Beneath the Setting Sun, This Cruel Shinobi World!

"Yugao Uzuki? How did you know my little sister's name?" Upon hearing Riu's words, the woman before him asked in shock.

"Hmm?"

Riu came back to his senses and examined the woman before him more carefully. Indeed, she looked extremely similar to Yugao Uzuki, though there were subtle differences.

That made sense. Yugao Uzuki was only nine at this time, just old enough to have graduated from the Ninja School, and had not yet joined the ANBU...

The woman before him was seventeen or eighteen. Was she Yugao Uzuki's older sister?

"What's your name?" Riu asked.

"My name is Yūhi Uzuki. I'm Yugao's older sister. Who exactly are you, and what are you after?" Xiyang demanded.

Riu raised his head and looked at the evening glow in the sky.

Uzuki Yūhi... She had never appeared in the Hokage storyline, but that did not mean she did not exist. Just because Kishimoto had never depicted ninjas taking a dump did not mean ninjas did not take dumps. Well, that was the sort of topic Tobi liked.

Kishimoto loved placing a character's fate within their name.

For example, Gekko Hayate had passed away like a gust of wind on a night when the moon hung high...

Then Uzuki Yūhi must have fallen like the setting sun before the Uzuki month arrived, implying that a beautiful woman was doomed to die young...

A scene had already formed in Riu's mind: an older sister who depended on her younger sister for survival lost her life during an ANBU mission. Young Yugao Uzuki chose to inherit her sister's Legacy Will and strove toward the goal of joining the ANBU.

A breeze swept past. Riu looked at Yūhi Uzuki again. What awaited her was a fate of death—if he had not transmigrated here, if he had not encountered her.

"I'm asking you a question. Answer me!!" Yūhi Uzuki said anxiously.

"Would you be willing to come with me?" Riu answered with another question.

"What kind of nonsense is that? Are you asking me to betray Konoha?" Yūhi Uzuki said indignantly.

Riu reached out and gently placed his hand upon Xiyang's flawless cheek. Xiyang instinctively tried to dodge, but her body could not move. Her eyes held the humiliation of someone who wished she could kill herself immediately...

"I simply don't want to see a woman like you become a sacrifice of this cruel shinobi world."

Riu's words were baffling, but his eyes were unfathomable.

They even gave Yūhi Uzuki the feeling that this man was not speaking nonsense. There had to be a basis for him to say such things!

Even so, Xiyang remained utterly resolute. "From the day we joined the ANBU, every one of us wrote our final letters! Even if we die, we will never betray Konoha!"

Riu smiled and lightly pinched Yūhi Uzuki's delicate chin, lifting her head slightly. "Then what if I said that if you refuse to come with me, I'll kill your companions?"

Yūhi Uzuki's eyes trembled. Looking at her two companions lying on the ground, she gritted her teeth and said, "They are ANBU members too. Like me, they have long disregarded life and death!"

"Then what if it were your nine-year-old little sister..." Riu said dangerously.

Yūhi Uzuki's pupils suddenly froze. "You're despicable!"

"Answer me. Are you coming with me or not?" Riu offered no further explanation.

Yūhi Uzuki's expression struggled fiercely, but when she thought of her little sister, who had lost their parents and depended on her since childhood, she made a painful choice and compromised. "What... do you want me to do?"

Riu sighed inwardly. Sure enough, no matter how firm a ninja's convictions were, they could not completely cast personal feelings aside.

Even Uchiha Itachi, who had been willing to personally destroy his clan for the sake of the village and peace in the Shinobi World, had only been unwilling to lay a hand on his younger brother. In his heart, Sasuke Uchiha was more important than the village.

In Yūhi Uzuki's heart, her little sister Yugao Uzuki's safety was more important than the village. That was only human nature.

Of course, Riu would not harm Yugao Uzuki. He merely wanted to break through Yūhi Uzuki's psychological defenses.

He released Xiyang's chin and said calmly, "You don't need to do anything special. Just give up Konoha and come with me..."

Yūhi Uzuki was slightly surprised for a moment before saying, "Fine. I'll go with you. But if you make me do anything harmful to Konoha, I will end my own life then and there, even if you threaten me with my sister's life! Also... I hope you spare my subordinates."

"Deal." Riu had never intended to kill them anyway.

"Release the Anvil Genjutsu. I won't run..." Yūhi Uzuki said.

Release!

Yūhi Uzuki removed her forehead protector, took out a kunai, gritted her teeth, and ruthlessly carved a line across the center of the protector. This also represented her parting ways with Konoha Ninja Village and becoming a rogue ninja...

"Let's go." Riu withdrew his gaze, dragged Hokai's corpse, and walked ahead.

"Where are we going now?" Yūhi Uzuki followed behind him.

"The Bounty Exchange," Riu replied without turning back.

"Are you a member of the Uchiha clan?"

"You could say I am. You could also say I'm not..." Riu said meaningfully.

So he's an Uchiha rogue ninja... Xiyang thought.

"What was your purpose in killing Hokai? Was it merely to obtain money?" Xiyang asked again.

"Otherwise, did a guy like that have enough value for me to personally make a move?" Riu asked in return.

It seems he isn't colluding with Root... Xiyang thought.

"If it's the message scroll in your hand, I suggest you put it away..." Riu said.

Xiyang froze, then put back the scroll she had been about to take out.

Her plan had been to at least send Riu's information back to the village... It seemed that was impossible too.

With this man's abilities, he could have used the Sharingan to forcibly control my mind. Why didn't he do that?

Xiyang looked at Riu's back. While confused, she could not help feeling an additional layer of curiosity toward him.

No matter what, he could threaten the village. I'll stay by his side for now, figure out his background, and kill him once I find an opportunity! Xiyang thought secretly.

She did not notice the faint smile at the corner of Riu's lips as he walked ahead.

He might not understand the thoughts of women in the third dimension, but he knew the thoughts of two-dimensional women like the back of his hand...

She could never succeed.

Back then, Konan had prepared six hundred billion Explosive Tags just to kill Obito, yet had still failed in the end.

Riu did not think Xiyang was stronger than Konan, nor did he think he was weaker than Obito.

Besides, in the two-dimensional world, there were countless examples of people who initially wanted to kill each other, only to eventually fall completely for one another... Xiyang would be no exception, right?

Not long after the two left, Root members clad in black cloaks and wearing masks arrived at the scene and saw the mess everywhere.

"Hokai's signal has disappeared. He's probably already dead..." said the sensory ninja in the Root squad.

"Captain, these two aren't dead, but Yūhi Uzuki is nowhere to be seen." A Root member checked the two unconscious ANBU members on the ground.

"Kill those two and frame Yūhi Uzuki for it..." said the Root squad captain in a white robe from atop a tree.

"But... they're members of the village after all..."

"Remember Root's creed: use every possible means to support Konoha, this great tree, from the shadows. Only Lord Danzo can lead Konoha forward. Their deaths are merely necessary sacrifices!" the captain said sternly.

"Yes! Understood!"

Crack! Crack!

Ninja blades mercilessly pierced the hearts of the two ANBU members.

How ironic. These two ANBU ninjas had escaped disaster at Riu's hands, only to be harmed by their own comrades in the blink of an eye.

In truth, Riu had already seen through all this. That was why he pursued power. Only with power did one have the right to enjoy freedom; only with power could one pursue more of what one wanted...