With soft chestnut hair that shimmered in the sunlight and a slender figure honed through years of sword training, the fourteen- or fifteen-year-old girl stood tall and poised. Her fair skin glowed with youthful vitality, and her body, despite her age, was already remarkably well-developed.
Because she wore plain civilian clothes, none of the merchant lords around her recognized her identity as the Princess of the Land of Fire.
But that didn't stop their lecherous gazes. Eyes red with drink and lust, they ogled her shamelessly.
"Well now, little lady," one of them said with a disgusting smirk. "You've got quite the figure on you. Why don't you come have some fun with me, eh? I'll throw you a few hundred thousand ryō. Beats risking your life on some mission, doesn't it?"
They had assumed she was just another female ninja from Konoha.
But Asuna, accustomed to honor and decorum, had never in her life been subjected to such filthy words. Her face flushed red with fury.
Hinata immediately stepped forward to intervene, her voice trembling but resolute.
"Please watch your tongue! You're speaking to someone who represents- "
Before she could finish, one of the merchants sneered and interrupted her.
"Represents Konoha? What a joke. You're just a bunch of lowborn ninja. Don't forget who feeds you, who clothes you. Everything you have, you owe to us!"
Just then, their gazes landed on Hinata. Her attire was simple, no fancy jewelry or markings, but there was a quiet grace in her appearance. Her pale lavender-white eyes, in particular, radiated an ethereal purity.
Anyone with a shred of knowledge would recognize them as the signature trait of the Hyuga clan.
But these men, lacking either sense or shame, made their own assumptions. To them, the Hyuga clan's main family was powerful, yes, but the branch families? Just more ninja. Just more tools.
"Looks like we've got a Hyuga girl here too," one of them snorted. "Those eyes… they're special. And I do like special girls."
"Heh, you freak! You and your weird tastes!" another laughed as the group burst into boorish guffaws.
Asuna clenched her fists, eyes narrowed in rage. But she also noticed something strange in the surrounding crowd.
People were watching.
Some looked uncomfortable. A few even seemed sympathetic.
But no one intervened.
She wasn't naïve enough to understand all the layers at play, but her instincts told her something about these men was dangerous. That they were far from ordinary lechers.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw it: the female ninja who had been harassed moments ago had quietly slipped away while the merchants were distracted.
Asuna exhaled softly. At least someone had gotten away safely.
"Come on, Hinata," she muttered. "Let's not waste any more time on this filth."
But they weren't going to let them go.
Thud! One of the men slammed his meaty palm onto the restaurant table, wincing from the impact but ignoring the pain. He waved a few of his guards forward.
"Who said you could leave?"
"Heh heh…"
The hired thugs moved quickly, surrounding Asuna and Hinata with practiced efficiency. This was clearly not their first time doing something like this.
Outside of Konoha, they might have held back, knowing that offending the wrong shinobi clan could cost them their lives. But in Konoha? In the very heart of the strongest Hidden Village?
They had nothing to fear.
After all, it wasn't the first time they'd toyed with Leaf kunoichi. Most of the time, those girls didn't even dare raise their voices. Even if one of them got bold and fought back, all these men had to do was file a complaint, and the village would be the one apologizing.
Everyone knew this was twisted. Unjust. Absurd.
But it was also reality.
Just one of many rotten shadows hidden beneath Konoha's polished surface.
"What exactly do you think you're doing?" Asuna's voice was cold as steel as she stared down the lead merchant.
He laughed, then gave her and Hinata a long, greedy look.
"Isn't it obvious? You two are coming with us."
"Are you serious right now?" Asuna's tone grew colder. Her fingers brushed the hilt of the sword at her waist.
Seeing this, the merchant's smug expression twisted into fury.
"You dare draw your weapon on us?! Do you have any idea who we are? You damn shinobi think you can get away with this? In our city?!"
Around them, the crowd dispersed like startled birds.
People sympathized. They pitied the girls.
But no one stepped forward.
Because everyone knew what would happen to those who interfered.
Just as the tension reached its peak, on the verge of erupting into something much worse, something unexpected happened.
A sudden chill grazed the merchant's neck.
He turned his head slowly… and froze.
A young man had appeared behind him, so silently that not even his guards had noticed.
He held a gleaming katana, its edge glinting with killing intent. The blade was pressed gently against the man's throat.
And his voice was as calm as it was lethal.
"If anyone here is rebelling… it's you."
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