[Oh my goodness. You're so pitiful.]
'Get lost.' Haruki yelled in his mind.
He was already annoyed. Hearing the system's voice made him even more annoyed.
[Got it!]
[Your servant will retreat, and it will be for a lifetime.]
Haruki took a deep breath.
"So much bread!" Haruki maintained his innocent image, exclaiming in shock as he looked at Yahiko.
"Haruki, you were right." Yahiko nodded heavily.
As if he had figured something out, he earnestly told Haruki, "Since we're friends, I can't hide these things from you."
Yahiko's eyes were firm, full of righteous indignation. It was as if it wasn't the three little brats who had been testing Haruki earlier.
Haruki: "…"
Alright then. So young, yet so many schemes. He even knew to guard against people.
He just wasn't cautious enough. He didn't know that actors existed in this world.
Yahiko looked at the steamed buns they had left over from dinner and arranged, "These steamed buns can also be kept in the box, and we'll continue eating them tomorrow."
Haruki put all the white steamed buns into the box.
The wooden box, taller than a child's head, was relatively windproof. Inside the wooden box was a large bed Yahiko and the others had made from clothes they had found or stolen, with a thick layer of dry, fluffy straw laid beneath it.
Haruki slept for one night on the makeshift bed Yahiko and the others had built.
When he woke up the next morning, as he expected, his back ached, and his whole body felt as if it had been run over by a large car.
After waking up, he ate the cold, hard steamed buns that served as breakfast.
Haruki felt his life had no prospects. Now, for him, the most important thing was to improve his quality of life. Otherwise, if he continued like this, he would eventually become a dwarf due to malnutrition.
Height was a man's external dignity. He would defend his dignity to the death.
After eating the steamed buns, Yahiko went out and picked up some firewood, rekindling the fire. His movements were quite experienced, at least, more experienced than Haruki's.
Soon, flames shot up from the dry wood and withered leaves.
In this weather, without fire, all four of them would freeze to death in the cave.
In the midst of the silence, Haruki, who was warming himself by the fire, suddenly heard voices.
The sounds were clearly not made by children.
Haruki immediately stood up and looked towards the cave entrance. Unbeknownst to him, a continuous drizzle had started again.
Accompanied by thick mist, two figures passed through the mist, gradually becoming clear in Haruki's eyes.
Haruki heard Yahiko and the others' breathing suddenly quicken due to nervousness.
Two tall figures walked into the cave. They emerged from the cover of the mist, revealing the vests on their bodies, the headbands on their foreheads, and the weapons in their hands.
They were ninjas!
Yahiko and the others' hearts sank to rock bottom.
The two ninjas' gazes fell upon Haruki and the others.
Haruki saw the headbands on their foreheads, the patterns were the same as the two ninjas he had encountered before.
Haruki's heart instantly tightened, and his palms began to sweat. He didn't know the strength of the two ninjas in front of him nor did he know if Rika could handle them.
Although Rika's rank was between Genin and Jonin, he could clearly feel that Rika's combat power was stronger than ninjas within that range. Perhaps this was related to Rika being a curse born from love.
Love is the strongest curse!
Haruki hoped that Rika could save his life this time too.
"Only a group of children."
The ninja on the left sighed with a hint of disappointment, then continued to speak to the ninja beside him, "It shouldn't be them."
"Just a group of children, they don't have that much ability."
The ninja on the left recalled the gruesome sight he had seen in that cave. His face was still faintly pale, but it was precisely because of the bloody and cruel scene that he wouldn't suspect the group of children in front of him.
A scene that even battle-hardened ninjas couldn't stomach, how could a group of children have created it?
No matter what, it didn't make sense.
"Hmph!"
The ninja on the right snorted coldly, disagreeing with his words.
"Can children who survive in war be ordinary children?"
His eyes were filled with killing intent, tightly locking onto Haruki and the others.
[Ding!]
[The system has detected Ninja A's killing intent value +1000.]
[The cursed spirit activation value has not been reached, killing intent value has been stored.]
A system prompt sounded in Haruki's mind. He couldn't bother to ask the system, his attention was entirely on the two ninjas in front of him.
Haruki stared fixedly at the two ninjas in front of him.
"Don't forget, there are ninjas their age on the battlefield." The ninja on the right said to his companion.
"…"
The ninja on the left fell silent.
The ninja on the right approached Haruki and the others, his Kunai never lowered.
Haruki frowned, took a step forward, and stood in front of Yahiko and the others. As the ninja got closer, his heart beat faster and faster.
From their conversation, he could almost certainly conclude that these two ninjas had come for the incident in that cave.
That matter had nothing to do with Yahiko and the others. Haruki, as an adult, wouldn't hide behind three children.
Uh, Haruki glanced at his short legs and corrected himself: an adult psychologically.
[Ding!]
[The system has detected Konan's affection value +2000.]
[Ding!]
[The system has detected Yahiko's affection value +2000.]
[Ding!]
[The system has detected Nagato's affection value +2000.]
Indeed, adversity reveals true affection.
Haruki shouted in his heart, 'Let the affection value come more fiercely!'
[You have collected 6000 affection points. Would you like to feed your companion cursed spirit, Rika Orimoto?]
[Yes][No]
Haruki unhesitatingly clicked [Yes].
[Ding!]
[Your companion cursed spirit, Rika Orimoto's rank has increased to 19%.]
[Your companion cursed spirit, Rika Orimoto, sends feedback: Yuta, so good. More.]
"…"
Every time he heard it, he felt incredibly creeped. He felt it was necessary to skip the Rika Orimoto feedback segment.
After this interruption from the system, his sense of crisis regarding the two ninjas immediately diminished significantly.
"Brat, do you know who killed the ninjas in the nearby cave?" The ninja standing in front of Haruki asked condescendingly.
'Your dad did!' Haruki answered arrogantly in his heart.
Then, with an innocent expression, he looked at the ninja in front of him with fearful eyes. "I…"
"You?"
The ninja narrowed his eyes.
"I… I… We… don't… know… anything."
Haruki struggled to finish the entire sentence.
"…"
Ninja: "…"
Yahiko looked at Haruki's fearful yet persistent figure blocking them, and slowly tightened his fists.
He ran out from behind Haruki and shouted repeatedly at the ninja in front of him, "We don't know anything! We've always lived in this cave!"
"Hmph!"
The ninja snorted disdainfully, his meaning unclear. "Is that so?"
Haruki was not a true child, he gradually realized something from the expression of the ninja in front of him.
This ninja actually knew very well that a group of children like them didn't have the ability to kill two ninjas, yet this ninja kept pressing and harassing them. This ninja was just enjoying the pleasure of venting his frustration on the weak.
Seeing their trembling and fearful expressions would give this ninja a sense of pleasure.
This ninja's conscience and emotions had already been twisted by the war.