Seimei unsheathed his ninjato and channeled a large amount of lightning chakra through it, causing the blade to vibrate with a faint hum.
Several snake-like purple lightning arcs coiled around the blade with a crackling sound.
He strengthened his body with chakra and allowed the lightning chakra to flow through him, activating his body cells.
Faint purple lightning sparks crackled around him, giving him a huge agility boost. His speed, reflexes, and dexterity were elevated to a whole new level.
"Let's finish this within a minute," Seimei murmured as his Tenseigan glimmered with a mild ocean-blue glow.
Lightning Release: Thunder Body Flicker
Purple lightning flared up around him, and at the next moment, he disappeared from his position with a trail of purple lightning.
He passed through the caravans, the frontal goblin group that Uchiha Touma and Ishimori Haneda were dealing with, and appeared right in front of one of the three hobgoblins at the back with a flash of lightning.
He moved so fast that the merchant Satoshi, the guards, the hired ninjas, samurai, and even Touma and Haneda only saw a flash of lightning pass beside them.
Meanwhile, the hobgoblin that Seimei targeted felt an inexplicable chill down his spine.
It immediately hardened its body with the Earth Protection skill, channeled Earth Release chakra to its long sword to make it heavier and sharper, and instinctively slashed forward with all its might.
Right at that moment, Seimei's figure appeared in front of him with a flash of lightning. He slashed his blade diagonally at a 45-degree angle in an upward motion, moving from left to right.
The blades of the hobgoblin's sword and Seimei's ninjato clashed with a loud clang, sending a mild shockwave around them.
Clang! Boom!!
The stalemate lasted only for a few milliseconds before the lightning arcs of Seimei's sword exploded outwards, destroying the protective Earth Release chakra covering the hobgoblin's sword.
Next, Seimei's blade's high-frequency vibration, fueled by immense lightning chakra, destroyed the internal structure of the other party's sword, causing a spider-web-like crack to appear on its blade.
Crack! Crack! Cling!
In the blink of an eye, the crack on the hobgoblin's sword expanded before the blade of its sword shattered completely.
Broken blade fragments flew into the air as Seimei's ninjato, empowered by crackling and destructive lightning chakra, went forward and landed on the B-rank hobgoblin's neck.
Arcs of purple lightning flashed once again as the protective layer created by the Earth Protection innate skill was obliterated by it.
Faced with no other obstacles, Seimei's blade cleanly sliced through the green-skinned monster's neck.
The hobgoblin's head was separated from its body and flew into the air. Fountains of blood gushed out of its neck, painting the ground in crimson.
And before the goblin's blood could splash on him, Seimei disappeared from the spot once again with a flash of lightning.
But it was just the beginning of the massacre.
Seimei's figure flashed across the battlefield, leaving behind nothing but a trail of purple lightning in his wake.
Some C-rank goblins had their heads severed from their bodies. Others were cleanly bisected in half across their waists.
If any goblin avoided the first strike of his blade by sheer luck and sixth sense, it either faced a Rasengan head-on on its chest or a kick empowered by Chakra Enhanced Strength.
Every single C-rank goblin met its end swiftly, decisively, and on a moment's notice.
None was spared. All were killed.
Except for the remaining two B-rank hobgoblins that Seimei decided to capture alive to allow Uchiha Touma to extract intel on their hideouts.
So, after roughly thirty seconds since Seimei joined the battle against that particular group of goblins, the battlefield was now stained with goblin blood.
Decapitated, bisected, and mangled corpses of B-rank and C-rank goblins were splattered across the battlefield, leaving behind only two enraged yet fearful hobgoblins alive.
These two hobgoblins were raging with bloodlust and wanted nothing but to rip Seimei apart piece by piece.
However, they dared not step forward as Seimei's menacing figure, surrounded by arcs of purple lightning bolts coiling around him, bore heavily on their psyches and filled them with utter dread.
In their eyes, Seimei was now nothing short of the messenger of death—a bona fide grim reaper.
Seimei paused and looked at the fuming yet cowering hobgoblins with amusement.
"Look at you. You want to kill me, yet you don't dare to come closer."
"Don't worry. I won't kill you. Not now. Just be good and let me seal ya!"
Of course, whether the hobgoblins understood what he said or not wasn't his concern.
Touma and Haneda are almost done with the goblins in the front. I'd better move fast, too. Seimei thought inwardly as he gazed at the already sensitive and startled hobgoblins with glowing eyes.
The hobgoblins also noticed Seimei's predatory gaze and decided to let go of their fears.
If they were going to die anyway, they would at least fight with every ounce of strength they had and would at least make the vile human in front of them lose a piece of his flesh.
"Khaaaaaaaaah"
"Kheeeeaaaaaaah"
The hobgoblins hardened their resolve as their eyes radiated madness.
At the next moment, they charged forward like rockets, ready to make the vile human in front of them bleed.
Their resolve and thoughts were indeed beautiful and full of goblin passion.
Unfortunately, the reality was unforgiving and harsh.
Approximately ten seconds later…
At this moment, the hobgoblins were no longer fierce. Instead, they were whimpering softly due to extreme pain.
Seimei had thoroughly crushed their limbs. He punched and smacked them so hard that their green skin had almost turned purple due to blunt injuries.
They also had several broken ribs. You could even see blood at the corner of their mouth. Clearly, they had suffered from internal injuries.
One of them even had black panda eyes. It had obviously taken a solid punch from Seimei that almost crushed its eyeball.
In a nutshell, their condition was miserable.
If Seimei hadn't held back, they would have been beaten to death by now.
Seimei looked at the aftermath while scratching the back of his head awkwardly.
"Probably, I have been a bit too heavy-handed."
"But it doesn't matter. I have already placed the Chakra Suppression Seal and Self-Cursing Seal on them. They won't be able to move anymore. And with their strong vitality, they shouldn't die for at least a few hours."
At this moment, Touma and Haneda suddenly appeared beside him.
Touma looked at the pitiful state of the hobgoblins and said, "Well, Seimei. You really did a number on them. At least, you kept them alive."
Hearing this, Seimei chuckled awkwardly and asked, "Are you confident about extracting information from the minds of these hobgoblins? After all, they are not human."
Haneda also raised an eyebrow and looked at Touma with a questioning gaze.
Touma shrugged and said with confidence, "Shouldn't be a problem. B-rank hobgoblins are relatively smart with developed neural structures."
"Although I can't read their thoughts, seeing their last couple of weeks' memories is entirely within the realm of possibility. Just give me 20 minutes, and I will finish the job."
Seimei nodded. "Very well. Find the clues as soon as possible."
At that moment, Haneda chimed in, "By the way, guys." Haneda looked at Seimei and Touma before shifting his gaze toward the ninjas and samurai hired by the merchant. "What do we do with these guys?"
Seimei and Touma turned their heads and narrowed their eyes.
The merchant's hired ninjas and samurai are pointing their weapons at them. Their expressions were tense.
Obviously, they were treating Seimei and his group as a greater threat. And it was natural. After all, Seimei and his group were strangers with immense power, and they popped out of nowhere.
Who could say they wouldn't become greedy for the merchant's wealth stored in the caravans? They might even kill them all to erase evidence.
Seimei wasn't naive. He clearly understood it.
However, he didn't want to deal with them now, so he said plainly, "Our mission target is just these chakra beasts here. I mean no harm to you guys. You can turn around and continue on your way."
Hearing this, the merchant Satoshi frowned and asked, "And why should I believe you? How can you prove that you won't attack us as soon as we turn our backs on you?"
Hearing this, Seimei chuckled. "Heh! You want proof?"
As soon as Seimei said that, Satoshi suddenly felt someone put an arm around his shoulder.
This startled him, causing him to snap his head toward his left.
What he saw sent chills down his spine.
Another snow-white-haired boy, who looked like an exact copy of the young ninja standing in front of him, was standing on his left side while putting his right arm around his shoulder.
The boy beside him smiled and said, "This is a physical clone of the main body, more specifically, a shadow clone."
"If I wanted to harm you, you would have died without even knowing why."
"As my main body mentioned, we mean no harm. Is this proof enough?"
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