"Kaoru, buy fewer snacks."
Walking out of the convenience store, Akiyoshi Yuu advised, carrying two large plastic bags.
"Eating only snacks isn't good for your health. We're here to buy ingredients for dinner..."
"I don't care."
The girl named Akiyoshi Kaoru carried both of their school bags, a stick of Pocky dangling from her small, delicate lips.
It was a biscuit stick covered in chocolate: yes, the kind used in couples' games where each person eats from one end.
"It's so heavy. Let's hurry home."
"Alright."
Akiyoshi Yuu smiled faintly.
Their school bags were definitely not heavy, but two large bags of ingredients and snacks were quite heavy.
Yuu was well aware of Kaoru's gaze, which discreetly swept over his hands.
"What do you want to eat tonight?"
The 'Akiyoshi Yuu' before transmigration only knew how to make instant noodles with boiling water. However, the one food that Akiyoshi Kaoru beside him happened to hate was instant noodles. Thanks to the memories in his mind, otherwise, Akiyoshi Yuu would have had to order takeout.
"Hmm... whatever."
After thinking for a moment, the girl beside him finally gave an irresponsible answer.
"Then, let's make meat stew."
Adachi Ward.
As evening fell, the setting sun painted a layer of gold on the undulating buildings.
Although this area was theoretically part of Tokyo, as the district with the lowest income among Tokyo's 23 wards, many of the buildings were over thirty or forty years old. On the roadside telephone poles, wires crisscrossed in the air like a spider's web, which, in Akiyoshi Yuu's eyes, had a certain 'urban village' feel from his past life.
And the Akiyoshi family home was located here.
"You're so slow."
Arriving in front of a detached house, Akiyoshi Kaoru complained, but her hands had already opened the gate to the courtyard, stepping aside.
Carrying two large bags, Akiyoshi Yuu walked past his sister, his gaze sweeping over the building before him.
This was a standard 1980s 'ikkodate'. Yes, the same style as Crayon Shin-chan's and Doraemon's houses from the anime of his past life: a courtyard enclosed by a wall, and a two-story detached house.
In bustling areas, such buildings had mostly been replaced by apartments and high-rises. Only in remote places like Adachi Ward did they still remain... huh?
His gaze swept over the courtyard window, and Akiyoshi Yuu paused for a moment.
"What's wrong?"
His sister's puzzled voice came from behind. Akiyoshi Yuu narrowed his eyes, his gaze nonchalantly moving away from the drawn curtains.
"It's nothing."
?
Since her brother said so, his sister, Akiyoshi Kaoru, walked to the front door first, took out the key, and opened it.
"I'm home."
It was Akiyoshi Kaoru who said this, while Akiyoshi Yuu had already stepped into the entryway with the two large bags.
"Welcome home—"
Swish.
Before the girl could react, two figures lunged out from the left and right, the gleaming daggers in their hands pressed against their faces as a malicious voice rang out.
"Don't move!"
"Move and I'll kill you!"
?!
Bang.
The door behind them closed.
Click.
With the sound of a switch being pressed, the somewhat dim room suddenly lit up.
"Yo, you brought food?"
An arrogant voice sounded, drawing the attention of the Akiyoshi siblings.
On the sofa in their living room, a bald man with a tank top and a tattoo on his arm was leaning back, his muscular arms draped over the sofa in a 'boss' posture.
"Robbers..."
"No, no, no, little girl, you're mistaken."
Just as Akiyoshi Kaoru subconsciously identified them, the bald man sitting on the sofa sat up.
"We're not robbers, just a big brother upholding justice for his little brother."
As the man raised his hand and pointed to the side:
"Yamamoto?"
It really was this guy.
After noticing that his own curtains were unusually drawn, Akiyoshi Yuu had already had his suspicions.
Normally, he should have called the police. But... the chakra flowing within his body gave Akiyoshi Yuu the confidence to face any danger.
"It's him!"
Yamamoto in the living room pointed at Akiyoshi Yuu, his malicious gaze almost solidifying.
What a pain, there are always guys who don't know when they're courting death.
Akiyoshi Yuu's gaze swept over the duct tape, camera... on their living room table, and his eyes gradually grew cold.
Four pieces of social scum...
Two ambushed them at the door, with buzz cuts and 'delinquent' attire, holding the Akiyoshi siblings with daggers. Yamamoto, standing in the living room, had a smug look on his face, while the bald man on the sofa lifted his chin contemptuously at Akiyoshi Yuu.
"You're the kid who beat up Yamamoto?"
"If he wasn't beaten by anyone else today, then it was me."
Despite having a dagger at his neck, Akiyoshi Yuu's expression remained unchanged, which made Yamamoto in the living room take a step forward, then force himself to stop.
He wasn't the one in charge.
"Good."
"You've got guts, kid."
The bald man on the sofa rubbed his bruised chin.
"I admire bold people like you. If you hadn't provoked my little brother, I wouldn't have minded introducing you to the Zanshi-gumi."
"Toshikawa-aniki?"
Hearing this, Yamamoto was both surprised and angry.
A glare.
A single look from the bald man instantly silenced Yamamoto.
"What a pity, what a pity."
"I heard your family got a large sum of compensation money?"
"Hand over the money, and I'll buy your life. And—"
The bald man's gaze fell on Akiyoshi Kaoru, instantly becoming filled with desire, greed, and ferocity!
"Hey, little girl."
"As long as you play with us for one night, we'll let your brother go. How about it?"
After speaking, the bald man added another sentence.
"Don't worry, we won't let you end up like Furuta Junko."
Furuta Junko.
The moment this name was mentioned, fear instinctively appeared on Akiyoshi Kaoru's small face.
Thirty years ago, a high school girl was tortured beyond recognition, then stuffed into an oil drum, filled with cement, and buried.
This case caused a sensation throughout the entire island nation at the time, and the classic 'cement burial' method was later imitated by many.
Even after thirty years, the matter had not ended. The perpetrators had long since been released from prison, changed their names, and continued to live freely, even shamelessly leaving messages on their blogs, showing no remorse.
And this incident happened right here in Adachi Ward!
"And we'll take a picture as a souvenir."
The bald man looked with satisfaction at the pale-faced Akiyoshi Kaoru. Although the girl was a bit thin, that sweet and cute face... was practically a money-printing machine!
The Zanshi-gumi operated many 'fuuzoku' establishments. If he presented such 'high-grade goods', he could enter the organization—
"Are you done talking?"
?
At that very moment,
a cold voice sounded, sending a chill through the burly bald man on the sofa.
"It seems you're done talking, then—"
The person who spoke was Akiyoshi Yuu, with a dagger at his neck.
"Kaoru, close your eyes."
As Akiyoshi Kaoru subconsciously closed her eyes, and while the few people in the living room were still looking puzzled, Akiyoshi Yuu raised a hand and grabbed.
His five fingers clamped down on the wrist holding the dagger.
Crack.
The hand, infused with chakra, contracted like a mechanical clamp snapping shut.
"Ah—"
The thug holding Akiyoshi Yuu hostage cried out in pain instinctively.
The cry had just begun when it was cut short. The thug instantly fell into a daze, and the dagger he was holding slipped from his grasp.
D-rank Genjutsu: Paralysis Jutsu
Swish.
The dagger was snatched out of the air by Akiyoshi Yuu's other hand as he spun around abruptly.
The thug next to him, holding Akiyoshi Kaoru hostage, hadn't even reacted before a silver glint rapidly enlarged in his pupils!
Squelch.
An eyeball burst, and the dagger pierced through the eye socket, burying itself to the hilt!
Propelled by chakra, Akiyoshi Yuu's furious throw nearly pierced through the thug's head.
"You—?!"
In the living room, the bald man shot up from the sofa in horror.
Slap.
The next second, Akiyoshi Yuu, who had been at the entryway, was already in front of him, his open palm slamming over his face, choking his cry of alarm back down his throat.
Grabbing the man's face, he slammed it down, forcing the burly man to 'sit' back on the sofa.
At the same time, Akiyoshi Yuu had already lifted his right foot, aiming for the man's lower body:
Boom!
A heavy stomp came down.
This stomp was so vicious that it directly drove the bald man deep into the sofa!
Gush.
Lifting his shoe from the spreading mess of blood below, the red and white fluids on the sole stretched into cruel strands. Releasing the now unconscious bald man, Akiyoshi Yuu's gaze fell on Yamamoto.
Thud.
His knees went weak, and Yamamoto knelt on the ground, his mind a complete blank.
Meeting Akiyoshi Yuu's cold gaze, he trembled all over, his words of pleading stuttering out.
"Haru... Akiyoshi... classmate,"
"I was wrong, I know I was wrong! I beg you..."
"No, Yamamoto."
Akiyoshi Yuu shook his head faintly.
"You only know that you're about to die."
?!
"Brother, you really don't need to..."
"It's fine. You go change your clothes first and take a bath."
Waving his hand, he sent Akiyoshi Kaoru to the bathroom. Akiyoshi Yuu turned to look at the two writhing figures on the living room floor.
"Next, it's time to deal with you."
"Mmmph, mmmph~~"
The thug who had held Akiyoshi Yuu and Yamamoto were not dead.
Their hands and feet were bound with the duct tape they had brought, and their mouths were taped shut. They could only squirm and struggle desperately on the floor.
Given Akiyoshi Yuu's previous actions, they didn't dare to hope that he would let them go. But with such a huge disparity in strength, their struggles were completely futile.
"Friends who often kill people know that killing is easy, but disposing of the body is hard."
Speaking calmly, Akiyoshi Yuu opened the sliding door to the yard, and dragged the things these guys had brought, along with the bald man mixed in with the sofa wreckage, and the other thug's body with a dagger through his eye socket, all into the yard.
The sky had already darkened, and there were no buildings taller than the Akiyoshi house nearby. With the wall blocking the view, no one would see what he was doing.
"But for me, this problem isn't difficult."
He also threw Yamamoto, bound with duct tape, into this pile of 'trash'.
"Enjoy the last few minutes of your life."
Slap.
Akiyoshi Yuu squatted down, his palm gently tapping the ground.
Gurgle~~
The soil in the yard began to churn, turning into soft mud out of thin air.
D-rank Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld
This ninjutsu could only turn the ground into a swamp. It was originally a ninjutsu used by students in the Naruto World to create traps.
But it was perfect for cleaning up trash—Akiyoshi Yuu planned to sink this trash tens of meters deep into the earth all at once. Unless large excavation machinery was used, no one would ever find them.
The question was,
what reason would there be to use large excavation machinery here?
"Farewell."
Watching Yamamoto sink with tears and snot streaming down his face until he disappeared, Akiyoshi Yuu stood up and dusted off his hands.
The ground of the courtyard had returned to its original state under the effect of the Earth Release!
"Well, time to prepare dinner."