章節 100: Chapter 100 The Value of Controlling a Life
"What's that thing?"
"It's a god worshiped by a certain church in the Land of Hot Water. They lure unsuspecting living people into performing rituals in order to seek immortality." Tayuya explained.
"If you say so, then so be it." Naruto shrugged as he stood up, "I don't mind."
"But I'm not interested in anyone else's soul. You're the first debtor, and you'll be the only one."
"You…"
"Who wants to enter a debt relationship with you!" Tayuya turned her head away.
Naruto remained patient, his hand still extended in midair.
Tayuya gritted her teeth, glanced at Naruto, and thought carefully about what he had just said. In the end, she suppressed her anger.
She thought to herself, 'As long as I took the money within the debt limit and ran away, it would be fine. If he made any unreasonable demands, I could just refuse. I'd take the money and disappear, leaving him furious. Anyway, the world was so big, so he couldn't possibly track my down, right?'
Naruto was certain that Tayuya wouldn't refuse his offer. After all, it was the best option considering their positions.
Orochimaru no longer needed her and wouldn't remember her.
Anyway, with Sasuke successfully defecting, Orochimaru wouldn't care whether the Sound Four, a group of expendable experimental subjects, ended up with four or five dead members.
Even if Tayuya didn't return, Orochimaru wouldn't bother searching for her. As Sasuke was the only sweetheart in his heart.
One hundred thousand ryo to buy Tayuya's soul and faith was like a penny to Naruto. After all, money no longer held any meaning for him.
If necessary, he could raise the offer, but it was clear that Tayuya didn't have much of a concept of money.
"Then let's get to know each other again." Naruto held out his hand expressionlessly, "I'm the owner of your soul, your sole creditor, Uzumaki Naruto."
A small, delicate hand cautiously reached out, as if testing the waters, before finally grasping Naruto's palm tightly.
Naruto didn't seem surprised and calmly pulled Tayuya to her feet, "Did you find it?"
"Who told you to throw the money everywhere, you jerk."
"Show some respect. I'm your creditor now." Naruto said with some annoyance as he straightened up from the pile of dead leaves, ceasing his search for money.
The more stylish the act of throwing money had been, the more painful the act of picking it up became.
"No, I won't! I've already sold you my soul, and I don't owe you any money now." Tayuya said righteously.
"The money in your hands already exceeds 100,000 ryo." Naruto glanced at her.
The sunlight was low, filtering through the sparse leaves, casting shapes of light in the swirling dust. The two stood not far apart, their lower legs completely buried in the half-meter-high pile of dead leaves.
The scattered banknotes lay atop the leaves, and both had to struggle to collect them.
"If it exceeds the amount, then just treat it as a debt!" Tayuya puffed out her modest chest and declared righteously, "Anyway, I've already signed that debt agreement, so I'll take whatever I want!"
"If you are in debt, you should treat your creditor with a little more respect." As he said that, Naruto stopped picking up the money and slowly approached Tayuya through the dead leaves.
"What are you going to do?"
"Are you scared?" Naruto asked, not answering her question directly.
"Who… who would be scared, you jerk!" Tayuya clenched her fists, forcing herself to sound strong, "What can you even do? In the end, you're just a kid who's a little younger than me!"
"Your legs seem to be shaking."
"Shut up, you trash-brained bastard!" Tayuya cursed.
"Ooooh?" Naruto moved closer to Tayuya, their faces so close in the thick pile of dead leaves that their noses were just inches apart.
"You…" Tayuya turned her head away, her face full of disdain.
It wasn't until Naruto handed her the nearly 100,000 ryo bill he had collected that she actually blushed.
"Damn it, how much do you love money?" Naruto complained.
"Mind your own business!" Tayuya snatched the money and stuffed it into her chest. "I have nowhere else to go, so of course I like money!"
"If I don't have money to buy food, I'll have to resort to robbing. Doing such thing could easily attract unwanted trouble from the Shinobi Villages."
"You're surprisingly smart." Naruto praised without hesitation.
"That's just common sense! How low do you think of me?" Tayuya snapped back, though she seemed to appreciate the compliment, "Although...you're not wrong, I am indeed smart."
"Since you accept a debt, you should assume your obligations." Naruto said, locking eyes with Tayuya, "You're afraid, aren't you? So what exactly are you scared of?"
"You have no experience in this area, right? Are you afraid I'll suddenly kiss you?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Tayuya retorted, still trying to maintain her bravado, "I've been fighting since I was six, and I've killed more people than you've eaten bowls of ramen. That kind of thing doesn't bother me at all."
"So scary." Naruto replied sarcastically, before suddenly changing the subject, "Your debt is now two hundred thousand."
Seeing Naruto so close, Tayuya started to panic and shut her eyes tightly, shouting, "I don't want to!"
"Refusal accepted." Naruto said abruptly, then moved away from Tayuya.
"Huh?"
Naruto had already turned and started collecting money in the other direction, not even looking back as he spoke, "You are worth far more than two hundred thousand. You have the right to refuse."
Hearing this, Tayuya stood frozen in place, her thoughts becoming tangled and chaotic as one question kept gnawing at her mind.
'Just how much is my entire life worth to that guy?'
…
The next day.
Naruto woke up in his bed and the empty room was unusually quiet.
The mission had failed, and Sasuke had escaped.
Everyone was injured except Naruto.
Due to her sensitive identity, Tayuya hadn't followed Naruto back to the village. Instead, she went to Tanzaku Town alone, as they had agreed.
Tanzaku Town was a bustling town in the Land of Fire, some distance from Konoha. It had everything one could want, lodging, food, scenery, and wasn't any less lively than Konoha Street.
The relationship between the two is a bit like raising a cat, but not quite.
This arrangement was something Naruto had decided on after considering the situation. After Sasuke's defection, the next three years wouldn't be too eventful.
Naruto needed time to grow, and Tayuya did too.
Before the mission even began, Naruto had already declined Jiraiya's offer to train him. He just wanted to take it easy. He wouldn't believe a word from the old toad unless the sun rose in the west.
Besides, Training with Jiraiya would be too troublesome, and the results also wouldn't be that significant.
He planned to rely on the system for training, returning to a normal routine. First, he would finally tackle the Kyubi's progress he had been putting off and aimed to trigger more options within three years.
Then, he would pick the right time to resolve the issue with the Kyubi sealed inside him.
After all, he already obtained the Sealing Technique to do so.
創作者的想法 
Iampoorguy
Iampoorguy Support me at Pat reon
https://www.pat*reon.com/IamPoorGuyToo
remove the *
章節 101: Chapter 101 Who Isn't a Princess?
Naruto stared at the ceiling that was so white that it reflected light for a while, thinking about Sasuke. After some time, he sighed.
'There was no rain on the night of the Uchiha massacre. The entire clan was slaughtered by his own brother along with Obito, leaving Sasuke unable to even shed tears.'
'Sasuke is one of the few relatively normal members of the Uchiha Clan, but he's been forcibly pushed to this state. Itachi is truly ruthless.'
'However, this also means that Itachi has already planned to give his eyes to Sasuke.'
'Things are getting more complicated.'
Naruto sat up in bed, his gaze sweeping toward the door, and he felt a chill again.
He couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "Damn you, Uchiha Itachi."
Getting out of bed, he dragged himself to the bathroom to freshen up.
Tsunade had instructed him yesterday to report back on the mission. Each of the six people had to write a mission report. After all, it was related to the defection of the village's Last Uchiha.
In the empty Hokage's Office, the white floral curtains fluttered slightly.
With a thud, a pen was thrown on the table.
"I still don't feel like writing at all." Naruto muttered, slumping back in the soft swivel chair, clearly ready to give up.
"What did you just say, brat?"
The rhythmic clicking of high heels echoed as Tsunade, accompanied by Shizune, entered the room with a stern expression. She slammed the documents in her hand onto the desk and then grabbed Naruto by the collar, lifting him up.
"I-I said you're really beautiful, Tsunade-sama." Naruto stammered, nearly choking as he was hoisted up by the collar.
"I'm going to die!" Naruto foamed at the mouth and he unconsciously reached for Tsunade's bulging chest.
With a bang, Tsunade tossed him back into the chair.
"It's taken you half a day to write a mission report, and the first line was written by me! Do you have a death wish?"
Considering that Tsunade had been worried about him a few days ago and had even given him the Kusanagi Sword without asking for it back, Naruto obediently lowered his head in apology.
"I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama."
Tsunade leaned back in her chair and let out a deep sigh. Shizune had already prepared tea for Tsunade and was about to pour some for Naruto when Tsunade waved her off.
"Let him pour his own."
"Yes, Tsunade-sama." The ageless secretary, Shizune, noticed that Tsunade seemed to be in a foul mood and stepped aside.
Naruto blinked, unsure of what was going on, and cautiously moved forward to pour himself some tea.
"Why are you being so cautious? Do you think I'm going to eat you?"
"It's not that... I, uh, got a bit hurt." Naruto said awkwardly, "You seem especially... open today, Tsunade-sama. Did something bad happen?"
Tsunade shot him a glare, folding her hands on the desk.
"What are you doing with someone else's fan?"
"Huh?" Naruto was momentarily confused, "What fan?"
Hearing this, Tsunade rubbed her forehead and looked over at Shizune beside her.
Shizune understood and took a step forward, explaining in a gentle voice to Naruto.
"Not long after you set out, Tsunade-sama requested for assistance from Although the higher-ups of Sunagakure agreed, Kankuro's puppet was broken by Sasuke, and it's still being repaired."
Shizune paused mid-sentence and looked towards Naruto.
"Sunagakure then mentioned that Temari's fan was taken by you. Without the fan, she essentially has no combat ability. And they're concerned about Gaara coming to aid Konoha alone, worried that..."
"Worried about what?" Naruto frowned, picked up the teacup and took a sip.
"They said if the next Kazekage gets beaten up by Konoha's Shinobi again, it could lead to serious problems. If things escalate, they might have to invoke the emergency protocol agreement signed between the Nidaime Hokage and Sunagakure."
"Pfftt!" Naruto spat out the tea in surprise, "There's such an agreement between Konoha and Sunagakure?"
"Yes, but it's set to expire in three years."
"What's with this sudden rush?" Naruto was speechless, "We are all Shinobi. Am I not allowed to spar with Gaara?"
"Don't underestimate the former Kage, you fool!" Tsunade rebuked Naruto, "If those war-crazed maniacs hadn't died, Konoha would have been wiped out long ago."
Hearing this, Naruto couldn't help but wonder, 'It seemed Tsunade didn't seem to hold the previous Kage in very high regard either.'
"I'm talking to you!" Tsunade sat at her desk, her face stern as she reprimanded him, "What on earth are you thinking? As a man, you just robbed a fan?"
"Where's the pride of Konoha?"
"Huh?" Naruto was confused, "What do you mean?"
"What do I mean? Sunagakure actually asked Konoha for a fan. Of course it's embarrassing!" Tsunade's strong, slender finger tapped on the desk loudly.
"You should've taken more than only a fan. In that situation, you could've done anything you wanted. Sunagakure wouldn't be able to pursue the matter afterward. After all, it's a duel between Genin. Life and death are up to fate."
'I can do anything? What a lewd statement.'
However, Naruto remembered that at that moment, a system option had been triggered, and he might have done a bit more than only taking the fan.
'Temari?'
"Are you listening to me? Well, it doesn't matter now." Tsunade gritted her teeth and said, " If it weren't for the recent diplomatic ties, I'd want to punch that arrogant Sunagakure's Jonin to death.
"Isn't she just a Sunagakure's princess? Who isn't a princess these days? Damn it!"
After a moment of silence, Tsunade spoke again.
"Go return the fan to Sunagakure. Let's put this matter to rest."
"Where do I return it?" Naruto asked.
…
"Isn't this place a bit too private?" Naruto looked up at the neon pink sign of the four-story hotel.
Looking around, Naruto noticed Anbu on the rooftops and Sunagakure's Shinobi guarding the entrance. It immediately became clear to him that he had come to the right place.
'Tsunade really knew how to stir things up. That old woman's mischievous actions really disgusted the Sunagakure's representatives. The eyes looking at me are too cold.'
Naruto shrugged indifferently. He spent two seconds reminiscing about all the sad moments of both this life and the last, finally suppressing his laughter before walking solemnly towards the special hotel.
"Stop." A Sunagakure's Shinobi stopped Naruto coldly.
Naruto was startled, his mind already racing with countless dramatic scenarios of a 'God of War's husband'. He was about to mobilize the 100,000 soldiers to boost the performance. (T/N: God of War's husband is the usual trope in Chinese's Urban Novel for a useless husband of a beautiful CEO, but that useless husband turns out to be a powerful person, usually a Mercenary with the nickname, God of War.)
"Please change your shoes before entering." The Sunagakure's Shinobi gestured towards a pair of disposable shoes nearby.
"Wow, such high standards." Naruto's excitement faded instantly. He forced an awkward smile, changed his shoes, and walked into the hotel.
Following the guide, Naruto knocked on a room door on the third floor.
About half a minute later, footsteps approached from within, and the door was pulled open. Without any dramatic lighting, Temari stood there with her arms crossed, glaring at Naruto with a look of disgust.
"Pervert!" She spat.
創作者的想法
Iampoorguy
Iampoorguy
Support me at Pat reon
https://www.pat*reon.com/IamPoorGuyToo
remove the *
每周推薦票狀態
200+ 推薦票
榜單 
21 推薦票 您可能也喜歡
段落評論