Support me and be 30 chapters ahead of webnovel:
patreon.com/Draco_
*****
Question: How miserable can life be if you live like a background character?
Answer: Orphaned in the Nine-Tails attack, deemed unfit to become a ninja at age six, forced to work and support himself by thirteen, and now—choked by a drunken, one-eyed Chūnin.
This NPC-like character is none other than Ximen Zhen.
His face flushed red, eyes bulging.
His fists, veins bulging and pale, pounded against the head of the man in front of him. But this only made the one-eyed Konoha Chūnin tighten his grip around Ximen Zhen's throat.
"I bet he's a spy from the Hidden Cloud. Just look at that shady face."
The one-eyed Chūnin belched, his foul breath washing over Ximen Zhen's face, then laughed smugly.
He had lost an eye during a previous mission at the hands of a Hidden Cloud ninja.
Since then, he'd become bitter and paranoid, convinced everyone was mocking him behind his back.
Moments ago, he saw Ximen Zhen yawning with one eye closed—an action he took as mockery. To him, that was a death sentence.
"Don't kill the guy."
His teammate, chewing on grilled meat, mumbled indistinctly.
"Sure, the stuck-up Uchiha are gone now, but if you kill someone, you'll still be tossed into the Konoha Military Police detention cells."
"Hmph. Who's going to report it in the middle of the night?" the one-eyed Chūnin sneered.
He even shouted toward the kitchen, brazenly: "Boss lady! Something interesting's happening out here. Why don't you join us for a drink?"
A trembling female voice responded from the back kitchen, almost crying: "N-No, thank you! I still need to prepare dishes for you esteemed shinobi. I'll be busy for quite a while, so I won't disturb your meal."
The Chūnin returned his cruel gaze to Ximen Zhen, like a wild cat toying with a mouse.
He wanted to see fear and despair in Ximen Zhen's eyes.
But Ximen Zhen let him down.
Even as his consciousness began to fade, Ximen Zhen's fists stubbornly struck the man's body.
That made the Chūnin snap. His rage flared again, and his fingers tightened further.
Just as Ximen Zhen's neck was about to snap, a girl's voice drifted in from outside the door.
"Ugh, I'm exhausted. Finally home."
"Huh? There's a barbecue shop still open? Hey, Guy-sensei, how about we have some grilled meat?"
Then came a robust male voice: "Tenten, eating grilled meat at this hour—aren't you worried about gaining weight?"
Anyone familiar with them would recognize the voices instantly—Might Guy and his Team 3 from the Leaf Village.
"Guy-sensei, we've been living on soldier pills these past few days! One barbecue meal won't make us fat. Come on, hurry!"
"Well, I suppose we can call it a celebration then."
Guy feigned reluctance, but his voice clearly carried amusement.
Their squad had just completed a fairly challenging C-rank mission. None of his three students backed down when facing rogue ninja.
Guy was proud. He'd planned to reward them—just not this soon.
"Yay!"
Tenten's cheerful voice rang out as she pushed open the door.
Her eyes squinted into crescents as she cheerfully muttered about barbecue—until she saw Ximen Zhen being strangled and nearly unconscious.
Tenten immediately drew her kunai and entered battle mode, shouting, "Who are you, and why are you hurting him?!"
The one-eyed Chūnin frowned.
This brat was clearly a freshly-graduated Genin. Though he was a Chūnin himself, he still considered himself her superior. What right did a rookie have to yell at him like this?
He was about to scold her and tell her to get lost when Neji, Lee, and Guy stepped inside one after another.
The moment he saw Guy, the Chūnin instantly dropped Ximen Zhen and snapped to attention.
"G-Guy-sama!"
"To run into you at this hour—what an honor!"
"May I offer you a drink?"
He even tried to block Guy's line of sight with his body. But such clumsy tactics were useless against Guy.
Guy looked at the barely-breathing Ximen Zhen lying on the ground and spoke in a cold voice: "Tenten, check if this child is alright."
Tenten flashed to Ximen Zhen's side, reached out to feel for breath at his nose, then checked his neck.
After confirming he wasn't in critical danger, she exhaled in relief and said, "Guy-sensei, he's okay. Just needs rest."
Only then did Guy turn to the one-eyed Chūnin. The man who had been arrogant moments ago was now drenched in cold sweat.
"Your name's Sanho Ichisho, right? I remember you—we graduated the same year."
Sanho forced a sycophantic smile, thinking he was in the clear and was about to make small talk when Guy said bluntly:
"I'll give you two options."
"One: hand over ten thousand ryō to this child and never return to this shop again."
"Two: I send you to the Konoha Police Department to explain everything. My student will take this boy to the hospital."
"You have ten seconds to decide."
Knowing he had no choice, Sanho lowered his head and began fumbling through his pockets. In the end, he and his companion scraped together eight thousand ryō in loose change and handed it to Tenten. Only then did Guy, along with Lee and Neji, step aside to let them pass.
After the two Chūnin fled in shame, Tenten grumbled, "Seriously, why are there such scumbags among Konoha's ninja?"
"He looks like he's our age, and he was nearly choked to death—his neck and windpipe were almost crushed."
Tenten carefully helped Ximen Zhen up, letting him rest in her arms while gently supporting his head so his neck wouldn't bear any more weight.
Guy walked over, squatted down, and personally inspected Ximen Zhen's injuries. Only after confirming that he was okay did he speak:
"Alright, Tenten, take him to Konoha Hospital for treatment. I'll stay here with these two to handle the rest."
Tenten nodded and left at once.
After she was gone, Guy turned to the remaining two students and said, "You two—follow those two guys and find out where they live."
"I'll question the shop owner about what happened, then get that boy's injury report from the hospital. We'll all regroup at the Konoha Police Department."
Lee and Neji straightened up, spirits lifted. They had thought Guy was going to let his old classmate go—but it turned out that was just a stalling tactic.
Team 3 split up.
At that moment, Ximen Zhen opened his eyes in Tenten's arms.
The first thing he saw was a line of strange characters, making his body tense instinctively.
[High-quality kunoichi contact in progress. System binding in 50 minutes. Please maintain physical contact…]
Was his golden finger finally here?
He didn't yet know what this system could do, but Ximen Zhen clung to Tenten's neck like a drowning man clutching his last hope.
(End of Chapter)