Chương 17

And after several long moments, Daniel finally took the pen with his uninjured hand. He read the paper and that gave him goosebumps. Any other day he would have laughed at what was written at the paper, but not today. Today he saw magic. Magic that couldn't be explained. And for some reason, like an instinct, he knew what was written in the paper was probably true, this terrified him. But this wasn't negotiation. It was survival.

The moment his signature touched the contract, he felt a bunch of information cramming into his brain. All related to his school studies, shooting and some soldiers related information, which was underwhelming for Rei. Except for the shooting part. That was quite helpful. But Daniel meanwhile, who help some hope, saw it crumble as something inside his mind seemed to break apart. He could have his own thoughts and feelings, but now his anger towards Rei was just that. Simple anger.

He now could feel it, that the simple thought of hitting Rei might be painful for him. He was dumbstruck. Like invisible chains quietly wrapped around his mind. Not removing his personality. Not turning him into some zombie puppet.

"…You…" Daniel whispered quietly while staring at Rei.

"… I can't…" He stopped himself halfway. Because even attempting to resist mentally suddenly felt exhausting. and wrong somehow. Good. The contract worked exactly as described. Rei then turned toward Laura afterward. The mud beneath her feet slowly solidified again before releasing her legs completely. Laura immediately stumbled backward only to freeze seeing the second contract appear. She could only muffle no and attempt to run away, only to see Rei standing beside her now. She didn't even see how Rei moved.

It was like he vanished and appeared near her. She wanted to hit Rei with her hand, but seeing how her husband was now standing away, not interfering meant that something had happened after signing the contract that made him this way. And if she tried to stop him, he might show her hell. Those cold eyes. She read the contract and got the gist what was going to happen, but she knew that she didn't have space to speak. Her hands trembled violently while signing the contract.

The moment it activated, she too visibly froze afterward. Confusion, fear, submission..... All mixed together. Both adults clearly had questions now. Hundreds probably. What was Rei? How could he do this? Where did these powers come from? What exactly had they allowed into their house? But strangely enough… neither of them could properly ask anymore. Rei quietly looked between both adults afterward before letting out a small sigh. This entire situation had become far more dramatic than he originally intended.

He only wanted leverage and stability while staying in this world. Instead somehow the evening ended with him using his normal abilities that he had learnt from his parents and use the contract to subdue others. But all's well that ends well. Still… now that both of them were under the contract, there was no reason for hostility anymore. The problem had already been solved. Rei slowly crouched near Daniel afterward. The older man visibly stiffened immediately seeing the child approach him again.

Honestly the fear inside Daniel's eyes now looked almost primal. Which was understandable. A few minutes ago his adopted son casually broke his wrist, crushed his shin and then enslaved both him and his wife through magical contracts. Daniel honestly thought fear was the correct response here. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Rei however simply raised one hand calmly. Soft green chakra slowly gathered around his palm. Daniel's eyes widened again.

"…What now…" he whispered weakly.

"Mystical Palm." Rei replied casually.

"… What?" And before Daniel could even properly react, Rei placed the glowing hand against his fractured wrist. Warmth spread instantly through the injured area. The pain reduced almost immediately afterward while the damaged bone slowly began repairing itself under the healing chakra. Daniel stared downward blankly while watching literal medical magic fix his body in real time. Healing is one of the few things that his mother was very strict with.

Since the moment she came to know that her son had copied her half, she was determined to make her son the best medical genin out there. But even then Rei struggled a lot when it came to Mystical Palm. He got struck in that half zone for such a long time that he had almost given up hope. But then the miracle happened. As they call it, the Naruto miracle. Okay, fine, nobody calls it that. I just made it up.

After getting Naruto's half, and full body constitution, his control and use of Mystical Palm suddenly changed gears. Before it was on gear 1, and now his gear changed to gear 4. This was a huge leap. His mother couldn't believe him for a month and after he explained how he was progressing, she was more dumbstruck. Did they underestimate the Naruto kid a bit too much? Nonetheless, they were beyond happy seeing Rei shine in Mystical Palm.

Laura meanwhile looked like she was one second away from either fainting or developing religion. Because this child didn't just hurt people. He healed them too. And somehow that made him infinitely more terrifying. The room remained silent while Rei continued healing the injuries calmly like this was the most normal thing in the world. His expression barely changed throughout the process.

"…There." Rei finally pulled his hand away afterward.

"Your wrist should fully recover by tomorrow." Daniel slowly flexed his fingers afterward in complete disbelief. The pain was almost gone already. Only a dull soreness remained.

"…What the hell are you…" Laura whispered quietly from the side. Rei ignored the question completely again. Honestly explaining chakra, ninjutsu, transmigration and interdimensional travel to suburban Americans sounded exhausting. Instead he simply stood back up.

"Listen carefully," Rei said calmly while looking toward both of them.

"I don't particularly care whether you like me anymore. The contracts already solved that problem." Both adults visibly flinched slightly hearing the word contracts again.

"But," Rei continued quietly, "I don't enjoy unnecessary cruelty either. As long as both of you behave normally, your lives continue normally." Daniel slowly looked up toward him afterward.

"…Normally…" he repeated weakly.

"Yes." Rei nodded.

"You continue running your business. You continue living your lives. I continue staying here."

"…And if we don't?" Laura asked quietly despite herself. Rei looked toward her afterward. And honestly… the calmness in his eyes terrified both adults far more than rage would have.

"You already know the answer." Silence followed immediately afterward. The next few days afterward became… strange. Outwardly the Harris family still looked perfectly normal to everyone else. Daniel continued running his gun store and shooting range while Laura maintained the house exactly like before. But internally… the power balance inside the household had completely reversed now. Daniel and Laura physically couldn't disobey Rei directly anymore.

Watching that happen practically confirmed Rei's earlier decision never to use this contract against people he genuinely cared about. Because seeing free will bend like this in real time felt deeply uncomfortable. Still… practicality mattered more right now. Rei needed stability inside the MCU and now he had it. A few days later, Rei officially enrolled into homeschooling instead of regular public education. Thankfully New York homeschooling laws, while annoying, weren't impossible.

Especially not for someone who already mentally completed university once and survived Naruto Academy theory classes afterward. The placement evaluations themselves almost became comedy. One instructor genuinely stared at Rei for nearly thirty seconds after seeing the results.

"…You are nine?"

"… Probably." Rei answered honestly. That answer somehow made things worse. Still, the homeschooling arrangement ultimately worked perfectly for Rei's goals. More freedom, more time. Less unnecessary social interaction. And most importantly… direct access to the gun range. Because almost immediately afterward, Rei started accompanying Daniel regularly to the shooting store and range. Publicly it looked harmless enough. Father-son bonding. Teaching responsibility. Learning basic firearm safety under supervision.

Rei didn't need it. Using gun was under skills so he had all the skills and when Daniel saw how easily he handled a gun, he knew that the last small amount of pride he seemed to have, had now vanished away. He knew the contract took care of it, but seeing it again, made him realize how useless he was. But Rei's true interest wasn't the guns themselves. It was the people visiting the store. Because this was the MCU. Meaning eventually… someone interesting was bound to appear. Former military. Security contractors.

Strange customers. Government-connected individuals. Maybe even SHIELD eventually if luck aligned correctly. Well he was hoping too much, but if, there was a certain chance to getting access to someone of higher status, this would help him immensely. Rei quietly observed everyone entering the range with growing interest. Because now that he had stabilized his position in this world… It was finally time to start hunting opportunities properly.