Karin opened her big, beautiful eyes. "Are we going to live in Konoha now?"
Tōshirō nodded. "Yes, but before that, I have something to do."
"Something else?"
Tōshirō reassured her. "Don't worry, I won't abandon you. Just follow me on the road. Think of it as a relaxing trip."
Karin's mother thanked him. "You're too kind."
"It's no trouble," Tōshirō said casually, his eyes noticing Karin's worn-out clothes. "How about I take you to buy some new clothes?"
"New clothes?"
Karin's eyes lit up. "Yes, please!"
Tōshirō smiled and looked at Karin's mother. "I'll buy you some things, too."
Karin's mother quickly waved her hands. "That's too much. I'm already satisfied with a place for my daughter and me to stay. I can't ask for more."
"Don't mind it. I'm Karin's godfather now," Tōshirō said with a smile. "Isn't it right for a father to get something for his daughter?"
Then, Tōshirō added, "If you're still worried, we can deduct it from your future salary."
"Salary?"
Tōshirō joked, "I don't support idle people, you know."
Karin's mother understood.
In this world, there was no such thing as a free lunch.
Tōshirō's clear explanation put her at ease.
After that, Tōshirō led the mother and daughter to the next town. However, it was more like Karin's mother was leading the two siblings.
After all, Tōshirō looked too young, and anyone who saw them would think so.
Because of this, the trio easily attracted the attention of some ill-intentioned people.
"This road is mine, this tree is mine. If you want to pass..."
Tōshirō was not interested in listening to their nonsense. His eyes glowed with three tomoe, and he gave the three fierce-looking thugs a glance. "Leave your money and find a secluded place to kill yourselves."
"Yes... yes..."
The three fierce-looking thugs became dazed, took out all their money, and left.
Tōshirō bent down, picked up the money on the ground, and grinned at Karin. "Karin, am I evil?"
Karin shook her head. "They were bad people."
While she was wandering with her mother, she had not been bullied by these kinds of people.
Tōshirō smiled. Karin was not a flower in a greenhouse and didn't need much explanation.
"Later, at school, you have to get along well with your classmates."
"School?"
"After I take you to Konoha, I'll enroll you."
In the original story, Karin was able to reach that level of strength even when she was completely left to her own devices, which showed how talented she was.
Tōshirō thought that with Karin's talent, he had to train her well.
Karin asked innocently, "What's a school?"
Karin had been wandering with her mother since she was a child. The place they finally settled was a place where they were kept as livestock and used as a medical kit.
Tōshirō sighed with pity. "Let your father make up for the childhood you lost."
After entering the town, Tōshirō led the two to do some shopping, and they bought some new clothes, completely transforming their looks.
"Godfather, how do I look?"
Karin wore a red dress and spun around.
Tōshirō chuckled. "You're so beautiful. I'll buy you a few more new outfits when we get to Konoha."
"Thank you, Godfather."
Karin's words were very sweet.
"Karin..."
Karin's mother gave her a scolding look.
She felt as if she was in a dream. The day before, she was worried about food, not knowing where their next meal would come from, but now, she had no worries at all.
Tōshirō could be casual about everything, and little Karin, who didn't understand anything, could naturally act like she did, but she, an adult, couldn't be so ignorant.
After they finished choosing clothes, Tōshirō led the mother and daughter to a restaurant. "You two can eat something here. I have some private matters to attend to. I'll be back later."
With that, Tōshirō left a stack of money, which was enough for the two of them.
Then, he left the restaurant and went to a pawn shop.
A shop with this kind of sign was, on the surface, a pawn shop, and in reality, it was indeed a pawn shop.
However, the owner behind it was special, and his name was Kakuzu.
Now that Kakuzu had been dead for so many years, the ownership of the shop naturally became interesting.
The pawn shop assistant was happy at first when he saw a customer, but when he saw that it was just a kid, he immediately lost interest, showed a look of disdain, and waved his hand. "Go away, you little brat. Go cool off somewhere else and don't get in the way of our business."
Tōshirō gave the assistant a look, making him shut up. Then he looked around and his eyes landed on a door. He ignored the assistant and walked straight in. Inside the room, a middle-aged man was lying on a sofa. From his lazy attitude, he was most likely the boss of this shop; otherwise, he wouldn't dare to have such an attitude.
The middle-aged man frowned when a child entered his room and disturbed his rest. Just as he was about to scold the assistant for letting a kid in, he was met with a pair of scarlet, three-tomoe eyes.
A powerful chakra directly poured into his mind, making him feel dazed.
Tōshirō spoke, asking for some information, and after getting what he needed, he left.
A moment later, the two people in the pawn shop slowly woke up, found themselves lying on the ground, and looked confused, wondering how they ended up on the ground.
A high-end club.
In a room, a wealthy man with a big belly was enjoying a massage from a sexy lady.
With his eyes closed, he couldn't help but think back to the days when he was just an unknown pawn shop manager, and for a moment, he was filled with emotion.
"Hello..."
Suddenly, a voice rang out in the room, and the wealthy man's eyes shot open. He looked in the direction of the voice and saw a figure sitting leisurely at the window.
"Who are you?!"
The wealthy man suddenly stood up.
Why did someone break in without the bodyguards outside reacting at all?
As soon as he spoke, the sexy ladies beside him all fell down.
"Wh-what..."
What did he do?
The scene before him was far beyond the wealthy man's imagination. For a moment, he panicked, but after all, he was a successful person. He swallowed his saliva and quickly maintained his composure. "Don't do anything crazy. I can give you all my money."
"Your money..."
Tōshirō narrowed his eyes. "Don't get it wrong... that's my money."
The wealthy man's expression froze. "Wh-what?"
Tōshirō spoke slowly, his voice low. "I wonder if you still remember the name Kakuzu..."
When the wealthy man heard this, he instantly deflated like a punctured ball and collapsed onto the ground.
He remembered everything. The masked man in front of him was the mysterious person who used to be with Kakuzu-nii.
"K-Kakuzu-nii, how is he?"
The wealthy man trembled.
Tōshirō skipped the question and asked directly, "You've got some guts, daring to swallow our money."
Kakuzu had been dead for so many years and hadn't shown up again. It might have been fine for a year or two, but after so many years, it was impossible for the people under him not to be tempted by such a large sum of money.
And his rise to wealth was through Kakuzu's inheritance.
Tōshirō released his powerful chakra. Even the wealthy man, who was a normal person, felt immense pressure and couldn't breathe.
After a moment of intimidation, Tōshirō said in a cold voice, "I'll give you two choices. First, you do whatever I tell you to do; second..."
After hearing the above, the wealthy man said without hesitation, "I choose one. I choose one..."
He didn't even need to think about what the second choice was. If he didn't listen obediently, he would be lying on the ground, dead, in the next second.
Tōshirō smiled. "You're so quick to respond. Don't you want to hear the rest?"
"No, no. I'll listen to you."
Choosing to listen to the person in front of him would at least allow him to maintain his basic dignity as a wealthy person.
"A wise choice..."
"Godfather, where did you go?"
Little Karin saw Tōshirō return and immediately went up to him.
"I went to get some things."
Seeing Karin's mother's curious gaze, Tōshirō handed her two large suitcases. "Want to open them and take a look?"
Karin's mother was a little nervous and asked repeatedly, "Is that okay?"
Tōshirō gave a hearty laugh. "It's fine."
Karin's mother found a button on the suitcase and pressed it, and the suitcase filled with cash instantly blinded her.
She had never seen so much money in her life.
The two suitcases combined probably contained tens of millions.
Tōshirō said with some annoyance, "There's too much money. It's really inconvenient to carry."
Karin's mother: ...
Is he for real?
Tōshirō casually took a stack of bills from inside and handed them to Karin's mother. "These two big suitcases are inconvenient for me to carry. You can help me with them, and this money will be your compensation for the hard work."
Karin's mother quickly waved her hands. This was something she should be doing, and she felt it would be wrong to take so much money.
Tōshirō acted as a great philanthropist. "Take it. It's for the child."
After repeatedly declining, Karin's mother looked at the large sum of money in her hands and was extremely moved. What a good person...
With Kakuzu's immense wealth added to his own, Tōshirō was not lacking in money. Exchanging this money for the absolute loyalty of the mother and daughter was a very good deal.
"Are we going to Konoha now?"
Karin was now looking forward to the place she would live and a normal life there.
"No, next, I'm going to the Land of Demons."
"The Land of Demons?"
"I'm going there to get something."
Tōshirō had been coveting the soul of Mōryō from the Land of Demons for a long time.
Using the soul flame to devour an anomaly like Mōryō's soul would definitely come with some risks, but high risks often meant high rewards.
The three tomoe spun rapidly and converged into a new pattern, emitting an eerie red glow.
Tōshirō licked his lips, wondering what Mōryō's soul tasted like...
Land of Demons, mountaintop.
"Mother, Grandmother..."
A young voice echoed in the shrine. The blonde little girl in a miko outfit looked at the two figures with worry in her pale purple eyes.
A violet-black aura emerged from the middle-aged man with a sinister face, emitting circular red glows like a pair of eyes.
Then, a resentful, malevolent voice came from the dark violet aura. "After all this, are you still going to stop me, Miroku..."
"Oh well, I no longer need your power, but do you know what this means?"
The voice became low and meaningful. This dark aura was Mōryō, who had been sealed many years ago. Now, it had finally broken free from the seal and was even stronger than before.
The two miko facing it were the now-aged Shion and her daughter, Miroku.
Even though it was facing two miko at once, Mōryō did not feel strained. On the contrary, it felt more at ease than before.
Each time Mōryō broke the seal, its power would be stronger than before. However, the miko would also be stronger than the previous generation because the miko would pass on their power to the next generation after they died.
However, an accident happened with this generation. Miroku, who was supposed to have died, didn't, causing her power to be scattered.
Miroku suddenly realized something and quickly turned back, her voice urgent. "Shion, where's the bell?"
At this critical moment, the little girl named Shion was flustered.
Mōryō wouldn't give her much time to react and directly sent a violet-black flame toward her.
Shion closed her eyes in fear and raised her hand hastily.
A moment later, she opened her eyes, and a figure appeared before her. It was her mother, who had protected her in time by creating a barrier in front of her, desperately blocking the attack.
"I won't let you hurt Shion..."
Miroku's headdress glowed with a brilliant light.
At the same time, the headdress of the other miko, Miroku, also glowed with a brilliant light, even brighter than the former.
"I see, betting your life can turn back time..."
Mōryō realized that the two miko were about to burn their lives.
As expected, a light circle suddenly appeared around it, enclosing it with a brilliant glow. In the next second, it shot up into the sky, forming a cylindrical barrier that completely enveloped it, entwined with purifying white lightning.
"Boom."
The white lightning filled with sacred power struck Mōryō, causing it to let out an extremely painful roar.
Damn it—!
Don't think this time will be like before, and you'll get your way.
Mōryō was a creature born from negative emotions.
After absorbing the dark power of the Second Great Ninja War and the Third Great Ninja War, its dark power was now stronger than ever before.
This time, it would definitely win.
It had a premonition.
With a low roar, it poured out the dark power in its body. The sacred white light was now dyed a strange dark violet.
But in the next second, the white light bloomed again, purifying the darkness that had encroached upon it.
The power of light and darkness constantly contended with each other, flickering on and off.
This back-and-forth lasted for a while. With a huge explosion, the sealing barrier turned into dust, becoming light particles invisible to the naked eye. Without the barrier, the ground bore the brunt of it, shattering and sending rocks flying. The resulting shockwave even knocked everyone present off their feet.
Miroku and Shion climbed up from the ground, spitting out blood. They looked up at the overwhelming black aura in front of them, their emotions hitting rock bottom. Was this the end?
"Hahaha..."
A sinister, wild laugh surged from the black aura.
Although its soul was now very weak after this battle, the two miko were completely at their limit.
With its remaining power, it could kill them both without any effort.
The thought that it could finally end its centuries-old wish and that no one would be able to stop it anymore made Mōryō unable to contain its excitement.
"Finally."
"Finally."
"It's finally over—!"
To avoid any more trouble, Mōryō planned to act immediately.
However, a leisurely voice suddenly echoed in the air, interrupting its next move.
"Yes, it's finally over..."
Mōryō was stunned.
Before it could react, a low-temperature blue flame suddenly surged from beneath its feet without any warning.
In the next second, a giant blue claw appeared behind it. Taking it by surprise, it grabbed the physical body Mōryō was possessing in its palm.
A few wisps of blue flame burned in the air. Then, a giant blue figure was slowly pushed out from these flames.
At the same time, a figure was also slowly outlined in the blue flames burning above the giant creature's palm.
With emerald eyes and white hair, it was Tōshirō.
PS: One chapter, I have a cold.
(End of Chapter)
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