Naruto: I, the villain template, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 110 Tilling the Darkness, Serving the Light (Bonus Chapter for Hall Master [Dark Star Emperor])

Bang! !

In an old house rented by refugees, the door was suddenly pushed open with a loud, strained sound.

"Ah! You..." The woman lying on the bed inside the room woke up instantly, looked at the man who had barged into the room in a disheveled state, and exclaimed in astonishment, "Weren't you supposed to be a factory worker? How come..."

"Shut up, you old hag!"

Before the woman could finish speaking, the man, panting heavily, strode over and, under her terrified gaze, grabbed her collar, growling, "Quick! Pack your things! And the money and food I stole..."

"We're heading to Amegakure now, we have to leave immediately, or it'll be too late!"

The man's eyes were bloodshot, and he looked frantic and agitated.

"Why...why? Let go of me first...what's the rush..."

Looking at the man's ferocious and terrifying face, the woman struggled to her feet and retorted, "We finally escaped here and were lucky enough to meet that kind sir. We've only had a few days of peace, and you're already leaving?"

"Pah! What a load of rubbish!"

The man spat on the ground, then cursed, spittle flying everywhere: "If he were truly kind, he should have opened the granaries and distributed grain like Lord Hanzo did. Why did he have to be a laborer and learn blacksmithing?!"

"And they're actually building a cemetery and a monument to the fallen heroes. That mysterious brat must be up to no good. Once I get this information to the Daimyo and Lord Hanzo, will I still need to bother with the laborers?"

Perhaps his voice was too jarring, for the sound of a baby crying came from the swaddling clothes on the bed.

"Waaaa! Waaaaa!"

"Ugh! So annoying!" The man glared at the swaddled baby and yelled, "Stop crying! Stop crying! I should have drowned you back then!"

Upon hearing this, the woman who had been struggling seemed to pause for a moment, and then suddenly fell silent.

The fear on her face gradually faded, and she looked at her husband expressionlessly, as if he were a complete stranger. Only indifference and calm remained in her eyes.

"You..." The man paused in his tirade when he saw the woman's unprecedented expression.

Under that indifferent gaze, his body trembled involuntarily.

But he quickly realized his mistake, becoming furious and embarrassed by his behavior. He glared at them and roared, "You bastard! What kind of look is that?!"

After saying that, the man, his face flushed, pulled out a kunai from his pocket and held it against the woman's thin neck, staring intently at her face with a fierce gaze.

But he couldn't discern the fear and turmoil of death he had anticipated from that expressionless face.

"Are you crazy, woman...?"

A cold glint flashed in the man's eyes, but before he could finish speaking, he saw the woman slowly raise her arm, loosely gripping the sharp blade of the kunai, as if worried that the blade might hurt her.

"Heh heh." Seeing the woman's seemingly fearful movements, the man finally smiled. "Now you know how to obey, right? You..."

But the woman's next action immediately silenced the man.

puff! !

The hand, which had been loosely clenched, suddenly tightened, instantly producing the sound of a blade cutting through flesh, and blood slowly flowed from the woman's palm.

"Although Lord Nagato told me long ago that you harbored ulterior motives..."

Under the man's astonished and stunned gaze, the woman turned to him and said calmly, "But I didn't expect that you were not content with petty theft, but actually tried to leak information to the enemy outside."

"Unfortunately, you won't have another chance."

After saying that, the man saw that the gray color in her lowered eyes had been suppressed to the depths of her pupils, leaving only the vertical pupils of a cold-blooded animal.

Dense, bluish veins rapidly crawled from the woman's arms to her palms, instantly making her thin arms under the coarse cloth clothes appear several times thicker.

"you……"

Upon seeing this, the man's pupils contracted instantly, and he instinctively tried to draw his kunai.

But he felt an unshakeable force; the frail woman who used to be submissive and easily beaten seemed to have suddenly become a stone pressing down on him.

The next moment, that power poured out from the woman's palm.

Click! Click!

The crudely made, mass-produced kunai made a piercing sound, as if it had been crushed by a boulder.

The blade shattered into countless fragments in an instant, scattering and flying around in mid-air, cutting the man's astonished face, and blood flowed from the wound.

The stinging pain startled the dazed man, who stared wide-eyed in disbelief and cried out in terror, "How could this be...!"

boom! !

Before the man could shout, the woman headbutted him backward.

"Ugh!"

The man's face made a terrifying sound instantly. He screamed and felt his brain instantly concussed, his vision went black, and his eyes were soaked with the rolling blood flowing from his forehead. He staggered back a few steps unconsciously and released the woman.

Just then, through his still-blurred vision, a fist came hurtling towards him.

Driven by instinct, the man subconsciously turned his head, only to suddenly feel a ringing in his ears.

Bang! !

The woman's knuckles cracked as she slammed them against the wall, and blood seeped from the cracks in the wall.

She smashed several cracks in the wall behind her. Although she didn't hit the man's head as she had hoped, the flying shards of stone pierced his eardrums.

"ah!!"

The intense pain caused the man to scream, spitting out a mouthful of blood and teeth-stained saliva. His slurred, lisping voice screamed, "You crazy woman! What did you do to me...?"

"I'm sorry, I only recently had the good fortune to acquire this power, and I'm not yet able to control it skillfully."

The woman pulled her fist up, skin and all, and after apologizing expressionlessly, she threw a second punch without hesitation.

Bang! !

The punch landed squarely on the man's bleeding face, sending him crashing backward against the wall, forcing him to raise his hands to grab the woman's arm.

The woman didn't give him a chance to say his last words. Without blinking, she punched him three more times, smashing his hard skull with each blow.

puff! !

The final punch created a cavity in the man's brain, smashing through his entire skull, and bloomed into a blood-red rose on the wall.

When the woman pulled out her blood-soaked fist, her entire head was a bloody mess. The corpse hung on the wall, then slowly slid down, leaving only a trail of white blood.

"..."

Looking down at the unrecognizable corpse, a hint of relief flashed in the woman's calm eyes, as if she had personally resolved the nightmare within her own nightmare.

Just then, a soft cough suddenly rang out in the deathly silent room.

"cough."

The cough was very soft, but it made the woman's body tremble, and she suddenly came back to her senses and turned her head to look.

In the shadows at the far end of the corner, a dark figure stood.

Feeling the tremor originating from the depths of her blood, the woman knelt down on one knee without hesitation, bowing her head respectfully and cautiously, saying, "Lord Nagato!"

The figure emerged from the shadows, his face as cold and stern as a knife. The black bandages still covered his eyes, yet they sent a chill down the woman's spine, causing her to lower her head even further.

"Congratulations, you're free."

After Nagato said those words, the woman felt the atmosphere relax, and suddenly heard a whooshing sound.

She looked up and saw a box being thrown at her; she instinctively reached out and hugged it.

"Open this box and officially join us, but before you join, remember our principles."

Nagato's expression was indifferent, and he said calmly, "Toil in darkness, serve the light."

Toil in darkness, yet serve the light?

Upon hearing this, the woman's face showed a hint of contemplation and confusion, but as she met Nagato's indistinct gaze and looked at her daughter, who was gradually quieting down, a hardening and determination slowly emerged in her eyes.

"Yes."

She slowly lowered her head and opened the white box.

It was a completely white mask, and a black hooded robe.

Looking at this familiar scene before him, Nagato's face grew more somber, and he murmured silently, "Toil in darkness, serve the light... nothingness, all is permitted."

Yes.

What he just said was only the first half of the sentence.

Till the darkness, serve the light; nothing is true, all is permitted.

These were words his elder brother had said to him, and they weren't some nonsensical statement, but his brother didn't explain them to him, hoping he could understand them himself.

Even now, Nagato still cannot understand the second half of the sentence; he can only insist on practicing the first half and take it as the code of conduct for Dawn.

"Brother." Nagato frowned, thinking to himself, "What exactly does that mean?"

----------

Meanwhile, at the undeveloped end of the city, it lies on the edge of a turbulent river.

This is the ferry crossing for the Dawn City river transport, and it is still an undeveloped area.

Wow!

Looking at the rows of unfinished houses stretching eastward, Yahiko gaped in surprise and asked, "Last time I came here, this was just a wasteland. How come there are dozens of houses now?"

He felt that he would discover new changes every time he woke up.

Yun Chuan ignored him, looked at the crowd gathered in the distance, and walked towards them.

Those people were dressed in tattered clothes, some even wrapped in burlap blankets, standing or sitting under the eaves to avoid the rain.

A few men, about seven or eight in number, were still on the riverbank, their upper bodies bare, bent over, carrying reins on their backs, the other end of which was attached to a wooden boat.

"Hey! Hey-yo-yo! Ho-hey!"

They stood in neat rows, carrying stiff ropes on their backs, limping forward as they hoarsely shouted earth-shattering chants: "Drag! Drag! Drag, drag! Heave-ho! Heave-ho!"

The river wind, carrying a chilling aura, raged wildly, and the reins left blurry bloody marks on their bodies, yet the men remained calm and composed.

The shouts echoed far and wide.

"They..." Xiao Nan asked blankly, staring at the scene in the distance, "Who are they?"

Yahiko, who is usually noisy, remained silent for a long time this time.

"Boatmen," he whispered, "they are boatmen."

A rope puller is someone who makes a living by pulling ropes; his deceased father was also a rope puller.

In the Land of Rain, boats race against the current. Whenever a boat runs aground or encounters treacherous rapids, boatmen must work together to pull it out.

The harsh and unique environment of the Rain Country meant that few grains of food could be grown, and the common people without special skills had to rely on Laqian for survival.

They are probably the most numerous profession, but also the most marginalized group.

Under the timid or wary gazes of the boatmen, Yun Chuan walked up to them with a smile.

"My esteemed sir..."

Seeing that Yun Chuan and his group had come out of the city, the leader of the boatmen stepped forward.

The gray-haired man, in his forties or fifties, bowed and said with a humble and respectful smile, "We didn't mean to occupy the house. We'll leave right away. Please don't mind."

After saying this, he waved to the boatmen behind him, put on his straw hat, and hurriedly prepared to leave the house where he had taken shelter from the rain.

"Hey everyone, don't rush off yet."

Yun Chuan smiled and took out some rice balls from his bundle, handing them to the leader of the porters, saying, "I don't mean to send you away, I just have a question I'd like to ask you."

Gudong!

The lead boatman was somewhat astonished, and subconsciously swallowed as he looked at the steaming rice balls.

But in the end, he looked away, a humble smile returning to his face, and said respectfully, "Sir, if you have any questions, just ask. There's no need for this..."

But before he could finish speaking, Yun Chuan broke off a piece of rice ball and ate it, then stuffed the rest into his arms, saying sternly, "Stop talking nonsense. What's said is said, and I mean it!"

Qiu Yu, who was standing next to Yun Chuan, still chimed in to help, even though she didn't know his intentions: "Lord Yun Chuan is the master of this city. He single-handedly wiped out the bandits who had been entrenched here and is now protecting thousands of people."

"Don't worry, there's nothing on you that he would want."

The boatman paused for a moment, looked at the rice ball in his arms, and immediately became respectful, thanking him respectfully: "So you are the master of this city. I have always heard the passing merchant ships praise you highly."

"Thank you for the treat, sir! Please ask me anything, I will answer to the best of my knowledge! We have been a Lazang family for generations, and we know this place very well."

Upon hearing this, Yun Chuan did not rush to ask questions, but instead helped the boatman up.

"Ask away, but don't just stand here like an idiot."

Yun Chuan naturally took the arm of one of the boatmen and went to the eaves where the other boatmen were gathered, sitting down next to the stunned boatmen.

"Speaking of which, I have an elder relative who worked on ocean-going ships."

He took out a few more rice balls, and while eating them, he said with a smile, "When I encountered some trouble in the past, I was always grateful for the help of the boatmen, so I feel close to you all."

After saying that, Yun Chuan began to recount his experiences with the plum rains. Whether it was a made-up story or a true one, they couldn't tell at all.

These poor boatmen had only ever heard of the "sea," but had never actually seen it with their own eyes.

Hearing Yun Chuan recount some interesting and unusual stories, the wary boatmen unknowingly gathered around, munching on their rice balls while exclaiming in amazement.

Yahiko and Konan watched in bewilderment as Yun Chuan gradually became one of the boatmen.

After they had become completely familiar with each other, Yun Chuan naturally asked, "You came from the capital, right? There should be more work there, so why did you cross the river directly here?"

Upon hearing this, Qianfu, who had already let his guard down, shook his head and sighed, "It was alright before, but not anymore."

"Yes," another towman sighed. "A few years ago, when life was more stable, we were so busy with towing jobs that we couldn't keep up with the demand. Merchant ships came every day."

"But now there are fewer merchant ships on business, and often there are no jobs for ten days or half a month, and many of us can't even fill our stomachs."

"Isn't it all because of those bandits from the Land of Wind? They not only let us pass by, but they also robbed us wherever they went. The nearby villages have been completely ransacked, and countless people have become refugees!"

Another gaunt porter, his expression indignant, blurted out, "The daimyo is a good-for-nothing too, completely indifferent. And that Musashi, the leader of Amegakure, is also an incompetent good-for-nothing..."

Just then, before he could finish speaking, Yun Chuan suddenly asked, "What about Hanzo? What do you guys think of Hanzo?"

Upon hearing this, the commotion among the boatmen suddenly ceased, and an eerie silence fell over them as they all tacitly chose to remain silent.

"...Lord Hanzo, we've heard his slogan, 'Expel the ninjas of the Five Great Nations.' He's a good person, and his intentions are good."

The leader of the boatmen was silent for a moment, then finally gave a bitter smile and said frankly, "But ninjas don't engage in production. If they want to start a war, where will the money and food come from? Of course, from ordinary civilians."

"Unless we also become cannon fodder, we will still be exploited by him."

"It could be even worse than it is now."

(End of this chapter)