Chapter 197

Late at night, after searching for Shinji for half a day, Tsunade, even holding back from gambling at the casino she had entered solely to look for him, finally found Shinji in a high-end intelligence shop.

Seeing Shinji in a booth in the corner, holding two scantily clad girls, Tsunade felt a surge of irritation. She had been searching for so long, and here this brat was, indulging in such pleasures.

But she could at least get a free meal out of this.

Raising her hand to stop the approaching proprietress who seemed about to say something, Tsunade walked straight to Shinji and sat naturally on the sofa opposite him.

Seeing Tsunade sit down and casually flip through the menu, the two well-informed girls fell silent. They had encountered such situations before, where the woman would sometimes beat the man.

"What's the matter? Keep talking."

Shinji tightened his grip on the two girls, who glanced at Tsunade and then at each other, understanding the situation.

Oh, it's a dominant man!

They had misunderstood, getting scared for nothing. So, how many would stay tonight?

After going through the menu, Tsunade called the proprietress, who had been nervously watching from the shadows, and fluently ordered her selected dishes.

"Steamed lamb, steamed bear paw, steamed deer tail, roasted duck..."

Shinji, acting as if he neither saw nor heard Tsunade, continued to accept the girls' feeding while learning about history from them.

…

Now quite drunk, Tsunade, holding her glass, looked at Shinji with bleary eyes, wondering why he was so engrossed in the history lessons given by the two girls.

From the creation myth of the Sage of Six Paths to the Warring States period and the recent Third Shinobi World War, they covered it all, even the Nine-Tails attack on Konoha.

Why was he so interested in these common stories? Tsunade couldn't understand. And why did he give each girl a gold ingot? If he wanted to know this stuff, why not ask her?

Seeing Shinji get kissed on both cheeks by the girls who received the gold ingots, Tsunade curled her lip in disdain.

She didn't know who he was, but she disliked men who openly displayed their desires.

"So, this is the history of this ninja world..."

Tsunade caught a keyword from Shinji's words—this ninja world.

"What do you mean by 'this ninja world'?" The girl in the red high-slit cheongsam, her white arms resting on Shinji's shoulders, asked with a smile. "Little brother, are you not from this world?"

"Yes, yes," added the plump girl in the blue cheongsam on his left.

"Of course," Shinji tightened his grip, pulling the three closer, and lowered his voice, "because I am a demon, not a human..."

Both girls inwardly rolled their eyes. Many customers had made such claims before.

"Really? So scary~"

"Indeed, demons sound terrifying~"

The girls, experienced in such matters, played along with the mild joke, while Tsunade pretended not to care, listening intently from across the table.

"But what about the history before the Sage of Six Paths?"

"Huh?" The girl in red was taken aback, then waved her hand with a smile. "The world was created by the Sage of Six Paths; there couldn't be any history before him."

"Oh~" Shinji smirked and murmured, "Is that the story? The Sage of Six Paths altered it for human belief..."

Tsunade, with her sharp hearing, caught Shinji's murmur. It seemed unbelievable, but she felt he knew some unknown secrets of this world.

The Sage of Six Paths, altering history for human belief...

These words were too intriguing to ignore. But Shinji's murmur stopped there, leaving Tsunade frowning.

"Since you've helped me understand so much of ninja history, let me tell you a story I've heard, how about that?"

The two girls hanging on Shinji expressed their interest, eager to hear the story before heading upstairs.

In a casual tone, as if recounting an insignificant tale, Shinji introduced the story of Angra Mainyu to this world.

An isolated island, an ancient religion—a group of people despairing over the constant human conflicts and wars decided to prove human goodness.

But...

Doubt, deception, hatred, and animosity.

The more they praised goodness, the more evil they created.

They attributed this evil to a single person to resolve it.

Evil was not from within them!

Their evil was not real!

Human evil was the poison of demonic influence. They were absolutely pure!

They chose an innocent young man, making him the real demon, blaming him for poverty, disease, disasters, and even the fear of death.

All dissatisfaction and sin existed because of him; the blame was ceaseless.

For them, the root of all evil was necessary, and a scapegoat bearing all sin was indispensable.

Everything bad was his fault, turning him into the world's evil and sacrificing him.

While alive, he was revered as a god but stripped of his humanity, his given name erased, and he was despised as an evil entity.

Yet humanity was saved because of him, with all misfortune attributed to the demon, distancing themselves from responsibility.

Ancient curses bound the young man's soul to the world, enduring millennia of human curses.

He did nothing wrong and received no respect but saved many lives.

"A fascinating story. What was his name?" the girl in blue asked curiously.

Shinji smiled slightly, "Wasn't it taken away? His birth name and humanity were stripped away. All that remained was the name 'Angra Mainyu,' the evil of this world."

"So, when we encounter misfortune, we can blame it all on him?" the girl in red asked, as if she had a sudden idea.

The girl in blue retorted, "What are you saying? It's just a story, and the young man in it is already pitiful."

Shinji shook his head, "No, you can. Even if you don't blame him, he passively bears all curses and responsibilities. It's his duty as the world's evil."

"Nonsense! There's no way such a thing exists!" Tsunade finally voiced her opinion, sneering at the absurdity.

In her previous missions, she had encountered various extreme religions and followers.

But a religion creating the world's god? She would never believe that.

"Well, it's just a story," Shinji nodded, understanding Tsunade's skepticism, knowing she would ponder his identity and the tale.

"Time to go."

Feeling a bit unsettled, Tsunade feigned impatience and stood up, but not before glancing at Shinji, who was holding the girls again.

Despite getting a free meal and drink, she felt unsatisfied leaving alone, especially seeing this despicable man enjoying himself.

Such a man was rare, even Jiraiya was sneakier. But this guy…

Watching Shinji's increasingly inappropriate behavior, Tsunade's disdain grew, and she turned to leave without a second glance.

…

In the early morning, in a deserted forest.

Tsunade, trembling and with shaking pupils, faced two masked ninja holding kunai.

One ninja's arm bled uncontrollably, clearly a self-inflicted wound.

Standing on a tree, Shinji, who initially didn't want to intervene, sighed and jumped down silently.

After all, Tsunade was exposed and targeted because of following him. Though he didn't know who targeted her, it was likely someone from Konoha's roots.

"I like money, women, good food, fun things, and..."

Before Shinji's voice finished, the two ninjas were sliced into pieces by three sword flashes.

"...killing."

As the two unknown ninjas fell, Shinji completed his sentence, grinning at Tsunade.

The scene was too shocking, and Tsunade's mind went blank, her trembling increasing until she collapsed!

"Hey, hey, isn't that too weak? I thought you were strong," Shinji said, putting away his sword with a puzzled expression. She could slap him even while bleeding!

Is your blood phobia selective?