Several days passed in the blink of an eye.
After the upheaval of the Konoha Crush, the village finally began to settle down.
To appease public anger and silence the endless demands for accountability from these troublemakers, the Konoha High Command finally gritted their teeth and dipped into the village's public reserves, compensating every civilian whose home had been destroyed or who had suffered injuries or hardship in the fighting.
With the money paid out, much of the resentment faded. The rubble was cleared, the streets gradually grew lively again, and Konoha finally shed its bloodshed and chaos, returning to its former peace.
Miki Yūya's little life, meanwhile, only grew more comfortable.
As Konoha's most fearless troublemaker, with the sharpest tongue and the most vicious fists, he spent his idle days wandering the village's alleys, specifically seeking out bullying boys, girls, old men, and old women to collect "protection money."
What? Was he targeting too many people? In a place like Konoha, who among the living wasn't a bullying troublemaker?
Not a single troublemaker in all of Konoha could beat Miki Yūya.
That afternoon, in a cool, narrow alley.
Thud! Thud! Several dull impacts rang out!
Three local Konoha thugs-Kawada, Sato, and Yamamoto-crouched on the ground clutching their stomachs, their faces full of indignation and their bodies aching all over.
The three had always thrown their weight around among their peers.
But against Miki Yūya, they didn't even have a chance to fight back. Three against one, and they still suffered a completely one-sided beating.
Clutching his lower abdomen, Kawada gritted his teeth and threatened him:
"Miki Yūya! Don't push your luck! We just don't want to stoop to your level!"
"There's only one of you! Just you wait! Next time, we'll make you pay!"
Sato and Yamamoto also tried to save face, snarling vicious threats even as their bodies honestly fished their pocket money out and obediently handed it over.
Those were the rules at the bottom of Konoha's social ladder: if you couldn't win, you paid. You could talk tough all you liked, but the money still had to come out.
Miki Yūya casually took the change and pocketed it. Looking utterly carefree, he was about to turn and leave, continuing his stroll to grind his stats.
But the instant he stepped out of the alley, he caught something nearby out of the corner of his eye.
Two extraordinarily conspicuous figures stood silently beneath the shade of a roadside tree.
Their black cloaks were embroidered with red clouds, their bearing cold and murderous, and an aura of deathly stillness warned everyone to stay away.
The man on the left had handsome features and deathly pale skin. His Sharingan were indifferent and icy, his expression distant. It was Uchiha Itachi.
Beside him stood Kisame Hoshigaki, tall and powerfully built, with deep-blue skin and the enormous blade Samehada over his shoulder. His resemblance to a humanoid shark alone was enough to make anyone's scalp prickle.
Even standing there casually, he silently radiated the vicious aura of someone who had slaughtered thousands, making the surrounding air seem almost frozen. Such was the overwhelming presence of a human tailed beast.
Miki Yūya's Observation Haki instantly sounded its highest alarm, and his heart lurched!
Holy shit!
The Akatsuki!
What were these two walking calamities doing here?!
He wasn't insane. An ordinary person picking a fight with the Akatsuki was asking to die. Never mind his current scraps of Haki-even ten times as much wouldn't let him withstand a casual strike from either of these monsters.
But if he backed down whenever he met someone strong, could he still call himself a Konoha troublemaker? His conquering will wouldn't allow him to retreat in a situation like this.
The next second, Miki Yūya moved swiftly, ducking straight back into the depths of the alley without hesitation.
Under the bewildered gazes of Kawada and his friends, he pulled out all the money he had just collected and stuffed it back into Kawada's hands, even adding a few extra coins.
"No protection money today. Full refund, plus a little extra."
For once, Miki Yūya sounded brisk and straightforward, without a trace of arrogance.
The three stared, utterly dumbfounded.
The overbearing Miki Yūya, who only ever took money and never gave it back, was actually issuing a refund? And adding extra?
After a brief stunned silence, their egos instantly swelled, and their faces twisted into expressions of supreme arrogance!
Clutching the money, Kawada lifted his chin and sneered mockingly:
"Hahaha! I knew trash like you was just bluffing! Scared now, huh?!"
"You were beating us pretty hard a minute ago. Why are you chickening out now?
"A useless orphan like you thinks he can collect protection money from us? Do you know who runs these alleys?!"
Sato kept snickering:
"He must've gotten scared when he saw how many of us there were! What a coward!"
"All that swagger before, and now look how pathetic you are!"
Yamamoto even stepped forward, openly sizing Miki Yūya up with contempt.
Looking at the three ignorant, arrogant brats who had no idea they were courting death, Miki Yūya couldn't be bothered to argue. He merely offered a mild warning:
"I'm not afraid of you three losers."
"I just saw something terrifying outside. A hundred times scarier than those Inuzuka Clan ninja who partner up with dogs."
"There's a guy out there who looks like a shark. He's really scary."
The three paused, then burst out laughing.
"A shark? Hahaha, have you lost your mind?!"
"Don't sharks live in the sea? Konoha's an inland village. Where would a shark come from?"
"Making stuff up to excuse chickening out! Pathetic!"
Miki Yūya raised an eyebrow:
"If you don't believe me, go look."
"Fine! Let's see what kind of bullshit you've made up!"
Faces full of disdain, Kawada and his friends held their heads high and swaggered out of the alley behind Miki Yūya.
But the instant the four stepped out and saw the two figures by the road-
The smiles on Kawada's, Sato's, and Yamamoto's faces froze solid!
Their blood seemed to freeze in an instant. Their pupils contracted wildly, and they stood rooted to the spot in stunned disbelief!
Beneath the roadside tree.
The towering, muscular stranger had deep-blue skin, exposed fangs, a savage face, and an enormous blade on his back. Murderous menace rolled off him. He really did look exactly like a man-eating shark that had crawled ashore!
There really was a shark man!
Their minds went blank. They were completely dumbstruck.
Only after a long moment did Kawada stammer:
"Th-there really is a shark?! What kind of monster is that? A summoned beast?!"
Sato swallowed, but he hadn't been scared completely witless yet. At that moment, the fundamental logic of a Konoha troublemaker fully awakened within him. Alone, they might not have dared speak like this, but now there were four of them.
Sato immediately began mocking him:
"That summoned beast is hideous! All black and blue, like a fish that hasn't finished evolving!"
Yamamoto was even more brazen. His gaze shifted to Uchiha Itachi, standing silently nearby, and he jeered without restraint:
"And that guy beside him! He looks like a corpse. What's with the sour face and the aloof act?"
"Doesn't he look like his mom just died? Moping around all day-who's he trying to impress with that brooding act?!"
Like newborn calves unafraid of a tiger, the three failed entirely to recognize the overwhelming killing intent emanating from the pair, seeing only two odd-looking freaks.
"Hahaha, I don't think it's just his mom! Both his parents must be dead. What's he putting on airs for?!"
"He thinks he's so cool, walking a shark around to show off."
Miki Yūya joined right in. That was right-this was how Konoha troublemakers behaved.
"Exactly! What's so great about ninja having summoned beasts? A bunch of losers."
[Ding! Conqueror's Haki +10] [Ding! Conqueror's Haki +11]
They seemed ignorant, but equally fearless.
And they really were asking to die.
An icy glint flashed through the dark eyes of the previously silent, indifferent Itachi and Kisame, and terrifying killing intent spread outward.
But would Miki Yūya be afraid? He immediately picked up a small stone nearby.
The stone whistled through the air as he hurled it straight at Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki!
Not to be outdone, Kawada, Sato, and Yamamoto also grabbed stones and threw them at Kisame and Itachi.
A gentle breeze stirred their black, red-cloud cloaks. Itachi and Kisame dodged aside, and Kisame spread his lips, exposing rows of sinister teeth as he snarled.
"You're asking to die!"
Before you continue