Chapter Thirty-Three: Could It Be the Will of the World

Although Yu Dongye had no chakra, he believed that with his strength, others would merely assume he possessed some special method to conceal his chakra. Thus, claiming the status of a wandering ninja was entirely reasonable.

"Little brother, your abilities are so impressive—so you’re a wandering ninja as well? I thought you hailed from some large village," Matsutsuki Kohei remarked with a sigh.

"No."

"By the way, do you have a place to stay? Would you like to come to my home?"

"No need, I've already pitched a tent in the woods."

"How can we allow the hero of our village to sleep in a tent?" The elderly villager, likely the village chief, spoke up urgently. "We have many empty houses—if you don’t mind, you can choose any one to stay in, or you’re welcome to lodge with any family."

"No need." Yu Dongye still chose to refuse.

He was not someone who enjoyed being a hero; his intervention had been simply because he felt he could, not because he desired it. Now that the matter was resolved, he had no intention of entangling himself further.

"I'll be going," he said, leaving only a single sentence before turning away.

Perhaps his departure was too sudden, for the villagers took a moment to react; by the time they did, Yu Dongye was already far down the road.

"What a unique young man," Matsutsuki Kohei sighed, watching Yu Dongye’s retreating figure.

"Indeed," the village chief echoed. "Oh, Lord Kohei, about what we said earlier regarding no longer honoring you—I hope you won't take it to heart. Our village truly can’t do without you."

"Haha, don’t worry about it. I didn’t take it seriously, and I’ll always protect this village," Matsutsuki Kohei responded in a carefree manner.

In the distance, Yu Dongye heard all these exchanges. So, this village had originally planned to stop honoring Matsutsuki Kohei?

He couldn’t help but recall how, during the battle, Kohei had held back at every turn. Were those bandits all brought in by him?

Yu Dongye ultimately didn’t dwell on it; such troublesome matters he was too lazy to think about, so long as they didn’t involve him.

Returning to the woods, back to his tent, he lay on the soft pillow he had conjured, gazing at the scattered stars in the pitch-black sky, and soon slipped into sleep.

The following morning, Yu Dongye was woken by subtle sounds outside his tent. Using his spiritual sense, he detected a young girl who had placed some breakfast at the entrance.

He didn’t go out immediately; just awakened, he wasn’t inclined to move.

After a while, he emerged from the tent. The girl was already gone, leaving only the breakfast on the ground and a note.

The note contained words of gratitude and mentioned the breakfast.

The temperature in the forest was still low in the early morning. Yu Dongye opened the bowl, and white steam slowly rose, condensation dripping down the rim.

Inside the bowl were two rice balls, a boiled egg, and several slices of char siu.

Yu Dongye used the Sword Intent of Water to gather some fresh water, washed his face and brushed his teeth, then began to eat.

The breakfast tasted quite good, and Yu Dongye felt inspired again.

The protagonist of the novel saves the village, and the villagers thank him by preparing a meal with legendary cookware—a perfect blend of culinary and adventure genres.

After finishing, Yu Dongye used the Sword Intent of Water to clean the bowl, restored his tent and belongings to their original state, and, carrying the cleaned bowl, prepared to return it. It was time to leave for his next destination.

It was not early; villagers were already busy, and some greeted Yu Dongye as he passed. He returned their greetings simply.

Yet most merely stole glances at him, especially the young women.

Using his spiritual sense, Yu Dongye found the girl from that morning and walked in her direction.

When he arrived, the girl was tending to the courtyard of her home.

Noticing Yu Dongye’s approach, she looked somewhat surprised.

"Here’s your bowl," Yu Dongye said as he handed it to her.

"Oh... oh!" The first "oh" was a little stunned; the second came as she realized, and she hurriedly took the bowl from him.

"The breakfast was delicious. Thank you."

"Ah!" The girl paused again, "Thank you for your praise, sir!"

She bowed deeply, as if Yu Dongye’s compliment was a great honor to her.

"I’ll be leaving," Yu Dongye said, preparing to depart, but in that moment, he heard a commotion in the distance—people seemed to be arguing.

Then he heard the girl mutter, "Is it my brother?"

Her voice was soft, but Yu Dongye caught it, and he noticed the anxious expression on her face.

After a brief hesitation, Yu Dongye asked, "Shall we go see what’s happening?"

"Ah, yes!"

So Yu Dongye and the girl made their way to the source of the dispute, where many villagers were gathered. At the center were Matsutsuki Kohei, the village chief, and a young man.

"Brother!" The girl beside Yu Dongye called out to the young man.

He only glanced at her, then continued shouting at Matsutsuki Kohei: "I saw it clearly last night—you gave money to those bandits! You brought them here!"

"Yuta, I don’t know how I’ve offended you, but you’re wrong to accuse me like this," Matsutsuki Kohei replied, feigning helplessness.

"Stop pretending! Someone got hurt because the money you gave them wasn’t enough, and then you killed them all. Their bodies are buried behind the mountain—I saw it!"

"Lord Kohei, is what Yuta says true?" the village chief pressed, his tone serious.

Kohei said nothing, so the chief repeated, "So, is it all true?"

This time, Matsutsuki Kohei finally answered, "Yes, I did call those bandits here."

"Because we were planning to stop honoring you, so you did this?" the chief continued.

"That’s right. So, what do you plan to do with me?"

Kohei’s expression was somewhat odd, but aside from Yu Dongye, no one noticed—or perhaps they were too caught up in their emotions to pay attention.

"Leave our village!" someone shouted, and then voices echoed the call in succession.

"Leave our village!"

"We don’t need you here—go away!"

"We don’t need your protection!"

Yu Dongye found it remarkable how bold the villagers of this ninja world were. The villagers in Leaf dared to point fingers at Naruto, those in Sand dared criticize Gaara, and now even this small village’s people dared to clamor against a ninja. Was this the will of the world?

Didn’t they fear Matsutsuki Kohei might simply resort to violence?