The young girl woke up!
Ye Liang's immediate reaction was to rush inside and check on her.
But her words left him stunned.
Grandpa Qianhu?
"This young girl knows Qianhu?"
Why?
Here, aside from Ye Liang, the only other person present was the immortal-like old Rivershadow Shinobi. That "grandpa" could only be referring to him!
The old man's hands began to sweat.
His body visibly stiffened, becoming even more wary of Ye Liang.
"Princess, run quickly! Grandpa will definitely hold him back, even if it costs my life!"
"Grandpa!"
A sharp cry rang out from the cave, followed by the girl quickly limping out. She looked extremely urgent.
"Please, please don't hurt Grandpa! I'll agree to go back with you!" she shouted at Ye Liang.
Agree to what?
Ye Liang was baffled...
Didn't I come here to save someone? Why does it feel like I've turned into some kind of pervert?
You'll agree?
I don't even want to!
"Princess, don't bother about me! Even if it costs my life, this old man won't let this little brat lay a finger on you!"
When the old man heard the girl's plea, his body visibly shook, as if momentarily rejuvenated, and color returned to his aged face.
Ye Liang could only sigh in frustration.
He had originally come to save someone!
Now the victim and the enemy were united against him, leaving him completely confused while suffering undeserved accusations!
This old man actually insulted him as a little brat!
Little brat?
"What the hell did you just call me?!"
"I called you a little brat!"
The old man snapped furiously, his face flushed with anger.
Damn it!
Ye Liang rolled up his sleeves, ready to charge forward and beat the old man up.
Never in his life had he been spoken to like that!
Even Ye Liang's parents would only say something like, "You lazy ass son! Go get a life!"
After all, he'd always been a rebellious young man...
Ye Liang stormed toward them angrily.
Seeing his approach, the old man hurriedly extended his arm to shield the girl behind him, fiercely protecting her while eyeing Ye Liang warily.
Screw this protective act!
Like I was planning to harm her anyway!
Clearly, there was some misunderstanding going on, but Ye Liang wasn't thinking straight anymore.
That annoying old fart had just called him a little brat!
Right now, Ye Liang simply wanted to give this senile old fool who damaged his reputation a good thrashing.
He raised his hand to strike.
"Enough! I'll tell you where the national treasure is!" At this point, the girl who had been protected behind the old man stepped forward.
National treasure?
What national treasure?
Ye Liang lowered his sleeve.
Originally, he just wanted to punch the old man, but now an unexpected treasure appeared instead.
"Princess Naizi! This is our Land of Rivers' thousand-year national treasure!"
Thousand-year national treasure!
Ye Liang suddenly turned into a sage.
His expression softened, showing kindness.
...
All resentment over being called a little brat vanished completely.
No grudge can withstand a national treasure.
If one exists?
Then it must be a thousand-year-old national treasure!
"National treasure? Sounds intriguing. Tell me more."
Ye Liang became genuinely interested.
"The National Treasure is..." The young girl was about to explain when she suddenly had a realization and blurted out in surprise, "You don't even know what the National Treasure is?"
Of course I don't know! Ye Liang thought mockingly to himself.
The young girl's expression changed. She'd thought Ye Liang came to capture her, but now it looked like there was more to this after all!
The old man stepped forward suspiciously. "Young sir, could there be some misunderstanding? You're not one of Lord Fujiwara's assassins, are you?"
"Cut the crap. What the hell is this 'National Treasure' anyway?" Ye Liang demanded, staring fixedly into Princess Naizi's eyes without blinking. Clearly, he wouldn't let the matter drop easily.
"Uh..."
The old man swallowed hard.
They seemed to have tangled with someone formidable.
"Young sir, if you're not an assassin, I'm willing to pay compensation for our earlier conflict."
"National Treasure!"
Ignoring him, Ye Liang pulled out a handful of shuriken from his robe as an obvious threat!
The elder's face instantly changed expressions.
Oh my god! What the hell kind of brat is this?! Why won't he listen?!
He was utterly dumbfounded.
Realizing she'd said the wrong thing, the young girl still reluctantly answered under Ye Liang's fierce gaze.
"The National Treasure is... the treasure of the Land of Rivers."
"The Land of River's National Treasure? How much is it worth then?"
Huh?
Startled at first, the girl instinctively replied anyway, "Legend says it can sustain dozens of generations."
Dozens of generations!
Ye Liang immediately broke into a delighted grin.
He originally thought this act of righteousness wouldn't activate any special event, but apparently there was a reward after all.
This must be the special benefit for transmigrators like me!
He started picturing what the National Treasure might look like—square, round? It was probably made of gold.
Gold would be best—doesn't lose value.
"All right then. Deal!"
"Deal with what?" Now it was the girl's turn to feel completely confused.
"Why, helping you resolve your problem obviously!" Ye Liang explained, as though he understood what she was thinking.
Both the young girl and the old man became speechless.
After a long silence,
Ye Liang first took them to greet Kakashi, then prepared for this treasure-seeking journey.
"So what you're saying is, Princess Naizi's father seems to have been controlled by someone?"
"That's correct! Not just His Excellency the General, even Princess Naizi's older brothers and sisters have been manipulated by that unknown person!"
Ye Liang fell silent in contemplation.
From their brief conversation just now, he roughly understood the plot.
There had been problems with the general of the Land of Rivers. The originally amiable general had suddenly become extremely irritable—not only changing temperament completely, but also launching wars everywhere!
Many smaller countries were suffering terribly under these conflicts.
Later on, as a vassal state of the Land of Rivers, River Village also joined the war. However, Qianhu, the leader, quickly noticed something was wrong.
This old friend from the Land of Rivers didn't recognize him at all anymore; in fact, during several conversations, he had spoken disrespectfully toward Qianhu!
Qianhu immediately recognized the issue!
Qianhu secretly infiltrated the palace late at night.
After fighting against a mysterious figure, he managed to rescue Princess Naizi—the only one remaining who still retained her sanity.
"Then how did you two get separated, and why were those two jonin from the River Village so rough with Naizi?"
"It's because there were traitors among us too! That old scoundrel Fujiwara planted spies within our ranks. To maintain control over the River Village, I pretended to surrender to him!"
"I see."
Ye Liang nodded.
Actually, the two of them still didn't fully trust him—their words must have been simplified or even omitted key details.
For example, even though the general of the Land of Rivers was under control, Qianhu constantly calling Fujiwara an old scoundrel just didn't make sense. Moreover, if there really was a spy in the River Village, wouldn't it be simple enough to eliminate them? Why would someone need to pretend to surrender?
Can't even the mighty River shinobi handle a single mole within their own ranks?
Of course, Ye Liang didn't blame them.
His involvement had indeed come out of nowhere.
It felt like some writer with a scrambled brain who suddenly forced open a random side quest.
It really felt way too abrupt!
Ye Liang knew that forcing his way into their affairs wasn't right.
But I had no choice—I needed that National Treasure of the Land of Rivers!
Not for greed, but to rapidly boost my power!
In his own world,
so many people he loved were still waiting for him to come back.
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