A crow flew into the inn and perched on the railing of the second-floor corridor. The crow lightly pecked at its dark feathers, its black eyes fixed on the open door of a room.

Inside the room, the boss stood by the tatami mat, silently staring at the four unconscious children. Her face was calm, without the slightest emotional fluctuation in her eyes.

A figure emerged from a room at the end of the corridor. He was tall, light-footed, and hummed a tune as if in a good mood, walking towards the first room in the corridor.

"Did you get them?"

The man leaned against the door, staring at the boss's back in the room.

The crow twisted its neck, watching the scene before it as if nothing had happened.

The boss didn't answer. The man's lips curled downwards, as if he wasn't surprised by her reaction at all.

He strode in, came before the tatami mat, and looked at the four children.

"This batch is of good quality."

The man stroked his chin and nodded with satisfaction.

He looked back at the boss, saw her deadpan face, and spat in disgust, "Don't make such a sour face. It's unappetizing. If you have guts, then don't do it, right? Go tell Ryuga later that you don't want to do these things anymore."

The expression on the man's face changed from disgust and disdain to schadenfreude, as if he had anticipated what the boss's fate would be.

The boss's face paled, and she said nothing.

Seeing this, the man sneered, "Spineless coward!"

He stepped forward and picked up the two children closest to him. The remaining two children were naturally left to the boss.

The boss's eyebrow twitched, but she still reached out and picked up the two remaining children.

"Let's go."

"Let's hand them over to Ryuga and see what he says."

The man strode downstairs. The boss followed behind him.

No one paid attention to the crow in the corridor. After their figures disappeared into the stairwell, the crow flapped its wings and flew high.

Haruki closed his eyes and relaxed his body. Using the crow's eyes, he clearly saw the movement trajectories of himself and the others.

The boss and the unfamiliar man slipped out the back door of the inn and ran towards the depths of Tateshina.

According to the unfamiliar man's words and the crow's detection, this Ryuga was the ninja hiding in Tateshina.

Everyone in Tateshina, under Ryuga's coercion, had become his subordinates, helping him do heinous things.

The man and the boss, holding the four children including Haruki, quickly moved through Tateshina. After an unknown amount of time, they finally stopped in front of a small building. This small building was no different from the surrounding structures, also covered with traces left by the war.

The man and the boss stopped. They stood at the door and knocked.

Footsteps sounded from behind the door. A small opening appeared in the door, and a pair of cold eyes fell on the boss and the man. The pupils moved up and down, landing on the children in the arms of the boss and the man.

"Come in."

"Thank you, Ranga."

The man bowed and scraped as he entered the room.

The boss followed behind him.

After the two of them entered, the man called Ranga closed the door.

Ranga strode towards the sofa in the center of the room. A rugged-faced man sat on the sofa, a hideous scar like a centipede crawling all over his face, almost tearing it in half. Ranga stood respectfully behind the scarred man.

"Ryuga."

The moment they saw the scarred man, the man and the boss immediately cried out in fear.

Ryuga leaned his upper body slightly forward, his gaze falling on the four children in the arms of the boss and the man.

"Where are the people from?" Ryuga narrowed his eyes and asked.

"Ryuga, these are four children who came to stay at the inn. Their identities haven't been found out yet." The boss's throat tightened, her voice sharp.

"Put them over here." Ryuga patted the sofa next to him.

The boss and the man immediately stepped forward and placed the four children on the sofa.

"They look like they have good talent. If they have talent, then train them to be ninja. If they don't have talent..."

Ryuga paused, "Then use them for drug testing."

"Yes."

Ranga, behind Ryuga, nodded.

"What medicine did you give them?" Ryuga glanced at the boss.

"It... it was just ordinary sleeping medicine. They'll wake up in two hours." The boss quickly replied.

Ryuga nodded, his gaze sweeping over the four children before him.

Suddenly, he met a pair of blue eyes. Those eyes were like lake water, terrifyingly calm.

Ryuga almost jumped up from the sofa, but he forcibly suppressed the impulse. Before him was just a little brat.

Why should he be afraid?

Haruki sat up straight on the sofa. He stared at the scarred man before him.

"You... how did you wake up? This medicine should take at least two hours to wear off." The boss pointed at Haruki in astonishment.

Seeing Haruki wake up, the others, including Yahiko, also opened their eyes. They vigilantly stared at the four people in the room.

"Who are you?"

Ryuga saw no fear on their four faces. These four were definitely not ordinary children.

Haruki stared at Ryuga and asked, "Who are you? You know that ninja from other ninja villages are not allowed to stay within the Land of Rain, yet you remain unmoved? Do you want Hanzo to come and deal with you personally?"

The expression on Ryuga's face constantly changed.

"You... you are ninja from Amegakure?" Ryuga was full of doubt and surprise.

Had he already been discovered by Hanzo?

Haruki tacitly agreed.

Ryuga stared at the four children before him, the shock in his eyes gradually replaced by intense killing intent.

[Ding!]

[System detected Ryuga's killing intent value +3000.]

[Your Slaughter Curse growth value has increased to 1.8%.]

If he killed them, who would know of his existence?

Ryuga narrowed his eyes.

"Blame it on your bad luck!"

A whooshing sound came head-on.

In the blink of an eye, sharp claws unfolded before Haruki, a dazzling cold glint, and the sharp claw tips aimed at Haruki's neck.

"Haruki!"

(End of Chapter)

100 PS = 1 BONUS CHAPTER