"Boss, he's just a little brat. Why are you afraid of him?"
One of the fat boy's companions recognized Itsuki and spoke with a fierce look. "Yesterday he only got us with a sneak attack when we weren't ready. Do the four of us really need to be afraid of him?"
"That's right!" another echoed. "He's just a bit stronger. Nothing special."
The fat boy thought about it and realized they had a point.
There were four of them here, all decent fighters. Surely the advantage was his!
"You're right!" he said, struggling to stand despite his injuries, grimacing in pain. But he couldn't back down now.
He waved his hand. "Don't worry about me. Go! He dared act so arrogantly in front of me—teach him a lesson. Today I'll let him know why the flowers are so red!"
"Okay, Boss!"
"No problem, Boss!"
The three companions left him behind, grinning wickedly as they advanced on Itsuki.
Yesterday had caught them off guard, frightened by Itsuki's beast-like aura.
The more they thought about it, the angrier they grew. They refused to admit cowardice.
They had planned to get back at him another day, but since Itsuki had come knocking, why wait?
"Ouch, you bastards!" the fat boy cried, losing his balance and falling to the ground, screaming in pain.
But his men ignored him, their focus solely on Itsuki.
"You little punk, there's a road to heaven but you won't take it, no door to hell but you insist on breaking in. You're asking for it!"
"Since the boss gave the order, it's useless even if you kneel and call us grandpa. Stand still and take your beating. If you cooperate, maybe we'll go easy."
"It's your bad luck. Just yesterday I cut through enemies from East Street to West Street—no one dares cross us here. And you think you can challenge our boss?"
The three spoke viciously, closing in step by step, trying to let Itsuki feel their "pressure" before striking.
Itsuki almost wanted to ask the third one if his eyes were dry from all that glaring, but he decided not to waste time.
"Enough nonsense. This is my rest time. Who told you to turn this into drama?!"
He dashed forward in a blur—
Pah! Pah! Pah!
Three crisp slaps rang out, followed by screams. All three were launched into the air, crashing down on top of their boss.
"Ahhh! I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die!" the fat boy wailed, crushed at the bottom, screaming louder than his men.
The three, dazed from the blows, couldn't even stand. By the time they gathered their senses, their boss had already fainted, eyes rolled back, foam at his mouth.
"Boss!!" the three yelled in panic.
"Kid, stay right there! We'll deal with you soon!"
"Let's get the boss to the hospital first, then we'll come back for a fair fight. Don't run!"
"Yeah, that's right!"
Two of them picked the fat boy up and started moving, the last scrambling after them.
Swish!
Itsuki appeared in front of them, blocking the way, spinning a kunai in his fingers.
"Hero, spare us!"
"We won't do it again!"
The two carrying the fat boy instantly dropped to their knees, tugging their ears as a show of obedience.
The last hesitated, then quickly knelt too.
Thud!
The fat boy hit the ground hard, waking from unconsciousness with a scream.
"Quiet!" Itsuki pressed the kunai to his neck.
The cold steel and murderous intent shut him up at once.
"You've troubled me twice now," Itsuki said, brows raised. "Time to settle accounts."
The fat boy and his men had plenty of curses on their tongues, but none dared voice them.
"So—hand over everything valuable. This is a robbery." Itsuki pressed harder, drawing a thin line of blood on the fat boy's neck.
"D-Don't kill me! I'll pay, I'll pay!" The fat boy nearly pissed himself. "Didn't you hear? Give him everything! Hurry!"
A pile of trinkets and coins soon lay at Itsuki's feet.
He glanced at it, unimpressed. "This isn't even enough to buy your lives."
Barely one thousand ryō. Pathetic.
But he was serious. He was an orphan with no family wealth. Sure, he could ask Tenzō or the Hokage for money, but that wasn't the same as earning it himself.
"Uncle, we really don't have more!" the fat boy pleaded, on the verge of tears.
"If you had money, would you still be street thugs?" Itsuki snorted. "I don't care. Four of you—ten thousand each. Fatty, you're twenty thousand. That's fifty thousand total."
"You have three days to deliver it to my house. If not—you'll regret it."
"Of course, you could try moving. But remember—I'm under the Hokage's protection now, and I'll be joining the Anbu soon. If I have to come looking for you… heh."
He smirked, pocketed his kunai, and walked away.
It was just a small payback for yesterday. Whether they paid up or not didn't matter.
If they crossed paths again, their bad luck would continue.
What Itsuki didn't expect was that the fat boy and his men, terrified, tried to rob passersby that very night to scrape the money together. They were caught by the Anbu and thrown into prison.
When the Hokage heard, he sent someone to deliver a silver note of 100,000 ryō to Itsuki.
The gesture was unexpected and confirmed how highly the Hokage valued him.
After this, Itsuki quickly put the matter behind him.
When he returned home, Tenten was already there.
Not just her—all four flowers of Konoha were waiting.
Since he'd given Tenten a key to help clean, it was easy for them to let themselves in.
They hadn't been there long. Tenten and Hinata were tidying the house, while Sakura and Ino were bickering in the kitchen.
Itsuki could hear their argument even from the door.
It was obvious—they were all trying to win his favor. Even Sakura, who pretended otherwise, couldn't help herself.
Itsuki was secretly delighted. A pity they were still just budding flowers…