Chapter 21: Under the moonlight, Fukuzawa-sensei talks about the ninja world...
See you next time!
Mori Ougai paid no attention to what I said, said goodbye cheerfully, and left with Alice, leaving everyone completely baffled as to what he had come for.
Was it really just a simple act to attract Fukuzawa-sensei's attention? Having Alice paint Yoriichi's face like a kitten to avenge the beheading of his humanoid ability yesterday doesn't seem like something a Port Mafia boss would do; there seems to be a deeper purpose.
However, thinking about the ten little dresses Alice promised, it makes one feel that such a trivial thing is something only a hardcore lolicon would do.
What a terrifying man; it's impossible to guess what he's thinking.
Only after Mori Ougai's figure disappeared at the street corner did I silently breathe a sigh of relief, then turned to Yoriichi with concern to ask what had happened.
Yoriichi paused for a moment before recalling, "I had just changed my clothes and was about to go out when that monster girl suddenly appeared. I tried to swing my sword at her, but the room was too small to pull out the wooden sword in one go. The monster stabbed my arm with a tube with needles attached, and after that, I don't remember anything."
As soon as he explained, I understood. Alice suddenly appeared in the cramped dressing room, a place that was the least suitable for drawing a sword. As a result, Yoriichi was injected with a sleeping drug before he could even draw the wooden sword from his waist, which caused him to pass out.
Upon learning that it was an intravenous sedative rather than an inhaled one, Fukuzawa-sensei immediately examined the needle marks on Yoriichi's arm with a serious expression. He even took out his phone to call Yosano Akiko to come and check on Yoriichi's body, as he was very worried that the sedative would harm his young disciple.
Seeing Fukuzawa-sensei's furrowed brows and cold, murderous aura, I comforted him from the side, "Don't worry, teacher. I checked beforehand, and the sleeping pills did not cause any harm to Yoriichi's body. I just forced all of those sleeping pills out of his body."
Professor Fukuzawa Yukichi did not doubt my words just because I was a child. Instead, he nodded slightly, his expression relaxing a bit. He put down the phone in his hand and showed great trust in my medical abilities, which warmed my heart.
"Yoriichi, in addition to swordsmanship, you will also need to train in martial arts."
Fukuzawa-sensei made this decision because he was quite concerned about how easily his student could be defeated without a sword, and thus he strengthened Yoriichi's unarmed combat skills.
In this regard, Fukuzawa-sensei is an expert. His superb skills in jujitsu are in no way inferior to his achievements in kendo. Just look at how easily his student Kunikida Doppo subdued the supernatural Hirotsu-sensei when the black lizard attacked, and you will understand how high Fukuzawa-sensei's martial arts level is.
Just imagining Yoriichi one day knocking his brother to the ground with his bare hands... I feel a little sorry for Kokushibo! Now he's not only outmatched with a sword, but also unarmed. It seems Kokushibo is about to suffer another round of blows. Candles!
Yoriichi didn't have as many complicated thoughts as I did. He obediently nodded at the teacher's instructions, and his handsome little face was even drawn with Alice's crayons into a little kitten, making him look quite cute.
"Ge, help Yuan wipe her face clean, I'll go outside to pay the bill."
After giving a brief instruction, Mr. Fukuzawa left. I used a simple Water Release ninjutsu to wet a handkerchief and wipe the crayon marks off Yoriichi's face.
As I wiped his face, Yoriichi suddenly whispered, "Have I caused trouble for the teacher?"
"What nonsense are you thinking? Fukuzawa-sensei is a very gentle and considerate person. For him, students are his responsibility. How could he possibly think you're a burden?"
Yoriichi relaxed upon hearing my words, and a smile appeared on his usually expressionless face. It was clear that Fukuzawa-sensei held an extremely important place in Yoriichi's heart.
That's great! Now we don't have to worry about Yoriichi lacking a father's love anymore!
Speaking of which, Fukuzawa-sensei is really good at raising children; Edogawa Ranpo is the best example.
On the way back, I saw those five black buildings in the distance and couldn't help but think about what Mori Ōgai had said to Fukuzawa-sensei, secretly guessing the man's intentions.
Is he just trying to get ahead of himself, regardless of whether I'm really as cold-blooded as he claims? If I succeed, he'll gain a subordinate he can throw away at any time; if not, he won't lose anything. That's exactly the style of a scumbag boss like Mori Ōgai.
Is the Port Mafia really that short of people now? Although I not only scaled walls yesterday but also shattered the ground with one foot, which is exactly the kind of talent the Port Mafia needs, I'm only seven years old. Doesn't he feel any remorse for recruiting me, a mere flower, into the dark world?
Thinking back to that psychic "Q," who was also Yumeno Kyusaku, he was about my age when he joined the Port Mafia. I'm sure that scumbag boss has no heart at all, or if he does, it's the black heart that exploits child laborers.
This kind of person should be arrested by the police when he harasses Alice; even the Port Mafia would be happy to see that. I don't know about others, but Dazai Osamu would definitely be the first to watch the show.
Although I have attracted Mori Ōgai's attention, I am not worried at all about being captured by the scumbag boss who is short of manpower and forced to work as a child laborer in the Port Mafia. As long as I stay by Fukuzawa-sensei's side, my safety is absolutely guaranteed.
The only thing that worries me now is what Fukuzawa-sensei really thinks about Mori Ōgai's previous evaluation of me. Although the teacher, who thought I was a good child, comforted me at the time, I still have to find a time to explain. I don't want to ruin the good impression I have in Fukuzawa-sensei's mind.
That evening, I solemnly expressed my desire to talk to the teacher. Mr. Fukuzawa guessed what I wanted to say and took me outside alone.
The night was beautiful, with a bright full moon hanging in the deep blue sky, bringing a sense of peace to those who looked upon it.
Mr. Fukuzawa sat down on the wooden walkway under the eaves, and gently patted the spot next to him, gesturing for me to sit there.
I happily sat down next to Mr. Fukuzawa, my legs dangling under the eaves swinging lightly for a moment, and I secretly held onto his sleeve, feeling exceptionally at ease.
"Don't take Dr. Mori's words to heart. Kaguya is a gentle girl, I won't be wrong about her."
Fukuzawa-sensei's extremely earnest praise made me blush, and at the same time I realized that it didn't matter if I didn't explain myself. The teacher truly trusted me and was not swayed in the slightest by Mori Ōgai's words.
Perhaps it was because the moonlight under the night sky was so beautiful, but I couldn't help but confide in my teacher...
“I come from the world of ninjas, a place where bloodshed and fighting happen all the time. Before the ninja village system was established, children of ninja families had to take up weapons and go to the battlefield to kill people when they were five or six years old. Those who were unlucky died on the battlefield, and those who were lucky survived, but their hands were stained with blood that could never be washed away, and they no longer had the right to be called children.”
When Ms. Fukuzawa heard my calm words, her light green eyes widened slightly. She was shocked that such an unusual world existed, where five- or six-year-old children were sent to the battlefield.
"This happened more than sixty years ago. After the First Hokage of the village quelled the war and established the one village per country system, those children who wanted to become ninjas would graduate from the Ninja Academy at the age of twelve before they could begin to carry out missions, fight against ninjas from other countries, kill or die. This is the destiny of a ninja."
Mr. Fukuzawa, who was quietly listening, did not say anything, but just stared at me intently. His warm, large hand gently patted the top of my head, which was so comforting that it made me want to cry.
I closed my eyes, savoring the tranquil moment, and continued in a low voice, "I was very lucky, or rather, very unlucky. My father was the Fourth Hokage, the leader of the village. However, he and my mother sacrificed themselves to protect the village on the night my brother and I were born."
"Because of my parents, my grandfather, the Third Hokage, always took good care of me. He allowed me to choose to become a medical ninja and work directly in a hospital. As a result, I have never carried out a ninja mission, nor have I ever killed anyone. I have always been resistant to taking other people's lives. Compared to my father, who has killed countless enemies with the name of the Yellow Flash, I am utterly inferior and not a qualified ninja at all."
Although the hand above my head once again soothed me by rubbing my head, the complex emotions swirling in my chest still made me feel down.
Despite my strong aversion to killing, I genuinely admire Minato. The order in Iwagakure that missions could be abandoned upon seeing the Yellow Flash was built on countless lives by Minato, which I found incredibly powerful and awesome.
This has created a huge contradiction: both cherishing life and disregarding life appear simultaneously within me. The former is influenced by my past life, while the latter is influenced by this life. It wasn't until Mori Ōgai pointed it out to me today that I realized my mindset was seriously flawed.
"But even though I don't kill people, I don't care about the deaths of my enemies. When the village was attacked by enemy ninjas during the Chunin Exams, I felt almost nothing when I saw the corpses of those enemies afterward, just like when I saw the corpses of those spies in the warehouse yesterday. Since they chose this path, no matter how tragic their ending was, it was their own fault."
"This kind of thinking may be terrible, but it doesn't mean I'm cold-blooded. When I saw the ninjas from my village who had sacrificed their lives, I felt sad, whether I knew them or not. Living in that kind of environment, even though I always refused to kill, I was still unconsciously assimilated by this cruel world."
I looked up at Fukuzawa-sensei beside me with anticipation and said, "You won't dislike me like this, right?"
"I don't dislike songs." Fukuzawa-sensei looked at me earnestly with her light green eyes and gave her answer with a solemn expression.
I couldn't help but smile, feeling a sense of lightness in my body and mind. Then, out of the blue, I blurted out a question that made me want to kill myself: "What if I kill someone in the future?"
Fukuzawa-sensei's long silence made my heart jump, and I secretly blamed myself for asking such a question, ruining the pleasant atmosphere.
After a long while, Fukuzawa-sensei's clear and calm voice came from above.
“I am not qualified to give an answer. I used to be an assassin swordsman for the government, choosing to kill for the peace of the country. Assassination is very easy; a blade slices through the night, and a life is gone. When I found myself looking forward to the next killing mission, I was afraid. I couldn't tell whether I was killing for the country or just for the moment of killing.”
Fukuzawa-sensei gazed into the distance, lost in memories of the past. After a long while, he continued, "So I broke with the past and became a bodyguard. Later, I met Ranpo and started the Armed Detective Agency. Although a long time has passed, the things I did can never be erased. The me who once wielded a knife out of bloodlust, will Uta be afraid?"
Seeing my teacher's light green eyes looking at me, his clear and gentle gaze carrying a hint of worry, I couldn't help but throw myself into his arms and shout, "I'm not scared at all!! I love you the most, teacher!!"
Startled slightly by my sudden embrace, Mr. Fukuzawa smiled gently, his usually sharp features softening into a refined and handsome expression, which appeared exceptionally elegant under the bright moonlight.
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