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Chapter 120 The Code and the Crowd
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It took two grueling hours to gather everything they needed. The market's ager supplies ant they had to visit nearly every stall, haggling over every ryo. Tsunami was relentless, arguing for better prices with an intensity Naruto hadn't expected.
Naruto, on the other hand, was regretting volunteering to help. His right arm, charred and stiff from its curse, was being used as an impromptu hanger for bags of rice and vegetables. Should've let Kiba do this.
As they stopped at a stall to inspect so wilted greens, Naruto's senses flared. Way of Focality revealed soone inching closer behind him. A pickpocket.
When the thief made his move, Naruto turned quickly and caught the man's wrist in an iron grip.
The would-be thief, a scrawny man with a bald head, a tattered blue shirt, and baggy pants looked up at him in panic. "L-Let go! I wasn't doing anything!"
"Sure, buddy."
"I-I was swatting a fly!" the man stamred, tugging at his arm. But Naruto's grip didn't budge.
The pressure increased, and with a sickening crack, the man's wrist gave way. He scread, a blood curdling sound that silenced the entire shop.
Tsunami rushed over, alard. "What did you do?"
Naruto released the man, who cradled his broken wrist and whimpered on the floor. "He tried to pickpocket ," Naruto said simply, his voice even. "I only squeezed his hand a little."
"You call that a little?"
Before Naruto could reply, the commotion drew a group of n into the shop. Their presence changed the atmosphere imdiately.
The leader, a burly man with a cleaver like sword strapped to his back, stord in, flanked by two others. He had a scar running down the side of his face, and his clothes were stained with gri and oil.
"There he is," the leader growled, pointing at the pickpocket. "I told you he'd be here. Stupid bastard."
The pickpocket froze, terror written across his face. As the burly man and his lackeys approached, he scrambled to grab at Naruto's leg.
"Please!" he begged. "You're strong, right? Don't let them take ! They'll kill ! Please, I'll do anything!"
Naruto stared down at the man, conflicted.
"Oi, brat!" the leader barked. "This isn't your fight. Walk away before I decide to do sothing about you, too."
He unsheathed his cleaver, slamming it against the floor for effect. The blade chipped slightly at the impact, making Naruto's eyebrow twitch in irritation. What kind of idiot ruins his own sword like that?
"We don't want any trouble," Tsunami said quickly, grabbing Naruto's arm and trying to pull him away. "Let's go."
Naruto followed her reluctantly, but his gaze lingered on the pickpocket, who was now being dragged up by one of the lackeys.
The leader cracked his knuckles and sneered. "So, where's my money, huh? You thought you could just walk away from us?"
The pickpocket spat weakly, his face contorted in fear and defiance. "You bastards… you ruined my life. You and your stupid gambling rings. You took everything from !"
The leader's sneer widened into a cold grin. "Cry a river. No one forced you to gamble your life away. You ca to us begging for money, rember?"
"I didn't have a choice!"
"Yeah?" The leader punched him hard in the gut, doubling him over. "And now you don't have a choice but to pay up. That's how this works, Haru. You want money, you take the risk. You lose, you pay the price."
The man fell to his knees, coughing and clutching his stomach. "You tricked ," he croaked. "You said I'd win. You said I'd be able to take care of my family. But you knew I'd lose… you knew…"
The leader crouched down, grabbing Haru by the chin and forcing him to look up. "Yeah, I knew. That's the ga. You either play smart or you get crushed. Guess which one you are?"
Naruto's fists clenched at his sides. The sight of the man's broken, desperate figure burned in his mind.
"Co on, Naruto," Tsunami whispered, tugging his sleeve. "This isn't our fight."
The first precept… A knight's purpose is to serve… to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
The choice was made before he even realized it.
The gang leader raised his cleaver, ready to deliver a brutal blow, when suddenly a blur shot past his ear. His lackey, the one holding Haru down, was struck squarely in the chest by the blunt end of Naruto's club and sent sprawling into a pile of empty crates.
"What the hell?"
"Well," Naruto said, "since I don't want to kill anyone, this will have to do." He tapped the club against the floor.
The leader's confidence wavered for a mont. That speed… this kid's not normal. But he quickly forced himself to regain composure, his scowl deepening. "Why are you getting involved, brat? This doesn't concern you."
"Hmm… maybe it's because you're ugly?"
"Ugly?"
Naruto took a step forward, planting a light kick into the second lackey's side. The man flew out of the shop, crashing into a nearby stall.
"You little bastard!" The leader's face twisted in rage as he brandished his cleaver, his grip tight enough to make his knuckles turn white. "You're going to pay for that."
"What are you doing?" Naruto asked, his tone completely nonchalant.
"I'm teaching you a lesson, punk!" The leader adjusted his stance, preparing to charge.
"With that stance? You're completely unbalanced. Anyone could knock you over."
The leader faltered, confused. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm saying," Naruto said, pointing at the man's feet, "you're standing like soone who's never held a sword properly in his life. Were you dropped on your head as a kid, or did you just teach yourself how to look stupid?"
"Why are you even telling this?!"
"Because I don't want to feel bad for beating up an idiot," Naruto said, smirking.
With a roar, the leader lunged forward, swinging his cleaver wildly.
Naruto sidestepped with ease, ducking under the swing and closing the distance. In one fluid motion, he slamd the club against the man's exposed ribs, sending him sprawling to the ground.
"You really should've listened," Naruto said, his voice calm. He lifted the club and swung it down again, hitting the floor inches from the leader's face. The wood splintered under the force, and the leader froze in terror.
Naruto exhaled, looking around. The shopkeeper stared at him with wide, fearful eyes.
Naruto fished out so ryo from his pocket and placed them on the counter. "For the trouble."
"I don't want anything from you," the shopkeeper stamred, his voice trembling. "Just… leave. Please."
Naruto frowned but nodded, stepping outside where Tsunami was waiting.
The pickpocket was long gone, and the crowd had either scattered or busied themselves with helping the gang. Naruto's victory felt hollow as he walked away, his grip on the club tightening.
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As Naruto and Tsunami walked back through the winding streets of the market, the air hung heavy between them. Naruto's gaze was distant, his expression unreadable.
"Are you upset because no one thanked you?"
"No. I wasn't doing it for praise. I did it because… it was the right thing to do."
There was such conviction in his tone that Tsunami felt a pang in her chest. It reminded her of soone she had loved and lost. She sighed, brushing at her eyes to catch a tear before it could fall. "n and their ideals…" she murmured. "They'll cling to them, even if it ans dying for them."
Naruto glanced at her, sensing a deeper aning in her words.
"What's really bothering you, then?" Tsunami asked. "If you know you did the right thing, what's weighing on your mind?"
Naruto hesitated before answering, his voice tinged with frustration. "I don't understand. Why were they so scared? Why would they even try to help those thugs after what they did?"
Tsunami slowed her steps, letting out a long breath. "Do you want to hear a story, Naruto?"
Naruto nodded, his curiosity piqued by the somber tone in her voice.
"Kaiza… my husband… he wasn't born here. He was a traveling fisherman, looking for a fresh start. When he ca to the Land of Waves, it was already struggling, but he saw hope. One day, Inari fell into the river, and Kaiza saved him. From that mont on, Inari adored him. Kaiza beca his hero, his role model. He taught Inari so much about life. He always said, 'You have to protect the things you love with these two arms.'
Tsunami paused, her voice growing quieter. "When Gato ca, everything changed. Kaiza tried to stand up to him. He thought he could protect this village, protect us. But Gato made an example of him."
Naruto stiffened, sensing where this story was heading.
"They dragged him into the town square," Tsunami continued, her voice trembling. "In front of everyone, they cut off his arms. Gato mocked him, saying he couldn't protect anything without them. And then… they executed him. Publicly. While Inari watched."
Naruto's heart sank.
Tsunami stopped walking and turned to face him. "You ask why they were scared, why they helped those thugs. It's because they've seen what happens when soone tries to fight back. They've watched their heroes fall, watched the people they look up to be crushed. They've been taught that resistance only leads to suffering. And now… now they believe it's better to stay quiet and survive than to risk everything and lose."
Naruto stayed silent, her words cutting deep.
"That's why no one thanked you," Tsunami said softly. "They don't see you as a hero. They see you as soone who might bring more trouble. And they're too scared to risk that."
"Should I have just stayed quiet?" Naruto asked, his voice unsteady, trembling like a rope about to snap. "Should I have let those guys make an example of him?"
Silence filled the air like it was holding a breath.
"Maybe it would've been better… for the majority."
"What? What do you an?"
"What do you think is going to happen when Gato's n hear about what you did? When they find out a stranger stepped in and took down one of their gang leaders?"
Naruto opened his mouth to respond but found himself at a loss for words.
"They'll co looking for answers," she continued. "They'll co to the people who live here, the ones too weak, too scared, or too beaten down to resist. They'll demand nas, details, anything that leads them to you. And when they don't get what they want…"
The older woman took a shaky breath. "They'll make an example out of soone else. Soone innocent. A farr, a child, an old man just trying to survive. And then what? Will you be there to stop them every single ti? Can you fight an entire system built to crush us?"
Naruto thought back to the pickpocket, begging him for help, to the look in his eyes as he fled into the chaos of the market.
"I… I thought…" Naruto struggled to find the words. "I thought I was helping. I didn't want to just stand there and let them hurt him."
"And you did help. You saved him in the mont. But the world doesn't work the way you think it does, Naruto. It doesn't end in a 'happily ever after' just because you beat the bad guy in front of you. Sotis, the consequences of doing what's right for one person ripple out and hurt others. Sotis, saving one person costs another their life."
"Then… then what should I have done? Just walked away? Pretended I didn't see it?"
Tsunami turned her back to him, her voice quieter now, tinged with exhaustion. "Sotis, that's the only thing you can do. Not because it's right, but because it's what's necessary. Right now, the best thing you can do is protect my father, protect the bridge. That's how we take Gato's power away... not by fighting his n one by one, but by building sothing he can't control. When the bridge is finished, the power will shift back to the people. And when that happens, the gangs will lose their grip on the Land of Waves."
Naruto stood rooted in place, his heart hamring in his chest. He felt like the ground beneath him was crumbling, like the ideals he had clung to so fiercely were slipping through his fingers.
"But… if I just think about the majority, if I just let bad things happen to people… what does that make ?" His voice cracked. "What's the point of being a knight, of protecting people, if I have to choose who gets hurt?"
Tsunami didn't answer.
Naruto clenched his fists, the precepts of his code swirling in his mind, battling with the reality Tsunami had laid bare.
A knight serves to protect the helpless.
A knight's actions must be just.
A knight must not hesitate.
And yet…
Was it wrong for him to help a single person? Would it have been better to think only of the majority?
His breathing quickened, his chest heaving as the weight of doubt pressed down on him. He thought of Oscar, of Seigyer, of Solaire, of their unwavering faith in the knight's path. What would they do? What would they say to him now, when every action seed to lead to pain for soone?
Tsunami began walking again, her steps steady, her back straight. She didn't look back at him.
Naruto stayed behind for a mont, staring at the ground. His resolve wavered, the cracks in his beliefs widening with every passing second.
"Miss Tsunami…" he called out weakly, but she didn't stop.
Her voice, quiet and distant, drifted back to him. "Keep walking, Naruto. You'll find your answer eventually."
And then she was gone, leaving him alone with his thoughts, the weight of his actions, and the uncertainty of what it truly ant to do the right thing. And what it ans to be a knight?
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[ Personal Note: First off, thanks a ton to all of you for sticking with this story. Seriously, you guys are aweso. Now, if you're interested in supporting on P@treon, let just say that over there, I post these massive 5k-word chapters. But heads up, if you're jumping to P@treon, you'll need to start from Chapter 59, since that's where this chapter lines up with the content there.
To everyone here just reading along, please don't forget to leave a comnt! Honestly, your comnts make my day, and they let know you're as invested in this story as I am. So yeah, thanks again, and I hope you have an amazing rest of your day!
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