Necessary Corruption 38 (Patreon)

Necessary Corruption

Chapter 38

-VB-

Naruto yelled as he skidded away from Neji.

No, no, no!

He wasn’t going to lose!

He groaned quietly as he pushed himself back up on trembling arms and legs.

The asshole was going on and on about how sad his life was… but Naruto thought it was bullshit.

At least Neji knew his dad.

At least he had a family.

Naruto never knew his.

‘Oi, fox. Help me out. Let me punch that self-pity party bastard in the face.’

There was a pause inside of him while his lips moved to ask Neji why any of it mattered.

“Then you get back up on your feet and tell them off!” he shouted as he brought his hands together.

Neji sneered at him. “Your tenketsus have all been sealed already. Don’t even bother.”

Naruto smirked tiredly. “Yeah, well, I know. I felt you do it, but I have a bit of a surprise of my own.”

The fox answered.

“RRAAARRRRR!!!”

The fox’s chakra swelled up inside of him and broke through all of the sealed tenke-whatevers. The chakra then started leaking out of him, forming tail-like wisps that swirled around.

Neji looked at him in surprise at first and then in shock.

“What…?!”

“Here I go!”

And leapt to teach this guy a lesson!

-VB-

“He is far tougher than I thought,” I hummed as Naruto jumped around the arena with speed and agility far quicker than he initially showed. Then I frowned. “I was also not aware that Konohagakure allowed such practice,” I muttered while thinking about what Naruto’s opponent said.

At the same time, it had to have been a inherited agreement and law from the old days when ninja clans worked independently of one another.

I knew very little of those days and how Konohagakure was founded on a political level. Oh, most people knew of the popular tales they told of Konoha’s founding but nothing of the nitty gritty details.

I wondered if there was room for me to influence enough people within Konohagakure to ensure that the village would never abandon an alliance with me… even to the detriment of the village.

Something to think about later.

I winced as the two young boys punched each other in the face and both shot away from one another in a spectacular show of strength.

I watched from the edge of my seat as … the Hyuuga boy stood up with a grimace.

“You… lose,” he grunted as he started walking over to Naruto’s downed form. “This is your fai-”

Then froze.

The ground underneath him spewed up as another Naruto came out from the ground like a mole and punched the Hyuuga in the face. The Hyuuga flew away and the proctor declared it a victory on Naruto’s behalf.

I laughed. “I knew he could do it!”

Naruto looked towards me and flashed me a double thumbs-up.

I gave him one in return.

That was the least I could do for the boy who just earned me one hundred million ryo.

And once the tournament and the invasion was over, I was going to take him out for some good suppers. He deserved that much.

… Maybe I could even set up a marriage for him with one of my trusted retinue’s daughters. Maybe. If he wanted it, but it was unlikely because he was infatuated with the shrieking pink banshee.

… The boy did say he lived in a small apartment. Perhaps I could set him up with servants and a small manor?

Ah, the next match was starting.

…

Why wasn’t it starting?

Someone appeared next to the proctor and the two of them talked in hushed tones.

“Uchiha Sasuke seems to be late, milord,” Yina reported the duo’s conversation. “And the Hokage and Kazekage want to delay the match to appease the other lords in attendance.”

I glanced over to the VIP seats that I had opted out of.

Indeed, many of the clan lords and nobles there were looking more interested in the coming match than Naruto’s. Fools, the lot of them. Uchiha name might have been great once, but it was now down to two people. There was nothing to be interested about them.

I didn’t think them stupid though, because none had the intelligence network capacity that I had.

No, the true match of the tournament had already come and gone.

And I was the one who filched them all who believe in the “strength of the nobility.”

“The match between Gaara of Sunagakure and Uchiha Sasuke of Konohagakure has been delayed!” the proctor spoke up loudly for all to hear. “We will proceed to the next scheduled match!”

That meant…

“Nara Clan, huh?” I hummed.

A whole clan who used their chakra to be like Yina… but couldn’t do half as much as she could with her power.

“This is going to be interesting.”

“Milord.”

I looked down at the shadows where Yina waited.

“What is it, Yina?”

“Sound and Wind have begun to move.”

I tsked. “How long until they will move?”

“It is likely to be match after this one.”

“Very well. Prepare the defenses and do not engage them aggressively. We want Konoha to see that we can hold our ground, not that we are a threat to their current military supremacy.”

“Hai.”