The ninja world possessed space-time ninjutsu, and like the One Piece world, it also featured massive space-time distortion points, such as the ancient, ruined kingdom of Rouran.
Although Darian was incredibly annoyed by her attitude and didn't initially want to entertain Tsunade's nonsense, he had to accept a harsh reality: he didn't even know how to sense, let alone refine, chakra. If he wanted to learn about local space-time mechanics or find a jutsu to reverse his anomaly, he would desperately need the high-level expertise of a Sannin like Tsunade.
Although he needed her help, he couldn't just hand over his secrets or act desperate. Darian slapped away Tsunade's hand that was aggressively grabbing his collar and replied with feigned, absolute disdain, "What exactly is a 'Sannin'? I really don't know, and I really don't care."
Upon hearing this blatant disrespect for her legendary title, Tsunade was nearly furious enough to punch him through the floorboards, but Darian's next words finally comforted her rising temper.
"Borrowing money from me is no problem," Darian said smoothly, adjusting his collar. "But empty words are not enough, and the forged IOUs you have are completely worthless to me. If you want my gold, you need to provide something of actual value as collateral."
Hearing that he was actually open to a deal, Tsunade felt a little better, releasing her pent-up breath.
She looked closely at him. Darian dressed completely differently from the people here. Perhaps he really wasn't from the Five Great Nations, which would explain why it was normal that he didn't know her face or her reputation.
Although she breathed a sigh of relief at the prospect of a loan, the question of what to use as collateral for this arrogant rich kid became a new, annoying problem.
Seeing Tsunade biting her lower lip in frustration as she patted her empty pockets, Darian knew that this penniless gambler didn't have a single item of value to offer. He let out a long, helpless sigh. "Fine. I'll cover this meal for you."
As soon as he finished speaking, the group of terrified debt collectors who had just run out the door suddenly rushed back in, having found their misguided courage.
"You bastard! You actually killed our boss!"
"You're going to pay for my brother's life!"
Several of the Yakuza debt collectors shouted angrily, drawing short swords and clubs, advancing on Darian's table.
The sudden, chaotic time travel had already put Darian in a foul, impatient mood, and being disturbed time and time again during his meal made him incredibly irritable. Even a peaceful man has a temper, let alone a man like Darian, who was completely used to casual, brutal killing in the Grand Line.
Those who ran illegal casinos, trafficked in children and women, sold drugs, and engaged in violent usury had ruined countless families. In Darian's eyes, they were absolute scum; they deserved to be killed.
"Get lost!"
Darian shouted loudly, and at the exact same moment, several thick, blinding bolts of blue lightning flashed from his fingertips, instantly piercing clean through the chests of the two lead thugs.
BOOM!
A deafening thunderbolt struck from a clear sky, and lightning roared violently inside the enclosed izakaya.
"Ah! Ahhh! AAAH!"
Immediately, absolute chaos erupted. The local diners who had been calmly watching the drama unfold could no longer sit still when lethal ninjutsu was unleashed indoors. They all screamed in sheer panic, their cries echoing throughout the izakaya, and they frantically tried to stampede out the main door.
In this world, being a civilian caught in the crossfire of battles involving ninjas could easily cost them their lives.
Despite having caused the lethal chaos himself, Darian couldn't stand the noise. He yelled, his voice echoing with demonic authority, "Shut up, all of you! Crouch down on the floor and do not move! Anyone who makes a fuss again will be killed!"
With his furious roar, the intense, suffocating murderous aura Darian had cultivated from executing countless agents and a Warlord emanated from his body. The panicked diners, completely intimidated by his bloodlust, obediently dropped to their knees, covered their heads with their hands, and squatted down in terrified silence.
The most panicked were undoubtedly the remaining debt collectors. The two men who were struck point-blank by the lightning collapsed, their skin charred black and their hair bristled and smoking. Even if they somehow didn't die immediately from the massive cardiac arrest, they were half-dead and ruined.
The thugs who were not attacked trembled violently, dropping their weapons as they looked at Darian with absolute, primal fear on their faces.
Looking at these pathetic guys, Darian uttered his command again, his eyes glowing faintly. "Get lost."
"He... he's a rogue ninja...! Quick, run!"
Upon hearing Darian's cold order, the scumbags, utterly terrified, dared not utter another word of revenge. They immediately abandoned their dying companions on the floor and ran away as fast as their legs could carry them.
Seeing the two smoking bodies lying on the floorboards, the shop manager didn't dare to say a single word of complaint to Darian. He simply gestured shakily to a few of his kitchen employees to drag the two unlucky corpses out the back door into the alley.
Seeing that things had calmed down again and that Darian made no further aggressive moves, the kneeling diners dared not stay any longer. They obediently and silently left their money on their tables and scurried out of the izakaya.
Looking at the trembling, fleeing civilians, Tsunade frowned deeply. She looked at Darian, who was casually stuffing another piece of oden into his mouth, and said coldly, "Don't you think it's going far too far to use lethal ninjutsu to attack ordinary people?"
Upon hearing this moral lecture, Darian glanced at Tsunade, a dark, mocking smile appearing on his lips. "These 'ordinary people' are Yakuza who lend money at exorbitant interest rates everywhere, causing countless desperate people to sell their children into slavery and ruining innocent families. I'm being incredibly merciful by not wiping out their entire syndicate. Besides... as a Konoha ninja who was literally trained from childhood to be a political tool of killing, do you really have the moral high ground to say such things to me?"
Tsunade was completely speechless at Darian's harsh words. She opened her mouth to argue, but couldn't find a single logical reason to refute his brutal assessment.
Having personally experienced and led troops through the great, bloody wars of the ninja world, she had directly or indirectly caused the deaths of countless civilians from other countries in order to complete her military missions. She herself knew exactly how dark and unforgiving the actions of ninjas could be.
Unable to counter him, Tsunade angrily plopped back down in the booth opposite Darian and yelled at the terrified shopkeeper, "Boss! Give me another bottle!"
"Yes! Yes, yes, right away, my Lady!"
Seeing the two incredibly dangerous, lethal troublemakers sitting together, the shop owner hurriedly brought the sake, silently praying to the Sage of Six Paths that they wouldn't smash up the rest of his shop before leaving.
After finishing his final skewer of grilled meat, looking at Tsunade's angry, flushed face, Darian teased her again, "You know, after that lecture, I'm not going to pay for your drinks anymore."
"You...!"
Tsunade was so angry that she almost spat out a mouthful of sake. If she hadn't been so tactically wary of his unknown abilities, she would have already punched him through the floor.
Although she couldn't actively sense the amount of chakra in Darian's body, as the world's foremost medical ninja, Tsunade knew just by observing Darian's dense muscle density, his perfect posture, and his controlled breathing that he was by no means a weakling. He was a monster in human skin.
Moreover, Tsunade was intensely curious.
The lightning strike was fleeting; the panicked civilians and thugs might not have seen it clearly, but Tsunade's kinetic vision saw it very clearly.
Darian's ninjutsu was instantaneous; he didn't form a single hand seal, and Tsunade also confirmed that there was absolutely no chakra fluctuation preceding Darian's attack.
Tsunade understood perfectly what this meant: the attack that Darian had just released was not a standard Lightning Release jutsu, but actual, raw natural lightning generated from his body.
The standard 'Lightning Release' used by shinobi is merely a product of chakra attribute transformation. Although it can achieve a devastating effect similar to lightning, it is not real, natural plasma. All ninjutsu attacks, whether they are lightning, wind, fire, water, or earth, are essentially just chakra manipulated into different elemental attributes.
This man was seamlessly generating and manipulating raw, natural lightning without chakra. Tsunade couldn't contain her professional curiosity any longer and asked Darian, "What kind of bloodline limit or jutsu was that just now?"
Looking up and seeing Tsunade's intense, probing gaze, Darian swallowed the food in his mouth, smiled charmingly, and completely dodged the question. "You know what? When a beautiful woman becomes intensely curious about a handsome man's secrets, it's very easy for her to accidentally fall in love with him. Isn't that right, little beauty?"
As he spoke, Darian looked directly at Shizune standing beside the booth and winked playfully.
Holding Tonton tightly, Shizune couldn't stand Darian's sudden, overwhelming teasing, and her face quickly turned bright red with intense embarrassment, her eyes darting away.
As a Kage-level powerhouse, Tsunade was easily able to resist the passive charm of Darian's Devil Fruit thanks to her strong mental fortitude and age, but a sheltered, young girl like Shizune couldn't withstand the intense, focused allure he projected.
Because of the Yin Seal on her forehead, the passage of time could not be seen on Tsunade's face or body, and Darian had absolutely no idea how old Tsunade actually was in this specific timeline. But judging from Shizune's appearance, she still looked exactly like a young teenager, probably only fifteen or sixteen years old. He wondered exactly how far the main Naruto plot had progressed.
Darian deliberately used this flirtatious, distracting tactic to deflect, and Tsunade wisely didn't push him with any more questions about his abilities.
In fact, Darian was currently in a very conflicted mental state. His desperate desire to return to the world of One Piece made him very impatient and irritable, but his inherent lewd, dominant instincts also made him unconsciously want to tease and conquer Tsunade and her assistant.
Before the owner could bring Tsunade's next drink, Darian called out, "Boss! Bring me the bill."
"Hey! Do you really have to be so stingy?!" Tsunade looked at Darian with deep displeasure, crossing her arms under her breasts.
Ignoring Tsunade's glare, Darian opened his heavy purse and discovered a major problem: all the paper money inside it was in Berries, a currency that didn't exist here. But luckily, he had also stored dozens of solid gold coins he had looted from Crocodile's casino.
After making a rough estimate of the local economy based on the menu, Darian took out a single, thick gold coin and casually tore it cleanly in half with his bare fingers, displaying terrifying grip strength. He put one half back into his wallet, and the other half instantly melted down into a perfect, smooth golden bean as a tiny, concentrated electric arc flashed from his fingertips, generating intense heat.
Although Darian wasn't very familiar with the local Ryo market, a solid gold coin the size of a pirate doubloon was worth a massive amount, and the melted gold bean should be more than enough to over-compensate the boss for the food and the wall.
"Here you go," Darian said, tossing the still-warm golden bean to the shop owner. "Include the ladies' tab on my bill as well."
Looking at Darian with awe, the boss tremblingly caught the golden bean. It wasn't nearly as hot as he had feared; it was just pleasantly warm to the touch. The boss breathed a massive sigh of relief, his face breaking out into a fawning, deeply grateful smile.
It was terrifying enough that Darian was a lethal killer, but the boss didn't expect him to actually be honorable enough to pay for the damage and cover the two women's massive drinking debts. The boss was extremely happy to avoid bankruptcy.
Darian himself didn't fully understand the absolute value of gold in this specific era. In this turbulent, war-torn ninja world, pure, untraceable gold was far more valuable and stable than standard paper Ryo or silver.
When Tsunade saw Darian casually open his wallet, although the large wad of paper money inside didn't seem to be valid currency, the unmistakable clinking of dozens of heavy gold coins made her amber eyes light up with extreme greed, and the corners of her mouth curled up into a predatory smile. She was obviously already calculating exactly how to keep this 'incredibly valuable meal ticket' around!
Maybe I can even use his gold as capital to gamble to my heart's content tonight! Tsunade thought excitedly.
At the same time, Tsunade felt a deep, professional admiration for Darian's terrifying physical skill in melting and molding solid gold with his bare hands using electricity. It made her even more intensely curious about the true nature of his abilities and his origins.
Darian, who noticed her greedy, calculating stare out of the corner of his eye, smiled darkly to himself.
Knowing that Tsunade was a degenerate gambling addict, with such a lucrative, golden bait dangling in front of her, there was absolutely no doubt she would take the hook!
After paying the boss, Darian wasn't in a hurry to reveal his true intentions or ask for her help with space-time jutsu. Instead, he decided to play hard to get. He stood up from the table, adjusted his jacket, and turned to walk out of the izakaya without another word, knowing full well the fat sheep was about to chase after him…
.....
.....
.....
Give me powerstones.
Support me and read advance chapters on patreon.com/ImmortalDaoWriter