It was already deep into the night.
No moon, no stars in the sky—just total darkness. The only light came from Ichiraku Ramen and a dim streetlamp nearby.
In this setting...
Seven or eight masked ninja stood in utter silence, the atmosphere thick and eerie.
Sasuke felt a chill deep in his bones.
"ANBU...?" he muttered, voice tight.
As a genin, he'd learned basic intel—including the ANBU. A black-ops unit answering directly to the Hokage.
No names, no identities, just codenames and masks.
And most important of all—
That man. The one he hated more than anyone.
He had once been ANBU.
So why were they here?
Sasuke glanced at Takuya.
This mysterious merchant… must be the reason.
"What's wrong, guests?" Takuya still wore his easy smile. In his arms, Hime bared her tiny fangs with a soft mew—but her fluffiness made it zero percent threatening.
"Come with us." The first ANBU to appear stepped forward. His voice, masked and modulated, was clearly altered.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
They really were here for the merchant.
No way!
If this guy was taken away, then he—
"Reason?" Takuya asked calmly, unfazed.
"No reason." The ANBU replied, stepping closer again.
Takuya noted that his mask wasn't an animal—unlike the others. It had intricate markings instead.
"Root," huh?
Interesting.
He'd known they were tailing him since he left Tsunade's place. The moment he stepped outside, he'd activated a small minimap function—cheap, but very effective.
Tsunade had known too.
Her earlier offer to let him stay over... was really a veiled offer of protection.
He, of course, had declined.
"I'm just a merchant."
Takuya stood slowly, still smiling, as if unaware of the tension thickening the air.
"In my eyes, people are divided into two types: customers, and bad customers. So… which kind are you?"
"Enough talk!"
The Root squad leader lost patience and vanished in a blur.
Sasuke's eyes snapped open.
Where did he go!?
He whipped his head around—and froze.
The ninja was already right behind Takuya.
So fast!
Sasuke clenched his fists hard. He hadn't even seen the movement. So this was ANBU-level power?
Clang—!
A sharp, ringing ping cut through the air.
The ninja's blade-hand strike had collided with a thin golden barrier.
A talisman from a xianxia world: Vajra Seal.
"What is that!?" someone gasped.
Instantly, the other ANBU surrounded Takuya, weapons drawn, eyes locked on him.
Not a single one looked at Sasuke.
Didn't even acknowledge him.
Sasuke's fists trembled, body tense.
That nightmare day…
He'd been ignored just like this. As if he was too weak to even bother killing.
Power!
His eyes burned with a fierce, desperate hunger.
Takuya noticed and smiled slightly.
To the ANBU, that smile reeked of arrogance.
"You're not registered at the village gate," the Root leader said after backing off slightly. "You slipped into Konoha. Resist, and we'll treat you as a spy—authorized to kill on the spot!"
All the other ANBU went still and serious.
Their actual orders were to bring him to the Hokage—but the one speaking was this unit's leader.
Kill on sight, huh?
Takuya didn't answer.
He looked around at the circle forming around him and suddenly felt a bit of regret.
He should've spent the points to unlock a certain mutant mind-reading ability. Then he could've seen what they were all thinking.
Oh well.
This was inevitable sooner or later.
"Why is it," Takuya murmured, half to himself, "that every world has this kind of ignorant 'bad customer'? You want results without paying the price. A free destiny rewrite? How pathetic..."
"Attack—!"
The order came before he could finish.
The ANBU launched their assault in sync.
The Root leader took a deep breath, chakra flaring, hands forming seals too fast to track.
Earth Style: Sand Binding Coffin!
Sand erupted from the ground like snakes, slithering toward Takuya.
A technique more common to the Sand Village, but used here with shocking precision.
At the same time—
Wind style, kunai, long blades—all of it came flying from every angle, cutting off every escape path.
Even Sasuke could feel the sheer pressure in the air.
Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.
This was ANBU formation-level combat.
But Takuya... didn't move at all.
Didn't even try to dodge.
The sand engulfed him, swallowing him whole and forming a mound of earth.
If they crushed it now—
Sasuke's heart sank into despair.
Just when he'd found someone who might actually help him grow stronger—
Then—
A voice echoed softly in everyone's ear.
"So... ignorant."
In an instant—
The sand exploded outward.
Takuya stood there, completely unharmed inside his golden barrier. Not even a wrinkle in his clothes.
Then he took a heavy step forward.
BOOM—!
The shockwave didn't hit their ears.
It slammed directly into their minds.
Like a volcanic eruption ripping through their consciousness—everything went white.
And in that vast blank void, only one thing remained.
A pair of golden eyes, shining down from above, filled with incomprehensible majesty.
Dragon's Might: Golden Eyes.
From a certain fantasy world.
Every one of them—including Sasuke—began to shake uncontrollably.
They couldn't stand.
They couldn't look up.
Before they knew it, they'd dropped to their knees, heads forced low as if bowing before some ancient god-beast.
They didn't know what this was—
But every cell in their bodies was screaming in primal terror.