Konoha: You're letting me build up my bonds, but you're offending the entire ninja world.

The boy's figure slowly disappeared into the darkness, passing through the winding and rugged mountain cave. Suddenly, the space in front of him opened up, and a spacious hall appeared before him.

It was very quiet all around, so quiet it was eerie.

A ninja wearing a red mask stood quietly in the hall, followed by three subordinates.

Upon seeing Shimura Gengetsu appear, the man in the red mask spoke coldly:

“Young Master Xuan Yue, I am the captain of the second squad of the Root Division, codename ‘Owl’.”

"The leader has given instructions that I will be in charge of your first lesson at the Root."

"The content is very simple: it's about murder."

For Root ninjas, killing is indeed the simplest of all their training programs.

Shimura Gengetsu knew that most Root ninjas had this deadpan look, so he didn't mind his attitude and nodded, saying, "You make the arrangements, I'll do as you say."

Although he had cheat codes, he was once just an ordinary citizen who had never even killed a chicken, let alone a human.

Once you have the strength, your mentality becomes a weakness. The battlefield isn't just a simple comparison of data; even a genin can kill a jonin, or even a kage, with a kunai.

Gengetsu Shimura knew this was a hurdle he had to overcome, and the old man's arrangements were perfectly sound.

However, he still set a condition: "Let me state in advance that I will only kill those who deserve to be killed. If I feel that someone shouldn't be killed, I won't do it."

The red-masked man, 'Owl,' spoke in a cold voice, 'To Root, ninjas are merely tools; any mission target can be killed. But Young Master Xuan Yue is different; you have the right to decide.'

After leaving the Root base, the group headed directly out of Konoha Village and into the northwest.

At the speed of a ninja, they quickly arrived at an ordinary village a hundred kilometers away.

As the most powerful country in the world, the Land of Fire has rarely been invaded by foreign enemies and has been relatively peaceful and tranquil overall.

But finding bad guys is still quite easy.

After all, the society as a whole was still under the feudal aristocratic system, with a great deal of corruption hidden beneath the bright surface.

Mountain bandits, local thugs—you can find several deserving of death in any random village.

On the way, Xiao had already told Shimura Gengetsu all the information he had prepared in advance.

Their target was a wealthy man in the village who made a fortune through lending money, driving dozens of families to ruin and causing them to die, and plundering land on a large scale.

He also had two rogue ninjas as bodyguards, but their strength was average, only at the level of ordinary Chunin.

These fat pigs are usually cash cows at the root, so it's a good opportunity to make use of them and give them to Shimura Gengetsu to hone his skills.

The strength that Shimura Gengetsu displayed during his duel with Uchiha Itachi that day was absolutely enough to crush such a ragtag ninja.

Standing atop a large tree in a spacious courtyard, the owl's cold voice rang out.

"Young Master Xuan Yue, you may go in now."

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Correct Use of the Bond System? The Big Fat Sheep's IOU

boom!

The wooden door shattered with a loud crash, and the thugs who were drinking and playing cards inside stared in astonishment at the doorway.

As the dust settled, a small figure walked in, carrying a katana that was not much shorter than himself.

"Hello, my name is Shimura Gengetsu, and I'm here to see you off on your journey." Gengetsu revealed a childlike, innocent smile.

"But before you die, could you please tell me your names?"

"Consider it a free end-of-life care service I'm providing."

A brief silence fell over the room, followed by a burst of laughter.

A burly man stepped forward, laughing so hard he was doubled over. "Where did this ninja doll come from? You actually want to kill someone? I'm standing right in front of you, do you dare to stab me?"

"You little brat, have you ever seen blood? Get back home right now!"

If it were an adult ninja, this burly man certainly wouldn't be so arrogant, but what can a six or seven-year-old child do, even if he's a ninja?

"What's your name?" Shimura Gengetsu asked again.

"I, Taro Uesugi——"

Tear! !

The long knife slashed down, leaving a red dot on the man's forehead. The dot then quickly extended upwards, forming a line of blood, before his body fell straight backward.

When he crashed to the ground, his entire body... no, his corpse was split in two, with various internal organs spilling out all over the ground.

"Tsk."

Gengetsu Shimura instinctively frowned, feeling a bit nauseous.

The psychological impact of killing was not as great as he had imagined; rather, the physical reaction was more severe. During this period, he was unable to eat any offal.

[The host has formed a bond of 'life and death' with Ueyama Taro. Three rewards will be issued at once, including 0.1 standard unit of Genin chakra and a slight enhancement to physical attributes.]

Very well, his guess was indeed correct.

Bonds require strong emotions to be triggered, so what emotion could be stronger than the one that bursts forth at the moment of death?

"A friendship forged in life and death"...that's quite fitting.

I live, he dies, each of us occupies one side, how fair!

After a brief moment of shock, the others inside grabbed their weapons and rushed forward, shouting.

While ordinary people may fear ninjas, after long-term training, their physical fitness is not much worse than that of ninjas, not to mention that they have two Chunin here.

This group subconsciously attributed Taro Ueyama's death to Gengetsu Shimura's sneak attack and the weapon used, showing no fear whatsoever.

Facing the returning longsword, Shimura Gengetsu didn't need any skill; he simply met it head-on.

With a crisp clang, the enemy's weapon shattered, followed by the severed legs.

Outside the room, Xiao listened quietly to the screams coming from inside, his mind unmoved.

The only thing that puzzled him was that Gengetsu Shimura's quirks were a bit strange.

Before dying, one must know the enemy's name; otherwise, instead of giving them a quick death, one will be repeatedly tortured.

...

Three minutes later, Shimura Gengetsu, who was not stained with a drop of blood, walked out of the door.

The screams and wails inside the house had completely disappeared.

"Young Master Xuan Yue, are you alright?" Xiao asked softly.

“It’s not as bad as I thought.” Shimura Gengetsu shook his head slightly. “But we still need to keep training and we must fully adapt.”

"That's good." Owl nodded slightly. "Lord Danzo has prepared ample resources for you. If you don't need to rest, we can move on to the next location soon."

"Let's go."

The young man sheathed his longsword, took a deep breath, and said, "I don't want to waste any time."

Get used to it sooner, and go back to see your sweet and soft little girl sooner. Although you won't be sleeping in the open while you're out there, nothing is as comfortable as your own home.

"Please wait a moment, we still need to recover assets."

The subordinates behind Xiao moved. The members of the Root were not only good at killing, but also at raiding homes.

In less than ten minutes, all the cash, gold and silver jewelry, and valuables such as house deeds in the mansion were found.

Shimura Gengetsu looked curiously at the stack of receipts and passbooks, flipped through them, and exclaimed in amazement.

"They're quite wealthy..."

The local tycoon in one village has 20 million in savings, almost as much as an Asma. This doesn't even include the land deeds and fields; the total value is definitely over 30 million.

Ok?

When he turned to a slip of paper, Gengetsu Shimura stopped flipping through it.

[IOU: I, Tsunade-hime, borrow 8 million yen due to a shortage of gambling funds. I promise to repay the loan by January 1st, 54th year of Konoha. After the repayment date, the monthly interest will increase by one percent.]

The boy gave a strange smile.

Tsunade's IOU...

Folding the IOU in half, Shimura Gengetsu put it away and sealed all three million yen in cash into a storage scroll.

"These things are mine; you can deal with the rest."

Xiao remained silent. Although he was nominally the leader of the team, Shimura Gengetsu's authority within Root was second only to Danzo. He would not disobey any of Shimura Gengetsu's orders and would only report the situation truthfully.

.......

In the days that followed, Shimura Gengetsu was either killing people or on his way to kill people.

They fought their way from the west of the Land of Fire to the north, and then from the north back to the capital.

The targets of the hunt range from ordinary thugs and ruffians to gangs of bandits and even nobles from the Land of Fire.

As the Kusanagi sword became stained with blood, Gengetsu Shimura also grew rapidly.

This kind of growth is not about strength, but about mindset.

He couldn't bring himself to indiscriminately kill innocent people, but when facing an enemy, regardless of their age or status, he could strike without mercy.