Chapter 10: The Final Slash (Revised)

  I ignored the cry from the depths of my soul in September:

  With my power! I can kill this insect with just one claw!

  Don't worry, Jiuyue, I've got a way out of this and it will definitely come to a perfect end.

  I won't let myself rely on you, okay! Jiuyue.

  I don't want our bond to be too deep, so when we lose each other, it won't hurt you too much! Jiuyue.

  Jiǔ Yuè listened to my confident tone and no longer had any opinions, leaving only one sentence behind.

  If there's danger, hum! A sentence with a strong sense of September style, floating in my mind.

  As for Jiǔ Yuè's warning, I just smiled and didn't comment.

  Although it was later proven that the two of us had a very "different" understanding of the definitions of "safety" and "danger", this conclusion also got me scolded for nine months.

  "Are you scared silly, you little devil?"

  "Of course not!"

  I slowly turned around, completely ignoring the executioner's blade that was less than a centimeter away from my carotid artery.

  Facing this nine-year-old who was already a graduate of the current class, as long as you show a hint of weakness, you will be brutally crushed to the bottom of hell.

  I was calmer than I expected, just like when I first arrived in "Naruto".

  That kind of tranquility, as if one had passed away.

  I subtly and skillfully blocked the gaze of Bainuo Zhan, who was staring at me with a murderous look in his eyes. I raised my head to meet his gaze directly, while also taking in Bainuo Zhan's appearance.

  From memory, this young man was about seventeen years old and not yet a fugitive ninja, but the aura of murder and sharpness emanating from his body was worthy of his title as "Ghost Man".

  "Fog Shadow Upper Tolerance, Peach Land Re-Execution, right?" My tone was completely devoid of emotion, as if I were just reading from a script.

  He's incredibly strong, to the point where I'm completely unable to handle him in my current state. If we were to engage in combat, I'd be 200% dead, even with the help of the Nine-Tails. However, my physical body is only that of a three-year-old child, and without the awareness of death, my chances of winning against him are roughly equivalent to... the probability of mutual destruction.

  In order to leave smoothly, alive and together with Bai, I must use up all the chips I currently have, in order to accomplish this almost impossible task before we meet again.

  Calm, bloodthirsty, cruel, rational, cautious, full of desire for power, and, planning before acting, this is my analysis of the personality of Zhan Yishang.

  Filled with contradictory and mutually exclusive personalities, this kind of person has a subconscious madness.

  For this type of person, if they have ordinary strength, it will only trigger his brutal destruction and the more he fights, the more frenzied he becomes.

  Only "chaos"! "Confusion"! "Mystery"!

  This is what I want to leave in your mind as an evaluation of me.

  It is only this kind of inexplicable, contradictory, seemingly weak yet strong, and incomprehensible sense of distortion that can make the confident ghost retreat temporarily.

  It's true, but only temporarily. People with this kind of personality don't know how to give up. For their expectations, there won't be a third option except achieving the goal or death itself.

  Only when Ren is no longer that bloodthirsty yet calm, ruthless yet rational demon can I appear and safely take Bai away from him.

  If he didn't behead this little demon who was staring at him with an unyielding gaze, he would have a feeling that they were on equal footing.

  (But he looks like a dead little devil who doesn't even look five years old, how could he possibly make me have this illusion!)

  If he didn't use force to frown and shake his head, he would think of a way to forget his strange thoughts.

  "You took my stuff, you know? You little brat, daring to do something like this will cost you."

  Haha, he's already claiming something that doesn't even exist as his own, what a ridiculously arrogant person! His latest remarks once again confirmed my previous analysis of him was spot on.

  "Sorry, he's not a thing, and neither is Mr. Not Cutting." I think my apathetic expression should be very infuriating, at least for the older woman who has been "raising" me for a long time, this trick always works.

  "You little stinker! What's with that expression!" Before I knew it, he stretched out his right hand and grabbed my collar, lifting me off the ground.

  At the moment when my body was suspended in mid-air, the first thought that flashed through my mind was...

  Unfortunately, I don't know if it was my expression that enraged him or his speed of drawing the sword exceeded my expectations.

  Although I had anticipated this move and quickly released my grip on Bai's hand, the speed was still too fast, causing the action to also affect Bai, who was originally being held by me, lost his balance and fell heavily into the snowy ground.

  I saw Bai biting his teeth, struggling to restrain the trembling of his legs, crawling up from the snowy ground with a few bloodstains, silently staring at me with a sharp glint in my eyes.

  I calmed down my slightly excited emotions.

  For the goals I set for myself, what I need is not just calmness, but also ruthlessness, and even... mercilessness.

  In order to achieve his goals, his brother has always been able to set aside all non-objective factors, including feelings, emotions, humanity, and "self", before making a decision, 100% rational decision-making.

  "If you don't kill me, Mr. Zai, treating a three-year-old child like this is the same as treating me before I die, I think it can't highlight your strength, what do you think, Mr. Zai?" The movement of not killing made my throat very uncomfortable, and in order to say these words, my whole face was almost suffocated red.

  "You stinky little demon, did you think I wouldn't dare to take action and kill a three-year-old little demon like you?!" The words were still harsh, but at least he loosened his grip slightly, allowing me to barely breathe.

  "How could I possibly think that you, the Blood Fog Ghost who changed the graduation method by killing all your classmates at the age of 9, would not dare to take action against a 'weakling' like me?"

  I knew that if he didn't kill me now, it wasn't because he didn't dare to, but by saying this directly to his face, as long as he hadn't become enraged yet, at least it would make him think twice before killing me, and that's what I wanted.

  But how to grasp the scale between this emotion and explosion is what I need to consider extra.

  Originally, he didn't plan on sparing him, and after beheading the little demon, he would take another one that caught his eye and leave.

  He may not have killed any children before, but even if he's a ghost, people are saying such things about him, and yet he still dares to take action... His face isn't that thick.

  "You know a lot of things, little devil, you're not bad." He couldn't help but laugh and thought that this "sharp-tongued" little devil was quite extraordinary.

  Many people in the ninja world knew about that matter, but it shouldn't be well-known to the point where a three-year-old child would know about it, after all, it's been almost ten years.

  This is quite interesting, otherwise I wouldn't have thought of it.

  If I don't let go of his hand again, with just one movement, I'm already standing steadily in front of him, and Bai is still quietly waiting by my side.

  "Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Zan, but why don't we settle this with a match between us? If I win, will you please let this child go? Can you do that?" As I spoke, I felt my clothes being pulled in a certain direction and turned to see Bai's puzzled and worried eyes.

  It seems that Bai is even more perceptive than I thought! He seems to have picked up on the underlying meaning of my words.

  I whispered to Bai: "You just need to wait here and leave, don't mind anything else. You are mine, I won't let you go to anyone else, do you understand? The only thing you can do, the only thing you should do, is believe me!" I won't let your life end on that snowy day, no matter who it's for.

  "Ah!" Bai Zhan realized my persistence and slowly released his hand, but took a few steps forward, getting even closer to me.

  I noticed Bai's movements, and a hint of warmth spread through my heart, but my face remained expressionless. I simply stretched out my hand to adjust the blanket that had been displaced when he fell.

  If he didn't take a good look at the two little ghosts, they would make a big move in an instant, with a look of being unaware of anything, and suddenly his heart would be greatly enraged. He had never suffered such humiliation before!

  "What makes you think I'd agree with you, you little brat."

  "If you don't cut down Master You now, you won't be a ninja but a free rogue ninja!"

  "Haha, you little scamp, your words are quite amusing, I'll consider leaving you with a whole corpse."

  If I don't cut off this arrogant laughter, it will remind me of someone in my memory!

  "Thank you for the compliment." I humbly accepted the praise that was hard to come by.

  "Haha, don't try to change the subject, what about you? Little devil! Trying to stay out of this?" Along with these words, a large executioner's knife was pressed against my face.

  Hot blood gushed out of the torn skin, but in an instant, under the blowing of the cold wind, it immediately turned into a red mark printed on my right cheek.

  "It's just a small-stakes pastime game, after the result comes out, whether you win or lose, as long as you speak up, I'll stay."

  Lose, and die here.

  Win, in my estimation, I probably didn't have much physical strength left to leave here and rest nearby. Wanting to completely resolve this matter without incident was a bit too optimistic; not cutting it off again wouldn't be stupid either.

  He glared at the little demon in front of him with a face full of indifference, even with blood flowing on his face, he had an attitude that didn't care about anything. Suddenly, a strange feeling appeared in his heart, but it was quickly suppressed by Zai Wu Jian's self-confidence.

  Forget it, just a small kid after all, indeed can only be considered as a game!

  "Ha! I've won, and you two are both mine now." If he didn't figure out the mystery of this kid soon, he'd really like to keep him around, but he wasn't shameless enough to ask someone to stay when he himself had already said it first.

  Not a ninja doesn't mean no self-respect, becoming a renegade ninja might even make one more mindful of oneself.

  When I heard it again, not a single word was different from what I had expected. My heart still felt quite complicated.

  It's really hard to find such a cooperative object!

  In that case, only if I win will there be a guarantee. If it was me who brought up this matter first, then even if nine out of ten chances he would have pretended nothing happened, and the remaining less than one chance is him directly killing me and Bai, and then pretending nothing happened again.

  Although the result was so smooth that it made me slightly stunned, I still repeated again: "My promise is still valid. After the result appears, regardless of winning or losing, as long as you speak up, I will stay."

  I didn't pay attention to what he said again, for "me", keeping promises is a very important thing, extremely important, far above many things.

  But of course, unfulfilled promises don't count.

  Don't worry, I'll definitely take you down with me and let Bai be free. There won't be two ninjas trying to use Bai anymore, maybe he can live a more ordinary life with the happiness of normal people. After all, being a ninja really doesn't suit this boy as white as snow.

  "Whether we win or lose will be decided by Zetsu-san, okay? Of course, our match will have something to do with ninjas, after all, we are all ninjas, aren't we? Zetsu-san."

  A three-year-old kid dared to call himself a ninja, Zanboten thought of ridiculing him for a bit, but the moment he made eye contact with the child. A flash of inspiration suddenly flashed through Zanboten's mind, and his entire train of thought was instantly cleared.

  Zai Bu Zhan frowned again, and after meeting this kid, he had been having some strange sensations on his body, as if reminding him of something that he had completely forgotten.

  This strong sense of uncertainty makes the emotions that were once cut off float up again.

  But under the oppression of nearly a decade of slaughter experience, this chaotic feeling was barely suppressed.

  It makes this feeling even more apparent.

  Just like drinking water when hungry can only relieve temporary urgency but cannot cure the root cause.

  If you don't cut off your own thoughts and consider what's in front of you right now.

  Fighting with a three-year-old child is more troublesome than dealing with ninja-related matters; both laws and judges are on their own!

  Such good conditions are almost too good to refuse.

  Isn't winning under such conditions the same as cheating? Such a victory is more embarrassing than defeat, how can he agree to it, otherwise I will cut off his path.

  Looking at him not saying a word, I let out a faint cold laugh in my heart, but my face still didn't change. I continued to say: "How about this, let me decide what's good or not, and you just make the final decision, how does that sound? Mr. Zhen."

  I knew that if I didn't give in, it would be impossible to meet the original conditions, but I just wanted him to be in that situation for a while. He wanted me to show weakness first, but he didn't want to talk, and when he was almost at his limit, I finally spoke up, just to make his emotions fluctuate to the maximum value.

  In general, there are only two conditions for adjustment: "trial method" and "arbitration".

  The reason why I took back the right of "trial method" is that if it doesn't cut off, it will never accept the verdict made by me as a judge.

  But with his arrogance, my "trial method" is absolutely something he would look down on.

  After all, a three-year-old child is invincible, no matter what I say, he always thinks he has the confidence to win.

  I saw a triumphant smile spreading across his face under the brim of his hat.

  Facing his confident smile, I also hold the same view in my heart. Only by making him think that everything is already won and adding a final blow can I make the situation unfold as I expected, raising the chances to the highest.

  "Really don't follow me and be under my command?" Zhen Bu suddenly spoke out of the blue.

  "Sorry." I don't even belong to myself, let alone have an interest in belonging to someone else.

  "I can do without another little devil."

  Unexpectedly, he was willing to compromise, but unfortunately, I couldn't afford such good fortune.

  "I'm really sorry."

  If you invite a child twice and are refused both times, it would be unwise to continue.

  "Hmph! Let's get started, you little demon." Just as he was about to strike, he saw the meaning in the little demon's eyes, and felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, yet at the same time, a faint fear arose from the depths of his heart.

  I faintly revealed a smile with profound meaning and stretched out my right hand to him.

  "So, lend me a sword first! Otherwise, I'll behead you, sir."

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  Yes, afterwards, it's roughly increasing by more than 4,000 words of revised content per week (which is almost the same as the usual update word count), and as for the number of chapters, that's uncertain.

  I occasionally need some time to read other people's articles, which delayed my writing. I apologize for that.