchuriki.

Just when she finally found Minato and filled the emptiness in her heart, she encountered the Nine-Tails Rebellion and was separated from the child she had just given birth to.

Karin and her mother were used by Hidden Grass Village as mobile blood bags... and that surely was not all. I did not believe those ninjas were kind enough to leave two pretty girls alone after merely draining their chakra and life force.

Then there was Nagato, who was accidentally caught up in war. His parents were mistakenly killed by Konoha ninjas, and he was also Madara Uchiha's pawn.

They were all people with bitter fates. And with Furan, who had been hunted all this time, what would have happened to her if I had not come here?

For some reason, thinking of that made my heart ache even more.

A little girl like this would have just graduated elementary school and entered middle school in my original world, right? Yet in this world, she was hunted down and had no one to rely on.

Without realizing it, I carefully took hold of her wrist, pulled her before me, and gently hugged her.

"Starting tomorrow, leave this place and come with me. Don't worry, I will never hurt you. The village I'm from is Konoha Hidden Village in the Land of Fire. It is also a place full of darkness, but there, I can absolutely guarantee your safety."

"I..."

"You don't have to rush to trust me. I know you've experienced many unfair things. But don't worry. From now on, leave these things to me to block."

This rotten, disgusting world—just because they feared a clan's sealing arts, they exterminated them all?

Since this was a world where the strong preyed on the weak, then I would use those rules to protect the people I wanted to protect.