As it turned out, once the swelling on Tamamo Hotaru's face went down, her true beauty finally shone through.
She possessed a unique charm that blended the pure, innocent air of a young girl with a hint of coquetry and allure—this striking contrast made it almost impossible for any man who saw her not to feel drawn to her and want to protect her.
Thanks to this stunning appearance, paired with just enough illusion techniques to be considered passable, she managed to become the number one courtesan of the Red Pavilion in a mere six months.
Of course, those days were long gone now.
She was nothing more than a lowly servant girl these days.
In the eyes of the eccentric trio—Shinji, Hidan, and Tobi—her beauty was completely useless and had no effect whatsoever.
Even Sasuke, who had just started growing some new hair on his head recently, treated her with nothing but indifference and cold politeness.
This made Tamamo Hotaru begin to doubt her own looks more and more with every passing day.
To make matters worse, right from the first day they traveled together, Shinji had dumped all sorts of tedious, menial tasks on her, using all kinds of ridiculous and unreasonable excuses to get out of doing them himself.
When she finally summoned up the courage to confront Shinji about it, acting like she was the one paying for the service, Shinji simply rolled up his fist—big enough to look like a sack of potatoes—and easily crushed what was already a lost cause before it had even properly begun.
But even though her beauty had no effect on them, that didn't mean it worked on everyone else.
Sure enough, as soon as they entered a small country and walked out onto the main street, they found themselves being stared at by countless passersby from every direction.
Some people looked openly and directly, some stared with obvious lust and desire, and others peeked furtively from the corners of their eyes.
Before they knew it, two men who were so busy staring that they weren't watching where they were going crashed straight into each other.
What made it even funnier was that once they both fell to the ground, they still kept staring blankly at each other without moving.
In the past, this kind of attention would have made Tamamo Hotaru want to hide her face to avoid trouble. After all, she had always been extremely confident in her own beauty.
But after being ignored and snubbed so many times by the people she cared about, she had decided it was time to get a little revenge.
So now, seeing so many people being completely mesmerized by her looks, their faces flushed and their eyes filled with admiration, she didn't feel annoyed or embarrassed at all. Instead, she puffed out her chest proudly and huffed loudly, looking around as if making a clear statement.
"It's not that I'm not beautiful enough! It's just that you three are blind and have no taste!"
Unfortunately, her attempt to make a point was completely wasted. It was like trying to show off to people who simply couldn't see.
"Why are all these people staring at me? It's so annoying! Can't I just kill them all and get rid of them?!"
Hidan asked this question with such complete seriousness that it left Tamamo Hotaru completely confused.
Brother, are you looking at me?
Because everyone is looking at me! Me!!!
But before she could even open her mouth to explain, Shinji spoke up first.
"When you're traveling outside, try not to go around killing people for no reason. It's not a good habit. Just put up with it."
"Also, you've got it all wrong. They're not looking at you."
Tamamo Hotaru nodded quickly.
Right! Right!
There we go! At least someone here has working eyes!
But it turned out her good mood didn't last long at all.
"Those people are clearly mesmerized by my perfect looks. Sigh... I can't believe I forgot to wear a mask before coming out. What a stupid mistake!"
Tamamo Hotaru: "..."
Do you have any shame at all, sir?!
She wanted to ask this out loud, but she was afraid of getting hit, so she had to swallow her frustration and keep quiet.
Then she heard the following conversation, which made her head spin with confusion:
Tobi: "Senior Shinji is truly amazing! But wait a second... could it be that everyone is actually looking at me instead?"
Hidan: "Looking at what? Looking at how nice your mask looks? Before you say stupid things like that, why don't you take off that ridiculous mask and look at yourself in a mirror? Do it, or you might scare someone to death!"
Tobi touched his face—though he was really just touching the mask—and mumbled to himself, "Is my handsomeness really so great that even wearing a mask can't hide it? Damn it! What am I supposed to do now?!"
"Nope, you're way off the mark," Shinji sighed suddenly, shaking his head with genuine disappointment.
"I can't believe you two are even less sensible than a child. Look at Sasuke—he knows his place and keeps his head on straight. Sasuke, tell us what you really think. I'm sure you won't take anyone's side unfairly."
The message in his words was so obvious it was practically shouting.
Sasuke kept walking straight ahead, paying no attention to anything around him, and said bluntly, "What's the big deal? Back in Konoha, wherever I went, people looked at me like that. I'm used to it already. There's nothing surprising about it."
Everyone: "..."
Wow!
That was such an impressive way to show off—completely unique and totally fresh!
And yet, they couldn't argue with him at all, because it was actually true!
Even though he was still just a young boy, Sasuke had been incredibly popular ever since he was in the Academy—just as famous and admired as his older brother, Itachi.
Shinji felt a pang of jealousy. He reached out and ruffled Sasuke's new hair growth playfully.
"Hmm... not bad. It actually feels pretty good!"
"Listen here, kid. I'm your big brother, and I need to teach you something important. You can't be too arrogant and full of yourself, or you're just asking for trouble."
Hearing this, Tobi immediately stepped forward to agree. "I can prove it! Senior Shinji is always slamming Senior Hidan down onto the ground and beating him up! So remember—don't be like Hidan!"
Hidan: "I'LL KILL YOU TODAY AND SEND YOU STRAIGHT TO THE EVIL GOD! DON'T YOU DARE RUN AWAY!"
In the blink of an eye, Hidan had appeared behind Tobi like a ghost, and his bloody three-pronged scythe was already pressed tightly against Tobi's neck.
"Senior Shinji! Help me~~~"
Within seconds, the two were already gone, running and chasing each other until they disappeared from sight.
By then, Sasuke had managed to pull himself free from Shinji's annoying hands. "But Senior Shinji is always acting so arrogant and full of himself, aren't you? Does that mean you get beaten up too?"
Shinji smiled slowly. "You ask me? Well, no I don't. Because anyone who looks down on me or tries to kill me... they all end up dead themselves."
Sasuke and Tamamo Hotaru: "..."
"So let me teach you another lesson. When your fists are stronger and more powerful than anyone else's, then you can be as arrogant and confident as you want."
"I, your big brother, actually love seeing that look on people's faces—when they're grinding their teeth and wanting nothing more than to take you out, but they just can't do a single thing about it."
"But right now, you're still too inexperienced and weak. If you start acting like that too early, you better be prepared to get hit... Hahaha!"
After hearing this amazing logic, Tamamo Hotaru looked at him with a very complicated expression. How could I have ever thought this guy was a good person who would help me back then?
I must have been completely out of my mind!
As Shinji walked down the street laughing loudly, completely ignoring all the looks and attention around him, an official palanquin suddenly approached from the opposite direction and blocked their path.
When the bearers set the palanquin down, no one stepped out from inside. Instead, a curtain was pulled back from the window, and a voice could be heard giving orders to the servants.
Then, one of the servants stepped forward with a very proud and arrogant air. He walked right up to them, looking them up and down with his nose held high in the air, and said, "My master would like to invite all of you to a banquet. Please come with me."
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