In Hand

Several men dressed as ronin thugs, their faces full of roguishness, stared brazenly at the Laborer Group as if they had them completely under their thumb.

They actually had fewer people, yet they had somehow formed an "encirclement."

The head of the Laborer Group, the man in the headscarf, wore a bitter expression.

"Captain Warner, didn’t we already pay once before?"

"Before was before. Now is now!"

The handsome blond man at the head of the group, dressed like a ronin samurai, spoke in a lazy tone.

His loose robe hung open, exposing much of his chest.

A younger man behind the steady headscarf-wearing man seemed unable to bear it any longer and spoke indignantly.

"You already collected the real-world fee and said you would only take it once. Reincarnation Space collected one too, saying it was Reincarnation Space’s share, and now you’re collecting again. You’re going too far!"

As soon as he spoke, several younger men, whose hot blood had yet to cool, craned their necks as though they were ready to fight back.

The sight of the crowd growing agitated startled the ronin slightly, but a cruel grin appeared on his face.

"So what if we’re going too far? What, you’re unhappy and planning to resist?"

"So what if we resist? It’s not like you’re stronger than us!"

One young man looked utterly stifled, but before he could finish, the middle-aged man in the headscarf stopped him.

Looking at the young men whose faces were full of grievance and dissatisfaction, a trace of sorrow welled up in his heart.

Resisting might feel satisfying for a moment, but if they used that as an excuse to spread unfavorable news in Reincarnation Space and gave other groups a pretext, then the Laborer Group’s only place of shelter would be finished…

To endure was to hold a blade over one’s head!

But…

They had to endure!

He then turned to Captain Warner with a bitter expression.

"Since Captain Warner has spoken, then naturally we should show some sincerity…"

"Hey, hey. Are you all pretending I don’t exist?"

At that moment, a dissatisfied voice from the side drew everyone’s attention. When they turned, they saw that the lofty merchant had actually taken the initiative to interfere.

The handsome blond man, who had previously worn a smug and arrogant expression, immediately put on a fawning face.

"Oh my, my lord, please forgive us. These mud-legged peasants have offended you. I’ll take them away right now, right now."

The contrast created by his spineless, cowardly appearance made Xu Yue pause slightly.

Still, it made sense. The poverty-stricken Laborer Group itself did not have much profit to squeeze out. The only benefit of targeting them was probably "safety." These ronin were likely an insignificant group themselves.

They could not endure hardship and found even small missions too troublesome, so they had set their sights on them.

Perhaps their overall rating was even lower than that of the numerous Laborer Group members. Otherwise, they would not have targeted such a small sum of money.

The thoughts passed rapidly through Xu Yue’s mind, but he maintained an impatient expression as he said,

"What do you mean, take them away? They were going to buy my goods earlier. I don’t care—have them clear out all the goods here before you take them away."

Xu Yue spoke viciously, then said to Yashamaru beside him,

"You’re not just going to ignore the people ruining my business, are you? If they hadn’t scared them off, this group might have bought out all my goods."

This shameless act of pinning blame on others and forcing a sale once again shattered Yashamaru’s understanding of him.

Yet it truly fit this man’s stingy personality perfectly. There was not the slightest inconsistency.

And they really had left themselves open to criticism.

They could not force people into buying or selling, but they still had to punish these people who had run straight into the gun barrel.

"Teach them a lesson. Let them know the consequences of disrupting public order."

Yashamaru coldly instructed the several escorting Chunin beside him.

The Chunin immediately acknowledged the order and rushed into the group of ronin.

It had to be said that Xu Yue’s judgment had been correct.

Although this group of swaggering men was not small in number, they were clearly at a disadvantage against several Chunin.

"Huh? Your country actually has ronin capable of matching ninja? I really underestimated them."

Xu Yue added with a puzzled expression.

It made Yashamaru’s face look rather unpleasant.

Although these men were completely at a disadvantage, being able to exchange blows with Chunin meant they were certainly no ordinary people. It seemed they needed to investigate them.

Seeing Yashamaru grow suspicious, Xu Yue merely chuckled and raised a hand to brush over his eyes as though wiping sweat from his forehead.

Yet through the gaps between his fingers, a flash of scarlet vanished in an instant.

The next moment, the handsome blond ronin leader seemed to go mad and roared loudly,

"They’re going too far! We’ll fight them!"

While issuing the command, he lunged straight toward the protected Gaara, his face twisted with savagery.

"This brat is so heavily protected that he must be important. As long as we capture him…"

Before he could finish, a sharp blade pierced through him. A Sunagakure Anbu had appeared at his side, wielding his weapon without the slightest hesitation.

If they had merely intended to teach him a lesson before, then the moment he attacked the Jinchuriki, he was placed on the death list!

Warner, pierced by the blade, wore an expression of utter disbelief. He seemed not even to know why he had made such a move. Blood poured from his mouth in great gulps as he involuntarily looked toward Gaara.

He met the terrified little boy’s gaze, and then a blood-red reflection of the Sharingan flashed deep within his eyes.

The next moment, Gaara screamed as though he had been frightened.

Baki and Yashamaru beside him immediately realized something was wrong.

Feeling the surging Chakra and seeing the sand suddenly whirl through the air, both their faces became exceptionally grim.

How could this happen?!

Although Gaara truly could not fully control Shukaku, he had been relatively stable. Otherwise, they would not have dared bring him out for a stroll.

Yet this time, they had not expected that such a sudden fright would cause him to lose control!

Adult Jinchuriki could indeed control their emotions more easily, but Gaara was still only a child. Once he lost control, they had no idea how to calm him down.

"Protect Mr. Yue!"

No matter what, this great merchant who could rent out a Jinchuriki could not be harmed. Otherwise, they would be unable to clear their name even by jumping into the Yellow River.

It would severely damage Sunagakure’s reputation and make their already dire financial situation even worse.

Very quickly, the young Gaara was wrapped in sand and entered Partial Tailed Beast Transformation. He seemed to have become somewhat delirious.

Fortunately, since Baki and Yashamaru had been sent here, they had some emergency plans in place.

Xu Yue did not need their protection. Mei Terumi was still carrying out her duty and had pulled him away early on.

After Mei Terumi shielded Xu Yue and pulled him away, Yashamaru took out a scroll and began forming hand seals…

"Mm, got it. Not bad."

As he drew a scroll containing a portion of the One-Tail’s Chakra back into Kamui space, Xu Yue had successfully resolved the small problem he had encountered earlier.

Taking advantage of the chaos to use Kamui to cut off and seal a portion had not aroused any suspicion.

He truly had those insignificant Reincarnators to thank for creating the opportunity.

After all, Gaara was still only a child, and the ronin Reincarnators were not particularly strong. With the boost of the Eternal Mangekyo, a simple Illusion Technique was enough to deal with them all at once.

Gaara’s loss of control had created an opportunity for him, but it had not caused much of a stir otherwise.

Sunagakure merely used the excuse to take him back to the village. Since Xu Yue had already achieved his goal, he naturally had no objections. His face was full of fear as he continued to blame Sunagakure.

Yet the more he acted this way, the more earnestly Sunagakure tried to soothe him.

At Xu Yue’s request, they prepared to wipe out the ronin group that had caused the crisis in one sweep.

In fact, even if Xu Yue had not made such a request, daring to attack a Jinchuriki and causing the Jinchuriki to go berserk were already crimes sufficient for Sunagakure to find them and slaughter them.

The Laborer Group, which had also been implicated, might originally have faced trouble as well. However, Xu Yue then stated that he happened to be hiring them to transport the goods he had purchased in the Land of Wind to the Land of Fire.

Because the prices of coral and pearls had skyrocketed in the Land of Wind, the amount of gemstones and gold items Xu Yue purchased had also increased considerably…

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T-two updates… trembles