Senju Wakama played with his phone as he walked. Although he was a bit addicted to video games, he wasn't playing one right now; instead, he was exploring the phone's other features.
The people in this world had the opportunity to learn about a phone's various functions from a young age.
Senju Wakama needed to understand everything about this world in a short amount of time, which required more effort.
In this era of this world, many people walked while playing on their phones, unafraid of being stabbed to death on the street by a stranger.
Overall, Senju Wakama felt this world was much better than the ninja world.
That was why, despite being dog-tired during the day, Senju Wakama would still cross over into the otherworld with Black Zetsu at night.
Listening to the noisy chatter of the people around him, Senju Wakama felt a strange sense of peace.
However...
A series of curses came from up ahead.
Senju Wakama had only been visiting this world for half a month.
At first, Zetsu had Senju Wakama wander around this world's Japan at night, since the language of that country was the same as his own.
The problem was that the nightlife in that country was far less vibrant than in Huaguo. Furthermore, while Senju Wakama understood some of the country's written characters, he didn't understand them all. The spoken language was the same, but the writing system was not entirely shared.
Right now, Senju Wakama didn't need to communicate with many people; he needed to understand this world more quickly through its written text.
And then, a problem arose.
Senju Wakama spoke Japanese, but he read using Hanzi.
So, Zetsu began taking Senju Wakama on nightly excursions to Huaguo in this "otherworld."
This place was safe most of the time, but nothing was ever absolute.
Especially at the barbecue stalls, which did booming business at night and were packed with clamoring people.
It wasn't that there was anything wrong with the barbecue stalls, nor was the environment particularly bad.
Rather, it was because groups of men would come out late at night to eat barbecue, drink, and shoot the breeze, and the combination of alcohol and repressed daytime emotions would suddenly erupt.
Binge eating and drinking alone couldn't alleviate that pain, so it was easy for them to get into conflicts with other patrons.
Because the other patrons might also be emotionally unstable after drinking.
And right now, Senju Wakama was passing a row of barbecue stalls doing good business.
The smell of charcoal fire, accompanied by the sound of shouting and cursing, washed over him.
Senju Wakama couldn't understand what the two sides were saying. He might have been able to catch a word here or there, but he couldn't follow the full conversation.
Yet Senju Wakama could still detect the violent emotions in their tones. From the looks of it, a fight was about to break out.
"Senju Wakama, don't meddle."
Zetsu's voice sounded by Senju Wakama's ear. "Everyone has their own fate. If you save someone, your actions will lead to other consequences that were never meant to happen."
"What do you mean?" Senju Wakama had already put his phone away and was watching the two increasingly aggressive groups with the other bystanders.
"Some people are meant to die. How they die and when they die are all predetermined. When we intervene, it might look like we're helping them, but their original fate might be shouldered by other, originally innocent people."
Zetsu's voice was ethereal. "This country has legends of the Yellow Springs and the Underworld. How should I put it? If someone who was destined to die doesn't die because of your help, then... wouldn't the netherworld authorities come looking for you?"
Senju Wakama took a deep breath. "So... our existence, is its only purpose to maintain these predetermined fates?"
Zetsu chuckled. "No, we usually don't need to do anything. But if you find someone who has inadvertently obtained information about the future—that is, a 'Reincarnator' who knows their future destiny in advance—or a 'Transmigrator' who has come to this world from another by some twist of fate, bringing memories that don't belong here, those are forbidden existences. We need to eliminate them."
"These 'Reincarnators' and 'Transmigrators' you speak of... in a sense, they're rule-breakers." Senju Wakama could understand that.
Still, he studied the two parties arguing ahead.
They were two men, both about 1.8 meters tall, who seemed extremely agitated.
Behind one of them stood what appeared to be his wife and son. The woman's face was pale, her eyes filled with terror. She had tried to step forward and intervene but was ruthlessly shoved away by the man.
The child was young and seemed frightened, held tightly in his mother's arms.
The man on the other side wore an apron and looked like the owner of one of the food stalls.
Senju Wakama didn't know what they were arguing about, but the longer he watched, the more something felt wrong.
"Brother Zetsu, I remember you said this country's laws are complicated. You told me that to be a hero and uphold justice, one must have power—both financial and martial—otherwise, it's just suicide." Senju Wakama said faintly, "I don't fully understand it, but I think perhaps being taught by events is more effective than being taught by people."
Zetsu fell silent.
Senju Wakama was already striding forward, moving through the crowd toward the two arguing men.
His steps were light, seemingly a leisurely stroll, yet remarkably fast.
Just as Senju Wakama came within two meters of the two men...
The man in the apron suddenly pulled a fruit knife several dozen centimeters long from behind his back and, with a crazed expression, swung it at the man he was arguing with.
In a flash, Senju Wakama lunged forward, grabbing the man's knife hand and stomping on his foot.
He couldn't communicate with them, nor did he know the cause of the argument.
But, under the watchful eyes of the public...
Especially in front of the old, the young, women, and children—if this knife had landed, it might have decapitated the victim.
Then everyone watching, all the people too afraid to intervene, would be scarred by the memory for life.
Brother Zetsu had said this was a happy country that had been at peace for decades. Although it had many flaws, it was still far better than the ninja world.
There are no perfect people in this world, and naturally, there are no perfect environments. To have achieved this much was already a remarkable feat.
Senju Wakama didn't want to watch as this place he considered so happy was ruined by one or two bad people.
Senju Wakama gripped the knife-wielding attacker's wrist, stopping him from swinging the blade, and pinned his foot to the ground, preventing him from moving forward.
The man clearly hadn't expected a random passerby to rush in and stop him. He began to struggle, his face contorted in a ferocious grimace.
The man who had nearly been cut in half finally realized the danger and shakily pulled out his phone to call the police.
Senju Wakama couldn't understand what he was saying, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw other bystanders also taking out their phones and saying the same thing.
Even if the people living in this happy country were big and tall, they were no match for someone like Senju Wakama, a veteran of countless battles.
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