"Mr. Lin, the children are asleep. Would you mind talking for a bit?"
Haku's mother brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
Linto glanced at the sleeping Momo-chan and Sasuke, and motioned to go outside to talk.
They went to the living room, where tea and snacks were already prepared on the table.
Haku's mother asked Linto to sit down, then sat beside him and poured him tea, handing it to him.
However, the distance was…
A bit too close.
Haku's mother was only twenty-nine, still in the most womanly and beautiful age. She seemed to have just taken a bath before coming, her hair ends were a little damp, and a faint fragrance wafted over. Looking at her fair face with a rosy glow, she was like a ripe peach, full of alluring charm.
Looking at the teacup she handed over, Linto seemed to hear a sentence:
"If you have the heart, then drink half of my leftover wine."
"Ha—"
Linto chuckled softly.
Haku's mother asked, "Sir, why are you laughing?"
Linto waved his hand, took the tea Haku's mother handed over, but didn't drink it. He just put it on the table and asked, "If you have something to say, just say it. There's no need for this."
The two were very close, but when Haku's mother met Linto's clear eyes, the flirtatious atmosphere she had created quietly dissipated like rising steam from the tea, disappearing without a trace.
She stared blankly at the man in front of her, only feeling that her previous thoughts were very low and childish.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Lin, I thought…"
She thought that to rely on Linto and get his protection, this little sacrifice was necessary.
But now Haku's mother understood.
Her actions were an insult to Linto's character.
"Mr. Lin wouldn't be like other men. How could I think of him like that!"
Noticing the respect in the woman's eyes, Linto scratched his face awkwardly and looked away.
Haku's mother remained kneeling and took out a letter from her chest, respectfully handing it to Linto with both hands.
"What is this?"
Haku's mother didn't explain, but pushed it forward a bit more.
Linto took it and opened it. The letter was filled with dense, small writing.
At the top was her name: Mayuri.
Below was a detailed record of her ancestors' situation, how they came to Kirigakure to escape the war, what work she was good at, and a detailed description of her family's special power.
Mayuri placed her hands in front of her:
"Mr. Lin, from today on, my son and I will follow in your footsteps and serve your life. You can make any request you want to me."
After speaking, Mayuri bowed deeply.
Linto looked at the resume in his hand and then at the kneeling and bowing Mayuri, feeling dazed for a moment.
So the job market in both the past and this life was this bad.
Linto closed the letter.
"I'm just taking you to a new village, there's no need to be so… formal."
Mayuri raised her head and smiled faintly.
"Perhaps it's a woman's intuition, but I feel that we'll be troubling Mr. Lin for a long time in the future."
Linto smiled, poured her a cup of tea as well, and gently clinked glasses.
"Then, let's take it one day at a time and please take care of us."
After sending Mayuri away, Linto breathed a sigh of relief, got up and walked out of Haku's house, and said to a dark shadow, "Don't hide, come out."
"Hehehe…"
Knife Master walked out of the shadows in the corner, saying awkwardly, "I seem to have come at a bad time."
"No, you've come at the perfect time."
Linto had been planning to find Knife Master before leaving tomorrow.
Now that he was here, it would save him time tomorrow.
"You're here for the two broken ninja swords?" Linto asked.
Knife Master nodded.
Famous swords were more attractive to Knife Master than beautiful women, wealth, or power.
He tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, so he gritted his teeth and came over.
"But."
Knife Master scratched his head. "I didn't expect to hear your conversation as soon as I arrived, and I didn't expect you to reject her service."
Just now, Mayuri had basically packaged herself and delivered herself to Linto's mouth. He only needed to open his mouth to eat her.
It was said that sons took after their mothers. Looking at Haku's appearance, it was clear how beautiful and moving Mayuri was.
Linto asked, "What do you take me for?"
"A normal man."
Men, use secrets to gain trust.
Women, use their bodies to express loyalty.
In this terrible world, it was a well-known unwritten rule.
Linto was willing to protect a mother and son. The mother offered her body in return, expressing her gratitude and loyalty. It was all too common.
Linto chuckled softly, "And now?"
Knife Master patted his chest. "Like me, not seduced by women, a tough and upright, pure man."
Linto shook his head.
It wasn't that he wasn't interested in women.
It was just that Linto couldn't accept the logic of this matter.
Besides, her husband, or rather, her ex-husband, was still sleeping in the next room. Linto knew that the Hokage world had a Japanese setting, but this…
Was a bit too Japanese.
Linto returned to the house and handed the two broken blades to Knife Master.
Knife Master touched the two legendary ninja swords, his eyes complex. After a long time, he let out a sigh:
"My old man spent his whole life making knives, just wanting to create a knife that surpassed the Seven Ninja Swordsmen's blades. In the end, he died with regret.
In my generation, I've also spent my whole life making knives. Until this age, I thought that the ideal passed down for two generations would accompany me into the grave…"
"Thanks to you, I was able to forge a knife that can cut through the Seven Ninja Swordsmen's blades."
Linto smiled.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen's blades had indeed reached the limit in the realm of ninja swords.
But if the traditional field couldn't beat the established giants, changing to a new, more specific area could provide an opportunity for a shortcut. This had been proven to be an effective method.
"Please take care of Sasuke and Momo-chan's swords. I'll come back to get them in a while."
Knife Master smiled.
"Of course, leave it to me with peace of mind!"
After Knife Master left, Linto summoned Aerosmith to fly around, confirming that no one was looking for him. Then, he returned to the house, holding the unfinished cup of tea, and continued to sit in front of the notepad, calculating his gains this time:
"Before arriving at Kirigakure, I had 310 soul fragments."
Linto wrote 310 on the paper.
"Killing the second, third, fourth, and fifth members of the Sanjuan Wolf squad, I got 270."
"Killing Sanjuan Wolf, I got 240."
"Killing Biwa Jūzō, I got 480."
"Killing Kurosuki Raiga, I got 460."
The current total of soul fragments…
1760.
Converted into draws, that's 176 draws!
As long as Linto wasn't too unlucky, it was enough to draw a new five-star Stand.
"Should I draw?"
This time, Linto was almost forced into a desperate situation by Biwa Jūzō and Kurosuki Raiga.
As the news of him killing the two members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen spreads, the enemies who dare to attack Linto in the future will only become more troublesome and cautious, making targeted tactical arrangements for each of his abilities.
If he had a new Stand, it would definitely become Linto's trump card.
If he could draw Stands like Death Thirteen or White Snake, he could also resist genjutsu.
But…
Linto summoned Star Platinum.
The level 2 Star Platinum, having lost the initial advantage of information, could no longer achieve an overwhelming victory against ninjas of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen's level.
Once the enemy acted in a squad, and Star Platinum was entangled, Linto would have to face the enemy alone.
"Leveling Star Platinum to level 3 would greatly increase its direct combat power."
Moreover, if the JOJO system was designed according to the original manga, then the prerequisite for Star Platinum to have "time stop" was likely to be leveling it up to the maximum level (level 5).
Draw a new five-star, or strengthen Star Platinum?
Linto scratched his head.
"What a happy problem."
After thinking it over again and again, he made a decision—
"Upgrade Star Platinum!"
Drawing a new five-star Stand had too many uncertainties.
If he drew a Stand with overlapping functions, or a support-type Stand like Aerosmith, it wouldn't be of much significance to Linto now.
Linto planned to first level up the Star Platinum with the most potential to level 3.
Soul fragments scattered, and countless shards with colorful light sprinkled on Star Platinum's body.
Originally, it would cost 1000 soul fragments to upgrade Star Platinum from level 2 0% to level 3 0%.
But Linto had built up some fragments along the way which gave extra experience, so in the end, he spent 830 soul fragments to upgrade Star Platinum to level 3.
It became even more burly, and the sharpness between its eyebrows became even fiercer. Its already terrifying strength, speed, reaction, and precision were comprehensively improved.
What surprised Linto even more was that Star Platinum gained a new ability.
"Platinum Skin: Hardening Star Platinum's skin to the extreme can greatly resist enemy attacks."
In the past, for ordinary sword chops, axe cuts, flames, and wind blades, Linto had to control Star Platinum to avoid them, or block them with his fists, delaying the time for attack.
With Platinum Skin, he could ignore most attacks and directly rush in front of the enemy to beat them to death.
"It takes 1000 fragments to go from level 2 to level 3, and 2000 to go from level 3 to level 4… so expensive!"
But it was worth it.
Whether it was for a direct increase in combat power, or to obtain the ability of "time stop" in the future, this 1000 fragments was worth spending.
There were 930 soul fragments left.
Linto decided to keep them as strategic reserves for now.
If he encountered a tricky enemy in the future and urgently needed to increase his power, he would go to draw cards.
If he wasn't in a hurry, he would slowly accumulate them to upgrade Star Platinum, striving to obtain the ability to stop time as soon as possible.
The next morning.
Linto, Sasuke, Momo-chan, Mayuri, and Haku, a group of five, embarked on a journey to the survivor village.
Not many villagers came to see them off, only a few people. Haku's father didn't come either.
Linto waved to Knife Master, the village chief, and others, pulled the reins, and the carriage slowly drove away.
Watching the carriage gradually disappear from view, the village chief put down his hand. Suddenly, he heard a cry of surprise from behind:
"Something bad happened! Haku's father hanged himself!"
The villagers rushed over and saw a lifeless body.
The old village chief sighed:
"He brought it on himself."
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