Chapter Seventy-Three: The Young Man Ascends

  "Excuse me, who are you?" The young man's heart was filled with vigilance as he stared at the little kid who had suddenly appeared before him. As soon as he finished speaking, his face immediately changed to a calm and gentle smile, "Sorry! I didn't expect anyone to be in the tree."

  Young people habitually observe those they meet for the first time.

  The child's hair was very long, not like the usual ninja's simple hairstyle, and the color was particularly special, between white and silver, with a transparent feeling of inorganic matter, and it seemed to have an unknown red glow flowing on top of it, possibly due to a special bloodline or inheritance of secret techniques.

  And those eyes, the blue iris of the right eye seemed to be rippling with the colors of the sky, while the left eye was completely opposite, filled with a fierce and bloody color, and also shining with a startling golden light, which gave off an even more overbearing feeling than the person he remembered, originally it was a very jarring feeling, but it blended in with his own aloof temperament, showing a kind of... very strange aura, a kind of aura that fit perfectly with nature...

  Could it be that he is the spirit of the forest?

  The young man shook his head violently, trying to expel this idea from his mind.

  I thought I was a kid, having such naive thoughts? Spirits? Gods? This world doesn't have any of that stuff. All I need to do is what needs doing, ever since that war.

  "Excuse me, who are you?" The young man asked again. If he hadn't seen that the little kid had just blocked all of his sword moves with his own hands, curiosity would have gotten the better of him and he would have left a long time ago.

  "I was born here."

  A very pleasant voice, without the usual childish soft tone, and instead, it has a magnetic feel to it.

  "How old are you?" The young man wondered how old the kid was who could so calmly catch the hidden projectile he had accidentally fired with all his might.

  "Six years old."

  "Are you alone?"

  Unexpectedly matching up, the young man was somewhat surprised. Looking at the child's appearance, it didn't seem like he was someone who would be so frank. Or perhaps, revealing these things had no effect on him?

  No.

  "Hey, you live around here, little buddy?" The young man asked in a gentle big-brother tone.

  "Maybe! And you? You're disturbing my sleep by coming here before dawn?" The child's tone was without complaint, just a simple statement.

  Not at all like a kid, this was the youth's first impression.

  The attitude is very cooperative, but there are no redundant words at all, and the usable information in spoken language is extremely scarce.

  Age is not deceiving, but his performance is completely inconsistent, always feeling a thick fog shrouding this person.

  This person cannot be identified.

  He was not far from himself, looking very casual, but he didn't relax his vigilance. Although he fell to the ground, his feet didn't touch the ground, as if there was a layer of transparent things holding him up. Also, his posture when descending from the tree obviously violated the principle of gravity, possibly mastering wind attribute chakra, but I haven't received any information about this ninjutsu.

  The young man analyzed the strange child in front of him while talking to him, hoping to get more information.

  "Sleeping, huh? That's really sorry to hear! Sleeping here doesn't seem very good for your body, does it? The night forest is very humid, you should take better care of yourself." The young man skillfully shifted the topic from why he was there to concern for the child's health.

  "Don't worry about it, don't mind."

  It doesn't seem threatening, it probably didn't notice my actions just now.

  "Ah, yes! But one's own body must be taken good care of, after all, the body is a person's most important asset." The young man was about to continue chatting when he suddenly walked away, but then that little kid suddenly approached him.

  The young man still maintained a smile, but quietly touched the sword pouch on his leg.

  "Do you think I'm harmless? But also worried that I'll be bad for you?"

  "What's the threat? What could I possibly be worried about?" The young man had a cold sweat in his heart, but on his face, there was no crack.

  "You can't see my abilities, even if I have special powers, you can't understand what I'm saying, but it's easy to change the subject. You can't tell my personality, but I don't have the qualifications to threaten you, right? What was your original evaluation of me?" The child's tone rose slightly, not out of pride, but a sense of confirmation.

  The young man was shocked for a moment, but didn't let the emotion show on his face for too long, and with his usual warm smile: "Nothing like that, you misunderstood." The young man didn't notice that he had unconsciously used honorific language towards the little kid.

  "Was I mistaken? Or did you misunderstand... my intelligence? And, someone said that your smile is very fake, your face smiles but not your skin, it's really ugly. On this point, I won't comment, after all, without a good teacher, it's hard to learn how to pretend, can't be too demanding of you." The child spoke with a tone of helplessness, but his face was filled with a faint smile, "Fake smile, at least it should be like this."

  The child finished the last sentence, slightly tilted his head, and raised an eyebrow. The golden light in his left eye suddenly became brighter, revealing a smile full of evil spirit. Although he looked like he was not even eight years old, at this moment, he made the young man feel that this child had a special charm that transcended gender, a kind of temptation that seemed to grasp the young man's heart tightly, making him almost dare not breathe, fearing that he would disturb the scene.

  That little kid seemed to have found his own state, Jin Mang's demeanor suddenly became subdued, the child's expression suddenly turned dull, and the corners of his mouth only had a slight curve. Along with it, the thick and enchanting aura that was present just now also transformed into a clear and dustless feeling. As soon as the young man saw this, he felt as if a gentle breeze had blown through his heart, and he was stunned.

  "What's wrong? You're stunned all of a sudden!"

  The boy felt a slight pain on his forehead, and he came to himself. Only then did he realize that the little kid was standing in front of him at some point, with the finger that had just poked his forehead still not withdrawn.

  "You... this..." The young man suddenly realized that the threat of this little kid was unimaginably huge, and yet he had allowed others to get so close to him without any resistance in his heart.

  "Why be so afraid? I was just giving you a demonstration. Or is it that you're afraid of something else?" The kid ended with another affirmative sentence.

  The young man's heart was a bit panicked, and even his usual skillful decorative smile was almost impossible to maintain.

  "If you want to deceive others, you must first deceive yourself, that's what my sister told me."

  "You've gotten used to pretending, and it's almost become second nature to you. But the truth is, you're not cut out for deceiving people - your eyes give you away!"

  "What are you talking about? I don't quite understand." The young man felt a strong sense of unease, but subconsciously didn't want to leave.

  "Is that so? Well, in any case, I hope you'll make some progress. Only lies that can deceive even yourself can also entrap others."

  The young man sensed the idea of "leaving" from the child's tone, and unconsciously opened his mouth. "You... are you leaving?" The young man did not notice that his words carried a hint of reluctance, and he subconsciously stretched out his left hand to grab the child's hand.

  "Ah." The child did not show any signs of rejection, but instead raised the hand that was being held, observing it with great interest, seemingly very curious as to why the young man would make such a gesture.

  "Ah!" The young man exclaimed in a low voice.

  The boy suddenly realized his abrupt behavior, and suddenly let go. In a short moment, he had already gotten used to the temperature. His left hand suddenly felt a bit cold, and the boy's released hand involuntarily grasped slightly, as if wanting to retain the remaining warmth.

  It's been so long, it's been so long since he felt the warmth of a human being, and for so long that he almost forgot the temperature of a person.

  "Are you okay?" The child seemed to have noticed something unusual about the young man and asked.

  The boy shook his head, and then saw the child looking in a certain direction with a faint smile on his face.

  "What's wrong?" The young man felt a twinge of jealousy towards the person who could bring a smile to the face of the one in front of him.

  "They're looking for me." A hint of warmth appeared in the child's normally calm eyes.

  "Who is it?" The young man did not notice that his current pursuit of action conflicted with his usual low-key principles.