The Cruel Red-Haired Boy

Kanami looked at the crying Sakura beside him and said calmly, "Sasuke is fine. He'll wake up on his own in a day."

Sakura wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Thank you for saving us, Kanami."

"It's nothing. We're classmates."

"By the way, don't you still owe me a bet?"

Kanami looked at Sakura with a wicked grin.

Sakura's face instantly flushed red.

"No, um, back then, you were the one who didn't do it..."

Ever since she had lost that bet, she had been worried about when Kanami would make her fulfill it.

But after she had been assigned to Team Seven and begun training and carrying out missions, she had never seen Kanami again.

She had not expected that by the time they met for the second time, Kanami had already pulled ahead of them.

She asked uneasily, "Y-you still want it now?"

Kanami glanced at her meager chest and shook his head.

"I was just joking with you."

Then, carrying the Grass ninja's head, he leaped down from the tree and landed in front of Fūka and Yuzuki.

"Ah! That's disgusting! Why are you carrying her head?"

What kind of outrageous thing was that to say?!

Kanami shot her a glare.

"If you don't know how to talk, then don't talk. Yuzuki, you need to educate her properly. What kind of garbage is filling her head?!"

???

What was he talking about?

Yuzuki nodded awkwardly.

Although she had no idea what he meant, Kanami must have had his reasons for saying it.

Kanami then waved at Sakura.

Yuzuki and Fūka followed behind Kanami.

Holding Sasuke in her arms, Sakura stared blankly at Kanami's retreating figure and muttered to herself.

"Just like when we parted at the academy last time... when will we meet again..."

Several hours passed.

"Hey, you pervert, how much longer are you going to carry her head around?"

Fūka frowned and covered her nose as she asked.

Kanami did not explain.

He did not want to keep carrying a dead person's head either, but he had to find Mitaraishi Anko.

Yuzuki and Fūka had no idea what he was trying to do, so they could only follow behind him.

"Ha! Hand over the scrolls!"

As the three advanced, three Amegakure ninja suddenly jumped out and blocked their path.

Kanami stopped and glanced at the three people in his way, asking irritably,

"What now?"

"Hahaha! Of course, hand over the scrolls and we'll let you—"

While one of the men was laughing, the man beside him tugged at his clothes from behind.

The man snapped at him impatiently.

"What are you doing?"

Then another man patted him on the back.

"H-he seems to be carrying a h-h-h-human head!"

"Stop talking nonsense. Let me take a look."

The man glared at the two of them and looked in Kanami's direction.

Huh? Where did he go?

In an instant, Kanami appeared before him, raising the Grass ninja's head in one hand and pressing it against the man's face.

The shriveled Grass ninja gave him an intimate little touch.

"Can you see clearly now?"

"Ah!"

The man's pupils shrank, and his entire body trembled. He screamed and threw a punch at the head in front of him.

Fortunately, Kanami reacted quickly and kicked him flying.

"She was a beauty when she was alive. Being intimate with her is already your good fortune, and you still want to beat her up?"

The remaining two men watched their companion get kicked dozens of meters away, not even daring to blink.

Kanami raised a brow. "If you don't get lost, did you fall for her too, like him?"

Looking at the shriveled, horrifying head Kanami was carrying, the two remaining men felt a wave of nausea rise in their throats. They hurriedly shook their heads and fled at full speed.

Seeing this, Fūka and Yuzuki suddenly understood.

So he was carrying it around to show other teams!

That way, he would not have to waste effort, and he could intimidate other teams into giving up on stealing their scrolls.

They had thought Kanami was just a pervert. They had not expected him to be thinking on an entirely different level while they were still stuck on the first.

Fūka walked up to Kanami and apologized somewhat awkwardly.

"Sorry, I misunderstood you. You should've just said it was to intimidate other teams. Then I wouldn't have called you a pervert."

"Huh?"

Kanami scratched his head.

He really had not thought that much about it.

With his strength, he could walk sideways through the Forest of Death. Intimidation? Threats? They were completely unnecessary.

But since she had already imagined him as some genius with a high IQ, he did not mind going along with her train of thought.

"Yes, that's right. That was exactly what I was thinking. I thought you'd understand even if I didn't say anything."

Kanami put on a sighing expression.

Seeing that look on his face, Fūka became even more convinced that he was a top-tier genius in both personal ability and tactics.

She secretly swore that no matter what baffling things Kanami did next, she would think carefully about them and try to learn at least a little from them.

She believed even more firmly in the correctness of the phrase, "Kanami must have his reasons for doing this."

"To be honest, my hand's getting a little sore. Can you carry it for me?"

Kanami held the Grass ninja's head out in front of Fūka.

The bloody stench from the head instantly rushed into her nose.

"Take it away—blegh! Take it away!"

The moment Fūka smelled that bloody stench, she felt sick.

She hurriedly covered her nose and mouth and hid behind Yuzuki.

I'd rather not learn this tactic!

Just as Kanami was about to say something else, he suddenly saw a familiar pair of breasts pass before him.

Mitaraishi Anko!

Overjoyed, Kanami hurriedly blocked her path and called out, "Anko."

Mitaraishi Anko swept Kanami with an icy gaze.

Only after she saw Konoha's forehead protector did her expression soften slightly.

Her tone still carried a trace of coldness as she asked, "Who are you? What do you want with me?"

"Are you looking for her?"

Kanami held the Grass ninja's head up in front of him.

He had spent a long time looking for Anko along the way and did not want to waste any more time, so he got straight to the point.

Anko's pupils suddenly widened.

Orochimaru's figure instantly surfaced in her mind again.

The Curse Mark on her neck reappeared. Suppressing the pain on her face, she asked,

"How did you know I was looking for her? What is your relationship with Orochimaru?"

"I happened to run into the Orochimaru you mentioned just now. My team worked together and killed him. Before he died, he said he wanted to see his beloved student, Mitaraishi Anko, one more time."

"When I heard that, I thought of you. So, in order to fulfill his final wish, I came looking for you."

Without changing expression or skipping a beat, Kanami shifted the blame onto Orochimaru.

He knew Anko could not possibly go question Orochimaru about whether he missed her or anything like that.

He could say whatever he wanted.

Anko frowned. "So you cut off his head?"

Kanami hurriedly shook his head. "No. During the battle, I cut off his head, so I had to carry it here."

Anko was deeply shocked.

So you still cut off his head.

This red-haired boy was cruel by nature. Thankfully, he was from Konoha. If another village had someone like him, I would definitely eliminate him before he could grow up.