I immediately ignored Daiki, who was standing in front of me and practically fuming with anger. Instead, I turned around toward the person whose presence I had already sensed clearly. As I looked back, I saw a girl who couldn't have been more than two years younger than me. The moment my eyes landed on her, I recognized her immediately: she was none other than Kurenai Yuhi.
My eyebrow rose slightly in surprise before I quickly calmed myself down. It wasn't because I had met her before; in fact, this was the first time I had ever seen her in person. I recognized her because of my memories of the anime. Kurenai Yuhi was definitely one of the most beautiful and distinctive-looking women in the series, with an appearance memorable enough that anyone familiar with her would recognize her almost instantly. Even though she was younger than the version I remembered, there was no mistaking her: this was a younger Kurenai Yuhi.
Looking toward her, I said, "Well, Miss, you witnessed all this, right? They were the ones who attacked me. I didn't do anything. I didn't provoke them. I did nothing. They were the ones who started all of this. I, a normal civilian, was just walking by, and they attacked me. You witnessed all this, right?"
Kurenai looked at me for a moment before giving a small nod. The moment I saw her response, a faint smile appeared on my face.
Then I turned to look at the three bullies before me: Daiki, Haruto, and Kento. As my gaze fell on them, I noticed the expressions on their faces gradually changing. It looked as though they had only now realized that another ninja was present. Being ninjas themselves, they naturally recognized her immediately. Kurenai Yuhi, a chunin, had been promoted just last year at the age of thirteen. Meanwhile, Daiki had only become a chunin this year at the age of seventeen. The difference in talent between the two was obvious.
The three of them looked toward Kurenai and then back at me. Seeing the confident smile on my face, their expressions stiffened. They weren't idiots, and with one of them being a chunin, they could naturally piece things together. As ninjas, they knew very well what kind of trouble they could get into for attacking a civilian without cause. Now there was a witness, and a witness who happened to be a chunin of the Hidden Leaf. As I watched their faces, it became increasingly obvious that they had realized they had stepped into a trap, or rather, believed they had.
Inside my mind, I couldn't help but sneer. You only realized it now? Too late.
With that thought, I looked directly at the three of them and said, "Well, you see, you three are ninjas, and you attacked me, a civilian, for no reason. If I remember correctly, that's considered a pretty serious offense. A ninja isn't allowed to attack a civilian."
The moment those words left my mouth, all three of their faces visibly paled as the realization hit them completely. Now they understood why I had asked Kurenai Yuhi whether she had witnessed everything, and they understood exactly what kind of situation they had walked into. Judging from their expressions, they weren't liking it one bit.
Ignoring their increasingly ugly faces, I immediately started walking toward Kurenai Yuhi. Each step was calm and measured, but honestly speaking, I was very angry. Very angry. After all, these bastards had punched me; they had gone out of their way to corner and bully me. A part of me genuinely wanted to beat them up right then and there. With my current strength, I could definitely do it, and I was confident I could teach all three of them a lesson they would never forget.
However, there were two major problems with doing that, two very important reasons why acting on my anger would be a bad idea. First, if I used my strength and beat them up, my abilities would immediately attract attention. Among the three of them were a chunin and two genin. If a civilian managed to defeat trained ninjas, especially a chunin, there was no way the village would simply ignore it. The moment people learned about my strength, I would be noticed, and recruitment would follow. This was wartime, and Konoha wasn't exactly overflowing with manpower right now. A civilian capable of defeating active shinobi would be viewed as valuable military talent. The village would definitely try to pull me into the ninja system, and sooner or later, I would end up being sent to the frontlines.
That was the last thing I wanted. My plan had always been different: I wanted to become a bounty hunter. Compared to being a village ninja, it was a much more easygoing career where I could earn a good amount of money, choose my own targets, and, most importantly, enjoy far more freedom. Why would I willingly chain myself to military service when a better alternative existed?
The second reason was even more important. If I beat them up right now, the entire situation would be reduced to nothing more than a fight between former classmates, where at most both sides would receive some criticism before the matter was quietly buried. But if I didn't fight back and instead reported that three ninjas had attacked a helpless, unarmed civilian without provocation, the situation became completely different. Very different. In that case, they would be the only ones in trouble, and not just a little trouble, but serious trouble. These pieces of shit would definitely face consequences. The best outcome, in my opinion, would be if they were stripped of their ninja status entirely; the second-best outcome would be for them to be sent directly to the frontlines. Either way, I would be satisfied.
With all these calculations running through my mind, I walked over to Kurenai and stopped in front of her. Standing face-to-face with her, I said, "Well, Miss, I will be filing a complaint with the Konoha Police Force. At that time, I will name you as a witness. I hope you will testify for me."
Kurenai didn't hesitate. "Well, I hate bullies myself," she said with a slight frown. "So don't worry. I will definitely testify for you. How about this? I'll go with you to the police force."
Hearing that, I immediately nodded. "Thank you very much." Kurenai gave a small nod in return, and the two of us began walking away.
However, we had barely taken a few steps when Daiki, Haruto, and Kento hurriedly rushed in front of us and blocked our path. The expressions on their faces were extremely ugly, filled with anger, frustration, and panic. Clearly, they believed they had been tricked by me, and from their perspective, it probably looked that way. A few moments ago, they had thought they were simply bullying a classmate who couldn't fight back; now that same classmate, taking advantage of his status as civilian, was about to drag them before the Konoha Police Force with another chunin as a witness.
Looking at the three of them, Kurenai's expression immediately cooled. She stepped slightly forward and asked, "What? Do you want to escalate things even further?" Her voice wasn't loud; in fact, it was surprisingly calm, yet the effect was immediate. The three of them froze as though a bucket of cold water had been poured over their heads. The anger and gloom on their faces disappeared almost instantly, replaced by real, visible panic because they finally understood how serious the situation was.
They had attacked a civilian in front of a witness: Kurenai Yuhi, a chunin and the daughter of a jonin with considerable standing within Konoha. This wasn't something they could simply deny and walk away from. Kurenai had personally witnessed the entire incident. Even though there were no severe injuries on my body and no obvious wounds visible from the outside, that didn't change the facts: the attack had happened, and Kurenai could testify to it. That alone was enough to cause them serious problems.
Naturally, panic began spreading across their faces. The consequences they feared the most weren't necessarily being stripped of their ninja ranks, nor was Daiki particularly worried about being demoted from chunin back to genin. No, the thing they feared most was the war. Right now, Konoha was actively fighting, and every available ninja was valuable. Because of that, many shinobi who had completed missions or returned from deployment were often granted short periods of rest before being sent back out again. Daiki, Haruto, and Kento were currently enjoying exactly such a period.
If disciplinary action was taken against them, that rest period could disappear immediately. Instead of remaining safely within the village, they could be forcibly deployed to the battlefield as shinobi being punished for misconduct. That distinction mattered a lot. Ninjas with disciplinary marks against them often found themselves assigned to far more dangerous duties than usual: riskier missions, riskier battlefields, riskier assignments. It was the kind of work that chewed through lives. With their strength (one chunin and two genin), being thrown into the meat grinder of a war wasn't something they could laugh off. In fact, if that happened, death might not just be a possibility; it might very well be a certainty.
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