The battle in the casino had come to an end.
With the advantage of being on their home turf, the bodyguards of the leader's son from Nijigakure easily drove back the Kirigakure pursuit squad.
It was obvious the leader's son had plenty of experience dealing with assassination attempts.
The guards and shinobi protecting him and Anakin'irō didn't recklessly chase the enemy out of the casino. This was Nijigakure—if they sent out a signal, countless ninja would come to help hunt them down.
From start to finish, the two men, clearly lost in their own little world, sat at the gambling table and watched the chaos unfold like a show.
At that moment, the leader's son spotted Reiji and Hōzuki Gengetsu standing by the bar, cloaked and hooded.
"Hey, you two! What are you sneaking around for? Take those hoods off!"
A rough voice boomed out, a finger as thick as a daikon pointing straight at Reiji.
Reiji lowered the three fingers he had raised, casually pulled back his hood, and continued looking at Hōzuki Gengetsu.
"Old man Gengetsu, think I can do it in three seconds?"
"Quit talking crap! If you pull it off in three seconds, I'll wash your stinking socks for a year!"
Hōzuki Gengetsu clearly didn't buy it.
Three seconds? With those guys all packing Body Replacement Techniques, how the hell are you going to pull that off?
"Alright, you said it."
Just as Reiji was about to make his move, Hōzuki Gengetsu reached out to stop him.
"Hey! Hold on—what if it takes you more than three seconds?"
Reiji glanced at Gengetsu, whose eyes were darting around suspiciously. He grinned and whispered,
"Then I'll tell you the hand sign for Impure World Reincarnation: Release. After that, do whatever you want."
Just thinking about the Fourth Shinobi World War, where Hōzuki Gengetsu would be fighting the Allied Shinobi Forces and suddenly undo the Impure World Reincarnation, made Reiji want to laugh.
He couldn't wait to see the looks on Gaara and the others' faces.
Hearing that, Hōzuki Gengetsu broke into a wide grin and nodded eagerly, throwing away all concern for his image.
"Deal! And no backing out!"
"Wouldn't dream of it."
As the two continued their banter, Anakin'irō suddenly called out from nearby.
"Fuguki Suikazan?! What are you doing here?!"
Reiji didn't even glance his way. Calmly, he raised his left hand.
"One second!"
Lightning Release Chakra Mode—activate!
"Two seconds!"
Eighth Gate—Gate of Death, open!
"Three seconds!"
As the words left his mouth—
In an instant, red and blue lightning surged. Reiji shot across the entire casino at a speed hundreds of times faster than the Body Flicker Technique.
Even someone as powerful as the Second Mizukage, Hōzuki Gengetsu, could only sense Reiji's aura suddenly becoming overwhelmingly intense.
But when he turned to look, Reiji appeared to have never moved at all. His presence had already faded.
Then, over a dozen heads flew into the air, followed by fountains of blood gushing from severed necks.
Their eyes met. Reiji grinned, his chubby face brimming with smug delight.
"Old man Gengetsu, that's a year's worth of stinky socks~"
At those words, Hōzuki Gengetsu's face twitched uncontrollably.
What the hell—are all kids these days monsters?!
I've only been dead for ten years!
What the hell happened to the world? How could freaks like this even exist?
Why does it feel like I've been dead for over a century?!
Mama mia, the ninja world is terrifying... I want to go back to the Pure Land.
Reiji's strength had already gone far beyond what he believed was possible for a ninja.
Normally, ninjas go through hand seals and breathe fire or spit water.
Even the crazier ones, like Hashirama Senju, just clapped their hands and summoned whatever they wanted.
That was still within reason. Just barely.
But this guy? He didn't even clap—he just bulldozed through everything with his bare body.
Has the age of shinobi... already ended?
While Hōzuki Gengetsu's brain trembled at the thought, the casino had gone completely silent.
Everyone had just watched the boss's son point at the tall, chubby man near the counter, demanding he take off his hood.
Then, the fat man took off his hood.
And that was it.
The boss's son, his lover, his bodyguards—every one of their heads launched into the air at once, blood spraying everywhere.
"Ghost!"
A sharp scream shattered the silence. One of the hostesses, barely dressed, shrieked hysterically and bolted from the casino in high heels.
Only then did the rest react, fleeing in panic from the horror scene.
Some even crawled frantically through the blood, drenched in sticky red as they scrambled for the exit.
The place descended into chaos—people tripping, tables overturning, chips and cash flying everywhere.
Amid the mayhem, Reiji walked over to Anakin'irō's headless corpse, picked up both the head and the body, and muttered to himself.
"Come on, Anakin'irō.
Up you get. Grab your head, and let's go home.
Hmm? Can't manage it?
Fine, I'll carry it for you.
You're really lucky, you know. At least I'm here to carry your head.
Back then, I had to lug my own head around, pitifully following behind that bastard Isamu."
Watching Reiji stare blankly at the severed head in his hands, Hōzuki Gengetsu, who had been eavesdropping, instinctively shrank back.
What kind of hellish joke is this?!
Carrying your own severed head while tagging along behind someone else?! Why not just say you're immortal at this point?!
While grumbling inwardly, Hōzuki Gengetsu kept his hands busy. He pulled out a scroll, spread it on the ground, and sealed Anakin'irō's corpse and head inside.
"All set. Let's go!" he called out, taking the lead and walking out of the casino.
...
Just as Reiji and Hōzuki Gengetsu leisurely left the village, a row of heads peeked out from behind the entrance.
"Chief, those two just took your son's lover's body. Should we go after them?"
Without hesitation, the heavily bearded chief of Niji Village slapped the speaker hard across the head and growled,
"Chase your damn self!
Those two were obviously after that guy. The instant kill at the casino? Probably their doing too!
You think we should run after powerhouses like that? You trying to get us all killed?!"
At those words, everyone around him nodded in perfect sync, silently giving their chief a big thumbs-up.
As expected of the boss—truly wise!
...
Wobbling along, Reiji and Gengetsu made their way back to the port where they'd arrived.
Just as they were about to board a ship, a familiar-looking, cocky man stepped in their way.
He was covered in wounds and looked like a complete mess.
When he saw that the two looked completely untouched, a flicker of disappointment passed through his eyes.
"Failed, huh? If you'd teamed up with me from the start, we might've pulled it off."
As he spoke, a scroll flew out from Reiji's cloak.
The man quickly caught it and looked over at the towering Fuguki Suikazan, asking with confusion, "What's this?"
"The target. Go report in."
Hearing that, the cocky man's brow immediately furrowed. He stared seriously at Reiji and asked in a low voice,
"Fuguki Suikazan, you sure?!"
"Positive. If it's fake, I'll give you Samehada."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Samehada twisted violently on Reiji's back.
Don't get it wrong—it wasn't resisting. It was excited.
Samehada would leap at any chance to get away from Reiji's absolutely revolting chakra.
And lately, for some reason, that chakra had gotten even worse.
It used to be a nasty mix of mud and grass. Now it had a hint of sawdust in it.
Disgusting to the point that even disgust itself wouldn't go near it.