Haruki turned and looked at the boss and the man, who were frozen in place. They gradually retreated under Haruki's gaze, fear and panic filling their faces.
"Don't kill us..."
"Don't kill us!"
The man begged for mercy, trembling.
His legs felt weak, and he looked at Haruki with a pale face, continuously backing away.
Haruki moved his hand, and the black shadow beneath his feet spread out like a quagmire. A large snake emerged from the black shadow, opening its maw and letting out roars towards the man and the boss.
Thud!
The man completely lost the strength to struggle. He fell to the ground, looking at the large snake before him with fear.
The boss behind him bit her lower lip tightly, forcing herself not to collapse to the ground.
The snake's body slid towards the boss and the man, its massive body encircling them, its vertical pupils fixed on them, flicking its forked tongue. Cold breath fell upon the boss and the man, and their bodies shivered.
Before Haruki could interrogate him, the man spilled everything like a stream of beans.
"We were forced. How could we be a match for a ninja? If we didn't do his bidding, we would die."
"We didn't want to do this, we really had no choice."
"We don't want to die. We don't want to be used as tools for his alchemy."
The man cried with snot and tears.
"We were only responsible for bringing those who trespassed into Tateshina to him. We didn't participate in anything else. Please, ninja-sama, spare our lives."
The man knelt before Haruki, desperately kowtowing.
Yahiko watched this scene with a solemn expression, while Konan, beside him, showed a hint of unbearable pity in her eyes.
Konan turned to look at Haruki, pursed her lips, and pleaded, "Haruki, they are just ordinary people who were forced. Why don't we let them go?"
Yahiko also looked at Haruki.
Nagato said nothing, his gaze fixed on the man before him.
Haruki understood their meaning from Yahiko and Konan's eyes.
He smiled at Yahiko and Konan and said helplessly, "I never intended to harm them anyway, what kind of person do you take me for?"
Yahiko's face immediately flushed, and he scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry, Haruki, I misunderstood."
Konan was startled, then she let out a sigh of relief.
[Ding!]
[System detected Yahiko's Guilt Value +1000]
[Ding!]
[System detected Konan's Guilt Value +1000]
[Currently collected Guilt Value totals 2000. Your Cursed Spirit Guilt's rank has risen to 48%]
"Thank you, ninja-sama!"
"Thank you, ninja-sama!"
Hearing Haruki's words, the man immediately showed the ecstasy of surviving a disaster.
Ryuga stared at the man's ugly attempts to curry favor with Haruki and them, and spat, "A fickle weed!"
The man acted as if he heard nothing, continuing to explain to Haruki and them, "Ninja-sama, please understand, we were originally ordinary villagers of Tateshina. These ninja came to Tateshina, claimed the mountain as their own, and enslaved us to do their bidding. If we didn't obey them, they would kill us. More than half of the people in the village died by their hands."
Yahiko's brows furrowed, and he stared intently at Ryuga and Ranga, who lay on the ground unable to move, his eyes filled with anger.
"Which village are you from?"
Haruki was much calmer than Yahiko, he stared at Ryuga and asked.
Ryuga sneered, "If you have the guts, kill me. Losing to a kid like you, I accept my fate."
"Why do you kill people?" Yahiko impulsively roared at Ryuga.
Haruki glanced at the slightly agitated Yahiko beside him.
Yahiko's agitated attitude clearly affected Ryuga, whose mentality had already collapsed.
"Because if I don't kill people, others will kill me!" Ryuga roared at Yahiko.
Haruki: "..."
His eardrums were about to burst.
Couldn't they just talk properly?
"Why can't you two talk properly? Why must you always resort to killing to solve problems?"
Yahiko clenched his hands, gritting his teeth, and questioned Ryuga with red eyes.
Haruki gasped.
This question was a bit too much.
"Hmph!"
Looking at Yahiko's appearance at this moment, Ryuga snorted coldly, gradually regaining his composure.
He lay on the ground, his eyes disdainful. "I've been on the battlefield, have you?"
Yahiko was startled. He had indeed never been on the battlefield, but he had witnessed its cruelty firsthand.
Yahiko didn't answer, and Ryuga continued to ask sarcastically, "I've had a blade pierce my chest, have you?"
Yahiko's breathing hitched. He looked down at his own chest, which had never suffered any fatal injuries.
What about Haruki?
Had Haruki also experienced so much pain, as this ninja said?
Ryuga already had the answer in his heart. Among the four children present, perhaps only Haruki had been on the battlefield.
"I've almost died, have you?"
"On the battlefield, I've killed people, have you?"
Ryuga laughed heartily, his laughter filled with sorrow.
"You haven't experienced any of this, what right do you have to talk to me?"
Yahiko was dumbfounded. He looked at Haruki, unable to utter a single word for a long time.
Haruki's mouth and eyes were twitching.
"It's true that I haven't experienced any of what you've said..."
"But I can understand your pain!"
Yahiko suddenly burst out, shouting at Ryuga.
Haruki became dumbfounded.
How did he suddenly understand?
"It is precisely because war has brought us pain that we should stop solving problems through violence."
"If everyone could negotiate peacefully, then no more suffering would arise in the entire Ninja World."
Yahiko looked at Ryuga, saying seriously, tears shimmering in his eyes.
Ryuga looked at Yahiko in shock. He was deeply moved by this young man.
"Are you out of your mind?!"
"Who wants to negotiate peacefully with you?"
"Do you think the enemy will give you a chance to negotiate?"
"Someone like you, on the battlefield, would be chopped into a pile of rotten meat in minutes."
Ryuga roared at Yahiko, unable to bear it any longer.
Haruki let out a long sigh. Finally, someone had spoken his mind.
Of course, Haruki didn't entirely agree with Ryuga's words. There was one point that needed to be refuted.
Yahiko wouldn't need minutes to be chopped into rotten meat, it wouldn't be that slow.
(End of Chapter)
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